SHIVER: 13 Sexy Tales of Humor and Horror (74 page)

“You’re not afraid,” he murmured into my ear, “you’re turned on.”

When his teeth sank lightly into my earlobe, my eyes nearly rolled back into my head.  I’d definitely lost the upper hand in this encounter.  At the realization, my lids popped open and I reached up, shoving my hand into the back of Calder’s thick golden brown hair and giving it a hard yank.

“Ouch!” he yelped.

I swallowed a smile at the distinctly canine sound.  Calder lifted his head and glared down at me, lifting a hand to rub the back of his head.

“What was that for?” he growled.

I blinked up at him, batting my eyelashes.  “I told you to let me go.  Since you weren’t listening to my words, I decided to get your attention another way.”

Smiling ruefully, he released me and stepped away.  “Sorry.  Your mouth may have said no, but all I could smell was-“

I poked him in the chest with my finger hard enough to make him flinch.  “That’s enough of that,” I stated firmly.

He shrugged, no longer the sensual, dangerous man from a few moments before.  Instead he looked like a mischievous little boy.  Okay, so maybe more like a horny teenager.

My heart was still pounding and, even though I knew I should be angry and storm away, I didn’t want to.  I wanted to stay and talk to him.  This particular impulsive behavior might have been why Donna had told me to stay out of trouble.  Ignoring the little voice that told me I was playing with fire, I moved away and hopped up on top of a nearby desk, letting my feet swing.  “So, how did you know my name?”

He prowled over to the table and propped a hip against it.  We were so close our shoulders touched.  Reaching out a long arm, Calder snagged the Scotch from the top of the liquor cabinet and opened it.  I watched incredulously as he took a swig straight from the bottle.  I knew for a fact that the bottle he was drinking from cost over $1,000 and it was a struggle not to snatch it out of his hands.

He offered me the bottle and I shook my head.  With a sigh, he said, “I’ll answer your question if you take a drink.”

I raised my eyebrows at him.  “So it’s like that, is it?”

His waggling the bottle was my only answer.

Glaring at him, I grabbed the bottle and took a small sip.  Calder merely shook his head and gestured for me to take another.  Grunting, I took a deeper drink, feeling the trail of warmth from the excellent Scotch as it slid down my throat.  I handed the bottle back to him.

“I was there the day Donna and Conner rescued you and your friends.”

I blinked at him.  “I don’t remember you.”

He took another pull from the bottle before handing it back to me.  It wasn’t until I drank that he replied, “We didn’t meet that day.”

Perplexed, I passed the bottle and asked, “Then how do you know me?”  He paused, as though weighing his answer.  “Just tell me the truth, Calder.”

He shrugged.  “I’m not sure you’ll understand my answer.”  He sipped the Scotch.

I didn’t hesitate to drink when he handed the liquid back to me.  “Try me.”

After another pause, he finally continued, “You understand that wolves have a highly developed sense of smell, right?”

Rolling my eyes, I nodded.

“Hey, just checking,” he said defensively.  “Anyway, the day we tracked you down and rescued you, I could smell you.  It wasn’t the same as it usually is when  I’m tracking.  Your scent seemed to....call out to me.  I could smell your anger, your fear, and it enraged me.  I’ve never felt that way during a hunt before.”  He turned his green eyes to me once again.  “It was as if your very essence was imprinted in my soul.”

I wasn’t sure if the trembling that ran through my limbs came from his confession or the liquor I’d so rapidly consumed.  Either way, I couldn’t control it.

When he continued, the warmth created by the Scotch transformed into a different sort of heat.  “I think I would recognize your scent fifty years from now, even if I never saw you again.  It’s as if a part of you lives inside me now.”

I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Calder’s as he set the bottle aside and reached for me.  Slowly, as though he didn’t want to frighten me, he rose from  the table and moved to stand in front of me.  I stopped breathing as his hand lifted and he slid his fingers along my cheekbone, below my ear, and to the back of my neck.  His touch was light, but confident, and it left tiny sparks dancing along my skin.

