Page 28 of Shifters' Fated Summer
“You’ll want to. It’s in our nature.” That hand on my thigh slid higher, and I wasn’t sure it was intentional. Luca seemed to touch me without thinking, but I was finding it hard to think of anything else. His palm was so hot.
“We draw some power from our pack. And thepack bond is really comforting. I think you’ll like it.” He continued to explain, and I clenched my fingers in the blankets, trying to force myself to focus when all I wanted to do was jump his bones. I swear these werewolves coated themselves in sex pollen.
“So what about the next week? I can’t sit in this room for a week waiting on the moon. It’s been really nice, but I think it’ll get boring.”
Luca tilted his head, his eyes narrowing and mouth curving wickedly. “I’m not enough entertainment for you?”
Scrunching my nose, I scowled at him. His exhale came out in an amused chuff.
“You should get to know the rest of the pack.” That sounds like a bad idea after my experience with Cade and Luca. “You can enjoy the pack house and spend some time relaxing. Maybe read in a hammock. Swim in the lake if you want to. Can you swim?”
I shook my head.
“Okay, maybe not that. But you can sit on the dock with your toes in the water. I’ll sit with you.”
“Don’t you have other things to do other than babysit me?” I said, a tinge of bitterness to my tone.
His hand tightened, fingers pressing into the soft flesh at the top of my thigh. “No. They can plan the next mission. My focus is you.”
My swallow was thick. His blistering, icy stare sent a shiver down my spine. He was so beautiful, it made my chest ache and my skin prickle.
“Okay, I do have to help some. But I promise, I won’t abandon you. And I’m sure you’ll make friends in the pack.”
“I don’t think the rest of them liked me. You heard what that woman said,” I muttered, trying to escape the intensity of his attention.
His lips flattened and his eyes flashed. I fought the urge to flinch at his anger. “I’ve made it clear that you are under my protection. But, I think we should really drive the point home.”
“What?”
He pressed forward, and I leaned back, my brows pinching.
“Remember how you scent-marked me without meaning to? That is a sign to other wolves. You wear my scent, you belong to me. It’ll deter them on an instinctual level.”
With each word, he moved, fluid like the predator he was. My gaze caught on his canines, and I imagined them on my skin, biting in a very different way than the vampires did.
“Oh,” I said, breathless. He was on his hands and knees, his face inches from mine.
“May I?” he asked, hesitating.
Blinking, I nodded, struggling to form a sentence. His hand pressed on my shoulder, lowering me back to sprawl on the bed. His hand moved to my neck, and his fingers threaded into the hair at my nape, his wrist rubbing along the sensitive skin belowmy ear.
His chest pressed into mine, his arm supporting most of his weight. The pressure of him was comforting, and I had to bite back a moan.
I kept as still as I could, letting Luca nuzzle into my neck, like I had done to him before. His lips pressed into the crook of my neck, and I stopped breathing altogether.
His fingers in my hair tightened, the pull making my eyes roll back in my head.
He was just scent-marking me. I shouldn’t be imagining our clothing coming off.
A wave of dizziness washed over me, and I forced myself to breathe, trying to control the quick, shaky inhales.
He dragged his tongue over the same spot, and my vision went white.
“Luca,” I whined his name.
The werewolf froze. Every muscle went taut under my hands. “Are you begging me, wildcat?”
“No.” Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to get myself under control. “Yes. Maybe.”
