Page 41 of Anders
Because I see you.Not just the journalist or the wolf, butyou—the woman who refuses to be broken by what was done to her.
The sincerity in his eyes undid her.
In an instant, she was acutely aware of the minute changes in his presence.
The smell that marked him as distinctly Anders now carried undertones of anticipation.It wrapped around her like a second skin, igniting pathways of awareness she hadn’t known existed.
She inhaled deeply, feeling the aroma weave through her being, a silent call that tugged at the core of what her newfound instincts were beginning to recognize.
The command center felt both impossibly vast and stiflingly intimate, as if the room itself had constricted around them.With every breath, the room seemed to shrink, the walls echoing back the pulse of their enclosed space, wrapping them in each other’s heartbeats.
Etta found herself leaning toward him, inching across the invisible line they’d been dancing around.
There was a gravitational pull in his solidity, in his strength, that stirred an inexplicable longing within her.
Her body angled toward him.
Anders’s gaze raked down her form, practically tangible, and she froze, a deer caught in the headlamps of his attention, her breath hitching slightly.
Anders went still, too, and when he spoke, his voice was a low rumble.
I’m leaving this all up to you.
The words hovered in the space that separated them, an offering, a surrender of control.In those few syllables, Anders placed the choice firmly in Etta’s hands.
A sense of liberation washed over her along with the knowledge that she held the power.
Her senses hummed with heightened awareness, each breath, each heartbeat threatening to sweep her away.
Placing her hand upon his chest, she felt the solid thrum of his heart beneath her palm.She tilted her head up, locking her gaze onto his, searching for any sign of hesitation.But there was none—only the steady burn of anticipation.
The air between them thickened, and Etta became acutely aware as he watched her of every inch he surveyed, from the curve of her jaw down the column of her throat, lingering on the rise and fall of her chest before lifting once more to meet her eyes.
A blush bloomed across her cheeks, spreading over her skin as the heat of his stare branded her, the possibilities he offered both enticing and unnerving her.
Her pulse quickened, desire playing beneath her skin as she leaned into the space he held open for her.
Slowly, deliberately, Etta bridged the final breath of space that divided them, pressing her lips to Anders’s, her breath feathering against his lips—a soft whisper of contact at first.
Anders responded, his lips parting to welcome her deeper.
Unlike their first kiss in the clearing, which had been tentative and questioning, this one was hungry, desperate.
She gripped his shoulders tightly as he moved his arms to encircle her waist, drawing her onto his lap without breaking the kiss.
Heat blazed between them, and Etta pressed closer, wanting more contact, more connection.
Anders groaned against her mouth, sliding his hands up her back to tangle in her hair.The gentle tug sent sparks of pleasure racing across her skin, and she responded with a soft sound that was nearly a growl.
Her senses reeled, overwhelmed by the taste of him, the scent that clung to his skin, the sound of their mingled breaths.
Anders slid his hands beneath the hem of her shirt, skimming along the soft skin of her waist.His thumbs traced the tender undersides of her breasts, igniting a trail of heat that arrowed straight down.When he brushed them across her nipples, the sensation pooled into lava, heating her core, ready to burst into flame at any moment.
A moan escaped Etta’s lips as she surrendered to the pleasure he evoked.The sound reverberated against the stark walls of the command center, mingling with the hum of technology.
Pure longing scented the air between them, their touches whispering secrets only her newly heightened senses could decipher as he trailed his lips from her mouth to her jaw, then pushed her shirt up.He dipped his head down, lifting her breasts out of her bra.
As he slid his lips against her skin, she pressed her chest forward, offering more access in a gesture that felt instinctively right.Anders accepted the invitation, closing his mouth around one nipple.
