Lindsey's Wolves (12 page)

“I … I just don’t know.” How could she? It was all so … insane still.

“You will.”

“Now who’s cocky, Alex?”

“Touché,
mi amor
.”

Lord, if she would just relax
. Ryan had selected a number of finger foods and arranged them on the bar in the kitchen. She was making
him
nervous. And Ryan had never been nervous a day in his life. Even the few times he had shared a woman before.

Alejandro pulled out a stool and ushered Lindsey to sit at the counter. When he had her pushed in, he rounded the wood-block surface and joined Ryan on the other side.

“You intimidate me when you gang up on me like this.”

“Gang up on you? How so?” Ryan swallowed around the frog lodging farther and farther in his throat. He held himself stiffly on one side of the counter in an effort to avoid mauling her immediately.

“Like this.” She lifted a palm to indicate where the two men stood. “Across from me. Eyeing me like giant cats about to pounce.”

“Wolves,” they both stated at once. Not for the first time.

Lindsey blew out a breath, her soft bangs lifting up to flutter around her face.

Ryan wanted to tuck the errant strands behind her ear. He gripped the counter to keep his hands to himself. Alejandro was right, loath as he was to admit it. They needed to get on the same page here or they weren’t going to make an ounce of headway.

“Let’s take this outside. Sit on the patio. The temperature’s perfect.” He grabbed a few plates, balancing them on his arms and nodded to Alejandro to do the same.

“Masters. You’ve impressed me.
Jamón serano
? And is that cheese Spanish?”

“Hey, I’m not all bad. I do have some taste.” He wandered away toward the front door, feeling the other two at his back.

The patio was perfect. A small table to the right afforded them the perfect location to spread out the various plates of meats, cheeses, grapes, apple wedges, strawberries, and crackers. At the same time, it was intimate enough for the three of them to sit close together, without any one person being across from the other. The perfect circle.

Lindsey sat rigid, her hands under her thighs, spine stiff. “I don’t think I’m hungry yet. You fed me an enormous breakfast at practically noon.”

“Are you sure?” Ryan picked up a ripe strawberry and held it to her lips. His gaze wandered from those pouty lips to her eyes and he watched her closely while he gently rubbed the strawberry across her mouth. The juices would surely entice her to open up.

From his peripheral vision, he saw the moment she let those sexy lips part ever so slightly. His dick hardened in his jeans. Her tongue reached out and touched the tip of the berry and he slipped the succulent fruit into her.

Alejandro moaned into Ryan’s head. “
Fuck
.”

Ryan ignored him. Sort of.

“What are you doing to me?”

“Feeding you, of course,” he mumbled matter-of-factly.

Next he picked up a grape and rolled the fruit across his own lips before offering it to her. She didn’t move. Her hands were still pinned under her legs. It was so erotic. He couldn’t shake the feeling she was actually tied down and the two men were on the verge of pleasuring her.

Alejandro joined the game, reaching for a wedge of apple and feeding it to the now eager mouth in front of them.

“Mmm, food always tastes so much better when someone else prepares it.”

“Or feeds it to you,
cariña
.”

Ryan grabbed a cube of cheese and moved in for the next bite. He didn’t care if he never ate again as long as he got the pleasure of watching this gorgeous goddess enjoy her meals.

They took turns popping morsels between her lips, and he watched as her shoulders relaxed ever so slightly, her hands sliding from under her legs to her thighs. When she leaned forward, put her elbows on the corner of the table and nearly purred, he had to reach under the table and adjust his crotch.

On the next bite, he let his hand graze down her face and cup her chin. Her favorable response, well if not pulling away was considered favorable, emboldened him. Grabbing a succulent strawberry, he placed the fruit between his own lips and leaned the scant inches across the table to press the morsel from his mouth to hers.

She took it, mercifully, and moaned softly, her eyes drifting until they were only half open. Without retreating, Ryan leaned forward and licked the sticky pink juice from her chin, swiping gently upward until he tasted her lips for the first time. He didn’t want to pressure her and pulled away gracefully after just a quick nibble.

