Devlin Dynasty 2: Fall Fury (16 page)

Damn near burned her alive, and that was just the play of his mouth on herfingers.

Their gazes caught and held as Max leaned in. The musky scent that sheattributed to him mixed with the wine tingeing his breath. A heady combinationthat she found near impossible to resist.

But resist she would. At least for the moment. For someone who’d always beenself-assured, she sure as hell felt torn between her desires and her common senseright now. And she didn’t know which one was the right one to follow. “I haven’tseen the inside of the house since it’s been set up. How about a tour?”

Max paused, then tilted his head to the side, studying her. She turned away fromhis intense scrutiny to watch the last of the sun flitting behind the trees.

“Okay, let’s go,” he said.

He stood, picked up the basket and held out his hand to her, keeping his fingersentwined with hers as they walked into the house.

She kind of liked the feel of her small hand in his much larger one.

When they got inside the kitchen, he set the basket on the counter and turned toher. “Let’s take that tour.”

He led her through the expansive kitchen and into a formal dining room that stoodempty.

“I lived in an apartment, so the set in the kitchen nook was all I had. No reason to

have anything formal.”

She smiled at his explanation, imagining his bachelor pad back in Boston.

The furniture in the living room was lovely, though. Instead of manly leather, asmost single men possessed, a warm beige sofa and matching loveseat graced theliving area. Two high-backed Queen Anne chairs in a beautiful pattern of golden

browns and rust complimented the couch, along with a few impressive antique

end tables and a coffee table. A heavily scrolled pattern etched the rounded feet of the mahogany tables. They were breathtaking and obviously well preserved.

“My grandmother’s tables,” he murmured, stopping at the doorway leading to the front hall. “My mother insisted that each of us had some of Grams’ furniture, and I always liked those pieces.”

“They’re lovely.”

“Thanks.”

He waited while she approached the stairs, letting her walk up ahead of him. Shewas conscious of his eyes on her as she made the trek up the stairs, making herwant to rush her pace, but she forced herself to take normal steps. She waited forhim at the top, conscious of the way his gaze traveled over her as he made the lastfew steps.

There were four bedrooms upstairs, and two full baths. She remembered the nightshe’d come in here with Max, and had fallen in love with the bath in the masterbedroom. Gorgeous creamy marbleized tile, with a double vanity, a sunkenwhirlpool tub and a shower that several people could fit into made it everywoman’s dream bathroom.

“I won’t be using two of the bedrooms…yet,” he said as he led her down the hall. “One I’ve converted to my office since I do a lot of work at home, and until I get a main PR office in town somewhere, I’ll just set up here.”

She nodded, admiring the enthusiasm in his voice. Maybe she was wrong abouthis motives for moving here. If she’d bothered to think about him as abusinessman instead of just a guy trying to reach the top of the Storm dynasty byway of getting into her pants, then she’d have realized this sooner.

And she’d accused
 
him
 
of having a huge ego? Hers was boundless. She’d thoughthe was really trying to get to her family’s money through her, when he didn’tneed it at all.

But that only left one reason he had been trying to get close to her since the daythat they met. He wanted her. Just her. She found it less uncomfortable to think hewas just after her money.

“I think I like this room the best,” he said, drawing her out of her musings by

leading her into the master bedroom.

Wow. Her gaze immediately went to the sliding glass door, which led out to anexpansive balcony that overlooked the lake. A king size bed centered the longwall, decorated by a gray and cream bedspread in a satiny finish. Wide, thickpillows were piled on the bed. It was beautiful, but not garish. Inviting, warm, andsensual. “You could fit ten people on that bed!”

“Two would be just fine,” he said with a wink.

She swallowed past the nervous lump in her throat, although for the life of her shehad no idea what she was nervous about. Yes, she felt something happeningbetween them, but it wasn’t like they’d never had sex before. After all, thebalcony episode remained first and foremost on her mind every single day.

This felt different. More important, somehow, but she didn’t know why.

Quit second guessing things and just go with it! Geez, woman, have you ever hada spontaneous moment in your entire life? Does everything have to be aboutcontrol?

“Come out here with me. I want to show you something.”

She jumped at the feel of Max’s hand sliding into hers, yet she allowed him tolead her out the sliding door and onto the balcony.

Her first whiff of the crisp air brought about a sensation of a brewing storm. Maxhad put some white wicker chairs on the oversized balcony, and even one of thosechairs-for-two that slid back and forth like a rocker. Small tables were set next toeach chair.

“It’s lovely,” she said, stepping to the wood railing and leaning over, letting the wind whip strands of her hair from her ponytail. She closed her eyes and let the elements surround her, praying that the cooling breeze would extinguish the fire burning inside her.

“Would you like a drink? I can go downstairs and get the wine.”

Did she want to prolong the inevitable? She was at the now-or-never point, the

place where she firmly denied him forever, or took a giant leap.

Honestly, she didn’t know what to do. Instinctively, she knew that she’d have togive up some control to make love with Max. He wasn’t like the men she usuallychose. There wasn’t a sit-and-obey bone in his entire body.

Maybe that’s what really scared her about him. The fact that she couldn’t call theshots, that he stirred some need within her that she never even knew shepossessed.

The need to be dominated, to give up her control to one person and one persononly. Denial had kept that part of her safely buried for years, but now she draggedit out and faced it.

Dare she allow Max to explore that aspect of her? And what would happen if shegave it up to him? Would she ever be able to get it back? Would they ever returnto equal footing?

“We seem to find ourselves on balconies a lot,” he said, moving behind her and whispering in her ear. His deep voice made her shiver, made her want things she wasn’t sure she should want.

“Yes, we do.”

