Single Wolf Female (Midnight Liaisons) by Jessica Sims Page A

pride to ask for what I wanted?
    “Shouldn’t we kiss?” I asked, letting my bluster answer for me.
    That slow smile spread across his face. “I figured what we did last night was more intimate than kissing.”
    My throat went dry, thinking of last night. My slick hands moving over his cock, and how it had made me hot just to touch him.
    “But maybe you need to kiss?” Jackson asked softly. He moved a little closer to me on the bed, and I suddenly remembered that we were both still naked and sweaty from our run in the woods. His scent overwhelmed me, as did the nearness of all that bare, tanned skin.
    Jackson studied my face a moment longer. “Does your mouth hurt?”
    I studied his lips, in a daze with how close they were to mine. It was a strange thing to ask. My breasts ached, the nipples tight. Even my sex felt achy. Empty. But my mouth? “Does my mouth hurt?” I echoed, confused.
    “Did he hit you in your mouth?”
    Oh. A flush hit me again. That was what he’d been talking about? I felt foolish. “No, my mouth is okay.” Was he going to kiss me or not?
    “Good,” he said, and leaned in, his hand sliding to the back of my neck and pulling me closer to him.
    His mouth closed over mine.
    I was startled at how fast it happened. I was kissing Jackson. I could feel the scruff of his unshaven jaw against the edge of my mouth, scraping against my cheek. In contrast, his lips felt firm against my own. He sucked lightly on my lower lip while I was still processing all the sensations, and I gasped. He continued to suck on my lower lip, then began to kiss my upper lip, caressing me in slow, careful motions. My eyes closed and I let the sensations move over me.
    His tongue slicked between my parted lips.
    I moaned and my skin prickled with awareness. Oh…wow. I clung to him, needing his body against mine, and my nipples brushed against his bare chest, sending twin pinpricks of arousal through my body. His tongue stroked deeper into my mouth, thrusting, and it send an odd, thrilling quiver deep inside me. He slicked into my mouth again, his tongue tangling with mine, and I began to respond to the kiss, opening my mouth for his invasion and holding onto him as he made love to my mouth. Soon, I was slick with need all over again, my pulse pounding, and the scent of my arousal hung in the air between us.
    Jackson broke the kiss a moment later, and I panted against his mouth, dazed.
    “No more tonight, Alice,” he murmured against my mouth, and then grazed it with another kiss.
    “Why not?” I tried to press my mouth to his again, wanting more kisses. God, he kissed amazingly. I could live with his mouth on mine forever.
    “Because you went through enough today, and I don’t think that any decision you made tonight wouldn’t be affected by what happened.” He gazed into my face and his thumb moved over my lower lip again. It felt swollen and delicious from his kisses. “And when we move forward, I want it to be because you want to move forward, not because you feel pressured to.”
    I sighed. I wanted to move forward now. My body ached for him, and I felt delicious with need. But then his fingers brushed over my swollen eye and I winced, reminded of Roscoe.
    There’d be more time for this sort of thing later.
     
    ~~ * ~~
     
    “ Don’t be nervous,” Jackson told me with amusement as we got out of the car. “It’s just dinner.”
    I snorted. “I’m not nervous about meeting with the Alliance,” I said, my voice as scathing as I could make it.
    “Uh-huh.”
    “I’m serious. I could care less about meeting these two. I’m more concerned about leaving Eddie with Trina.” Holly and Dan had wanted to go on their pack run tonight, their skin itching with the need to let their wolves out, and I’d consented only because Trina had volunteered to watch the baby. I loved Trina, but she was absent-minded at best - being thirteen and easily distracted by texting - and I wasn’t sure about leaving a crawling,