“Jesus, I’m going to come just watching you.”
Alejandro’s voice penetrated his mind.

For the first time, Ryan didn’t feel anger toward whatever god had deemed it necessary for the two men to share this woman.

He wasn’t sure how this was all going to pan out, especially in bed, but at least it was a step in the right direction.

Did he want to share this woman? Let her divide her attention between himself and Alejandro? Well, at least he no longer felt the need to punch the man in the face.

Perhaps it would work. They just needed to sort out the particulars.

“She tastes divine,”
Ryan soundlessly commented.

“Stop that.” Lindsey pulled back an inch, resting her chin on her hands.

“What?” Alex asked when she glanced back and forth between the two of them.

“You know what. I can tell by the looks on your faces when you are doing that whole … telepathy thing. You’re talking about me. It’s … disconcerting to say the least.” She pushed from the table and went to the edge of the porch. Leaning against the railing, she stared out into the afternoon.

“Go to her,”
Alex communicated.
“It kills me, but it’s only fair. I’ve definitely had more of her than you have. Bond with her a bit so she’ll be more comfortable with this situation. I’m going to take some of this inside and grab a bottle of wine. I’ll give you a few minutes.”
Alex got up and shuffled toward the door, hands full of empty plates.
“God, give me strength and don’t let me regret this decision.”

The last part wasn’t directed at Ryan. He knew that. But still it touched him.

Ryan sauntered toward Lindsey’s back, consciously making a scuffing noise with his shoes so she’d not be surprised by his arrival behind her.

Cautiously he reached a hand and brushed it over her shoulder before setting it against the exposed skin left bared by the sleeveless tank top she wore.

“It’s too weird, Ryan.” She leaned her chin against his hand and even rubbed against him, her actions not in accord with her words. “I don’t think I can do this … this thing you say is our fate.”

“I wouldn’t call it fate, so much as destiny,” he murmured close to her ear. It was the first time he’d been this close and he wanted more, wanted all of her. How he’d held himself in reserve for as long as he had, he had no idea, but now that he was closer, really able to inhale her essence, he didn’t think he could go back. His wolf called for him to take her. He needed her with his every molecule.

Her hair tickled his nose and he inhaled her scent. It ravished him, almost sent him staggering backward. Her essence called to him. Her body did that of its own accord. She was already so far gone, he couldn’t fathom how she held herself at bay as she did.

Once lupines met their mates, they didn’t usually go so long without claiming them. Of course normally the parties were both wolves. When a human was involved, it took a bit of wooing, but neither party could hold off for days. Unusual circumstances…

The last thing he wanted was to push her and risk aggravating her any more than necessary.

But, he couldn’t resist her hair. The long glorious locks were so soft against his cheek, and he inhaled the smell of her floral shampoo. Thoughts of mixing his own scent with hers, marking her, claiming her body, and making sure she never again smelled of just flowers, overwhelmed him. He felt a tremble as it shook his frame and hoped she didn’t notice his clumsy school-boy act.

Partially because he couldn’t resist, and partially because she seemed looser than she had since he met her, he allowed himself to nuzzle her neck with tiny little kisses, almost nonexistent. Her head tilted slightly to the other side to afford him better access, and he repressed a moan with every ounce of strength he could muster. Afraid any noise at all would break the spell.

When her body listed slightly back toward his chest, Ryan reached up with both hands and grasped her shoulders, pulling her in closer, leaning her against him.

He kissed his way up her neck, across her jaw, and finally reached her lips.

She parted for him, enough to welcome the kiss he so desperately needed from her.

She tasted of the combination of sweet fruit juices he’d fed her. And he wanted to feast on her mouth, suck those juices from her tongue.

He held his body rigid while he plundered her mouth, trying desperately to keep himself in check as a little piece of heaven reached down from the skies and graced him with her presence.

Lindsey couldn’t stop herself.
This is wrong
. She knew in her head she couldn’t do this, let this man seduce her while she was also in total lust with another man who’d just stepped inside. And she definitely insisted to herself that’s what this was, lust. It couldn’t be anything more. Anything else was ludicrous.

