Unleashed Temptation (10 page)

Nick dropped a chaste kiss on her forehead and took a step back. “I’ll see you in a

couple hours then.”

She nodded as she hooked her purse over her shoulder and made her way to the

front door. Carly could feel his gaze penetrating her back as she walked, but she refused

to turn around. Once she slid into the front seat of her car, she saw him watching her

through the lobby window. Thankfully her car started right away. Whatever he’d done

to it last week, it now ran better than ever.

She half waved as she pulled out of the parking lot. Once she was on the road, she

breathed a sigh of relief. If she didn’t get a couple of hours of time to herself she was

afraid she’d fall completely for Nick. And something told her he wasn’t the kind of man

to be tied down permanently. She needed to gain back some control before she did

something really stupid. Like lose her heart.

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Nick put his car in park but didn’t get out immediately. He stared at Carly’s little

one-bedroom apartment and tried to get himself together. He couldn’t figure out what

had changed between them but it was obvious something had. She’d practically shoved

him off her at the office. Human females were a lot more complex than shifter females.

He’d scented Carly’s desire. Still, she’d pushed him away. It didn’t make sense.

More than anything he wanted to get into her head but he couldn’t invade her

privacy like that. Not if they stood a chance to build a future. He might be relationship

challenged, but even he knew that much about women. If he broke her trust now, he’d

be screwed for years to come.

Sighing to himself, he grabbed the two overflowing grocery bags and walked

toward the front door. It swung open before he’d knocked.

“I saw you drive up. What’s all this?” Carly tried to take one of the bags from but

he held it firm.

“I’m cooking for you.” Without staring too hard, he drank in her appearance and

tried to tamp down his desire. She’d changed into skimpy pink beach shorts and a

white tank top and looked good enough to eat. All that skin on display just for him. His

stomach clenched with need.

Her eyes brightened as she peered inside the bag closest to her. “What are you

making?”

“Moussaka.” It was his mother’s recipe and it dated back many years.

She grinned as she shut the front door. “I love moussaka. There was a Greek

restaurant on the same block where I worked in Chicago. I used to eat there once a

week.”

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That was one thing in his favor. She might hate dogs but at least she liked Greek

food. “Have you ever made it before?” he asked.

She snorted as they entered the kitchen. “There’s something you should know

about me right now. I don’t cook. If it wasn’t for my grandmother, I’d probably starve.”

“I’ll just have to teach you then,” he said as he set the bags onto the counter.

She shook her head. “It won’t help, trust me. My grandmother has tried to teach

me. I don’t think I have a knack for it.”

“We’ll see.” He pulled out a clear plastic bag full of eggplants and glanced around

the kitchen. There wasn’t a knife block anywhere. “Uh, knives?”

Carly pulled open the drawer closest to the sink and pointed inside. He frowned at

the blunt knives. For now he could use them, but he was getting her some new utensils

in the near future.

“Is that what you need?”

“This’ll work.” He pulled out one of the knives and grabbed the cutting board he’d

seen hidden behind her bread box.

“So what are you doing exactly?” She peered over his shoulder as he started slicing

the eggplants.

“Cutting these into thin enough slices. Then I’ll salt them and we’ll wait until the

salt pulls the moisture out.”

Her brows furrowed as she looked at the vegetables. “Do you want something to

drink? I’ve got beer.”

“Actually I brought some wine if you don’t mind grabbing it from the other bag. It’s

chilled but it’ll need to go in the refrigerator.”

She pulled the bottle from the bag and read the label. “Malamatina Retsina.”

“It’s light. I think you’ll like it.”

Carly might not use her kitchen for cooking, but she’d still decorated the room. It

was set up in a retro style with no overhead cabinets. Instead, shelves displayed bowls,

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wineglasses and other stemware. She pulled two delicate-looking glasses from the shelf

nearest the sink and poured drinks for them.

She set his glass next to him and took a sip from her own as she leaned against the

counter mere inches away. “Was everything okay with your brother? You seemed

stressed after he left today.”

“Yeah, just family stuff.” He cleared his throat before continuing. Talking about his

family wasn’t something he ever did. The Lazos pack had integrated well into every

city they moved to but there was always a certain amount of distance they kept from

people. Hell, he hadn’t even been able to tell Carly he’d been born in Greece. Instead

he’d had to tell her he’d grown up in Miami.

Lying to his intended mate left a foreign feeling of sickness in his stomach. Of

course, he had more important things to worry about. Like figuring out how to tell her

he was a shifter. If he moved too soon, he’d scare her away. “Listen, I was wondering if

you wanted to have dinner with my family tomorrow night. It’ll be like the party on

Friday. Lots of food and people.”

“Sure.” She shrugged and took another sip.

Obviously she didn’t understand he meant his parents would be there and he chose

not to elaborate. Yeah, it was a total chickenshit thing to do but until he could figure out

what had caused her to suddenly pull away from him, he wasn’t giving her more

ammunition to run.

Slicing the eggplant was the easiest part of the meal. A few moments later, he laid

out the pieces onto paper towels and salted them.

“Do you need help with anything?” Carly still hadn’t moved from her spot as she

watched him.

“Nope. Now we wait.”

“Wait?” A trace of panic had crept into her voice.

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“Mmm hmm. For about half an hour. What can we do for thirty minutes to pass the

time?” He dried his hands off on one of the dishrags and plucked the wineglass from

her hand.

