Dark Wolf Unbound (Heart of the Shifter #2)(20)

He pressed another kiss to her neck, lower this time, almost at her  collarbone. The kiss was longer this time, almost as if he were tasting  her, or tempting her. Chills rippled down her spine, but they weren't  from fear. They were from a sudden awareness of the intimacy of their  situation. His forearms were across her breasts, pressing into her  nipples. His pelvis was against her bum, nestled intimately. His lips  were a shivery whisper along her neck.

A thud from the closet made her jump, but Jace tightened his arms around her, steadying her.

She closed her eyes, focusing on Jace. She breathed in his woodsy,  masculine scent. She concentrated on the heat of his body, on the  solidity of his frame as he held her. His arms were tight around her,  his breath sending goosebumps down her back as he feathered kisses along  her neck and her collarbone.

Desire fluttered in her belly, which was shocking given their situation,  but she didn't fight it. She allowed Jace's presence to fill her  completely, breaking through the fear tearing her down, and replacing it  with a deep awareness of him as a man, of the energy sparking between  them. Suddenly, her muscles didn't feel frozen with terror. Energy  poured into her, a searing strength that curled through her, unwrapping  every cowering part of her.                       
       
           



       

There was a thump from the bedroom, but she barely noticed it. Jace had  captured her full attention, every nerve primed and waiting for his next  touch.

He lightly bit her ear, his arm moving slightly so that his forearm  rested against the underside of her breasts. The kisses beside by the  car had been intoxicating, but this was different. It was tightly  contained desire that couldn't be released. No sounds. No movement. Not  even a whisper of response was allowed, with danger so close.

And yet, despite the absolute stillness of their embrace, the desire  snaking through her body was fierce and bold, commanding a response from  her that she couldn't give.

Jace caught her chin and turned her head toward the side, giving him  better access. He kissed along her jaw, butterfly kisses that were so  faint that she had to strain to feel them. His lips caressed her skin,  moving closer and closer to her lips, until he finally pressed a kiss to  the corner of her mouth.

She fought the urge to inhale, to breathe in his presence, to turn in  his arms and surrender to the desire he was stoking within her. Her  nipples ached at the feel of his arm pressing against them, but when he  splayed his other palm low across her belly, pulling her back against  him, the intensity of the desire coiling within her became almost too  much.

He kissed the corner of her mouth again, a silent, sensual demand. Her  heart started to pound, she turned her head further, just enough...

He caught her mouth with his, a searing, claiming kiss that tore through  her, making her belly pulse beneath his palm. Her hips moved  involuntarily, pressing back against him as he kissed her, his tongue  probing, demanding, caressing.

Danger was so close, and yet, with the closet wall between them, they  were safe...as long as they were silent. One step down the staircase,  and Lucius and his crew would hear them. There was no way she should be  kissing Jace right now, no way she should feel safe enough to actually  respond. But she knew Jace was aware of every sound from Kiernan's  cabin, and he was tracking everything. Jace was simply too lethal to be  distracted by a kiss-

He slipped his fingers past the waistband of her jeans, his hand warm on her belly.

She sucked in her breath, but he caught her gasp in a searing kiss, his  forearm tightening over her breasts, trapping her against his body. What  was he doing? This wasn't the time for this-

He slid his hand lower, his fingertips brushing against the waistband of  her underwear. For a split second, she wished that she was the way  she'd once been, wearing silk thongs and lacy bras just to feel sexy.  Since the attack by Lucius, she'd hid behind cotton underwear and sports  bras, refusing to allow herself to crave the touch of a man, unable to  even imagine trusting a man enough to let him touch her intimately. But  now, with Jace's hand sliding over the cotton, she wished, oh, how she  wished, she could be the woman she'd once been, to respond to him the  way she wanted to.

But she wasn't.

She was broken. Afraid. Damaged.

Tears burned in her eyes as she caught his wrist, stopping him.

He immediately moved his hand higher, back to her stomach. This time,  however, he kept his hand beneath her shirt, so he was still touching  her bare skin. He traced circles on her skin, tender, seductive caresses  that made her belly tighten...until she realized he was tracing the  scars on her stomach.

Revulsion tore through her, and she grabbed his wrist again, trying to  get his hand away from her. She didn't want this. She didn't want to be  exposed like this. She didn't want to need a man's touch like she needed  Jace's. She didn't want to be hiding in the shadows being fondled by  one shifter while another hunted her. This wasn't who she wanted to be.  She wanted to be outside, in the sunshine, running free, without fear,  without constraint.

But Jace didn't let her move his hand. He kept it pressed to her belly,  still tracing designs on her skin. She wanted to smack his hand. She  wanted to wrench herself out of his arms and shout at him to leave her  alone. But she was trapped by the threat of Lucius, unable to make a  sound or any kind of movement that would make him aware that they were  right on the other side of the wall.

Tears trickling down her cheeks, she leaned her back against Jace's  shoulder, unable to run away from him or what he was making her feel.  She gave up fighting, and tried to find that place she'd been living in  for so long, the one where she shut down everything that made her heart  hurt, everything that made her scared, everything that made her feel.

She tried to make herself hard again, but Jace's rhythmic touch on her  belly kept distracting her. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to ignore  him, but she couldn't. His hand was warm and steady. It felt as though  he were pouring heat into her belly, releasing the knots that had been  there for so long. His body was relaxed, not tensed with revulsion at  what he was touching. She tried to keep herself tense, preparing for  when he'd decide he'd had enough and withdrew the touch that felt so  good.                       
       
           



       

Except, he didn't stop. He didn't try to move his hand lower again. He  simply kept his hand on her belly, tracing light circles on her skin.  Her skin was so scarred she shouldn't have been able to feel him so  well, but somehow, his touch was able to penetrate the deadened nerves.  Slowly, ever so slowly, she began to relax into his touch. It began to  feel natural to have him touching her damaged body. Comforting.  Reassuring.

He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck again, and she closed her  eyes, focusing on the sensation of being so close to him. They were  touching in so many places. Her back against his chest. His lips on her  neck. His forearm across her breasts. His hand on her stomach. So much  physical contact breathing warmth and heat into her. It was surreal and  beautiful, something she'd gone without for so long that she'd forgotten  how much she needed it.

Or maybe it wasn't simply being touched. Maybe it was Jace's touch that  felt so good. He made her feel beautiful, not disfigured. He made her  feel safe, not afraid. He made her feel alive, like a woman, like  someone who wasn't broken irretrievably.

Slowly, hesitantly, almost afraid he wouldn't be there, she turned her  head to the side again, tipping her chin back over her shoulder toward  him. His mouth found hers instantly, a searing hot kiss that sent  electricity sparking through her body. The kiss was hot and demanding  this time, and she didn't know whether it was his need or hers that had  escalated it.

She shifted against him, trying to stay still, but unable to contain the  need he was stoking inside her. His hand continued to stroke her belly,  but he didn't move it lower. She wanted him to try again. She wanted  him to touch her. Just for a brief moment. Just to know what it felt  like again.

Without intending to, without making the decision, she found her fingers  wrapping around his wrist again. His hand stilled, just as it had  before. His mouth stilled on hers as well.

No, no, no. That wasn't what she'd meant. Nervously, almost afraid of  what she wanted, and of whether he might reject her, she moved his hand  lower, over her scarred belly, sliding their hands past the waistband of  her jeans.

For a moment, he didn't respond. Heat flared in her cheeks. What had she  been thinking? Mortified, she tugged on his wrist, but this time, for  the first time, he ignored her silent request. Instead, he slipped his  fingers beneath the waistband of her boring, cotton underwear and slid  through her curls.