But right now Ryan was occupying her heart. And her heart was overruling her head. His grip was firm on her shoulders. Her body leaned into his. She couldn’t stop it. She needed more. Needed to taste more of him. If he would just turn her around so this kiss could go deeper.

She couldn’t be so bold as to take matters into her own hands. But she wanted him to. If for no other reason than to deepen the awkward kiss coming from over her shoulder.

The nibbling and licking and sucking was driving her crazy.

Voices in her head told her to stop. Pull away.
This is wrong
. An abomination her grandmother would have said. If she were still attending her childhood church, she’d surely be excommunicated.

She shook the thought away, stuffed it to the back of her brain, and returned to the moment. Her subconscious needed to shut up and leave her alone. Even her therapist would say so.

The large, rough hands on her shoulders moved painstakingly slowly down her arms until Ryan entwined his fingers with hers and wrapped both sets of arms across her middle, just under her breasts.

Her bra pressed into her nipples, and the increased pressure was exquisite. Her chest seemed to expand, aching for him to wrap his hands around her breasts and squeeze. Her nipples poked at the fabric, desperate for attention.

A soft moan pierced the afternoon silence.

Jeez, that was me
.

Apparently the noise gave fuel to Ryan’s efforts because moments later he had her turned around facing him, her back pressed into one of the elegant columns she’d been admiring on the front of the porch.

Ryan gripped her face with both hands and deepened the kiss, tipping her head to one side and devouring her with his tongue. He explored every crevice of her mouth with sudden urgency, as though he couldn’t live another moment without knowing her taste. And it was a good thing, because she wasn’t so sure she could either. His flavor mingled with hers, the same fruity taste edged with the salty mix of hard cheese.

She nearly melted. Her knees shook with the effort to hold herself upright. If he hadn’t been pressing her firmly to the pillar, she wasn’t sure she’d have succeeded.

Suddenly he was everywhere, his giant body crowding her space … and she wanted him to.

His large frame seemed to touch her entire body at once. He straddled her legs and his erection was lodged against her stomach. She felt somehow powerful to be the one eliciting this response in him.

Her eyes fluttered completely closed, the strain of holding them half open seemed like too much effort. And as though on command, her other senses heightened.

The clean smell of male soap combined with Ryan’s own brand of musk to tantalize Lindsey’s nose.

He grazed his huge hands down her face, trailed them down her arms until he reached her middle and grasped her waist.

When Lindsey reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, pulling him even closer, her shirt road up a few inches and the rough fingers of a hard-working man electrified her where they burned the few inches of skin at her stomach.

A moan mingled between them, and this time she didn’t think it was her own. Did it matter?

A gasp escaped her lips, swallowed by Ryan’s mouth when he urgently lifted her shirt enough to slide his palms completely under it and against her torso. Palms so big they swallowed her entirely, reaching seemingly all the way around at once. And the warmth of his touch sent a chill down her spine.

Nothing, however, prepared her for the moment his thumbs grazed the underside of her breasts through the thin material of her lace bra. She never would have chosen to wear that particular bra today. It was her sexy reserve bra generally used for a night out when she wanted to feel particularly flirty.

Since Kara had been the one to go to her apartment and bring her back a duffle of clothes, Lindsey had had no say whatsoever in the selections. Fleetingly, she wondered what else might be in that bag. Kara’s objective had clearly been to entice her friend to “go for it” this week.

At least Lindsey knew Kara couldn’t have filled the duffle with too many risqué items, because she’d not have found them in Lindsey’s drawers.

It took great effort to force her mind to wander around to these various thoughts, trying in vain to ignore the barely existent caress of Ryan’s thumbs against her breasts.

“Lindsey, hon, you taste divine. Like summer.” His mumbled words slipped between their lips as he pulled back millimeters from her mouth to give them a chance to breathe.

Her chest rose and fell as she heaved in air, unaware she’d been nearly holding her breath for several minutes.