11. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

F ury

The day dawns gray and quiet, the storm having blown itself out in the night. I lie still for a long moment, savoring Natalie's warmth beside me, the soft whisper of her breath against my chest.

Shaddai yips softly from his makeshift den, breaking the spell. Tally stirs, her eyelids fluttering open. She blinks up at me, a slow smile curving her lips.

"Morning," she murmurs, her voice husky with sleep.

"Morning yourself." I brush a strand of hair from her cheek, marveling at the smooth softness of her skin. "Sleep okay?"

"Mmm, you're like the sandman, giving me great nights' sleep. You're good company." Her smile turns impish, eyes sparkling with mischief and something warmer, deeper.

I'd half wondered if Tally would pretend nothing had changed between us last night, but she's a straight shooter, not one to minimize or lie. And look at that smile, beaming from her face as though she's lit from within. I'm falling hard and fast for her .

As I clear my throat, I try to ignore the way my body responds to that direct, appreciative look.

"I vote we don't pretend we didn't share the world's hottest kiss last night." This woman is fearless as she pierces me with her honest emerald gaze.

"Agreed. World's hottest. Definitely." I flash her a smile because how can I deny the truth? I need to change the subject, pronto. "Hungry? I could rustle us up some breakfast."

"In a bit. I'm too comfy to move just yet." She nestles closer, head on my shoulder, one leg thrown casually over mine.

Although our pose is doubly intimate because all I'm wearing are my boxer briefs—which do absolutely nothing to hide my growing erection—my arm tightens around her involuntarily.

Shaddai chooses that moment to come barreling over, leaping gracelessly onto the bed. He lands in a tangle of gangly limbs, oversized paws, and wagging tail, right on Tally's legs.

"Oof!" She laughs breathlessly, pushing herself up to cuddle the wriggling ball of fur. "Well, good morning to you too, little man!"

"He's going to need a firm hand," I mutter, mock-scowling at the pup. "No discipline, this one. None."

"Oh, hush. He's just a baby." She scratches Shaddai's ears, cooing nonsense at him. The sight makes something clench inside me, a yearning I haven't allowed myself to feel for decades.

I force myself to look away, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. "I'm taking twenty laps around the cabin. Who's with me?"

"Ha! Have fun with that, wolven."

When I scowl at her, she adds, "Hey, there's still at least three feet of snow out there and I'm broken, remember?"

Grumbling about slackers under my breath, I stretch, noticing the pop and crack of my spine and wondering what Tally thinks of our age difference. When she makes an appreciative humming noise, her gaze roaming over me in a way that heats my blood, I figure the age gap must not bother her.

I pull on my jeans and stalk to the hearth, building the fire until it's roaring and warm. Anything to distract my thoughts from last night's incendiary kiss, or how her silken skin felt under my fingertips.

The kettle whistles and I brew two cups of tea—one for me and one for Her Smiling Highness over there.

Carrying the mugs to the bed, I hold hers out of reach when Tally makes a grab for it.

"I'll trade you. Shaddai for the tea."

She scrunches her nose in that adorable way of hers. "Do I have to choose?"

"Yes. I refuse to compete for bed space with that furball right now."

"I learn things about you every day." She purses her lips with such an air of superiority I want to kiss that smug look off her face.

Instead, I ask, "What have you learned already this morning?"

"You're a bit demanding, a bit greedy. But, fine."

With a self-satisfied smirk, she nudges Shaddai until he half-plops, half-leaps onto the floor. Reaching for the mug, she watches as the pup races to his nest, curls into a ball, and covers his nose with his tail.

"Fine as in okay, you give in? Or fine as in, you like my… ass?" As if she hadn't noticed it before, I turn to shake it at her, then wonder what this pretty human thinks about my bushy tail… or my wolfy ears or my sharp claws that I can sheath like a cat, or my terrifying fangs or the thickly furred pelt on my shoulders.

When she doesn't say anything, I turn back to catch her expression only to find her looking at me as if she's been starving for a while and I'm a porterhouse steak .

"Fine as in don't do that again unless you want me to tie you to the bed and have my way with you."

Although I play poker for hours a week at Wolven HQ, it's everything I can do to keep my eyebrows from rising to my hairline in shock.

"Did you really just say that?"

"Did I really just say what?" She tosses her head as though I certainly misheard her, but the blush blazing across her cheeks tells an entirely different story. "You're imagining things, wolven."

I sit next to her and lean close to nudge her shoulder with mine. "Careful, Buttercup. Wolves bite ."

Instead of the eyeroll I'm expecting, Tally's expression turns sly, challenging. She sets her mug aside and leans in close, her breath ghosting over my ear.

"Promise?"

My jaw clenches, claws digging into my thigh to keep from pressing her into the mattress and picking up from where we left off last night. Fuck. Blindly setting my tea down, I turn and pin her with a dark stare.

"Playing with fire there, little human," I rasp, even as my hands, claws safely sheathed, find her hips, dragging her closer.

Her tongue darts out to wet her lower lip, eyes heavy-lidded and filled with heat. "Then maybe you should make me behave, big bad wolven."

A growl rumbles from my chest. Enough talking. She doesn't protest when I pick her up, carry her to the loveseat, and settle her to straddle my lap, her soft curves nestling perfectly against my hard angles.

"This will be your only warning, Natalie," I grit out, nipping sharply at her earlobe, letting her feel the scrape of my fangs. "Be good now. "

Her breath hitches, fingers flexing on my biceps, curling through my shoulder pelt. Eyes glittering with challenge, she grinds her core against my hardening cock in blatant invitation.

"And if I don't want to be good?"

My mind is whirling as I search blindly for the reasons—even one reason—I didn't want to make love to this perfect woman last night. For the life of me, I can't recall why I refuse to do what we're both desperate for.

"Last night, you said yes to me… to this." I don't have to explain further. We both know exactly what I mean. "I gave you all night to think about it. What—"

"Yes. Yes. I didn't need all night to think about it. Didn't need to talk myself out of what my heart wants. It wasn't exactly an accident that we woke up twined together, Fury. Our bodies know exactly what we're yearning for. But if you need to hear it, I'll say it one more time, Fury. Yes."

Game on.