Primal Heat (8 page)

“Bas!” I gasped his name, and that was all it took. A dam broke inside
me and I lifted my hands and cupped his face. We moved. We flew. Up the stairs
and down the hall. All the while, I kept my lips locked with his, my hands
carving through the thick softness of his hair.

Then he set me down. I took a stuttering step sideways, reaching out to
grab the end of the bed. He had me breathless. Senseless. Bas stood before me
still and strong. Instinctively, I knew what he wanted. Or more importantly, I
knew what he gave. A choice. My choice. He said he could keep his distance. It
was in me to tell him he must. Whatever this was scared me as much as it felt
right. And yet, in that fraction of a second when my sensible brain told me to
do the safest thing, something else flared to life and snuffed it out.

This. Bas. I couldn’t breathe without him. Couldn’t stand not to have
him touching me for another second. I didn’t know what he wanted or needed from
me. And then I did. I raised my head to meet his eyes and said one word that
changed my life forever.

“Yes.”

He moved like molten lightning. Quick and sure. He peeled his shirt off
his shoulders and unsnapped his jeans. The sight of him set off a starburst
behind my ribcage. God. He was beautiful. Savage. Strong. The perfect cut of
his muscles. From his molded abs and tapered waist to his sculpted thighs and
powerful calves. He grew hard before me, and his massive erection bobbed. My
own thighs quivered at the power and promise it held.

Bas took a slow step toward me, his eyes never leaving mine. His
swirled and changed, and I sensed the wolf hovering just beneath him, naked and
powerful too. He reached out and started the slow process of unbuttoning my
blouse. My breath hitched and my breasts trembled as he took his time with me.
He spread my shirt and ran his fingers across the smooth slope of my breast,
hooking them beneath my bra. With a deft thumb and index finger, he unclasped
the front. His eyes flashed pure wolf as my breasts swung free for his
inspection.

God. I wanted him. My core became liquid heat as he trailed a skillful
finger over each nipple, pebbling them. I wanted more. I wanted his mouth. His
body pressed against mine. For now though, he took his time, delivering
delicious torture as he worked one nipple, then the other, raising them to throbbing
peaks as he watched.

He reached up and slid my shirt and bra off my shoulders then spanned
his hands across my waist. He knelt slowly before me, and I placed my hands on
the crown of his head. Bas wasn’t as gentle as he tore the button of my jeans
and peeled them off, taking my panties with them. I stepped out of them and
stood before him completely naked now.

He parted my thighs and took in my scent. I could hide nothing from
him. My sex glistened with my arousal as he flicked his tongue against my most
sensitive flesh. I gasped and swayed, but Bas held me steady. He looked up at
me with those devilish eyes. Oh, he enjoyed this.

“I want to look at you.”

“You are looking at me.” I don’t know where I found the strength to
form words. I felt strung tight like a bow. The slightest touch of his finger
or breath on my sex might send me spasming toward my first climax.

I couldn’t take it. I wanted him too badly. I sat down on the bed and
slid my hands across his shoulders then tilted his head toward mine. Drowning
in kisses, I curved my body toward his, dropping slowly to my knees. And then
he was before me, hard and turgid. He groaned with anticipation, but it was my
turn to deliver a type of torture. I ran my tongue along his thigh, letting the
hairs tickle my nose. With my hands gripping his taut ass, I went up on the
pads of my feet and slid my mouth around him.

“Oh, God!” I looked up to see Bas throw his head back as I fastened my
mouth around the tip of his cock then brought it slowly down. He filled me. I
strained from the effort of bringing all of him into my mouth, but I knew I
needed it. Him. All of him. I sucked and licked, wanting to be slow and
sensual. But, it didn’t work out that way. A fuse lit within me and the more of
him I tasted, the wilder I became until the world became the sounds my mouth
and tongue made as I struggled to take more and more.

His held his fingers in my hair, urging me on. I licked and stroked and
reveled in the pleasure I knew it gave him. It gave me such pleasure too. My
thighs trembled as I held myself in place and tried to keep pace with his
thrusts. He was steel and velvet in my mouth. Salt and spice. His pulse
thrummed inside of me. Somehow, I was his before he even took me. I had always
been his. I just never knew it until now.

Bas hooked his fingers under my arms and carefully lifted me to my
feet. His eyes flared again when I licked my lips. He barely let me catch my
breath before he devoured me with urgent kisses all over again. He lifted me,
wrapping my thighs around his waist as he took me to the bed. He was gentle as
he laid me down, spreading me beneath him. Bas gathered my wrists in one hand
and pinned them above my head as he shifted his weight so he laid along the
length of me. I quivered as he raked his eyes over me, liking what he saw.

