Chapter 48
Riley knew Mercy was up to something, but couldn't figure out what. As he drove her home, he tried to think like a cat. His cat. It was close to impossible. She never did anything predictable.
"Do you have to return to the den tonight?"
He shook his head, his blood heating. "No. I planned to talk my way into your bed."
"Talk?"
"Maybe push."
Laughing, she fell silent again. He decided to let her be, and by the time he brought the car to a stop near her place, he thought she might be close to asleep. "Kitty cat?" He brushed his fingers down her cheek, needing to touch her, to reassure the wolf she was still there, that she hadn't chosen the ties of Pack over those of mating.
"Come on, wolf," she said, sounding not the least bit drowsy, "I've got something to show you."
Curious, he got out of the car and walked alongside her as she took him deep into the night-dark of the forest she called home. It was peaceful, and perhaps, if his senses had been human, quiet. But he could hear the scurrying of forest creatures as they went about their business, the whistle of the wind through the treetops, the sound of his mate's unbound hair sliding against her back.
Reaching out, he ran a hand over that shimmering fire, enthralled all over again. "Where are you taking me?" Not that it mattered. His need to simply be with her was so strong, he'd walk through the forest forever if that was what she wanted.
"You'll see." Smiling, she picked up the pace.
Fifteen minutes later, they emerged into a glade screened by the mist of a waterfall he knew would shimmer with rainbows in sunlight. But the moon ruled the night, and its rays reflected off the water to cast a silvery glow over the lush vegetation. Things glittered to his night vision, fascinating and wild, even as ultrafine droplets whispered over his skin.
Mercy walked behind him as he stood soaking in the beauty. Not saying a word, she wrapped her arms around his waist, her cheek pressed to him. He realized then that she'd shown him a secret place, given him a present wrapped in the intrinsically generous nature of her spirit. His heart tightened to the point of pain, and then the pain spread out in a wave of indescribable warmth.
Closing his hand over hers, he said, "Thank you."
She nipped at him, but it was playful. Her purr was something else altogether. Fingers dancing up his shirt, she tugged at the buttons. "Off."
He was more than happy to oblige. She peeled it off from behind and dropped it to the ground, then said, "Everything else."
Smiling at the command, he decided he had nothing to lose by obeying. And everything to gain. She didn't change position even when he was naked, his skin gleaming in the moonlight.
Fingers running down his spine, skating lower, then back up. This time, she spread her hands and stroked, petted, caressed until he felt a light sweat break out over his body. As he waited, held in place by her pleasure, she pressed a kiss to the part of his back closest to her. "I like the way you're built, Riley. All hard and solid and bitable."
Every dominant instinct he had urged him to take control. But something else, another set of instincts, pulled him back. If his mate wanted to tease him to insanity, that was her right. And, difficult as it was to restrain his wolf, he liked this, liked knowing his mate found him attractive.
Teeth grazing over his back. "Beautiful."
"Come here." A husky request.
"Not yet." But she stroked her hands up his body and pressed herself to him. She was still completely dressed.
"I want skin."
Hands gliding over his arms, testing his muscles. "And I want to pet you."
The wolf was a master negotiator. "You can do it as much as you want if you take off your clothes."
Soft feminine laughter. "It'll torture you."
"I like being tortured by you." Damn if it wasn't the truth. "Mercy, kitty cat."
Claws digging into his skin. "I'm still not sure I like that nickname."
"Tough." When dancing with a leopard female, the trick, he'd realized, was to give a little, but never too much. "You'll get used to it."
Those claws didn't release. "Or maybe I'll peel the skin from your bones."