A Wolf's Oath (21 page)

His skin seemed to glow beneath the bedroom’s light and she
was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. Her body had finally ceased
shaking, though her hand was now trembling for an all-together
different reason. Edging forward into the room, she covered the
distance from the door to the bed, before her hand landed on his
skin. His flesh was hot beneath her questing fingertips, much
hotter than she had thought it would have been and as she began to
lightly trace the muscles of his chest, Erica became aware of
something strange. She could smell him. The heat of his skin seemed
to waft from him in waves and the longer she touched him, the
stronger his scent became. It was intoxicating and her free hand
decided that it couldn’t miss out on the action, joining its
partner. He groaned at the light sensation and she stopped her
exploration afraid that she had woken him, but he continued to
sleep and she felt increasingly brave.
We’re engaged. It isn’t as though I’ve never done this
before. I have,
she reasoned,
I just can’t remember it.

Her searching fingers wandered over the ridges on his
stomach, marvelling at how his muscles moved as he breathed. She
was immensely surprised when his hand shackled her wrist, pulling
her down on to the bed with him.

“
Erica,” he groaned, rolling them over so that she lay trapped
beneath him.

Her eyes widened in astonishment at the surprising move, but
as her eyes wandered over his face, she found that his were closed,
his chocolate brown eyes not visible beneath the rapid movement of
his closed eyelids. He was still asleep.

He lowered his head to the curve of her neck and breathed
deeply. “Erica,” he sighed before placing a light kiss against the
flesh. “My Erica.” The feel of his lips against her flesh was
unexpected and she shivered lightly as pleasure began to radiate
through her body from the simple contact. Heat speared through her,
stunning her with its intensity and speed and she moaned quietly in
response.

The gentleness in his light kiss didn’t prepare her for the
abrupt change in his behaviour. She gasped at the sensation of his
teeth nibbling against her flesh, the light nips gradually becoming
harder until he had bitten her. Though his teeth didn’t break the
skin, she was certain that there would be a mark later as a
reminder of this encounter. Pleasure came with the unexpected
savagery of his bite and the strangest impulse to bite him in
return came upon her before being washed away by the gentle
tenderness of his tongue. His tongue quickly soothed the pain he
had caused, swirling around the skin until she was groaning with
pleasure beneath him.

His hands spread her legs wider so that she could better hold
him against her and she immediately became aware of his hardness
pressing intimately against her. His hips rocked against hers,
silently telling her of his need and she could feel herself growing
increasingly damp within the bed shorts she wore in response. His
lips moved against her more insistently urging her to respond in
kind and she did so, unable to do anything else. Heat and pleasure
mounted as they rocked together and Erica's breaths became
increasingly short as she panted in arousal.

His head lifted from her neck and he stared at her with
unseeing eyes before his lips met hers. The kiss was urgent and
demanding despite his state of unconsciousness as though he feared
she would disappear if he even spared a moment for her to breathe.
His tongue easily slipped past her lips as she groaned in pleasure
at his ministrations. As their tongues met she found herself
responding to him, becoming an active participant in the
kiss.

Her hands rose, delving into the strands of his hair to hold
him in place as her body writhed beneath his. Sebastian's warm
hands began to move, delving under the short-sleeved shirt she wore
to reach her skin. His fingers against her flesh were searing hot
and she felt as though he were branding her with his every touch.
Arching into his touch, she moved her body to give him better
access, her breath leaving her body on a shuddering sigh as his
touch became surer.

Her body was reacting to his with an intensity that almost
stunned her, her skin felt as though it were on fire everywhere he
caressed but she couldn’t get enough of his touch. Her breasts felt
heavy and her nipples were straining peaks aching for even the
simplest contact with him. His lips left hers, giving her the
opportunity to catch her breath, though she wasn’t struggling for
air and was sorely tempted to force his glorious lips to return to
her. The hands against her stomach began to rise, creeping upwards
towards her chest and though she was enjoying his ministrations,
her mind becoming foggy with desire, she knew that she couldn’t let
this continue. When Sebastian inevitably woke and found out what
had occurred between them while he was in the grips of sleep, he
wouldn’t be happy.

“
Sebastian,” she called, hoping to wake him with the sound of
her voice.

He didn’t rouse at the sound of her hesitant call, his hands
instead moving to the now exposed skin of her chest. He cupped her
breasts within warm palms, running his thumbs over the rosy peaks.
Pleasure shot through her and she moaned in response, struggling to
remember why she didn’t want this to continue. Her aching breasts
were finally getting a measure of relief and the change in their
positions had brought the heavy weight of his erection closer to
her wet core.

“
Sebastian!” she yelled, placing her hands over his to prevent
him from continuing. “Wake up.” The sound had apparently
infiltrated his mind as he stopped caressing her skin though his
eyes didn’t open. “Sebastian!” she repeated louder this
time.

His brow furrowed in confusion as his eyelids began to
flutter open. His eyes blinked rapidly trying to focus on his
surroundings and when they did he gasped in shock. Erica lay half
naked and dishevelled beneath him and his hands were trapped on her
generous bosom.

What have you done?
he screamed at
his wolf, shocked at the actions that it had taken while he had
slept.

Me?
it asked innocently.
I didn’t do all of this. Well maybe I helped you
out a little but you were the one that pulled her into bed. What
did you think that I was going to do? This is our mate and she
walked in here and began touching us, there was really no other
alternative.