“God, you’re perfect. I wish I could keep you here like this forever.”

And I wanted him too. Badly. As he trailed a finger between my breasts and
over the slope of my stomach, I quivered. My body called out for his and I
thrust my hips as he dipped that finger between my legs and found me wet and
wanting.

“Please,” I gasped. Strung taut, Bas knew how to play me. With a slow,
lazy finger, he circled the tiny bud between my legs and coaxed me to my first
orgasm within seconds. I couldn’t help it. It exploded out of me as my legs
fell open and he slid his finger inside of me. He had me shameless and wanton
and he’d barely touched me. It was if he could command my body and bring me to
heel just like he’d done with his wolves outside. Such was the power of Bas
Lanier, and he wielded it to bring me aching pleasure.

“Bas!” I gasped, turning my body toward his. I meant to bring myself up
and straddle him. I couldn’t stand not having him inside of me for another
second.

“Patience,” he said. “I want to take my time with you.”

He moved in a flash so quick my eyes barely had time to register it
before he was back on the bed again. He’d taken the belt from his pants and
held it out between his hands. I writhed beneath him with the erotic promise he
held. He took my hands again and looped the belt around them, lashing me to the
headboard.

Then, he was on his feet again, knotting the sheets around my ankles
and binding me to the footboard. He had me open, exposed, spread-eagled before
him. When his eyes shone with that lustful glint, I begged him to take me.

But, Bas was far from done. He settled himself between my thighs and
licked me again. A sensual growl vibrated through him and into me, sending a
fresh wave of juices for him to taste. He worked me there, bringing me to
another climax, and another after that. He was merciless, enjoying the way I
writhed beneath him and begged him for more.

Finally, he let me go and rose above me, his erection looming large. I
craned my neck to take him in my mouth again and he let me. From this angle, I
could reach all of him, tip to shaft and underneath. It was his turn to groan
with delight and my turn to deliver sweet punishment at my pace.

But not for long. I felt him seize up and braced myself to take all of
him in. At the last second, Bas pulled away and went to his knees between my
legs. He stroked himself and I craned my neck to watch. As he hovered just
inches away from my entrance, he had me begging for him again.

“Bas, please. I can’t wait anymore. I need you.”

Finally, he gave me what I craved. His thick head probed me and spread
me wide. I arched my back to urge him forward. Then he entered me. Slowly.
Filling me. Claiming me. He stretched me wide and made me whole. Bas leaned
forward and began the slow, deliberate thrusts I’d begged him for. He rested
his weight on one arm while he undid the bindings on my hands and feet with the
other. I curved my body around his, trying to take even more of him in. His
rhythm was smooth and hard and perfect. I pulled him into me, threading one
hand through the hair at the nape of his neck, the other curved around his
supple ass.

“Yes. Yes!”

More. Always. More. I couldn’t get enough of him. I reared up and
wrapped my legs around his waist as his thrusts became more erratic. I leaned
up and caught his earlobe between my teeth. I bit him lightly, making him suck
air through his teeth and sending a shiver through me. He kissed me. Hard.
Almost bruising. But, it still wasn’t enough. On and on he drove himself into
me. And yet, still, I felt him holding something back. Whatever it was, I
wanted it. I wanted all of him. It was foolish not to use protection, but I
couldn’t stand the thought of any barrier between us. Not now. Not ever. He
called me his. I was. But he was mine and I was born for this. The moment I
thought it, I knew on an elemental level that it was true.

“Abby. God. Abby.”

“I want you. I want this. Please.”

He knew what I meant, and for a fraction of a second he went rigid.
Then, he redoubled his efforts and I tightened my legs around his waist as he
drilled me even harder. I came first, my walls shuddering around him. My head
and heart seemed like an explosion of light. As if my veins conducted electric
fire. I almost couldn’t contain the pleasure.

I screamed.

I dug my nails into the smooth flesh of his back, drawing blood. It
only added to the pleasure Bas felt. His primal nature burst forth and he threw
his head back and let out a guttural noise that thrilled me and made my body
sing for his. I cupped his face with my hands, wanting to watch him as he came
inside of me. His eyes went from man to wolf and back again. His lips trembled
and curled back. I felt his hot seed shooting inside of me, and I pulled him
close, wanting to take the last of this ride with him.

His eyes fluttered as he poured himself into me. I tried to keep my
legs around him, but they’d already turned to rubber. I leaned up and kissed
him. He tasted of salt and earth. There was a moment. A flash. I saw something
go through Bas’s eyes, and he lowered his head, brushing his teeth along the
soft flesh where my neck curved into my shoulder. Instinct told me to turn my
head. I exposed the back of my neck to him and the skin there burned hot as I
felt his teeth scrape against me.

