CHAPTER ONE
Julia lay back naked against Damien's chest, and he held her close in arms that were not entirely human.
Werewolf. Shifter. Animal.
"What are you worried about?" Damien asked, squeezing her naked hip. The bright light of morning washed over the tops of the pine trees above, and Julia blinked hard.
"Stop reading my thoughts," Julia said, looking up at him. His scars gleamed white in the daylight, crisscrossing over his eyes and down to his cheeks, and she wondered how it had taken her so long to notice them. Of course he had been wearing glasses before. Before she knew who he was. What he was. She shivered then, and he drew her close, feeling her shudder on his own skin.
"Not your thoughts, darling," he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Your emotions. You feel frightened."
"Stop reading my emotions, then," she said. "It's not fair."
"Because you can't read mine?"
"Yes," Julia said.
"You ask me to do the impossible," Damien said. "I don't know if I could stop reading you if I tried. You're my mate."
"Try," Julia whispered, her voice small and vulnerable. "I'm thinking about the wolf you fought."
Damien's eyebrows furrowed into a frown.
"I'm sorry," he said. "Maybe we shouldn't have moved so quickly." His lips moved down from her forehead to her cheek, feathering light kisses along her jaw line. "I just couldn't stop myself once I met you. I had to have you. I needed you. I needed to do this—"
"Ohh!" Julia let out a soft moan as Damien kissed her neck just below her ear, sending shivers of pleasure throughout her body that shot from the nerve endings in her neck all the way down to her feet. Her toes curled, involuntarily.
"Let me take your mind off of the fight. Off of everything that you're worried about," Damien said. His tongue darted out and licked her skin. She inhaled sharply, her lips falling apart.
"Damien ," Julia gasped.
"No more frightened thoughts," Damien whispered. His breath was hot against her naked skin, and he moved his mouth down to her collarbone, nipping the skin there gently, just gently enough to pinch and elicit another soft gasp. His hands moved over her body, cupping her breasts. She forgot all of her worries at the touch of his fingers. Instinct took her body over, and she arched against him, pressing herself into his hold.
"Much better," Damien said, sitting up in order to better caress her body. His fingertips glided over her skin, stopping every few inches to rub and squeeze. The massage was delightful, but Julia could tell that he was intent on something else. What?
"Your body," Damien said, responding without hesitation to her curiosity. She swatted him on the hip with one hand.
"I said stop reading my emotions."
"I'll read your body instead," Damien said. His fingers stroked and stroked and did not stop moving over her skin. "That's what I want to know about. I want to know every beautiful inch of you. I want to feel it, memorize it."
He bent over then and licked her breast, letting his tongue press softly into the crease underneath and make its way along the curved surface up to the nipple, where it flicked lightly against the sensitive skin there. The space between her thighs grew instantly hot, clenching hard.
"Oh!" Julia cried out.
"Your body is incredible," Damien said. "I want to have you entirely. Your mind. Your love. Your body."
His words had a lilting rhythm to them, but a flash of hesitation brought her out of the trance he'd put her in.
Her body. She'd never thought of herself as beautiful. Cute, maybe, with a nice face. She'd always been the friend who tagged along when going out to bars, the adorable one with frizzy red hair who drew attention while the other girls kept it. Guys would flirt with her, but they wouldn't buy her drinks, and they always went home with one of her friends instead. As Damien moved his hands over her body, she could not help but feel wary. He could feel the lumpy parts, the excess bulges, the thickness of her
Dean Koontz
Lisa Higdon
Lexi Ander
William Jarvis
Jennifer Blake
Chelsea M. Cameron
Jonathan Moeller
Jon Sharpe
Angela M. Sanders
Lara Simon