Down & Dirty (Bundle) (27 page)

The thought was enough to make her laugh. “I
don’t want a man like Jack, and I sure as hell don’t want one like
Oliver. But I think… I might like a man like you.”

“
Don’t know what the girl
sees in Oliver myself. Would’ve thought you’d have raised her with
more sense, what with your obviously exquisite taste.” His shirt
hit the floor and his hands fell to his belt. “I thought since your
girls have taken up residence in the home I recently inherited from
our alpha, you might see your way to offering me a place to
stay.”

Lottie pretended to consider that as she
began to unbutton her blouse. “I do have a spare room since Hazel
moved out,” she teased.

“
Better than the couch.”
The buckle slipped open. “Unless you’re on the couch with
me.”

She didn’t bother to hide her excitement,
because he’d hear her quickened pulse anyway. “There’s more room in
my bed, I suppose.”

Thomas stepped closer and covered her hands
with his. “Was hoping maybe we could discuss an arrangement that
made one of these beds into our bed.”

Lottie dropped a quick kiss to each of his
hands. “You mean like how I asked you to marry me?”

“
Mm-hmm.” He moved her
hands and resumed unbuttoning her shirt himself. “You didn’t give
me much of a chance to woo you gently, did you?”

“
You did woo me gently. For
months, if Ginny and Jack are to be believed.”

“
Not very effectively, if
you didn’t notice.”

She made a soft noise to soothe him. “I was
waiting for you to ravish me. Which you are entirely welcome to do
now.”

“
Haven’t I ravished you
enough for one week?” He undid the last button and eased her shirt
open. Large hands drifted up to cup her breasts. “Can’t I make love
to my future wife?”

He touched her carefully, and her breathing
roughened. “Sure can… as long as you’re talking about me.”

His thumbs eased over her nipples, plying
them gently. Teasing. “Don’t know who else I’d be talking
about.”

“
Good.” Lottie wound her
arms around Thomas’s neck. She stood on her toes to feather her
lips over his as the heat in her belly grew. “Then make love to me.
Everything you wanted to do when you weren’t fucking
me.”

Thomas chuckled and bit her lower lip
softly. “We’re wolves in love, darling. There’s always going to be
love in the fucking, but there’s always going to be fucking in the
sweet love, too. That’s the way we are.”

She bit him back, harder and with a growl.
“I’d be happy with either or both, honey, as long as you’re
touching me.”

“
That’s not going to stop
anytime soon.” He slid his hands up to her shoulders and under the
shirt, coaxing it down her arms. “You sure your hands are all
healed up now?”

“
Mmm.” She held them up to
show him again. “But your leg could use more time. Want to lie
down?”

When her shirt hit the floor he reached for
his pants again, the look in his eyes hot. “Maybe. You want to be
the bossy one tonight, sweetheart?”

“
Maybe.” Lottie unbuttoned
her skirt and let it fall. Her panties were pre-War and French,
made of flimsy, filmy silk, and she moved more slowly than she had
to, just to enjoy the way he watched her. “Lie down,
honey.”

Moments later he was stretched out naked on
her bed, fully aroused and staring at her like he couldn’t get
enough of her. “You’re so gorgeous.”

His words and the intensity of his gaze made
her shiver, and her breathing hitched as she tried to imagine a
lifetime of having him look at her just like that. “I love you,
Thomas. And the reason I’ve run from you for so long is that I was
scared. Scared your reserve meant I was the only one who felt that
way.”

“
I have to be reserved out
there.” He held out his hand and caught hers, tugging her gently
toward him. “The pack needs me to be… safe. Quiet. But when we’re
alone…”

He closed his eyes and she felt his power, a
quiet surge that grew until it filled the room, full of hot passion
and protective need. It shivered through her, and she couldn’t hold
back an answering moan as wet heat gathered between her thighs and
made her ready for him. “I was wrong,” she whispered as she climbed
on the bed beside him. “I know that now.”

“
Show me.” He traced a
finger up her arm and over her breast, teasing at her nipple. “Ride
me, Lottie. I want to watch you come.”

She eased over him and didn’t stop until the
head of his cock was poised at her entrance. “Like this?”

He proved himself incapable of lying
passively when he pinched her nipple and arched up, sinking the
first few inches of his cock into her. “Oh yes.”

Lottie sucked in a rough
breath and rocked down until he was completely inside her. It took
her a moment to speak and, even when she did, her voice was a husky
whisper. “It feels
right
to have you inside me.”

Thomas wrapped a hand around her hip and
urged her to move with a soft tug. “Because that’s where I
belong.”

She leaned over and kissed him. “It
shouldn’t have taken me so long to realize that.”

Strong fingers wove into her hair and held
her steady for a long, deep kiss. His tongue thrust between her
lips, matching the rhythm of his hips as he rocked up into her,
slow and steady.

