Slinging the garment over one shoulder, David winked at her. “He was just being polite,” she told Ryder, who watched his lieutenant walk away.
“I don’t want you covered in any other males’ clothing but mine.”
Her eyes widened as Ryder unbuttoned his checked flannel shirt and tugged it off, placing it around her shoulders. The gesture screamed ownership and claiming. His chest was smooth with muscle and the sight made her boneless with sudden desire. Breathing in his rich, deep scent of pine and masculinity, she felt warm and safe and cherished.
“I like you in my shirt.” He rubbed his lip again.
“I like you out of your shirt.” Oh yeah, maybe a little too much. As in wanting to lick him all over, run her tongue across his small brown nipples, taste each valley and crest of his abdominal muscles and then maybe tug down the waistband of his jeans and put her mouth there…
Kara put her hands to her burning face.
“Guess you’re not cold anymore.” He gestured to her face. “You’re all flushed.”
She removed his shirt and handed it back to him. “I think you need this more than I do.”
Grinning, he slipped it back on. They sat watching the festivities. Ryder nodded at a younger couple heading for the stairs, followed by another set a few minutes later.
“Ah, methinks there will be another few additions to the pack in about nine months,” Ryder murmured. “About time, too. We haven’t had any births in more than five years.”
“There wasn’t much occasion for celebrating when Alastair was alpha. Doesn’t make for a relaxed atmosphere. And my sire never remembered birthdays.”
Not even mine.
“Did Aiden remember?”
She smiled sadly. “He’s a wonderful brother, but things were too hectic with trying to start his pack.”
He frowned. “When was the last time someone celebrated your birthday?
“Two years ago, when a certain arrogant and bold male brought a chocolate cupcake with a candle to my room and told me to make a wish.”
Ryder gazed at her intently. “Chocolate with blue frosting. Your favorite. Did your wish come true?”
Sadness arrowed through her as Jason successfully split the piñata with the baseball bat. Candy splattered over the floor.
“No. Aiden and I fled before it happened.” Kara faced him, her heart squeezing tight. “I wished I could have a lover who’d cherish me as much as my father had cherished my mother.”
Silence draped between them as he studied her face.
“I wished for you, Ryder.”
“Wishes can come true. Especially birthday wishes, if you want it badly enough,” he said softly.
Someone switched on the stereo in the corner to a thumping dance tune. Couples began gyrating and swaying to the melody. Ryder stood and held out a hand. “Dance with me, Kara.”
She went into his arms.
Kara leaned into his embrace, resting her cheek on his broad shoulder. Contentment filled her for the first time in years. Murmurs rippled through the air. Glancing up, she saw everyone had stopped to look at them. Many were smiling and some of the older Lupines nodded in approval.#p#分页标题#e#
They wanted this match. She sensed it.
Ryder buried his face into the curve of her neck.
“I want you in my bed, now. Your scent is driving me mad,” he whispered. “I’ve dreamed of it, tried to forget it. Every night I spent dreaming of lavender and vanilla. Going outside and searching the fields, the garden, desperate to see your face one more time, hold you in my arms. And then I wake up, my arms empty, my dreams shattered. I’m afraid to open my eyes in case this is a dream.”
Halting, she framed his face with her hands. “I’m not a dream. I’m very real.”
Ryder’s nostrils flared. The warmth of her touch burned through his shirt. He kissed her hand, and then trailed his fingers down the softness of her unmarred right cheek, across to her slender neck where a pulse beat hard and fast beneath his thumb. He stroked the big vein.
“This is where I’ll bite you and put my mark on you.”
Kara trembled harder. “Will it hurt?”
“They say it stings, but then has an unimaginable pleasure.” He blew a hot breath against her skin. “It’s an intimacy only mated couples share, intoxicating both male and female into consummating their bond.”
“And if they do not…”
Tunneling his fingers through the heavy fall of her ebony hair, he tugged her head backward, gazing down at her.
“I don’t believe there’s been a case of Lupines who didn’t consummate the bond. I imagine it would be quite unpleasant. But it’s not an experience I intend to have.”