"If she's not a royal." His hands stopped at the juncture of her thighs, his thumbs seductively caressing her inner thighs.
"See? If she is, your problem is solved. She'd be a royal. You're one, too. Perfect match." Then she thought of another sticking point. "Oh, except for one problem. You already have another female red lined up." She shrugged, attempting at nonchalance when it really ticked her off in a jealous sort of way. "If this new one you're going to search for doesn't work out, you'll have the other choice."
She meant to climb off him, but he grabbed her wrist and frowned. "What other female?"
"The romance writer? Julia Wildthorn?" Cassie rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me you've already forgotten your date with her."
"Julia..." Leidolf's brows lifted in recognition. "Hell, that's Laney and Elgin's doing. Matchmakers, the both of them. How would you..." He gave an evil little grin. "You were snooping at my desk?"
She felt her face heat with embarrassment and tried to recover without showing too much annoyance. "I had to go by your desk when I escaped your bedroom and just happened to see her book open to her very photogenic picture and the note on your calendar. And you had no other books in sight. So what do you think I made of it?"
As soon as she spoke the words, she was mad at herself for explaining any of her actions to him, even if what she said was in part a fabrication. Then she asked the question she was dying to know the answer to and immediately could have kicked herself for asking. "What do you think of her romance books?" She sure as hell didn't want him thinking she cared. Even if she did.
A brief flash of amusement crossed his face.
Then he grew serious. "I don't agree with her that she should be writing them. Too easy to accidentally give real clues about us away. And you never know when people might think she's basing them on real lupus garous. That we truly exist."
Cassie smiled, glad he didn't think much of Julia's occupation. Then she frowned. He probably didn't think much of hers, either. "Let me go, Leidolf. I'm not in your pack, and I'm not looking for a mate."
"I'm not searching for any other woman. Not when I've already found my mate." Then he released her, and she quickly moved off him.
He was on his feet so swiftly that he reminded her of a wolf getting ready to take down its prey. "You know what I like about you, Cassie?"
"No, but I suspect you're going to tell me," she said, stepping away from him as he stalked toward her. She suddenly realized he was backing her into a corner of the cabin.
"You're quick on your feet, compassionate about a cause--despite my not agreeing with it, sensitive to my needs..." He smiled when she did.
He was sooo arrogant.
"I love how you challenge me with those sensual green eyes of yours, never backing down, not even when you're embarrassed, not even when you know you'll lose."
"You think I'll lose if I become your mate?" she asked, as her back bumped against the wall.
He smiled slyly. "We'll both be winners then." He caged her in, his hands against the wall beside her head, his gaze focused on hers, his body close, the woodsy outdoors smell of him tantalizing her, the feel of his body heat welcome. "No, I'm talking about losing... as in arguments. I'll always win."
"Always?"
He threaded his fingers through her hair and then grabbed handfuls as he lowered his face to meet hers. "Always," he whispered, and she thought she would melt right under him, agreeing to anything.
He was going to kiss her, and even as much as she knew she shouldn't allow it, that nothing good would come of it, she closed her eyes and tilted her head up, anticipating his kiss, the hunger, the drive, the fierceness of it. When nothing happened, she looked up at him, a little surprised and a lot disappointed.
He wore the same bigheaded smirk he'd worn before, and she shoved the palms of her hands flat against his chest, meaning to push him out of her way. As muscular as he was, she couldn't budge him. He smiled a little more, though. Was he amused that she had revealed how much she wanted him when she had been saying no all along?
And then he cradled her face between his hands and kissed her. A whisper of a kiss, so light it was like the feathery touch of butterfly wings fluttering against her sensitive lips, but it was enough to start a slow burn building inside her. Making her want so much more.
That's when she curled her hands around his muscular arms and reached up to kiss him harder. Not really hard, but just enough to remember him by until she had a chance to meet a cute human guy and have a fling for a night. Because after being with Mister Totally Hot and Tempting, she'd have to have her needs met somehow or she was going to burst into flames with unfulfilled desire.
Her kiss against his lips went unanswered. And she felt a little more than disappointment again. Although she figured he was holding back unless she agreed to be his mate. Ransoming his affection. Still, she only wanted a kiss. So she reached her hands up quickly and rested them at the back of his head, holding him just where she wanted him. This time, she kissed him. Only he responded way too much, slipping his arms behind her back between her and the wall, and pressing her against his arousal, throbbing with need.