Completely entranced, I watched as his face came closer.  I knew he was going to kiss me, but what surprised me the most was how badly I wanted it.  He was a walking sensual promise and I wanted a taste.  In fact, I wanted the whole fucking banquet.

My body tightened
to the point of breaking when Ricki sighed against my lips.  Jesus, this woman managed to push every single button I had.  First, she was feisty and now acquiescent.  It was as if she knew exactly what to do and when to do it in order to make me crazy with lust.

I wanted to wrap her long, wild hair around my fist, yank her head back, and devour her mouth the way I wanted to devour her pussy.  Somehow, I held back.  Ricki was a human woman, not some bitch in heat.  It had been a long time since I’d fucked a human, probably not since college.  Vaguely, I remembered that the last human girl I’d been with liked slow, soft kisses and gentle touches.  She complained if I was too rough or demanding, saying it frightened her.

As I took Ricki’s mouth for the first time, I focused on keeping the kiss light, almost chaste, rather than ravenous the way my body demanded.  However, the urge to take remained, bubbling relentlessly beneath my skin.

When her tongue darted out to swipe my bottom lip, I couldn’t hold back the low growl that crawled up my throat before I opened my mouth over hers and plunged my tongue inside.  Her whimper brought me back to myself and I pulled back slightly.

We were both panting as we stared into each other’s eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Ricki asked breathlessly.

I shook my head and lowered my mouth to her neck, kissing the soft skin beneath her ear and down her throat.  Once again, she grabbed a handful of my hair and pulled hard.  My head snapped up and I bit back a snarl, not of anger, but of enjoyment.  I loved it when my partners played rough.

“What?”

Ricki studied me with narrowed eyes.  “Why are you holding back?” she demanded.

“What?” I asked.  I had no idea what she was talking about.

“Earlier, you bit me hard enough to leave a mark, but now it’s almost as though you’re afraid you’ll break me.  What’s going on here?”

“I thought human women liked their partners to be gentle,” I answered defensively.  Why in the hell were we having this conversation?  I lowered my face to her collarbone and licked.  When she shivered in my arms, it took everything I had not to yank her hips against mine and grind my aching cock over her pussy.

The damned woman yanked my hair again, this time even harder.  Before I realized what I was doing, I growled and pinned her flat on her back on top of the table.  When I saw her wide eyes, I felt disgust with myself.

To my complete shock, she smiled smugly and stated, “That’s more like it.”

Certain I was hearing things, I asked, “What?”

My spine arched as her hand moved from my hair to beneath the hem of my t-shirt and she dragged her nails down the skin of my back.  I knew there would be marks, but she didn’t press quite hard enough to break the skin.  I was going to go out of my fucking mind if she didn’t stop touching me like that.

“You’re not going to break me, Calder.”

I shook my head, trying to focus so I could explain that I could, in fact, break her.  I could seriously injure her if I lost all control.  “You don’t understand-”

She made a frustrated sound as she interrupted, “No,
you
don’t understand.  I like a little pain with my pleasure, Calder.  In fact, sometimes I like a lot of pain.”

I lifted my head and said the first thing that came to mind.  “Like BDSM?”

Ricki shook her head.  “Not exactly.  I mean, I don’t get off on the idea of someone whipping me and I’d probably swat your nose with a newspaper if you tried to boss me around.  But I like it when my partner is rough or gives me love bites.  I like looking in the mirror the next day and seeing finger imprints bruised on my wrists or thighs.  It turns me on.”

What she described was how wolves fucked.  Wild, rough, and intense.  I wanted to do each and every one of those things to her and a hell of a lot more.  I had to close my eyes when her nails dug into my lower back again.  If she kept it up, I would lose what little control I had left.

I blew out a breath.  “I understand what you’re saying.”  I opened my eyes to find Ricki staring up at me, an uncertain expression on her face.  “What’s wrong?”

“You think I’m a freak, don’t you?”

I shook my head.  “Hell no.”

