Page 9 of Little Etheldreda Riding Hood

His eyes meet mine and the solid black of lust and desire fills his eyes. He’s the predator and I’m the prey in this moment and as terrifying as that is, I realize how much I’d missed this feeling with Morgan the last few years of our relationship. Sex had become a thing I did to appease him, not something I shared with him.

God, there I go again…another reason to become a spinster…thinking about how crappy your ex is with another guy balls deep inside you…pay attention…geez.

I decide to “get back in the game” and lift my hips to match his movement. He groans in what I hope is approval and pulls a hand from my breast. After a bit of fumbling, he reaches between us and finds my clit with his thumb. He’s too far gone at this point and his movements are too frantic to give my clit what it needs, but as he finishes and pulls out a little so we won’t be locked together, he starts to work on me with his thumb even as he catches his breath.

It doesn’t take long before I’m arching off the bed into his hand, his name on my lips. The orgasm comes faster than I expect–I’m typically someone who has to chase them, but Zach definitely knows what he’s doing. He keeps his thumb moving at the perfect pace as my legs lock and everything I’ve been holding back finally bursts forth.

“God, Zach,” I whisper as I come down from it. I squeeze the hand still on my breast and he chuckles. “Glad to see I redeemed myself there.”

I cover my eyes with one hand. “God, I’m the absolute worst at this.”

“You okay?” he asks, amusement in his voice. “I thought I’d fucked up there for a bit.”

“I’ll tell you, but it’s going to sound really stupid.”

He’s still inside me and we need to move but it feels strangely comfortable talking to him like this, exposed as I am. I can tell him this at least.

“I had a stupid intrusive thought and I couldn’t get it out of my head.”

He raises an eyebrow.

“Can I clean up first? And then I’ll tell you, I promise.”

He smooths his hands down my thighs and backs up. “Of course.”

He probably has a lot more cleaning up to do with the condom and all, but he’s a gentleman and lets me use the bathroom first. He turns on the light, hands me a clean washcloth and shows me where he hides dirty laundry. I rush through all the necessary things and hurry back out to find him already cleaned up and back in bed.

Did he clean up in the kitchen? In front of Dolly? But then again, Dolly probably licks her butt on a regular basis in front of him…

I bite my lip to keep from launching into giggles again and walk around to the other side of the bed. He holds up the comforter for me and I scoot in next to him.

“No top sheet?” I tease.

He shrugs. “I’m a man living alone with my cat. I have a bed off the ground. That’s as good as it gets.”

I laugh. “Fair enough.”

He pulls me close and buries his head against my neck. “I cannot get enough of your scent,” he murmurs and I smile.

“So,” he says, muffled by my hair. “You going to tell me about what got you going on the giggles?”

I sigh. “I’m human.”

“Tracking.”

I roll my eyes. “I grew up with wolves. My step daddy and uncle are wolves. I worked with male wolves my whole life until I met my ex. He was a wolf, too. I’m so used to hearing them talk about knot chasers and knot thots like they are some foreign species of human. And when I felt your knot, I guess I realized I was technically one, too.”

He scoffs. “You’re not a knot thot. Wolves will date humans until it’s time to settle down. It happens all the time. No one gives them a derogatory name.” His voice is still muffled as he presses himself to the side of my neck, his facial hair tickling the skin there.

“True.” And it is true. This night is definitely proof of that. We’ve had fun tonight. We’d have fun for a while if I was interested in having my heart ripped out again, but the story’s always the same. Zach’s like almost every other wolf I’ve ever known and been in denial about.

Eventually he’ll get pressured to find a wolf to settle down with. He’s supposed to have some little shifter babies that can run their wolves through the backwoods with their cousins on the full moon. Human mates don’t guarantee shifter babies. I’ll never be part of that world. Not really.

His fingers move along the front of my top. “Why are you still wearing this?” he asks, unbuttoning it. I help him get me out of it and then he pulls my bra off with an experiencedhand.

“You ready for round two?” he asks, his head back against my neck again.

“I’m ready for anything.”

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