My back arched when he licked again, the gold in his eyes so bright now that they were shining. “Always. For as long as I can remember.”
My shoulders slumped when a picture of my mother’s face burned through my mind. Her features were fuzzy, but I remembered that she had blond hair, a sweet smile, and a way about her that always made me want to wrap my little arms around her waist. Never, never tell anyone. Yet, I had just told the Fire Wolf, just betrayed that promise.
My eyes squeezed shut until he wrung another gasp from me. He was licking me in earnest again, devouring me, as though he could no longer control himself as his fingers pumped relentlessly. My hips began gyrating, moving with him even though I hated that I couldn’t control how I was reacting to this, to him.
“Can either of your parents do it too?”
I shook my head, my mind shifting, trying not to concentrate on his fingers . . . Gods, his fingers. “I don’t know, but I don’t think so.”
“How can you not know?”
“Because they died when Tessa and I were young.” I panted again when another wave built, crawling higher, and then even higher.
“Tell me.” That alpha command was back in his voice again.
“All I remember is that they told me not to tell anyone about this power,” I said in a rush. “They made me promise.”
“And yet you told me.” A triumphant look came into his eyes, his wolf preening.
I arched again as his mouth lapped and sucked. Another wave. Another crest. So close.
“Enough of this,” he said in a deep voice. “I want to feast on you.” He wrapped his hand around my hip, holding me against his face as his fingers continued their onslaught, and with startling clarity, I realized that he’d been holding back, not unleashing the full potency of his seduction until his mouth became unleashed.
“Fuck!” My body coiled as tight as a spring as the waves rose higher, higher, and higher. How was this possible? How was this happening? The mountain grew and grew, that peak elongating to an unreachable height until a ferocious growl tore from him, slamming into me, reverberating along my clit, vibrating to the depths of my core, and then—
“Yes!” My body shattered, bucking, exploding into a whirling climax as I writhed against his face and fell apart all around him.
A possessive rumble of male satisfaction tore from his throat as his fingers stayed buried inside me, fucking me in deep pumps while his mouth stayed latched on to my clit. He still devoured me, still licked, still sucked, still savored, as my climax rolled through me in unrelenting, soul-wrenching waves.
I saw stars and light when my new, awakening power activated again, pulling an ocean of his magic and werewolf possession into me. So much desire and power came from him. It was so much, too much, the sensations, the magic, the unrequited wanting from him. I felt it. All of it.
“Mine,” he growled, in a low, throaty whisper. “My woman.”
That whispered comment flowed through my senses, so soft and yet filled with so much rawness that I couldn’t have imagined it. And then I was floating. Floating in a sea of languid sensations, silky heat, and decadent spice as my new power finally calmed, detaching me from his power.
A low blissful moan escaped me as my body just . . . melted.
Another satisfied growl came from between my thighs, then the feel of the hunter moving up my body, his rigid erection a pulsing rod against my thigh. My legs opened of their own accord, wanting him, welcoming him. My body betrayed me even now, even after it was spent and loved.
But instead of sheathing himself inside me, he settled next to me before cupping my cheek and kissing me softly on the mouth.
“You’re not going to . . .” My question lingered, my mind still fuzzy.
His erection pulsed against me. He was so large, so full, that he was throbbing. And the look on his face . . . Every part of him strained with need. He wanted release, but his jaw locked and he replied, “When I take you, you’ll come to me of your own free will, not because my wolf commanded it.”
His lips brushed across mine again, my womanly taste on his mouth. “Thank you,” he said simply, “for telling me about your power.”
Hearing that comment, knowing that he’d just owned me despite me trying to fight him, despite me not wanting to share that information with him, made my eyes flash wide open. Any lingering effects of my orgasm vanished as I beheld the massive hunter lying by my side, satisfaction rolling across his expression as something else did too. Something I couldn’t quite decipher.
Horror made my eyes bulge. What have I done? I stiffened and pushed him away.
His lips tightened into a frown. He made a move to pull me back, but I shoved his arms away and stayed where I was, my chest rising and falling so fast I could barely catch my breath.
“Tala?” His silky voice was soft yet guarded.
“Get off my bed!” I said vehemently.
His expression didn’t change, didn’t falter, but I sensed his hesitation, as though he only just realized that he’d pushed me too far. “You wanted me,” he said simply, as if that explained away any wrongdoing on his part. “I didn’t force that from you. You’ve wanted me since the moment we met.”
“Is that how you think this works? Just because my body craves you, you think that you can also command me to tell you things?”
“I wanted to know what you did to me.”
My palm tingled with the urge to slap him, but then another emotion overtook me. For some stupid reason, I felt like crying. My entire life, I’d hidden away what I could do so nobody would ever know, but now, the Fire Wolf knew. I’d told him, and all because my stupid body wanted and craved him.
Ugh. I’m so weak.
“Why do you think your parents made you promise to keep your power a secret?” he asked quietly.
I didn’t reply as a sweeping sense of resignation filled me that I couldn’t take what I’d done back. My secret was out, and the promise to my mother had been broken. There was no going back. What was done, was done.
“Tala?” he said quietly, almost gently.
I took a deep, shuddering breath, but refused to look him in the eye. “I think they were worried that if it got out, I would either be a pariah or a target.” I didn’t tell him about the Bone Eaters. I wouldn’t tell him anything more.
He nodded. “Power like that could be very valuable, coveted by many.”
“No shit. Pretty sure the SF or some rich supernatural would try to get me on their payroll.”
A long moment passed in which he assessed me again. I could feel his burning, unvoiced wanting. He’d gotten his answer, but he still wanted more. He wanted me too.
I crossed my arms. “I’m not going to spread my legs for you. Whatever this is between us, it’s over.”
He moved closer to me, his eyes narrowed. “Why are you so upset?” A deep groove appeared between his brows. “You enjoyed that. You loved what I did to you. I could feel it. It wasn’t just me who wanted it.”
But I remained quiet and looked away, balling my hands. I looked anywhere but at him—at my bed and its rumpled lilac-colored sheets. My small wooden bedside table with a water ring near the corner. My lone widow that had a gauzy white curtain pulled over it. So many uninteresting things to stare at, but it beat answering the hunter’s burning questions.