“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said.
I arched a brow.
“Ok. I do dream of it. Every night.” He gave me a knowing look. “Makes me hard.”
Ah fuck. I crossed my legs to clamp down the sudden longing manifesting at Wick’s words. “Brandon.”
Wick grunted and his whole body recoiled at the sound of his first name. Good.
“Behave,” I said.
He held his hands out in a supplicant gesture. “But I want you to relax and focus.”
I snorted. No need to elaborate on what he meant—the musky, coconut scent of desire came off him in waves and made the air in the room heavy with tension. “Relax, yes. Focus, no. I have no intention of attacking Ethan when I’ve been turned into a limp noodle.”
Wick’s smile widened.
Oh yeah, he knew the effect he had on me. “Focus,” I snapped, but I spoke more to my humming libido than to Wick.
He scooted closer. “This might be our last day together, and I wish to savour it.” I wish to savour you. His silent words rebounded inside my head as if he spoke them out loud. Shivering, I cast my gaze down.
“If you’d prefer to focus, then I’ll respect that.” And just dream of licking you all over. Tasting you. Loving you. Wick’s voice caressed the inside of my head.
“Stop it!”
Wick straightened, his brows drawing together. “You heard that?”
Confused, I replayed what had just happened in my mind. My eyes snapped up to meet his. “Were you thinking dirty thoughts? Maybe I imagined it.” Wouldn’t be the first time.
Wick frowned. Are you imaging this?
Leaping off the chair I cast an accusatory glare at the man on my bed. “How did you do that?”
Wick shrugged. “I don’t know. You are not pack. Not yet, at least. You should not be able to hear me.”
Can you hear me?
Wick smiled and nodded. Crystal clear. I like your voice in my mind.
What the hell is going on? Did you join me to your pack when I was injured?
Wick looked affronted at the accusation. You know as well as I do that joining a pack has to be voluntary. The suggestion that I forced you is not only absurd, it’s hurtful.
Sorry. I didn’t sound sorry. I sounded like a petulant debutant after being scolded for running up her credit card.
Have you ever spoken mind to mind before? Wick asked.
I started to deny that I had, but then I remembered Ma. Frowning, I explained what happened to Wick.
So you can mind speak to feras?
I nodded.
Maybe that means you can speak to all animals.
You’re not an animal, Wick.
I am, where and when it counts. The look he cast me left little to the imagination, no, wait, it left a little too much to my vivid and overactive imagination. Images of Wick naked in bed sent a wave of pleasure and promise rippling through my body. The air in the room grew heavy.
Wick’s smile widened. His eyelids lowered halfway and he leaned in to watch every movement like a predator closing in on its prey. My skin quivered.
Inhaling deeply, he gaze caught mine. Say the word, Andy, and I’ll show you.
You’re incorrigible.
Wick shrugged and slowly stretched out of his sitting position on the bed. He ran his hands up my arms as he stood in front of me. But you like it.
And I did. His behaviour from anyone else would’ve had me running away, or kneeing him in the groin, but I understood his persistence, his need to close the gap that existed between us, because I felt it too. The mate bond. His rosemary scent curled around me like a lasso, and one tug would have me in his lap, under his control. But that extra tug would never come from Wick, because he’d never push me, not really. He’d know from Mel how I’d been treated in the past and seemed to understand my need to close the distance in my own time and on my own terms.
Wick’s hand glided up behind my head and tangled in my hair. He pulled me close and pressed his mouth against mine. But the gentle seduction of our earlier encounters disappeared as his kiss deepened, along with his control. He growled into my lips, but his hold on the back of my neck loosened and he withdrew. Intoxicating. Wick used a perfect balance of soft and hard. I grabbed his shirt and pulled him back to me.
When his tongue stroked mine, I groaned and drew him closer, the feel of every hard contour of his body sending a rush of pleasure coursing through me. Hot damn!
The phone rang.
Get lost.
Wick chuckled, which meant I projected my thoughts. Now that I’d placed my voice in his head, it seemed I lacked a filter. That would have to change fast. Sobering, I pulled away from Wick. He grumbled and made a last ditch effort to drag me close again. I shrugged out of his grasp.
Next time a phone interrupts us, I am going to bash that thing into the wall. His voice brushed against my thoughts. That goes for anything or anyone else that interrupts us. He released me and held his hands up in mock surrender.