Hero: Dimitri. Rare Red Wolf. Tracker. Mate claimed his best friend but she hasn’t accepted…yet.

Heroine: Jaycee.  Also a tracker. Loves Dimitri but isn’t sure she wants or can be submissive to a man.

Dimitri took her by the hand and led her out, speeding his steps as he got closer and closer to the door. He and Jaycee ran out together into the night, which was finally cool after a day of heat. The parking lot was mostly deserted, the space where Dimitri had left his truck, dark.

He halted with Jaycee on the passenger side of the pickup, pressed her back against the door, and leaned into her to kiss the side of her neck.

“You take my breath away,” he whispered.

He expected Jaycee to make some quip, a joke at his expense, but when Dimitri raised his head, her eyes were gentle.

“I wish …” Her words died along with her smile, and she closed her mouth.
At any other time, Dimitri might have prodded her to finish the sentence. Tonight, he didn’t have the patience.
He lifted her hands over her head, pinning her against the truck while he resumed kissing her. Jaycee’s mouth moved with his, as did her body. She was pliant against him but strong, vibrant.

He hadn’t made love to her since the night a couple of months ago when Kendrick had first mated with Addie. Kendrick’s mating frenzy down the hall had touched Dimitri and Jaycee, and they’d had a fine time in Jaycee’s room. Jaycee had been a little panicked about it in the morning, but she hadn’t kicked him out. Dimitri had then mate-claimed Jaycee when she’d been ready to race into grave danger to save Kendrick’s life—the mate-claim meant Dimitri could refuse to let her put herself in peril. Not that she’d listened to him. Jaycee hadn’t yet accepted the claim, but she hadn’t rejected it either.
Of course, Jaycee would never be an obedient, docile, submissive female, mate-claim or not. She didn’t obey without question and had no trouble telling alpha male Shifters, Dimitri included, what she thought of them.

Dimitri hadn’t pressed her into making a final choice with the mate-claim or to come to his bed. He wasn’t an asshole who was going to lock her up until she gave in to his will and became his sweet little submissive mate. Although, that might be fun. The thought made him want to smile, and to kiss her harder.

Jaycee made a faint noise in her throat as she struggled against his hold on her wrists. Then noise turned to a hum as she relaxed against him.

Dimitri eased back from the kiss, but he didn’t let her go. He moved his kisses to her throat, inhaling her warmth. He licked the hollow of her collarbone, just below her fake Collar. The silver links were warm, and he bit them.

Jaycee’s pulse beat hard beneath his mouth. Dimitri released her hands, but only so he could skim his under her tank top, finding the heat of her skin, the lace of the dark blue bra she wore. Her eyes half closed as he found and unhooked the fastening, then slid his hands around to cup the weight of her breasts.

Her skin was soft, the heat of her intoxicating. Jaycee wrapped her arms around him as she had inside, rocking a little as though they still danced. Dimitri kissed her as he swept his thumbs across her breasts, her nipples tightening under his touch.

Dimitri jumped when he felt her fingers sliding beneath his waistband, then the heat of them on his backside. He stepped more firmly against her, sacrificing one hand’s hold of her beautiful breast to scoop her closer.
Jaycee’s kiss turned fierce, her longing palpable.

Mate-claimed. Mine. Dimitri growled in his throat. The wolf in him needed her, wanted for them to curl up together and shut out the world. You and me, his thoughts rolled. It’s always been you and me. Dimitri wished he could say that to her without his tongue getting tangled.

Jaycee didn’t seem to mind his tongue right now. She was sucking on it.

Dimitri held her against the cool side of the truck. A warm breeze blew around them, stirring Jaycee’s hair.
Jaycee broke the kiss, regarding him with languid eyes. “You kiss nice, wolf.”

Dimitri couldn’t answer—his mouth wouldn’t cooperate. If he could ramble on poetically or at least toss off the sexy lines of the heroes in the books she liked to read, he was sure he’d have been taking her on the truck’s front seat by now.

“Jase,” was all he could manage.

She pressed a finger to his lips. “Shh. Talking causes all kinds of trouble.”It did—she was right. Jaycee moved again, dancing against him though here was no music. Just starlight and a Texas breeze, and a beautiful woman with her hand down the back of his pants.

Dimitri braced himself with his fist on the side of the truck and curved over her. She smiled up at him, eyes sparkling, as she moved her hand from his backside and around his waist to close it on his cock.

“Oh, fucking hell,” Dimitri said. No problem with those words.

Jaycee squeezed him, no room to stroke, but it didn’t matter. Her fingers were firm points of heat, sending fires up his spine to explode into his brain.

“I’m a cat,” Jaycee said softly, leaning into him. “I like to play.”

Red Wolf by Jennifer Ashley is available for purchase.  My review will post Tuesday.

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