The scruff of his short beard brushed against her shirt, and her skin warmed as he exhaled a breath against the fabric.
“I can’t stop…I can’t,” he murmured, not making any sense.
Whatever was happening was bad, and she didn’t know what to do to help him.
Desperately, she lifted his chin to plead with him. His eyes were feral and reflected oddly in the dim light like an animal’s. Unthinking, she lowered her mouth and brushed her tongue against his. He opened for her and cupped the back of her head. His kiss became urgent and needy, and suddenly, she was burning from the inside out. Whatever he was doing, whatever he was pulling from her, pooled instant wetness between her legs. It was instinctive, the need to be with him, something deep within her she was helpless to stop.
“Denny, please,” she begged. Please what? She didn’t know.
“Can you be quiet?” he asked. “I’ll take care of you. Can you keep quiet if I touch you?”
“Yes,” she lied.
He set her on her feet and yanked at the fly of her jeans, then shoved his hand into her panties and cupped her sex. She moaned as he slid his finger inside of her and pressed his palm against her clit. His kisses were hard, swallowing the sound.
His heartbeat raced under her hand as she rubbed the smooth skin there, and his nipple drew up into a tight bud under her touch. A delicious shiver began at the base of her tailbone and zinged up her spine until it landed in her shoulders. She loved Denny like this. Wild, barely in control, slits of snowy color every time he barely opened his eyes.
Encircling her waist with his arm, he pressed his finger into her harder and sped up the pace. She was already gone, floating to pieces, held together only by Denny’s embrace. She didn’t realize she was the one making the gasping sound until he shushed her softly and filled her mouth with his tongue, taking away her voice.
His bicep flexed with each stroke into her, and she tossed her head back as he drew an orgasm from her. Her body clenched around his finger over and over as waves of pleasure washed through her.
Denison let out a trembling sigh that sounded nothing shy of relieved, and he relaxed his hold around her hips. He rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were gray once more. Still too light to be completely human, but closer to his own color.
“I’m sorry,” he said on a breath.
“Don’t ever apologize for that. You just shared more of yourself with me than you ever have,” she whispered, nuzzling her cheek against his.
He pulled his hand from between her legs and buttoned her carefully, then took his time making sure her shirt was straight and the hem perfect. He was stalling, and she smiled at how endearing it was.
“Are you ready to go back out there now?” she asked.
“Geez, Badger. You really want that goat, don’t you?”
“I want the Ashe Crew to win this.”
Amusement pooled in the soft color of his eyes as he searched her face. “That’s my girl.”
Chapter Nine
Danielle’s head bobbed against the seat cushion with the uneven road. Her lips were parted slightly, her dark hair fanned across her cheek. Denison pulled his attention away from Kellen’s taillights in front of his Bronco long enough to tuck her hair behind her ear so he could see her face better.
He’d been drinking her in since she fell asleep an hour ago. It was dark out, but the glow of the radio dials illuminated her face in soft blues.
The little gray goat lay in her lap, curled into a compact ball under her hands, staring back at him and apparently comfortable to just be still against Danielle.
She’d always had a way with animals. She never met a dog on the street she didn’t stop and pet, then rope the owners into a conversation about how cute their fur baby was. He’d taken her to a petting zoo when she’d been here before, just to watch her light up from the inside as she spent three hours petting every single animal. She’d named every last one of them and asked their keeper about their quality of life.
Denison sighed and narrowed his eyes at the sharp angle of a switch back he had to maneuver carefully to avoid going over a side rail and off a cliff.
Danielle liked animals, so maybe she could handle the snarling beast inside of him.
But what if she couldn’t?
What if she ran?
It was too risky to share himself completely with her right now. He had to be patient. Had to wait until he was absolutely sure he wouldn’t lose his mate again.
He’d watched Tagan after Brooke had left. His alpha had been forced to Turn the woman he loved, and she wasn’t able to deal with it here surrounded by the Ashe Crew. She’d escaped to Boulder and spent months trying to control the grizzly inside of her. And Tagan had burned up, losing the connection with the enraged animal that sat just below the surface of his skin.