Wild Invitation

charm.
    “Can I take just a little bite?”
    Swallowing her whimper, she put herself in motion, changing out of the sweats she’d thrown on at Cooper’s knock and into jeans paired with a soft cashmere cardigan in a rich raspberry shade that felt exquisite against her skin. If she planned to play with a wolf as strong and aggressive as Cooper, she had to learn to cope with the fact that he was going to push. Hard. It was in his nature.
    “I did cope,” she muttered, tying the laces on her boots with jagged moves after quickly braiding her hair. “I didn’t turn tail and run, did I?” No, she’d made her opinion plain…and he’d listened. The big, teasing wolf who outranked every single person in the den had obeyed her silent order without the least protest.
    It was a gift as wonderful as the whimsical bracelet on her wrist.
    Hope a rich spice in her blood, she walked out to discover he’d moved to the end of the corridor, was chatting with Shamus, who—from the container in his hand—had made a runto the kitchen to pick up a slice of key lime pie. While Grace didn’t know the senior soldier well, she’d become close friends with his mate, Emma, after meeting the sweet maternal dominant at the book club Vivienne organized once a month. So she knew the pie was Emma’s favorite, as was lipstick in a particular shade of vibrant red, a trace of which marked Shamus’s jaw. It made Grace smile, seeing how crazy they were for one another.
    “Off for a walk?” Shamus asked with an inquiring glance when she halted beside Cooper.
    Cooper answered before she could become flustered. “I thought I’d point out one of the evacuation routes to Grace in case of emergency.”
    Shamus threw back his head in a belly laugh, his thick brown hair catching the light. “And I was about to say it was a romantic night. Have fun.”
    Waving good-bye, they waited until he was out of sight before entering the narrow access corridor that led to a rarely used exit. Though kissed by a cool wind that promised rain, the night was as lovely as Shamus had said, the satin black of the sky dotted with what appeared to be a million stars.
    Cooper’s hand closed over hers. “First, so I’m not a liar, there’s the start of the evac route.” He pointed northeast. “Okay?”
    “I already know the routes,” she said, heart thudding at the skin-to-skin contact. “It’s part of the welcome-to-the-den module for submissives.” Submissives were the ones charged with evacuating the pups should it ever become necessary to abandon the den because of hostilities, while the soldiers held the line of defense.
    “Good thing Shamus doesn’t know that,” he said as he tugged her into the trees, stroking his thumb over her skin in that maddening, arousing way. “I think you’ll like this.”
    Her wolf wide-eyed and watchful, she walked quietly beside him through a natural passageway created by two near-perfect rows of trees, their branches twining to form a lacy canopy, the stars visible in glittering glimpses. However, it wasn’t the velvet night that held her attention, but the predator by her side. The one who’d claimed her hand, claimed skin privileges, in a way that shouted possession.
    The thought of belonging to Cooper made her wolf padaround her skin in a confusion of panic and delight once more. But neither part of her wanted to be anywhere but here, in this exhilarating, exquisite instant. Maybe this courtship was ridiculous and impossible and bound for failure, but she wasn’t going to give up on it, give up on Cooper, without trying her damndest.
    “Here.” His body brushed hers as he brought her to a stop in what appeared to be a small clearing. “Do you smell it?”
    “Yes.” Ripe, juicy blackberries.
    Reaching out to pluck a berry from one of the canes that surrounded them, he brushed it across her lips. “Open for me, beautiful, sexy Grace.”
    Her toes curled inside her boots at that low-voiced request, a liquid kind of heat in her abdomen. Parting her lips, she allowed him to feed her the plump fruit, the juices bursting inside her mouth. When he picked off more, fed her decadent berry by decadent berry, she didn’t protest. And when he spread his legs and tugged her closer, she went, her wolf quivering at the risk.
    He ran a berry across her lower lip, painting it with the juice as the masculine heat of his body seeped into her every cell, and his face blocked out the night. “I’m going to kiss you.”