Sebastian growled at the wolf in response to its reasoning
before turning his attention back to Erica. “I’m so sorry,” he
apologised pulling his hands away from her flesh. “I don’t know
what came over me.”

She smiled weakly, readjusting her shirt to cover her body
before addressing him. “You weren’t aware of what you were doing,”
she stated, trying to reassure him. “I really should take it as a
sort of compliment, you must have been dreaming about me. You
called out my name.”

What else did I say?
He panicked,
hoping that he hadn’t given away any information that she shouldn’t
have been aware of while he slept. “I’m sorry Erica.”

“
It’s ok Sebastian, I assume that we’ve done things like this
before so that’s why you acted the way you did when I…” She
hesitated unsure of whether she should admit to her part in the
incident. Upon seeing the turmoil on Sebastian's face as he beat
himself up over his actions she decided that honesty was probably
the best option. “I came in here and touched you while you were
sleeping, so it’s partly my fault as well. Don’t blame
yourself.”

“
Erica, you and I have never done anything like this before,”
he informed her, deciding that it would probably be best if he told
her the truth in this matter. From what he knew out about his mate,
it was very likely that she was untouched and if things had
continued to progress she would have become aware of that fact very
quickly and might become suspicious of him.

“
Really?” she spluttered incredulous. “Never?” She eyed his
naked torso, struggling against the urge to touch him and wondered
how they hadn’t been intimate in the time that they had been
together considering how strongly she seemed to react to him. Even
now her body was still coping with the effects of his clever
fingers, pleasurable anticipation thrumming through her
blood.

He scrubbed a hand against the back of his neck, in a habitual
nervous gesture. “Well you said that you wanted to wait until we
married,” he lied.
The claiming is the
equivalent of the human ceremony of marriage,
he reasoned, justifying the lie.

She leaned closer to him, clearly not expecting that answer.
“I did?”

“
Yes.”

“
I guess I just found out something new about
myself.”

“
And what would that be?” He inquired lightly.

“
I must have had tremendous self control,” she laughed.
Because you’re downright yummy.

Using my terminology? Well, I can’t hold that against you
because on this I definitely agree.
Yummy
is definitely the word to describe him.
The
mysterious voice within her mind concurred and Erica felt no need
to contradict it, when it came to Sebastian apparently they were on
common ground.

Chapter
Twenty-Two

“
Erica sweetheart, what exactly brought you here?” Sebastian
asked now that she was now properly dressed and he could look at
her without his mind taking a stroll down lecherous lane. “Don’t
get me wrong, it isn’t as though you’re not welcome. I said that my
door was always open for you and I still mean that but you seemed
very reluctant to spend the night with me when I left you last
night. What changed between now and then?”

“
I had a rough night,” she answered simply.

“
Did you remember anything?”

Her mind flashed back to the deceptively calm voice and the
pain that it had caused but as she looked at Sebastian and
remembered the peace of the estate that she had woken up in, the
conclusion that the nightmare was nothing more than a figment of
her imagination solidified. “No, I just had a bad dream. I’m fine
now.”

“
Are you sure?”

“
Yes Sebastian, I’m fine,” she said just as her stomach growled
loudly, protesting the lack of food it had received since they had
arrived. “A little hungry,” she chuckled, “but aside from that I’m
fine.”

Leaning over, Sebastian reached for the small alarm clock on
the bedside table. “I think the store in town will be open by now
if you want to get something to eat and then we can go shopping for
your ring.”

“
We don’t have to get that today Sebastian, you probably
haven’t even thought about getting one since my accident, I don’t
want to be too much of a burden.”

“
You, a burden? Never. I want to get you the ring Erica. I’m
sorry that I forgot it. You shouldn’t have had to remind me. I’m
actually feeling like a pretty poor excuse for a fiancé at the
moment.”

“
By whose standards could you be considered a bad fiancé?
You’ve stayed with me even though the doctors have said that I
might never regain my memories. There are people in the world who
wouldn’t have done the same in our situation.”

“
I’d never leave you sweetheart.”

“
That’s why I can honestly say that you’re a good fiancé.” Her
stomach growled, louder than before continuing it’s protest for
food.

That’s only because you don’t remember what happened,
he mused angrily, disgusted by his actions that
had resulted in their current situation.
If I had only gone looking for you earlier then this might
never have happened.
“I can’t be that good
of a fiancé, your stomach seems to think that I’m starving you,” he
laughed, hoping that his inner turmoil wasn’t evident on his
face.

“
I’m just going to have a quick shower and I’ll be ready before
you know it.” She hurried from the room, giving Sebastian a
tantalising glimpse of the curve of her buttocks beneath the very
short shorts she wore.

Which idiot bought her those?
He
groaned, remembering how soft her skin had felt under his palms
when he had woken.
Were they trying to
kill me? Even my self restraint only goes so far.

I like them,
his wolf
inserted.

You would.

I wonder what she looks like in the shower?
the wolf pondered, flooding Sebastian's mind with
images of what he believed she would appear like.

A particularly vivid image refused to leave his mind and he
found himself staring at the mental image, watching a single
droplet of water follow the curve of her breast before it began to
make its way down her firm stomach.
Stop
it,
Sebastian growled.
There are other things that I need to take care of and in
case it slipped your mind, Erica has lost her memories. She doesn’t
remember us at all.

That seems to be working in our favour. She’s a lot nicer to
you now and she doesn’t try to hide her attraction to us anymore.
From my point of view this whole amnesia thing is probably the best
thing that could have happened. You should use it to your
advantage.