Wild Invitation

tugged at the waistband of the floaty knee-length skirt she’d dressed in tonight in a conscious decision that made her feel naughty in the most adult way. “Tell me you’re wearing them.”
    Arousal was liquid honey in her veins, thick and rich and oh-so-luscious “No,” she said, playing with him. “I think I should punish you for how you’ve been tormenting me.”
    Teeth on her lower lip. “God, I love it when you’re bad, Grace.” His fingers went to the bottom edge of her skirt, his hand spreading on her thigh in a caress of rough heat. “Can I?”
    Heartbeat jerky in her throat, she shook her head…and reached down to slowly, so slowly, bunch the skirt ever higher up her thighs. Cooper’s breath was harsh, loud in the confines of the SUV, his eyes a wild yellow that traced every inch she bared. It was intoxicating, his raw desire made her feel like a sexual siren when she’d always thought her sensuality a gentle flame.
    There was nothing gentle about her need or her possessiveness where Cooper was concerned. He could arouse her with a word, a look, and she hungered for him to complete his claim, her body in a constant state of readiness. It wouldn’t be long,she thought, before her wolf took that final step into absolute, unremitting trust.
    “Higher.” A growled demand when she stopped near the top of her thighs. “I want to see.”
    Skin damp with perspiration, she kept the skirt where it was. “What’s my incentive?”
    Wild yellow blazing at her in the dark, the windows fogged up to enclose them in steamy intimacy. “I’ll lick you until you come. Now, keep moving.”
    Whimpering, she obeyed the order, saw him jerk his head up and check that the whimper was one of passion. Satisfied, he returned his gaze to the miniscule red triangle that shielded her from his view, his hand clenching on her thigh. “Take them off.”
    Her legs quivered. Dropping her skirt, she leaned backward until she hit the back of the front seat, her chest rising and falling as she fought to suck in enough air to clear the haze in her mind.
    Muscular thighs rock hard beneath her, Cooper’s hands closed over her knees. “You’re going to make me wait?”
    She licked her lips, nodded. “You’re being punished, remember?”
    “Then let me plead my case.” Holding her gaze, he cupped her.
    She moaned at the proprietary hold, feeling herself grow more damp with every passing second.
    A brush of his thumb across the taut nub at the apex of her thighs, the pleasure piercing her to the core. She arched into his touch, even as an acrid sensation she didn’t want to feel began to eat away at the sumptuous wave of passion, the wildness in her sensing the acute vulnerability that awaited if the wave crashed. Gritting her teeth, she tried to ride it out, but Cooper knew.
    Removing his hand, he tucked her against his body, one hand cupping the back of her head, the other on her lower back. She wrapped her arms around his neck and breathed in the rich earth and dark amber of his scent, her wolf rubbing up gently against his own in silent apology.
    His response was a low rumble of a growl. “It’s my own damn fault for buying you those panties.”
    Laying her head against his shoulder, she petted his beautiful chest. “Yes,” she agreed, “it is.”
    That got her a growl…and, “When are you going to wear the teddy?”
    •   •   •
    ABLE to feel herself hovering on the brink of that final, ineffable trust, Grace got up the next morning wishing the hours away so she could play with her dominant lover when night fell, but the day ended up being unexpectedly, dangerously long.
    “We have a serious problem at the hydro station,” her boss, Barney, said around five that afternoon. “A computronic issue that only became apparent a couple of hours ago.”
    The timing, Grace thought, couldn’t be worse. The region was heading into a severe new storm, forecast to hit tonight. It was meant to be so bad that a team had been dispatched to bring the wild wolves that shared their territory into the den for the night. “Are Elizabeth and Diego up there?” she asked, referring to the two senior station techs.
    “Yeah, but they need someone from your team. The air system at the control station is acting glitchy, CO 2 alarms on the fritz, and they have to batten down the hatches, spend the night babying the computronics.”
    Dangerous, Grace thought, if the air filters failed and carbon dioxide built up in a