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“Let’s go.” He took a step back, pulling her into his side.

She laughed. “I feel like a teenager.”

“You and me both.”

Samantha led Josh from her office. She ignored the shocked looks of her coworkers as she passed each and every person between her and the elevator. Once inside she watched the numbers above the elevator doors and wondered if they’d always descended so slowly.

In the parking garage, she paused. “Where’s your car?”

“Third level. Yours?”

“It’s in the shop. A coworker picked me up.”

“Mine it is then.” He pulled her hand in close to his heart. She could feel the beat of his chest beneath her knuckles. It beat as fast as hers. He took the lead.

She was a control freak. She knew this about herself. It was hard to let him lead the way, even though rationally she knew she couldn’t very well find a car she didn’t know in a spot she hadn’t parked it.

When Josh stopped between two cars and pushed her back against a black SUV, she gave up the fight for control. In seconds, his lips were on hers for the second time. His knee nudged hers apart and he pressed between her thighs until his hard muscular leg rubbed her pussy. The lightweight full skirt she wore provided no protection against his assault.

Samantha lost sensation in her lips instantly, going slack against him. While he plundered her mouth, she could only concentrate on her clit pulsing against his leg, the heat building in her stomach. The knot of need unlike anything she’d ever felt with any man, wolf or human.

The drive to mate was overpowering. More than she ever imagined. No one’s explanation did this justice.

What was happening to her? She’d never considered herself such a nymph. Hell, she rarely dated. She never had time. Suddenly she wanted this man more than she’d ever wanted anything in her life. Her entire body hummed with a need she’d never known. Was this what happened when wolves met their mates?

A moan escaped her lips and startled her. She needed to get a grip. What if someone saw her? She pressed against Josh’s chest, her hands landing on his firm pecs. “Let’s go,” she mumbled against his lips. “Not here.”

He pulled back, heaving for breath. When he leaned into her with his entire body, she felt the length of his erection. She wanted to reach down and stroke him, encompass his girth with her hands,
but not here
.

His eyes met hers, glazed with lust. “I hope I can drive.”

“I hope you can drive
fast
.”
Did I just say that? Gah.
What was the matter with her? Since when did she lose all her faculties? Since never.

Josh reached around her and opened the front passenger door without looking away. His eyes bore into her soul, deep, penetrating. Making her shiver.

He lifted her around the waist and set her in the seat.

“I’m not a child. I can get into a car by myself,” she protested, a mild dissent that surprised her with its lack of conviction. Her skin tingled everywhere he touched her, and when he’d lifted her, his thumbs came into contact with the sides of her breasts. Her nipples took notice and stood erect.

“I’m sure you can.” He leaned forward and took her breath away once again with his mouth. “But I wanted to touch you.”

She couldn’t argue that, and it was disconcerting. She wanted his touch at least as badly.

Josh shut the car and entered the driver’s side moments later. Neither spoke as he backed out of the spot, his eyes on the rearview mirror, his neck twisted around to check for blind spots.

It wasn’t until he put the car in drive and headed forward that he acknowledged her again. He took her hand and held it between them, stroking her knuckles with the tip of his thumb. The action was maddening. She squirmed in her seat and cursed the seatbelt resting between her breasts, making her achingly aware of her lace bra and her nipples pressing into the material.

Of all days, how had this man, this mate of hers, happened to waltz into her office on a day when she wore a silk blouse and a thin silk skirt? Thank God she loved sexy panties and bras. Even though she rarely went out with men, she wore them most days to make herself feel sexy anyway.

Luckily, Josh didn’t live far from her downtown office. He pulled into the driveway of his home in the Central West End. She envied this neighborhood, but hadn’t bothered yet to move out of her loft apartment closer to her work. She’d been at that law office for two years and loved her job, but hadn’t had time for much else, like house shopping.

“Where do you work?” She only knew he was a doctor.

“Barnes Jewish. I joined a private practice there a few years ago.”

“Why aren’t you there today?”

