Page 12 of The Night Burning

Decision made, I put the damn shadow problem out of my mind, took off my clothes, shifted into my wolf, and left my house to meet my mate.

Maybe it was irresponsible of us to be meeting like this when anyone could see us, or when there was so much to be done, but we couldn’t work, work, work all the time. We needed to live too.

Where are you, Shane asked in my mind.

Almost there, I told him.

A minute later, I saw him waiting for me at the edge of the forest. I ran to him, but slowed down when I got close. He came to me and brushed his muzzle on mine, like a kiss between wolves. He nudged my shoulder and darted off.

Hey!

I laughed and sprinted after him.

We ran like I had never run before. We weaved through the trees at top speed, jumped over fallen tree limbs, skidded down hills. The rush of the wind over my fur, the zoom of the trees in my ears, the adrenaline pumping in my veins, the company … it was exhilarating.

Faster, Shane ran circles around me. Once, with the help of a thick tree trunk, he jumped over me in a beautiful arc. It pushed me to run even faster, to try to catch him. But mostly, he slowed down a bit to keep up with me.

It was still fast, and soon we would have made through the entire pack lands surrounding the town. But when we got near the rock formation on the southeast side, Shane guided me toward our place … the fissure in the rock formation.

We slowed down, and when we were right in front of the fissure, he jumped on me, taking me down. We rolled a bit, until I was lying on the ground—no, not the ground. A thick blanket—and he was on top of me. He lowered his head, brushed it against mine.

Then he shifted.

I shifted too.

In the near darkness of the forest, Shane stared at me with his warm brown eyes, his naked body radiating heat and his scent filling the air. We were both breathing hard, our chests moving fast, and it wasn’t just because of the run.

“This wasn’t how I imagined the evening going, but it might be even better.”

I swallowed. “How did you imagine it?”

“Well, we would run, then we would come here, shift, put on some clothes, make a fire and cook some s'mores and drink wine.” He jutted his head to the side. Right at the edge of the blanket was a basket, some folded clothes, and a pile of firewood.

I smiled. “You really thought this evening through.”

“I did.”

I squirmed under him, aware that his naked body was only a couple of inches from mine. “What else? There’s more, isn’t there?”

He lowered his head to mine, brushed his lips on mine. “Then I would make my move, kiss you senseless, and make love to you.”

Makinglove to me.

My body tingled with anticipation. “Shane … just skip most of it and take it from the kiss me senseless part. Now. Please.”

He growled before claiming my mouth with his. Painfully slow, he lowered his entire body to mine, and the heat from him, his skin touching mine, it felt too good to be true.

Shane’s kiss deepened and I welcomed it. I explored his back with my hands, grazing my nails on the many muscles under his skin. Dear moon, the man had been chiseled out of marble. He was so damn hard.

And that wasn’t just his muscles. He moved his body against mine, brushing his hard-on right where I needed him. My body jerked and I gasped against his mouth. I felt his smile before he intensified the kiss and his hand traveled south. He braced himself on one arm, never breaking the kiss, while his other hand found my core. He rubbed his finger over my clit and I gasped, my hands closing around his upper arms.

Deftly, Shane slipped a finger inside me, and at the same time, he moved his mouth from mine, leaving a fiery trail across my cheek, down my neck. His hand started moving, pumping his finger while he played with my clit with his thumb.

Shane lowered his head to my chest and licked the curve of my breast. He went painfully slow, but I knew he was doing it on purpose—I felt like I was going to explode, like it had suddenly become too much for my own skin. He closed his mouth around my breast, sucking on my nipple at the same time he slipped another finger inside me.

My body jerked and I moaned.

This was agony and delight, and everything in between, and I never wanted it to stop.