Instead of burning hot and fast, pleasure
built slowly, intensified by the way he held her, as if he’d never
laid hands on anything so precious in his life. Lottie shifted her
hips and gasped when the change in position sent streaks of fire
spiraling through her.

“
That’s it,” he murmured
against her lips. Both hands tightened, forcing her to keep that
angle as he moved just a little faster, a little deeper. “Feel it,
Lottie.”

“
Always.” She caught his
lips in another desperate kiss, determined not to rush, to draw out
the climb to orgasm. To show him what nights would be like in the
bed they shared.

But he didn’t seem willing to let her wait.
The hand in her hair moved, first to her breast where he tugged at
her nipple until she bit his lip and moaned. Then lower, caressing
her belly before dipping to tease between her legs.

His thumb stroked her, tiny little touches
that grew firmer as she began to shake over him. She barely had
time to throw back her head and gasp his name before she came,
blood roaring in her ears and pleasure pulsing through her body,
making her clench around his cock.

He groaned but he didn’t stop. “Again,
sweetheart. You’re so damn beautiful like this…”

She shook her head and tried to speak. “I
need -- need you to take me.”

A hoarse chuckle rumbled out of his chest.
“Oh, honey, that’s what I’m doing. Your body is mine now.” His
thumb pressed hard against her clit as he thrust up into her. “And
I want you to come.”

Denying him was impossible. Lottie shrieked,
and the metallic scent of blood filled her nose as her nails sank
into Thomas’s chest. She heard him growl, heard her name leave his
lips, and his hips drove up against her hard enough that her knees
left the bed.

Her limbs wouldn’t hold her, and she
collapsed against his chest. When she could finally speak again,
she cursed. “I scratched you to hell and back.”

“
Mmm.” His lips brushed
against the top of her head. “I earned it. But I’m not taking it
back. You’re mine.”

“
Yours.” Happiness suffused
her, and she couldn’t stop smiling. “Long engagement? I’ll be
pretty busy for a while, rebuilding the saloon.”

“
I’ll help you,” he
promised. “Jack’s been dumping too much work on me while he hides
out on Ginny’s ranch. He can just take a little bit of it
back.”

She rested her cheek on his chest and bit
her lip to hide her nervousness. “If you’d like, we could go ahead
and get married, you know.”

He tugged at her hair and tilted her head
back so she had to meet his eyes. Then he smiled. “Tomorrow?”

Her smile widened into a grin. “Think we can
pull it off?”

“
Together? I think we can
pull
anything
off.”

Lottie had never felt this kind of joy
mingled with such contentment. “Better test that theory,” she
observed sagely, wiggling over him.

“
Oh, is that what you’re
doing?” He moved fast, rolling her under his body. “Thought you
were trying to drive me out of what’s left of my wits.”

“
Never,” she breathed. “I
like you with your wits. I like everything about you.”

Warmth feathered over her cheek as he leaned
down to kiss her. His lips traced her jaw, brushed over hers, then
dropped a tiny, teasing kiss to the tip of her nose. “I love
everything about you.”

“
Even though I’m stubborn
and opinionated?”

“
Because
you’re stubborn and opinionated.”

“
Don’t forget
outspoken.”

He groaned and bit her lower lip. 
“Hard to forget when I’m trying to sweet talk you and you won’t
shut up.”

Lottie reached up to frame his face with her
hands, her heart threatening to pound out of her chest.  “As
long as you know what you’re getting into, honey.”

“
I do, sweetheart.” 
Love shone in his eyes, and trust.  And happiness. “What about
you?  You’re getting both halves of me, Charlotte.  Quiet
and restrained is who I have to be in the pack.”

She loved that about him, too, that he cared
enough about the pack to take on the responsibility of being Jack’s
second-in-command.  An alpha was feared, respected, even
revered, but acting as beta was often a thankless job.

And what she’d told him was
true; she couldn’t have been happy with a man so used to having his
unquestioned way that he never stopped to ask what she felt was
best.  “I love both halves of you,” she whispered
softly.  “I
want
both halves of you.”

“
Then they’re yours,” he
replied just as quietly.  “For as long as you want
me.”

Only one word came to mind. 
“Forever.”

About the Author

How do you make a Moira Rogers? Take a former
forensic science and nursing student obsessed with paranormal
romance and add a computer programmer with a passion for gritty
urban fantasy. Toss in a dash of whimsy and a lot of caffeine, and
enjoy with a side of chocolate by the light of the full moon.

By day, Bree and Donna are
mild-mannered ladies who reside in the Deep South. At night, when
their husbands and children are asleep, they combine forces to
unleash the product of their fevered imaginations upon the page. To
learn more about this romance writing, crime fighting duo, visit
their webpage at
www.moirarogers.com
.
(Disclaimer: crime fighting abilities may appear only in the
aforementioned fevered imaginations.)