Wild Invitation A Psy Changeling Anthology - By Nalini Singh Page 0,73
necessary to abandon the den because of hostilities, while the soldiers held the line of defense.
"Good thing Shamus doesn't know that," he said as he tugged her into the trees, stroking his thumb over her skin in that maddening, arousing way. "I think you'll like this."
Her wolf wide-eyed and watchful, she walked quietly beside him through a natural passageway created by two near-perfect rows of trees, their branches twining to form a lacy canopy, the stars visible in glittering glimpses. However, it wasn't the velvet night that held her attention, but the predator by her side.
The one who'd claimed her hand, claimed skin privileges, in a way that shouted possession.
The thought of belonging to Cooper made her wolf pad around her skin in a confusion of panic and delight once more. But neither part of her wanted to be anywhere but here, in this exhilarating, exquisite instant. Maybe this courtship was ridiculous and impossible and bound for failure, but she wasn't going to give up on it, give up on Cooper, without trying her damndest.
"Here." His body brushed hers as he brought her to a stop in what appeared to be a small clearing. "Do you smell it?"
"Yes." Ripe, juicy blackberries.
Reaching out to pluck a berry from one of the canes that surrounded them, he brushed it across her lips. "Open for me, beautiful, sexy Grace."
Her toes curled inside her boots at that low-voiced request, a liquid kind of heat in her abdomen. Parting her lips, she allowed him to feed her the plump fruit, the juices bursting inside her mouth. When he picked off more, fed her decadent berry by decadent berry, she didn't protest. And when he spread his legs and tugged her closer, she went, her wolf quivering at the risk.
He ran a berry across her lower lip, painting it with the juice as the masculine heat of his body seeped into her every cell, and his face blocked out the night. "I'm going to kiss you." His voice vibrated where her breasts pressed against the strength of his chest, making her nipples ache. "Don't say no." Releasing her hand when she remained silent at the rough-voiced request, he tipped up her chin with his fingers and suckled on her juice-drenched lower lip. The sweet, hot sensation was over almost before she knew it, her eyes fluttering open. He returned for another suckling taste, coaxing her closer as he did so. "Mmm." It was a sound of deep male pleasure, his hand sliding from her chin to cup the side of her neck. "You taste delicious." This time, his lips covered hers, the kiss an intimate seduction.
She clenched her hands on his chest as she rose toward his sinful mouth, felt the flex of warm, tensile muscle beneath the cotton of his T-shirt. Groaning, he licked his tongue across the seam of her lips, one of his hands coming to lie against her lower back, the rigid heat of his erection pushing against her abdomen - Claws pricking the insides of her skin, the wolf threatening to take control.
Jerking back, she gasped in the cool night air. Her breasts felt swollen, the place between her legs damp, and she had no doubt Cooper had scented the musk of her arousal. But that wasn't the sole emotion in play, her wolf's sudden, wrenching realization of the violent strength of the predator who held her a visceral punch to the gut.
The wolf didn't want to run. It knew such an action would never work, that it would only enrage the predator.
Instead, it demanded she lie down, let Cooper do what he would, its deep-rooted survival instincts colliding against her human need to make a conscious choice. It was all she could do to hold back the impulse to bare her throat to the male whose scent lingered rich and wild in her mouth; to whimper in primal submission - a submission that would end this relationship before it began, because that kind of mindless surrender would humiliate her and horrify Cooper.
"This isn't going to work." The words came out ragged, regret a hollowness inside her chest that caused a true physical hurt.
"I'm too submissive."
Cooper, having remained motionless thus far, shifted to pluck a berry off the plant near him and pop it into his mouth. She watched him swallow, wanted to trace the movement down the tendons of his neck with her lips, lick up the dark amber and rich earth of his scent. When she finally dragged