Part 16 (1/2)
And thank goodness it was a dream. Her body hungered for the touch of flesh against flesh. Reaching for him, curling her fingers around his biceps, something awakened deep inside.
She'd ignored the months of celibacy, hadn't really thought about them, but now, the need to make up for lost time drove her. She moaned as he deepened the kiss. Pa.s.sion flared in her blood.
She wanted him-her dream man. Now. A quick tug pulled her s.h.i.+rt free of her jeans. His hand splayed across her abdomen. His touch branded her. He laid her back on the bed, tugging at her T-s.h.i.+rt. She released him long enough for him to pull it over her head. He unfastened her bra and slid it off her shoulders.
Althea reached for him once more. She wrapped her fingers around his hard biceps and pulled him to her.
Dante lowered his head and nibbled along her collarbone. He laved each kiss, each love bite, with a long sweep of his tongue that had her shuddering to her toes. The crisp whorls of his chest hair tickled her nipples and stomach.
She arched beneath him, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s begging for his touch. ”Please,” she whispered, unaware she voiced her plea. Keeper By Shaunta Grimes Available Now Jude Felini carefully removed all the thorns from a single, perfect yellow rose before biting the long stem. He surveyed the tree-lined street, the rows of neat four-plex apartments, making sure he was alone before his body s.h.i.+mmered and contracted into that of a large orange tomcat.
Clutching the rose between his teeth, he hopped from the ground onto an iron balcony railing, walked across it, jumped to a tree limb, and then up to a second story balcony. Potted plants and flowers turned the small s.p.a.ce into a tiny rain forest. Jude loved being here and he often snuck up without the balcony's avian owner knowing.
The s.e.xy little bird in question had once again jumped headlong into a boatload of trouble.
From his position under her window, Jude watched Avery Dove wrap her arms around her slender waist and gaze at the sky. Her up-tilted heart-shaped face was unguarded, and breathtaking in its beauty. She opened the window and Jude leapt onto the sill.
Avery stumbled backward several steps away from the window, upsetting framed pictures off the table behind her, and then let loose with a string of swear words all the more colorful for coming from such a delicate woman.
Laughter rang in his head. He drew altogether too much enjoyment from yanking her chain.
If he could get that personality quirk under control, maybe he'd be in Avery's bed instead of standing outside her window. He took on his human form again as he jumped from the sill to the floor. As he transformed, the rose was tossed in the air. It spun in a slow arc before it landed in his hand. He presented it to her with a formal bow.
She stood with her hands fisted on her hips, her cheeks flushed. Though she struggled to keep her gaze resolutely on his face, he caught the sweep she made of his nude body. ”I swear to G.o.d, one of these days I'm going to put a collar around your neck and take you in to be neutered, Jude Felini.”
Jude laughed out loud. ”You don't want me neutered, Sweetheart. Trust me.”
”Maybe neutered you wouldn't be such a pain in my a.s.s.” She took the flower. ”Where the h.e.l.l are your clothes?”
Jude raised an eyebrow and tilted his head toward the window with the tree outside, under which rested his jeans and t-s.h.i.+rt. ”Being a pain in your a.s.s sounds fun. Maybe we should give it a try.”
”I hope you aren't here just to gloat, because I'm really not in the mood.” Avery stuck her nose in the flower, but Jude saw the blush rising up from her elegant neck. No woman had ever done angry as beautifully as she did. ”Go get dressed.”
He leaned against her clean, white wall. Everything in her apartment was airy and light, perfectly suited for a bird. ”Don't you think it'll cause a sensation if I walk down the front stairs nude?”