He wanted to bite me. The desire for it flared inside of me at the same
time it did for him. Oh, God. I wanted him to. I craned my neck far to the left
and arched my back again, inviting him to mark me.

Bas went very still. It was a moment in time as he held himself motionless,
his teeth just scratching my skin. Then, he drew himself away, pulling out of
me and leaving me empty and panting.

“Bas?”

He leaned down and gave me a quick kiss on the forehead. “Not today.
Not this time.”

Chapter Ten

I drew the covers around me, feeling a sudden chill from the absence of
his skin against mine. Bas sat at the edge of the bed and watched me, his eyes
filled with tenderness. He reached over and brushed the hair away from my eyes.

“What was that? At the end. Why didn’t you . . . bite me? I felt your
need to do it.”

He smiled. “It means something. If I mark you, it’s forever.”

Forever. The instant he said it, I wanted to beg him for it again.
Forever. If he marked me it would be forever. The answer flaring inside of me
was yes. God, yes. I was meant for it, and he didn’t have to tell me. But, a
moment later I recoiled from it, frightened about what it could mean. And it
seemed that was always how it was with him since the moment I laid eyes on him.
There was something powerful compelling me to him. But that power terrified me
too. I was beginning to forget what it felt like not to know him.

As I turned it around in my head, something was happening to Bas. One
moment he was cool and in control. The next, he was on his feet, pacing near
the window. The hairs stood on end at the back of his neck, and the shudder
that went through him seemed to pass through me as well.

“It cost you something. Not to bite me, I mean.”

I drew my knees to my chest and circled my arms around them. Every part
of me wanted to leave that bed and go to him. But, I knew if I did, he might
not be able to stop himself the second time. I wasn’t ready. That was my head
talking. My heart and points lower down had a decidedly different answer.

He carved a hand through his hair and opened the sliding glass door to
the balcony. It was so late it became early. Orange streaks cut across the
horizon as the sun began to rise. I should have felt a chill from the blast of
cold air that moved through the room, but my skin still blazed from Bas’s
touch. I pulled the sheets around me and tucked them under my arm as I dared to
venture out onto the balcony beside him. The vast, green landscape beneath us
called to me. No. Not to me. To Bas. But I felt it too, through him somehow.

“Yes. It cost me something. The next time, I can’t promise I can hold
back.”

I wasn’t sure I wanted him to. The idea that there would be a next time
was all I could hear. Oh. I wanted a next time. Right now, in fact.

He turned to me. “Will you be okay here for a little while?”

His voice had dropped an octave. I heard the beast churning beneath it
and understood what he needed. Whatever Bas had to hold back to keep from
marking me, it roiled beneath him, needing to break free. I took a step back
over the threshold so I stood on the carpeted floor with Bas out on the wooden
balcony decking. I nodded in answer.

That day in his office, I wished for the chance to see his wolf. Now,
it was about to happen.

“Wait for me,” he said. But, as he turned his blue eyes went sky pale
and glowed. The bones of his face elongated. His marbled form shifted and
rolled. He dropped to his hands and knees, his shoulder blades rose sharply,
then settled back and reformed. Skin became fur and Bas’s wolf finally sprung
free.

I put a hand to my mouth and gasped, not in fear, but in absolute
wonderment. Sebastian Lanier was beautiful. His wolf held that beauty, but with
a fierce power that took my breath away. His auburn hair gave way to brilliant red
as the sunset, with streaks of gold framing his face and at the tip of his
tail. He held his ears high, one pointing forward, the other back as he
regarded me. I took a step forward, spreading my trembling fingers out toward
him. Bas gave a sharp whine and sat back, allowing me to approach.

Slowly, I dropped to my knees, putting myself at eye level with him. I
ran my hand along the ridge between his ears and down his back. His fur was
downy silk underneath and coarse at the top. He shifted his weight between his
front paws. I felt his coiled energy and strength and knew he needed to run. To
hunt. I brought him to me, pressing my forehead against his neck and sliding my
hand across his chest. His heart beat slow and steady, matching the pulse
thundering between my own ears.

Mine. His. Forever.

A chorus of howls rose from beneath us. Bas’s pack called to him,
perhaps sensing their master’s shift. Bas took a step backward and dipped low,
rubbing his snout along my cheek. Then, he ran his great pink tongue along my
neck and licked me, leaving a slobbering trail in his wake. If wolves could
laugh, Bas did. He nodded his great head then took a running jump at the
balcony railing.

I reached for him. It had to be a thirty-foot drop. But Bas rose in the
air, arcing over the railing with the grace of a creature in flight. He landed
softly on the ground below and darted toward the trees, disappearing into them
in a streak of red and gold.