Wild Invitation

inside out. “You’re such a cat.”
    “Want to see?” he asked.
    “See what?”
    “My cat.”
    Her eyes went wide. “Really?”
    He yawned, every inch the indolent feline. “Hmm.” Without warning, color shimmered all around him, sparkles of light and shadow, beauty and eternity.
    She held her breath until it ended. The leopard lying on her bed looked at her with familiar eyes. Swallowing at her proximity to such a dangerous creature, she struggled up into a sitting position, sheet held to her breasts. The temptation to touch was blinding. She lifted a hesitant hand—it was one thing to know intellectually that this was Zach, quite another to believe it.
    When she didn’t touch, the leopard raised its head to butt at her hand. Shuddering, she gave in to temptation and stroked him. He relaxed, closing his eyes in bliss. It made her awe morph into delight. “I think I just got conned.” But stroking him, adoring him, was no hardship.
    When the shimmer came again, she went utterly still. A few moments later, her hand lay on the muscular back of a man so sexy, he made her heart trip simply looking at him.
    “So?” he asked.
    She snuggled up to him, positioning her body so that theylay face-to-face, her hand now on his shoulder. “You’re gorgeous, and you know that.”
    For once, he didn’t smile. “Is it too much to handle?”
    “No.” She frowned. “Did I give that impression?”
    “Just checking.” She got a smile this time, a slow, lazy thing that tugged at things low and deep in her. “Some women like the idea of being with a changeling but find the reality harder to accept.”
    “Some women?” A prickly flare of jealousy.
    His smile widened. “Not that I would know.”
    She felt her lips twitch. “Of course not, Mr. Innocent.”
    “Hey, you’re the one who led me off the straight and narrow.” He ran his hand down to her bottom in a possessive caress. “I seem to recall you demanding I do ‘the licking thing’ one more time.”
    Her body ignited to sensual life. Deciding to fight fire with fire, she said, “You never gave me my winnings yesterday.”
    Sensual mischief in his eyes. “Yes, I did. With interest. And then again.”
    “Cat.” Wrapping her arms around him, she rubbed her nose affectionately against his. It felt natural, easy. He made a sound of contentment and shifted until she was under him, skin-to-skin contact all over. It was sexual, but it was also something more. Touch for the sake of touch, cuddling because it felt good.
    “How long does the affection last?” she asked half seriously. Making love with him was so stunningly beautiful, but this kind of simple contact…it was somehow deeper, going beyond pleasure and into a kind of trust that left her breathless.
    Zach kissed her cheek, her jaw, her chin. “Always.
Not
touching is abnormal for us.”
    She remembered the easy affection she’d witnessed at the picnic. “I’m guessing that doesn’t apply to strangers.”
    “No.”
    “That’s good,” she said, swallowing an unexpected pulse of hurt at the idea of being outside the circle of his pack. If she’d been his mate— She cut off that thought at once, more than a little panicked at the idea of being locked into a relationship that offered no escape…no matter if the love died. “I’m not easy with people I don’t know well,” she said to cover the sudden burst of fear.
    “You’re in charge of skin privileges, baby.” He traced circles on her shoulder. “The pack will pick up the cues.”
    “‘Skin privileges’?”
    “The right to touch.” He kissed the corner of her mouth.
    She wondered if she’d ever get enough of this play. “I guess you have total skin privileges then.”
    A sound of smug male pleasure. It made her laugh, he was so shameless about it. And that was when she knew. She was too much her mother’s daughter. She’d love only once. And she’d love forever.
    Zach was it.
    For him, she’d break every rule, allow him into her home, into her very soul. For him, she’d jump into the abyss and worry about the bruises later. Because sometimes, there were no choices.
    “Hey.” His voice was a husky murmur. “What’s the matter, Angel?”
    She shook her head, glad that he wasn’t Psy, that he couldn’t read her mind. “Love me, Zach.”
    “Always.”
    But she knew he hadn’t understood what she’d asked, hadn’t promised what she needed. It didn’t matter. He was hers, if only for now, and she would