through it all…as locked together as he knew their hearts to be.
When the last spasm passed through him, he let himself relax. As they lay together, arms and legs entwined, Kendra kissed him, first on the lips, then on his scruffy jaw, and finally his neck. Then she placed her mouth beside his ear, her breath warm and moist on his skin. Her scent filled him, almost overwhelming him.
“That was the hottest sex I’ve ever had in my life,” she whispered. “And watching you come inside me like that was seriously the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.” He would have thrown a few compliments her way in return, but she continued. “You want to know what the best part of it was? The way your eyes flared that beautiful shade of rose when you came. It let me know that I made you come really, really hard. I love that flash of color.”
There was a time when the thought of shifting during sex would have freaked the hell out of him. But doing it with Kendra didn’t bother him because she didn’t care.
For the first time, he really believed that.
“Only for you,” he growled, kissing her neck.
“Damn straight.”
As if to show him how serious she was, she gently nipped him on the muscular junction of his neck and shoulder with her perfect teeth.
He liked when she bit him.
Chapter 10
As Kendra pulled on her almost-dry socks, she finally got the courage to ask the question that had been on her mind since she and Declan had finally crawled out of each other’s arms.
“The stuff you said—that you don’t like being a shifter—it made me wonder something.”
He looked up from pulling on his boots. “What’s that?”
His eyes were so warm and captivating that she found it hard to speak. When she finally found her voice, she could barely remember what she’d been going to say. Wow, she was falling fast. She’d spent the last week berating herself for being stupid enough to miss what had been right in front of her all along, but that was over. She was focused on the future now, and when they got home, she promised herself she was going to make up for all the time she’d lost with him.
“Um, if you were never comfortable embracing your inner animal, why’d you decide to join the DCO in the first place?” she finally managed. “Didn’t you think they’d expect you to use your shifter talents?”
He stopped tying his boots and shrugged. “This is going to sound stupid, but I didn’t really give it a lot of thought at the time. John told me that I’d be using my talents to help people. That was good enough for me.”
She smiled. Sometimes she wished she could see things as simply as Declan did. “It’s not stupid at all. And you do use your talents to help people. Your team is one of the best in the DCO. I should know; I write all the evaluations.”
They finished dressing in silence, then repacked Declan’s rucksack. She couldn’t help looking around the cave. She was going to miss this place. It was where everything had come together for them.
He slung on his pack. “You ready?”
She sighed wistfully. “I guess so. Though if you wanted to stay here for another few hours, I wouldn’t complain.”
He chuckled. “I know what you mean, but the sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can get home and I can take you out for dinner like I promised.”
That brought a moan of delight to her lips. “I see you’ve already figured out how to motivate me to get out of bed.”
Declan pulled her into his arms. “Don’t get me wrong. I much prefer to be in bed with you, but I want you in my bed at home. The only reason I’ll be taking you out to dinner is so you can keep your strength up for all the things I want to do to you when we’re in my bed.”
She felt a shiver run down her back as much from his words as the blatant look of hunger on his face. God, she needed him again already.
“What kinds of things?” she asked softly.
He brushed her ear with his lips, his warm breath making her quiver. “For starters, a slow, sensual massage.” As if to demonstrate, he glided his hand up her midriff to cup her breast through her T-shirt. “And after that, I’m going to kiss and nibble everywhere.”
She caught her breath as