statement said far more than any florid words. Claws pricking the insides of her skin, Desiree tried to keep her growl from her voice. “Shall I go hunt her down?”
A startled smile before Felix tangled his fingers with her own. “No, but thanks for the offer.”
Leopard happy that he’d accepted it, though it was still snarling at the idea of him being hurt, Desiree told him about the other photographs before ducking into the bathroom for a quick shower to wash off the sweat from her punching session.
Felix asked to use the shower after her.
“I came straight from planting,” he said. “I’ll pull on these sweatpants again after, but it’d be good to wash off the day.”
“Here’s a fresh towel.”
Smile deep as he accepted it, he said, “I won’t be long.”
The water began to run seconds later.
Trying not to think about him naked and wet so close, she busied herself throwing together some food. It wasn’t much, just sandwiches and fruit, but Felix’s eyes gleamed in appreciation when he came out with damp hair and beads of water still on his shoulders from where he’d missed them with the towel.
She bit her tongue to stop herself from offering to dry him, not sure she could control herself once she started. “Dig in,” she said. “You must be starving.”
They talked throughout the meal, no awkward silences . . . though the sexual tension beneath the surface was a killer, a thread stretched increasingly taut.
Afterward, they sat together in the small love seat she had in her living area in lieu of the flat cushions most of her packmates preferred, and argued about which movie to watch. “I am not watching that,” she said with a scowl. “It’s a weird art house flick that’ll probably have sepulchral music and no plotline.”
“Snob.”
“You want to watch something with subtitles and I’m the snob?” She bared her teeth at him before she thought about it.
He bared his teeth back. “I speak French. Learned it while I was working there.”
“We’re still not watching the gloomy movie.” Seated in the crook of his arm, and having kept her hands very firmly to herself, she picked something else. “How about this?”
“You want to watch gory horror on a romantic date?”
Desiree hesitated, then laid it out. Might as well be honest so he knew who and what he was getting. “Told you I’m not good at the romance deal. I’m not very girly.”
“I think you’re very girly.” Felix’s voice stroked over her, made her shiver.
• • •
Watching Desiree’s breasts rise as her lashes lowered, Felix had an epiphany. She was a dominant, yes, and pushy with it at times, but that didn’t mean she had endless self-confidence. She had doubts and worries just like him, needed reassurance. Part of him had always understood that, but he hadn’t really internalized it. The dominants always appeared so confident and strong that they seemed not to need anyone.
But Desiree . . .
Running one of her now free braids through his fingers, he tugged off the colored bead that anchored it and placed it on the table where she’d put a bowl of popcorn. She didn’t protest, curling up against him as he slowly, methodically unraveled first one, then all of her painstakingly done braids. Her hair was crackling wild silk over his hands, sticking possessively to his hands and chest.
Desiree, meanwhile, was all loose and limber, a quiet purr under her skin. Not speaking, he continued to pet her until her eyes closed, her pulse languid. “What did you do today?” he asked quietly.
“Ran a patrol,” she murmured. “Babysat five rambunctious cubs for a few hours, punched a bag hanging from a tree, agreed not to pounce on a certain wolf.”
The wolf inside him padded to the surface of his skin, seduced out of its instinctive wariness. “Why were you babysitting?” It wasn’t that dominants didn’t babysit—they pulled their weight when it came to raising the pack’s children. He was simply curious about her.
“Umm.” Rubbing her cheek against his chest, she said, “Can I stretch out over your lap?”
Body hardening, he said, “Yeah.”
Her movements quintessentially feline, she lay down with her head on his thighs, her feet up on the arm of the love seat and her eyes lazy. Colored a yellow-green at that moment, they made it clear her leopard was close to her skin. “Pet me some more.”
He smiled at the demand and, heart thudding, used one hand to continue to play with her hair while he put his other