Her cheeks had turned that adorable shade of pink and even though he sensed she

was uneasy, desire rolled off her in potent waves. Nick placed both hands on the

counter next to her, effectively caging her in. He leaned down until he was a few inches

from her face. The sweet smell of wine tickled his nose. “What’s going on in that pretty

head of yours, Carly?”

“What do you mean?” she rasped out.

His cock jumped when she moistened her lips. “What’s changed between us since

this weekend?”

She swallowed audibly and he braced himself for the worst. “Everything’s happening so

fast.”

“Yeah.”
So what?

“Well, maybe we jumped into this without thinking.”

He frowned at her words, not liking the sound of where this was going. “I don’t

regret anything.”

“Neither do I.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

She shrugged, but when she nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, he

understood what was going on. “I’m not looking for a fling, Carly. Are you?”

Her brows furrowed as she shook her head. “No.”

Nick leaned a little closer until his chest brushed against her breasts. “Then what

else is wrong?”

“Like I said, everything is happening so fast. I don’t…”

“You don’t what?”

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“We haven’t known each other that long, but every time you touch me, it’s like my

body heats up about a hundred degrees.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“No. Definitely not. I’ve just never had such a physical response to anyone.”

“Does it scare you?”

She bit her bottom lip. “A little.”

Nick wasn’t sure how to respond. Their chemistry was off the charts so he wasn’t

sure what the problem was. When her bright gaze focused on his mouth, her lips parted

slightly. He wasn’t sure if she was going to say anything, but he took away anything

she might have been contemplating. Hell, she was lucky he’d held off touching her this

long.

Soft lips met his with heated intensity. Whatever her insecurities, they didn’t extend

to the physical aspect of their relationship. Her heart slammed against her ribs like a

jackhammer and he could feel it as clearly as if it was his own pounding heart.

He slid his hands up under the bottom of her shirt so he could feel her bare skin. He

shuddered as he wrapped his hands around her ribs. She was slim, but not emaciated

like so many of the women that frequented his brother’s club. Just enough curves for a

woman. And she fit perfectly against him.

Carly apparently forgot whatever had been bothering her as she hurriedly tugged

at the bottom of his shirt. Chuckling, he stepped back and yanked it off before quickly

seeking out her mouth again.

Her lips were soft and pliant underneath his demanding kisses. A kiss shouldn’t

turn him on so much but everything about her got his engines revving. His cock

pressed painfully against his jeans when she slid her hands up his chest and dug her

nails into his shoulders.

As she moaned against his mouth, her entire body lined up flush against his. That

sweet raspberry scent enveloped him to the point he wanted to scrape his teeth across

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Carly’s neck and leave his mark. But he didn’t. He couldn’t. Not if he wanted to live

with himself.

Somehow he tore his hands away from her soft skin and tangled with the button on

her shorts. As he unzipped them, they slid down her long legs and pooled at her feet.

Seconds later, her bright yellow thong followed.

That gorgeous tuft of red hair covered her mound. She waxed so that it was a

perfect strip, pointing him in the right direction. As if he needed directions. He could

follow her scent anywhere.

Clutching her hips, he lifted her up onto the edge of the counter before using his

hands to open her legs further.

“What are you doing?” she whispered.

In response he knelt in front of her and kissed the inside of her leg right by her

knee. He was tall enough that he was at the perfect position to pleasure her this way.

Her legs started to close on his head so he placed a firm hand on one of her thighs.

“Relax,” he murmured. When he met her gaze, desire burned bright in her eyes.

Satisfied with her response, he kissed her again, this time higher.

Trailing kisses up her leg, he took his time as he created a path toward her pussy.

The folds of her lips were swollen, puffy, and her pink clit peeked out, begging him to

lick her everywhere.

Inhaling her sweet scent, he teased her lips, tracing his tongue up the outermost

part of her slit. Her breathing hitched as he reached her clit, but he barely flicked his

tongue over it. He didn’t want to focus all his energy there. Not yet.

For a moment, he pulled back and simply stared at her. Her cunt was so fucking

perfect it almost pained him to look away.

Sighing, he leaned forward and delved as deeply as he could with his tongue. Her

juices coated him and it took all his control not to strip off his pants and pound his cock

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into her. When she moaned and threaded her fingers through his hair his balls pulled

up even tighter.

“More.” The word was barely above a whisper, but he heard it as clearly as if she’d

spoken directly into his ear. That was another sign he knew she was his mate. No

matter what he could hear and feel everything she was.

Driving his tongue deeper, he shuddered when he could actually feel her cunt

tremble and contract around him.

By her uneven breathing and loud thump of her heartbeat, he knew she wanted

more from him. All shifters had extrasensory abilities, but as a werewolf, his hearing

was even more acute. Her heart sounded as if it would jump out of her chest.

And he knew exactly how to bring her to a quick climax. He shifted and inserted

two fingers into her tight sheath, but didn’t stop kissing her. As he ran his tongue

around her clit, her inner walls convulsed rapidly.

“Right there,” she murmured as her hands moved to his shoulders.

He dragged his fingers against her inner walls, earning a shudder from her. She

was dripping wet and tight as hell. When she tried to move her hips against his hand,

he pushed back into her then pulled out again, increasing his momentum with each

stroke.

As he continued thrusting into her wet sheath, he barely grazed her aroused bud

with his tongue. Everywhere he licked tasted sweet. The faster he moved, the quicker

she contracted around his fingers.

The scent of her arousal and impending release hit him with startling force. Instead

of teasing her, he sucked her clit into his mouth. Her entire body jolted at the tug. When

she surged into climax he could actually feel her pleasure shooting through to all his

nerve endings.

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