“We’re open six days a week and we each take a different day off. Mine is Monday. I lucked out. I get a two-day weekend.” He squeezed her hand, released her, and opened the door. Before she could get her seatbelt off, he was at her side of the car, helping her to the ground and taking her bag from her. “My coworkers know about my sister. At least the gist of it. They are prepared for me to flee at a moment’s notice if she’s found. I’m still praying that’s soon.”

“When did you last speak to the PI? Evan, right?”

“Yeah, this morning. He has surveillance on an apartment he believes she lives in. Or at least her husband. He hasn’t set eyes on either of them yet. I hope they didn’t get wind and flee again.” Josh guided her toward the front door.

“Is he a shifter?”

“Yep. Took me forever to find him, but I really thought it would be easier.” As he stuck his key in the lock he paused. “Shit. We forgot to stop for food.”

“You really wanted to eat?” She chuckled and shook her head. If this man could eat right now, she wasn’t sure she wanted to seal the deal.

“Not a chance, but I thought you were hungry.”

“Oh, I am. But not for food. I’m too nervous to eat anyway. You do have a phone, right? There’s always takeout later.” She grabbed his forearm and angled his hand back toward the doorknob. “Maybe we could go inside? I love your front porch and all, but the neighbors are going to call the cops if you don’t let me inside before I unzip your pants.”

His hand shook as he opened the door, although she couldn’t be sure if it was from laughing or nerves. “Bossy.”

“I have been called worse.”

The second they were inside, Josh secured the front door and set her bag down. He turned toward her, pressing her into the door and grabbing her wrists with both hands.

His mouth was hot when it landed on hers, and he didn’t bother with gentle, which was fine with her. She wasn’t in the mood for gentle.

The kiss was passionate. He tasted like home, minty from his toothpaste, masculine… Josh. His tongue entered her mouth, nudging her teeth apart and dueling with her own tongue.

She would have slid down the door and landed on her ass, but he insinuated his knee between her legs again as he had against the car.

She moaned into his mouth. In less than two seconds she went from zero to one hundred.
Okay, not zero
. She hadn’t been at zero since he’d entered her office.

Samantha gripped his biceps to steady herself, but her pussy leaked and she knew the moisture would soon breach the silk of her skirt. The lace of her barely existent panties rubbed her clit and she ground herself on his leg, rocking forward.

When he released her lips, she sucked in a breath, gasping for air. He buried his face in her hair as it completely fell out of its bun and cascaded down around her shoulders. His breath tickled her ear, making her squirm.

“Sensitive much?” he chuckled.

You have no idea
.

She tipped her head back and exposed her neck to his mouth as he nibbled downward. If he would just…move, faster, more…press into her. God. Her head was spinning with need. She should stop this, or at least slow it down. Her body was ruling over her usually reasonable brain.

“You taste delicious,” he muttered, his tongue doing insane things to the cords in her neck. When he reached the V of her blouse, she gasped and gripped his arms tighter.

She needed some space and fast if she was going to hang on to any amount of control. She needed to slow this down, right? It seemed prudent. Who fucked a man they just met the moment they entered his home? But when she pushed him futilely with her fingertips on his arms, he shook his head.

“I can’t think,” she whispered. “I need a few inches. You’re sucking the air out of the room.”

He paused, but didn’t give her a centimeter of space. Instead he brought his lips to her ear again. “You’re a control freak, aren’t you?” he teased.

“Uh huh.”

“How about letting me take the reins this time? You might like it.” His lips brushed her earlobe and his tongue dipped inside to send goose bumps down her body. “I can smell your arousal. Feel the beat of your pulse right here…” He licked a spot on her neck. “The heat of your pussy is burning my leg.”

Damn him and his…wordiness
. “So what? Your cock is pressing into my stomach. It’s not exactly small. Let’s put it to good use.” She needed fast and hard and now.

“Nah.” He pushed up an inch with his thigh, increasing the pressure on her clit. “Let’s not. I want to remember this claiming for the rest of my life. I want it to be good for you, not wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am.”

“But…” Her brain cells scattered.
What man doesn’t want fast and furious?

He chuckled again. “We’re going to spend our lives together. We aren’t going to start the next seventy years with a hot fuck on the rug.”

