His fingers finally slipped higher, her shirt pulling tight before the buttons popped free. A stillness from above. He gazed upon her. His claws traced the edges of her lacy bra, feather light. She squirmed, wanting it off.
He hooked a claw into the fabric between her breasts, slicing it clean in two. He lifted the pieces away, and his eyes ignited.
“Beautiful,” he breathed. “You are so beautiful.”
The wildness paused within her. No one had ever said those words to her. She didn’t think her chest could contain her heart.
Then he moved the claws to her naked breasts, drifting them over the nipples. She gasped and shuddered. Designed by nature as weapons, yet he wielded them as sensual torture devices. Exquisitely, teasingly, gentle.
Too gentle. She reached, and his shirt shredded beneath her fingers that suddenly grew tiny claws. Her eyes feasted on the muscles rippling in the candlelight. She explored every ridge and scar that crisscrossed his skin. Dug her baby claws in, hard.
His rumble deepened. The air trembled with it. It thrummed through her body, making her ache and writhe.
He pulled away and hooked his fingers to peel her tights off. Lips and gentle claw tips traced the newly exposed skin. She moaned beneath him, her breath growing increasingly ragged as her panties went the way of the bra.
A warm, wet tongue danced up her thigh. One side, then the other. The faintest prick of teeth. And then the wetness found her own heat. And he drank deep.
She gasped, arching into him. Only his hand—powerful fingers spread against her belly—kept her from taking flight.
“Kade...”
He nuzzled and nibbled. Inhaling another gasp, she sank her fingers into his thick hair and pulled him back to her face. His eyes gleamed at her. But the man was still in control.
Enough. She wanted the beast.
Jessie grabbed his lip between her teeth, holding him in place as she pulled back on her claws and reached between them. Hooked her fingers in the waistband of his jeans. Unfastened the button and slipped within.
The tips met hot steel.
The instant she made contact, he pulled away from her teeth and growled. A deep visceral rumble. Inches from her own, the pupils shrank to those of a great cat.
The beast was straining at the chains. And pushing against her fingers.
Those fingers attempted to wrap around him. Kade flung his head back, his lips peeling from teeth grown sharp. A wrenching, shuddering groan tore loose from him, as the volcano he’d kept hidden for so long awakened and sought the sky.
The big fangs dropped as he wrenched the jeans clear off, his long, sharp claws shredding the fabric. She clung to him, her fingers revealing imagery that incited a moan. She reached and stroked the tips along the length of him... red-hot and silk over pure titanium.
He shuddered. The air sang with a pulse that matched their racing hearts.
Braced above her, he attacked her lips with teeth and tongue. The coppery blood in the kiss only added fuel to her wildfire. She nipped and tangled her tongue with his, wrapping her arms around him to pull him closer. Her fingers sank fresh, long claws into the rippling muscles of his back. Coarse fur erupted along the smooth skin.
His beast responded with a sound between a shout and a roar. It sent a lightning bolt of pure need straight through her, and her wild thing answered with a snarl of its own.
“Now,” she panted. “Now, Kade.”
He rolled up onto his knees, his strong fingers supporting her hips, taking her up with him. Without effort. As though she weighed nothing at all.
Her legs wrapped around his waist as his fingers cupped her butt. Lifting her along his length, its scorching heat turning her molten.
Yes.
Poised, she hung on the precipice, wanting, needing. And he sought her with a desperation that was almost unhinged. Plunged into her welcoming warmth. For just a fraction of a second, the shock of it froze them both to utter stillness, their bodies quivering. Then she moaned, and he growled, lifted her, and slid home again. She squirmed, her body stretching to meet him.
Every move fired nerves she’d no idea even existed. Moans, gasps, groans—she’d never uttered these sounds. She hooked her claws into his skin and held on. Unable to breathe. Or think.
Kade’s exhalations were hoarse and broken, and the rumble erupted so loudly it penetrated her bones. He nipped her lips with the tips of his sharp teeth, trailing them along her throat to the juncture of her neck and shoulder.
“Yes,” she urged, arching beneath him, meeting every drive of his hips. “Yes. Do it.”