Heat simmered between them, around them, mixing with the furious wind thatstung her cheeks.

“Weather’s getting bad. You want to go inside?”

She shook her head. “No. I love this. It’s so primal, like communing with nature.

Lame, I know, but I love stormy weather.”

His low, husky laugh rumbled against her back as he reached for her shouldersand pulled her against him. “It’s not lame at all. I love being outdoors no matterthe weather. It’s like I’m a part of the elements.”

Max was the first man who truly understood how she felt. That was scary enough,let alone her body’s reaction to being near him.

He moved his hands up and down her arms, causing goose bumps to pop out on

her skin.

“I’m going to touch your body, Shannon. Everywhere. I’m going to undress you

out here, and I’m going to make love to you tonight.”

There was no question in his rough, insistent voice. He hadn’t asked. He’d toldher what he was going to do. She opened her mouth to shout a vehement denial atnot being given a choice, then closed it abruptly.

Wasn’t this what she wanted? To be taken, to give up the need to dominate everysituation?

Instead of her natural inclination to argue the point, she remained silent.

She’d made her choice.

* * * * *

Max waited for the inevitable denial to break from Shannon’s lips, but she didn’tsay a word. He’d felt her tense when he told her what he was going to do to her,but it was imperative that she understand how things were going to unfoldbetween them He couldn’t form a mate-bond with her unless she accepted that hewas the prime alpha of the pack.

Shit. She didn’t even know about him yet. By rights, he should explain to her whoand what he was, and what his intentions were toward her. But he’d just gottenher to a point of calm acceptance. Riling her up now would only delay somethingthey both needed desperately.

The sun had fully set, and in its place the moon climbed above the trees, a silveryball so intense it hurt his eyes to look at it. He drew his power from the moon, andwhen it was full, he was at his most potent. Primal urges took over then. Urgesthat he had a difficult time controlling. Most often it didn’t matter. He could runthem out, and if he wanted to fight there were always wolves around to engage insome rough play. But this was different. This was Shannon, who remained in thedark about what he was. He’d have to fight the pull of the moon, the primal desireto take without asking, to force her, if necessary.

As a wolf, his prime objective was to mate and impregnate the alpha female. Hecringed at the thought of possibly doing that to Shannon when she didn’t reallyunderstand the implications of the act.

It wouldn’t be fair to burden her with a lifelong commitment to him if she wasn’tgiven the choice. But his body wasn’t interested in fairness right now, and itseemed to want to be in charge. Just standing this close to her was a lesson inpatience. He wanted to shred her clothes, bend her over and impale her cunt withhis cock. Arousal spread hot and heavy in his groin, hardening him and tighteninghis balls.

Her scent hung thick and heavy in his nostrils, despite the swirling wind aroundthem. He laid his lips over her neck and drew in a breath of her sweet, muskysmell.

The perfume of her desire, the scent of her aroused sex, oozed from her pores.

She was primed and ready for his invasion.

The less civilized part of him threatened to surface and take what he’d alreadyclaimed as his. He fought back the primitive urges, determined to take things asslowly as possible for her. There would be time enough for savage passion later. Now, he wanted to savor every taste, every sigh, every moan drawn from her lips.

But when she sighed and finally relaxed against him, signaling her surrender tohis control, he was hard pressed to keep the wolf within him at bay. The fullmoon and the desperate need to mate caused the change to begin. Tonight wouldbe a constant struggle between the wolf and the man.

“Shannon,” he breathed, taking a long swipe of her neck with his tongue. His

blood burned, his skin on fire as the physiological changes swept through him.

No! He wouldn’t allow it, not yet.

She reached up and clasped the back of his neck with the palm of her hand,arching her back and thrusting her breasts forward. Unable to resist, he slid hishands over her hips and along her ribcage, lifting the tank top over her belly,exposing her silken flesh.

What a flimsy excuse for a bra she wore. He hadn’t expected to find the lacyblack bra underneath a casual top. He cupped his hands over the silken lace,

flicking his thumbs across the thin fabric. Her nipples hardened to sharp points,

her breasts swelling to fill his eager hands.

A gasp tore from her lips as he brushed his fingers over the thin fabric. Desperatefor the feel of her bare skin, he grasped the center of the bra and ripped it in half,greedily capturing her breasts. She moaned when his fingers found her swollennipples, the encouraging sound causing his cock to swell and grow. He rolled thehard tips of her nipples between his thumb and forefinger, rewarded with hersharp cries of delight.

Her whimpers only drove his lust higher, forcing him to concentrate on remaininghuman. Once the beast within him surfaced, there’d be no turning back. His cockpressed painfully against his jeans, demanding to be embedded in the source ofthe musky heat surrounding them.

Regretfully, Max released Shannon’s breasts, slowly moving his hands down herribcage and stomach until he found the button on her shorts. He popped it with histhumb, then drew the zipper down, pushing the impeding garment over her hipsand toward the floor.

A tiny black scrap of material that he supposed one could call panties covered hermound, with two little strings resting on her hips.

Piece of cake. He reached for the sides and ripped them. A giggle escaped herlips, followed by a pant of pleasure as he drew the remnants of the garment awayfrom her pussy.

He stood back and lifted the tank top off, then turned her around, positioning herso that the full moonlight bathed her naked body.

That first night on the balcony at the restaurant, he’d been more interested insinking inside her welcoming cunt than doing much gazing. Tonight, he wanted tosee her, to touch her skin and taste every inch of it.

“You’re beautiful,” he said, reaching behind her head to pull the clasp holding her hair up. Waves of silken sable fell over her shoulders and across her breasts. Turquoise eyes darkened as she kept her gaze focused on him.