“Up against the door then?” she implored. She wasn’t kidding. She was really horny. Couldn’t they get the first time out of the way and then try again for slow?

He shook his head. “Where’s the fire, baby?” He leaned back and stared into her eyes, angling her face toward his. His thumbs traced her jawline and he held her face with both hands.

Samantha squirmed beneath his scrutiny. Her breasts felt heavy, her nipples rasping against the lace. “God. What’s happening to me? I’m not like this.”

“Like what?”

“So…aroused. Needy…impatient.” Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she tried to catch her breath.

Josh smiled. “It’s the mating, Samantha. It takes over, changes a person.”

A strange low vibrating noise came from deep in her chest as she slouched into his touch. Her eyes fluttered. She couldn’t focus.

Josh released her cheek with one hand and reached down between them, lowering his leg. He pressed his palm into her pussy and cupped her sex. “So fucking hot and wet. I can’t wait to see you.”

A groan escaped her lips. She bucked into his hand as her eyes fluttered shut. His scent filled her nose. His house smelled like him too. It was overpowering. The deep masculine smell of her mate.

When his hand disappeared and his leg rose back up into her pussy, she opened her eyes with a start. “Please…”

“Now that’s a word I don’t mind hearing.” He kept his gaze on her while his hands trailed to her waist and then up to the bottom swell of her breasts.

On tiptoe, she was at his mercy. And for the first time in her life, she didn’t mind.

She was always in control, always in the driver’s seat. Today, she could let her mate take charge. It wouldn’t kill her. But she could see a power play for “top” in their future. And she’d love every minute of it.

With a groan, Josh lowered her to the floor and took her hand. “As much as I would enjoy the rug or the door, let’s go to the bedroom this time. I want you splayed out before me so I can see every inch of you, and taste you from head to toe.”

She shivered at the thought.
Taste me?
Oh, God. She was in so much trouble. Of course, she looked forward to doing a bit of tasting herself…

He tugged her down the hall and into the first door on the left with a swoop of his hand. “I wasn’t planning on bringing a woman here today, let alone the one I needed most to impress in life, but here you have it.”

What was he talking about? The house was immaculate. At least what she’d seen of it.
Well, okay, that only includes the front door and the hall and now the master bedroom
.

Except for the sheets and comforter being askew and unmade, there was nothing else to comment on. No clothes on the floor. Nothing. She wouldn’t be able to show him her place for a month if this was how he kept his.

Josh took her mouth again, cutting off her view and scrambling her brain with his lips. He turned her around and backed her up until she hit the bed. All the while, he kissed her senseless.

Unable to resist, she reached between them and stroked his cock. Even through his pants she knew he was huge. Instead of feeling nervous, she couldn’t wait for him to fill her.

She’d had a few men in her life, and even a few wolves. But none who made her feel like this, fully clothed.

He swatted her hand away and pressed his groin into her stomach to keep her from touching him again. “You can’t do that, or I’ll come in my pants.” He went to work on the buttons of her blouse, his knuckles brushing against her nipples as he made his way down.

“But it doesn’t matter if I come before my skirt’s off?” Her voice grew weak as he undid her shirt. In a moment he was going to see her skin.

“I intend for you to come several times. I don’t get the luxury of quite as many shots as you in such a short time.” He kissed her lips and resumed his slow torturous work. Finally, the last button gave way and he brushed the blouse off her shoulders, letting it fall to the bed behind her.

She gathered her last wit. “I hate to bust your bubble, Josh, but I’ve never come twice.”

A slow smile grew and grew as he stared at her. “Oh, how I love a challenge.” He unzipped her skirt with deft hands as though he’d put it on her himself this morning and knew how to remove it. A quick tug had it fluttering to the floor, and he lifted her onto the bed.

He stared at her as she inched backward, his gaze penetrating deep into her soul. “You’re so beautiful,” he whispered. “How’d I get so lucky?”

“I’m underdressed. Take some clothes off.” She was so not used to this turn of events. No man had ever quite had the upper hand with her.