His lips were still noncommittal, even if the rest of him advocated wanting a whole lot more. And then as she touched her tongue to his lips, he devoured her as if the dam holding back the storm waters broke. Fierce and determined, hot and demanding. And she shamelessly responded, falling under the alpha leader's spell, her tongue tasting, touching, and teasing his, her fingers winding through his satiny hair, her body melting against his--awakened, alive, wanting.
But suddenly Leidolf pulled away, his eyes darkened and clouded with lust. "Hell, woman. If you're not ready to accept me as a mate, don't kiss me like that."
She nearly groaned when he gave her up. "I just wondered what it would feel like to be kissed by someone like you."
He reached for her shoulders, took hold, and rubbed them with his thumbs, his action possessive but loving. "You didn't want to be kissed by just anyone, Cassie. Just by me." His voice was husky and ragged with need, and he leaned his head against hers. "Is your shoulder really all right?"
"Better." This time she didn't tell a tale. The wound was healing and her shoulder felt better, but even so, she didn't relish using it any time soon. "What if..." She hesitated to ask him the question. She was dying to have him but not willing to go all the way. "What if we just fool around?"
Chapter 20
Leidolf arched a brow, his hands stilling on Cassie's narrow waist, not believing what she had just proposed. Fooling around? Nothing more? He fought giving her a satisfied smirk. Hell, she wanted him, and she was willing to go partway. She wouldn't be able to stop at that for long. She had given him just the opening he was waiting for.
"No mating. We could get awfully close to the real thing. Just to fulfill some... primal need," she said, sounding a little unsure of herself.
"Sex without intercourse." He had to know what she desired, not wanting to go too far if that hadn't been her intention. It was killing him not to just lift her up and carry her back to their primitive bed and make her his mate.
"Or not. Just an idea."
Already she was distancing herself. Which he couldn't have.
He slipped his fingers between her legs and stroked her wet feminine lips. "Just this," he said, and licked her earlobe. His free hand cupped her breast, his thumb and fingers caressing with a circular motion over the fleshy mound.
"Is this what you want?" He spoke with a seductive hush designed to solicit her surrender. His fingers rubbed her sensitive nub, already swollen: every nerve ending had to be screaming for more. She was ready for him, had to have been for a long damn time, as wet and primed as she was.
She reached down to cup his cock, but he stayed her hand. "I want all of you, Cassie. The sex, the mating, the mate who'll stand with me... waking up with you in the mornings, having lazy wolfish naps with you midday. But for now, I'll give you only what you want."
He wasn't sure he could hold back. Not the way he felt about her. Her hardened nipples, the drenched curls between her legs, and her erogenous fragrance all clued him in that he was the one for her. No other.
He truly craved having her for more than the sex. With Cassie, he wanted to settle down, and he thought he could finally have what he'd been searching for--something that would dissolve his need to find excuses to get away from the pack for his own solitude. He wouldn't need that if he had her with him always.
She reached again for him, but he wouldn't let her touch him. He was ready to burst he was so ready. But forestalling the pleasure made it all the more erotic.
"Here I thought you were so bad...," she murmured against his cheek, her hands sweeping down his arms in a tantalizing caress.
"I am," he whispered into her hair, his breath touching her ear, his hands cupping her face. He leaned down to take a nipple between his lips, his tongue quickly teasing the firm tip.
She would have slid down the wall if he hadn't lifted her in his arms and carried her back to their makeshift bedding. "Which is better for your shoulder, Cassie?"
Her voice breathy with lust, she said, "Any way you want to do this."
He cast her a small smile. The way he wanted to do this was to bury himself deeply inside her and take her for his mate for now and always. But he was fairly sure that's not what she meant--although he couldn't help but feel he could push her into wanting him for the long term, if he played the game of seduction right.
He meant to have her on her back, resting her shoulder so he could show her just how he could give her maximum pleasure. She quickly changed his plans. She made him get on his back and then she climbed on top of him, her wet feminine lips pressed erotically against his throbbing cock. He knew then that she meant to tease him to death with her seductive charms. He was willing to have her any way he could, too.