Head Hunter (City Shifters the Pack #3) - Layla Nash Page 0,64

him want to try to have a relationship. Or had he meant something else entirely?

Dodge searched my face for some sign. “Thinking awfully hard up there, babe.”

“That makes it sound like I’m using you,” I whispered. I didn’t want to be callous with his heart and his feelings. I didn’t want to be another of the women he had a fucked up relationship with, something that ended badly.

“I’d love for you to use me,” he murmured. His eyes glinted with what I thought was amusement or lust or... who knew. The wolf, maybe? “Baby, use me all night.”

“That’s not what I meant,” I said. “I don’t want to be – like that.”

Dodge lifted himself so he could lean up and plant a kiss on my lips for once, and his mouth opened until his tongue teased mine. His words came out gruff, but still managed to sound tender. “I know what you meant, Persephone. And I know exactly what I meant. Let’s just focus on tonight. We can figure the rest of it out in the morning. Okay?”

“Okay,” I said, since it sounded like the best plan I’d heard in days. I worked my hands into his hair and dragged his mouth back to mine. “Then kiss me.”

He chuckled and dipped his head, breathing against my lips until I lifted my chin. “Yes ma’am.”

He did exactly that, and I got lost in the soft warmth of his mouth, the hard lines of his body, the strength of his hands as he gripped my knee to lift my thigh up and out. I closed my eyes and exhaled all the worry and fear that had gripped me, and the last remnant of uncertainty from the nightmare slipped away. I concentrated only on Dodge, only on that moment. He was right. There was no guarantee we’d get tomorrow, so maybe it was better to leave all those worries to the morning. I lifted my hips into the caress as his hand returned to its mischief around my panties and whispered encouragement as Dodge’s free hand helped pull off my shirt and laid me bare.

I hoped morning didn’t come for a long, long time.

Chapter 24

Dodge

Dodge almost made himself walk away a second time. That way there wouldn’t be as much for him to regret when, inevitably, Persephone went back to her normal life. But the thought of not having a single night with his mate drove the wolf and the man crazy. He could deal with the consequences. His heart would be shattered and his soul ripped in two, but at least he’d always have the memory of a night with her to give him comfort.

Her heart beat rapidly against her ribs in a hummingbird flutter that told him she was still nervous, regardless of how inviting her body looked. He meant to take his time, to savor every moment. It was a good thing she’d napped most of the afternoon, because neither of them would be getting much sleep that night.

Dodge stripped off her shirt and bra so he could appreciate all of her. Persephone tugged at his shirt at the same time. He obliged and took it off, bracing for her to recoil from his scars and maybe the generous chest hair. It seemed like women enjoyed the waxed man-scaped look, but he’d never considered letting someone rip out his hair. The wolf thought it a ridiculous conceit.

For her, though... If Persephone liked it bare, he’d go bare.

She ran her nails lightly down his chest, playing with his chest hair, and bit her lower lip. Dodge swallowed a groan and the urge to flip her onto her hands and knees so he could finally have her.

He wrestled control back from the wolf and turned his attention back to Persephone. He wanted to see her at the height of passion, flushed and moaning. He wanted to taste every inch of her body, to learn how she reacted to each touch and kiss.

He stroked the inside of her thigh, her skin like silk under his fingers. He couldn’t get over how delicate and soft all of her felt. It just reminded him how much he needed to protect her from the rest of the world. He would cherish her, coddle her, go out of his way to make sure she never faced anything ugly or rough or dangerous again. He’d make sure her world was clouds and puppies and feather-soft everything.

Dodge kept teasing around her slit, building the anticipation until her legs moved,