Fear the Darkness (Guardians of Eternity #9)(16)

“I’ve come to ease your tension.”

He squeezed his eyes shut, as if in pain. “A back rub isn’t what I need, pet. Maybe later.”

Halting directly in front of him, Cassie skimmed her hands over his broad chest, savoring the sensation of his muscles clenching beneath her soft touch. “Then tell me what you do need.”

His eyes snapped open, his hands reaching to grasp her wrists, although he made no effort to pull them away.

Thank the gods.

“I need you out of here before I do something we’re both going to regret,” he rasped.

“You would regret making love to me?”

His eyes blazed with a compulsive need, even as his face twisted with an expression of supreme torment. “Are you deliberately trying to drive me crazy?”

She leaned forward, trailing her lips over the silken smoothness of his chest. He tasted of heat and feral animal. Delicious.

“I only wanted to help.”

“Help?” he breathed, his heart thundering beneath her lingering kiss and the scent of wolf suddenly filling the air.

Cassie felt her own wolf responding. Just because she couldn’t shift she wasn’t any less of a Were. Her animal was prowling just below her skin, restlessly seeking the touch of this man. “To relieve your tension.”

Unexpectedly, Caine stiffened, his muttered curses warning he wasn’t pleased by her explanation. “So you’re willing to give away your virginity for a pity f**k?” he growled.

She pulled back, confused by his sudden anger. “I don’t know what that means.”

He grimaced, instantly regretting his harsh words. “It means that I’m not so desperate for sex that I’m willing to take your innocence.”

Ah. Relief surged through her. He was simply protecting her.

Again.

She reached up to brush her lips along the line of his stubborn jaw. “And what if I am?”

She felt him tremble, his muscles coiled so tight it was a wonder he didn’t cramp.

“What if you are what?” he managed to husk.

“Desperate,” she readily admitted, nipping the lobe of his ear. “Would you give me a pity fu—”

Caine swooped his head down to end her words with a kiss that sent a sizzling jolt of pleasure straight through her body. She gasped, clutching at his shoulders as her toes curled in the warm water pooling at their feet.

“Don’t say it,” he commanded against her lips.

She allowed her tongue to trace the chiseled lines of his mouth, pleased when he groaned in helpless need.

“You did,” she reminded him softly.

“I say a lot of stupid things when I’m—”

“Tense?” she offered when he bit off his explanation, a line of color marking his cheekbones.

“Yes.” His voice was hoarse, his eyes glowing with his wolf in the billowing steam. “Cassie, you really need to leave.”

In response, she pressed herself against his naked body, her breath catching at the feel of his hard erection pulsing against her lower stomach.

She hadn’t expected it to be so large. Not only long, but thick. And hot. It burned against her skin like a branding iron.

Or maybe that was just her fevered imagination. Not because she was nervous. Or uncertain. But because she was so damned hungry for him.

She might be a virgin, but she had zero doubt that she wanted Caine. He was, in fact, the only man she’d ever wanted.

All of him.

“You don’t want me?” she demanded.

His hands gripped her hips, his fingers digging into her flesh as if he were caught between the urge to yank her closer and shove her away. “So badly that I can barely think straight,” he breathed.

She allowed her fingers to skim over his shoulders and then up the curve of his throat. Her touch was tentative. A Were was extremely selective in who was allowed to touch their neck. The fact he made no effort to halt her exploration proved he already accepted her on the most intimate level.

“Then make love to me.”

He tensed, his eyes dark with pain. “No.”

Stubborn man. Thankfully, she could be just as stubborn.

She threaded her fingers through his damp hair, deliberately rubbing the tight buds of her br**sts against his chest, groaning at the tiny darts of sensation that arrowed straight to the pit of her stomach.

Oh . . . my.

“Why not?”

Caine swore, his fingers biting into the flesh of her hips. “I won’t take your innocence because you’re feeling sorry for me.”

She stilled, tilting back her head to study him in confusion. “Is that what you think? That I feel sorry for you?”

“Why else would you be in my shower?”

“Because I want . . .”

He frowned as she struggled to find the words to express the need aching deep inside her. “What?”

“This.”

She might not have the words, but she knew what she wanted. Besides, talk was overrated under the best of circumstances. And in this moment, it was completely superfluous.

Cupping his face in her hands, she went up on her tiptoes, pressing her lips to his in a kiss of blatant longing.

Caine froze and Cassie felt her heart sink. So much for her awkward attempt at seduction.

Then, just as she was about to pull back, Caine’s arms lashed around her body and he hauled her off her feet so he could deepen the kiss with a satisfying urgency. Unlike her, the male possessed all the experience and skill necessary to turn the fumbling connection of their mouths into pure magic.