“Then why are you staring at me like that instead of kissing me?”

“Because, if I kiss you, I won’t be able to stop until I’ve fucked you raw.”

At Calder’s bold
statement, I felt as though the blood in my veins had turned molten.  My entire body was burning.  My hips moved restlessly beneath his and I moaned as he ground his erection against my clit.  I couldn’t believe I’d said all those things to him.  I had confessed my deepest desires to someone I’d only met minutes ago.

This was insane.  I didn’t even know this man but my body was begging for him to do exactly what he threatened to do; fuck me raw.  I wanted it and, if I closed my eyes, I could see it.  His naked body stretched over mine, sweat gleaming on his golden skin, as he drove into my body hard and deep.

Green eyes intent on my mouth, Calder began to lower his head.  My heart was beating so hard and fast, I felt as though I were seconds away from passing out.

Just before his lips touched mine, I whispered, “Wait.”  I could swear I heard him whine, but he stopped, our mouths less than an inch apart.  Calder tilted his head so our foreheads touched.  I sucked in a shaky breath.  “This is happening too fast.  I don’t know what in the hell I’m doing.”

As though it hurt to move, he moved off the table, his hands grasping mine and pulling me up into a sitting position.  I managed to get to my feet and stagger to the bottle of Scotch Calder had set aside earlier.  Even though my head was spinning from a combination of liquor and lust already, I took a huge drink, coughing as the amber liquid seared my throat and stomach.

My knees gave out and I grabbed onto the table to catch myself.  Putting the bottle on the table before I dropped it, I waved Calder away when he moved toward me.  “No, please.  Don’t touch me right now.  I can’t think straight when you’re touching me.”  I rolled my eyes at his satisfied smile.  I needed to think before I opened my mouth.  That wolf already had a healthy ego, it would be a bad idea to continue feeding it.

I moved to the wall, leaning back against it, still taking quick, shallow breaths because my lungs were so constricted by the corset.  I really wanted to loosen the laces, but it would have to wait.  I was fairly certain that the leather bustier would end up on the floor if I untied the knot in the front right now.  Calder’s eyes were still hot with lust and his face was flushed.

Talking mostly to myself, I asked, “What just happened?”

Though I hadn’t expected him to, Calder answered, “I think it’s called lust.”

I shot him a narrow-eyed look to let him know that his flippant remark wasn’t appreciated.  “I know
that
.  I never, and I mean
never
, behave like that.  I’ve known you, what?  Five minutes?  The most contact I have with people I’ve known for minutes is a handshake.”

Calder laughed softly.  “Took you by surprise, huh?”

I nodded.

He crossed the room and stood in front of me, his eyes studying my face intently.  He lifted a hand and wrapped a curl of my hair around his finger.  “We can go back to the party.  You can drive me crazy by rubbing that incredible body all over me on the dance floor and we’ll get to know each other.”

Shocked, I stared up at him.  “Huh?”

It was his turn to look off balance.  “Yeah.  Why do you seem surprised?”

“Well, uh, most men would be a little upset if I put on the brakes just as things were getting intense.”

Calder’s mouth quirked slightly in a small smile.  “I’m not most men, darlin’.”  He tugged the curl he’d wrapped around his finger and released it.  “So, you wanna go back to the party?”

I decided to take a risk.  “Not really.”  When his brows rose, I continued.  “It was nice sitting in here and talking to you.  If we go back to the party, it will be loud and crowded.”

I watched as Calder went to the table and grabbed the bottle we’d been drinking from, then he went to the liquor cabinet and picked up two glasses.

Gesturing to a small sofa, he said, “Then why don’t we sit here, drink, and talk?”

Smiling, I straightened from the wall.  “Sounds good, but I’d rather have vodka than Scotch.”

“Then I’ll drink the whiskey and you get the vodka.”

I went to the liquor cabinet and poured a good amount of vodka into a glass.  I would have preferred some sort of mixer or at least some ice, but I could tolerate it if I took slow sips.