ROMANCE: SHIFTER: Shifter to the Max Collection (Dragon, Bear, Wolf and Panther Shifter Romances) (Paranormal Fantasy Romance Collection) (25 page)

“You’re torn.” Sebastian spoke first.

“What?” Eva looked blankly into his eyes.

“Your dress,” he gestured toward the flimsy cotton that wasn’t currently doing a very good job of protecting her modesty. He hesitated for a moment, before methodically unbuttoning the rest of his half-open shirt.

He was wearing a white t-shirt beneath, and the sight of his bare, muscular arms disorientated Eva so it was moment before she realised he was handing the shirt to her. Gratefully she wrapped it around herself, trying to subtly inhale the scent of him. The softness of the cotton and its aroma of maleness made her dizzy.

“There’s something different about you.” The words were stilting, and Eva regretted them as soon as they left her mouth, but it was true. He always appeared intimidating to her, but now it was tinged with some thing else – something raw, animalistic that she couldn’t put her finger on. His eyes, too, seemed different; their usual darkness seemed more luminous and hyper-alert, as if he were seeing every slight movement that she made.

“I’m just angry.” He crossed his arms, his t-shirt rising upward. He tugged it back down but not before Eva caught a brief glance at his washboard stomach, the defined muscular hips and the tantalising trail of abdominal hair that disappeared into the waistband of his just-visible boxers. She swallowed and looked away.

“Can I get you a cup of tea, or something?” she asked. Sebastian knew he should refuse. He felt like he’d left his self-control at the end of the driveway; the inhuman rage he’d felt on seeing Lucian touch her had snapped something inside of him and all he could see were Eva’s long legs leading up to her impossibly narrow waist and beautifully rounded backside. His shirt had covered her from the thigh upward, but he had seen her cotton white panties and he couldn’t quite clear the image from his head as hard as he tried.

“Coffee would be great, actually.” He thought that might help. Bring his senses back. Remove the bulge pressing against his jeans, at least.

She stepped away, and moved toward the kitchen counter to attend to the percolator. As turned on as Sebastian felt, he also desperately wanted to tell her the truth about the death of her father. He didn’t know if it was to ease his conscience, or that she deserved to know the truth – he hoped it was the latter, but his need for Eva not to hate him utterly made him hesitate and remain silent. 

She bought the coffee to him, smiling slightly as she held it toward him. He took the cup from her carefully, avoiding skin contact. Her smile faltered.

“Sebastian?”

“Yes?”

“I’ve had a
really
bad day – well, actually, a really bad week.” Eva’s face was aflame. Sebastian felt guilt tear through him, but couldn’t help but notice how ethereally beautiful she looked in that moment. Her brown and golden hair tumbling down carelessly over her shoulders, her eyes bright and swimming with unshed emotion.

He watched as Eva with trembling hands begun to remove the shirt he’d given her, and without looking at him she hung it carefully over a chair. She started to unbutton the top of her dress. He grabbed her by the shoulders, forcing her to stop.

“Eva – don’t do this.”

“Sebastian – please. Just use me, I don’t care – just don’t make me beg. Please don’t make me beg for this.”

Self-hatred and lust coursed through him. He couldn’t hold back any longer, and he finally pulled Eva toward him, crushing her against his chest. He bent his head down towards hers, his gaze meeting her welcoming blue eyes, and placed his lips down forcefully on her mouth. Cradling the back of her head in his hand, their lips melted into one another, her tongue tentatively exploring his mouth.

Eva felt as if her body was about to explode. The moment his lips had touched hers, her whole being had woken up, as if she had spent her entire life sleep walking in a grey existence where every feeling was muted. Now, with Sebastian holding her, wanting her – she didn’t care how – it was if the world had exploded in a kaleidoscope of colour.

The kiss deepened and Eva felt his hand run up the side of her body, grazing her breasts as he did so, causing a shiver of pleasure that ran straight to her lower abdomen. His fingers gently outlined the breastbone at the base of her throat, his palm pressing slightly into her chest. His other hand slid down her back, following the curvature of her spine, coming to rest on her backside. He pressed down and then cupped her lower cheek, caressing it slowly and firmly. Eva heard a groan escape his throat. It was the reassurance she needed to know he was enjoying himself as much as she was, and with that encouragement she slid her hands from around his waist upward to feel the rock-solid muscle of his stomach, up to his chest, tentatively reaching his pectoral muscles. His nipples jumped to attention as she did so, and she felt a shudder run through his body.

He broke the kiss. 

“Are you sure you want this?” Sebastian’s voice was raspy and low, his breath hot on her neck.

“Yes, yes I want this. This is all I want, this is everything. Let my world fall away, Sebastian.” Eva looked up into his eyes, trying to convey the assuredness she felt – nothing had ever felt so right to her as this.

“Not here. Take me upstairs,” he replied.

She reluctantly moved her hands off him, and turned to walk upstairs. He followed close behind her and she felt more and more self-conscious each step she took. The bravado that had asked for what she wanted earlier had gone.

When she reached the top step, Sebastian’s hand grabbed the lower part of her thigh, and slowly traced an invisible line up to the top of her underwear. She was embarrassed: it was perfectly apparent how excited she was by the dampness there, but she heard him inhale a sharp breath. His fingers started moving back and forth, gently, on the cotton surface of her panties. Eva thought her legs would give way, as her entire body started to ebb and flow with the oncoming orgasm. She felt her dampness increase, and in response the movement of Sebastian’s fingers became firmer. As she was about to tip over the edge into oblivion, he stopped.

“Bedroom,” Sebastian commanded.

She led him into her room. He turned on the bedside lamp, casting them both in a warm, intimate light.

“Come here Eva.” She hadn’t realised that she’d stepped away from him as soon as they entered the bedroom. Her nervousness was back, yet she came toward him willingly. He stood statue still waiting for her. When she was close enough, Sebastian’s hand reached out and tenderly stroked her cheek.

“You’re beautiful Eva. You’re all I see.” He leant down and kissed her sweetly on the lips. Eva felt apart at his words, hardly believing that he’d uttered them.

Sebastian moved his hands down and finished unbuttoning her dress, pulling it away from her so she stood half-naked in her underwear. His jean-clad erection grazed at her bare stomach, and he roughly moved her bra cups aside causing her breasts to spill out. A guttural moan escaped from the back of his throat and he leant down to gently suck on her already hard nipples. Ecstasy coursed through Eva, and her breath escaped laboured and heavy.

He removed his hands from her and discarded his t-shirt. Eva drank in his raised biceps and his taut six-pack, her heart thumping wildly in her chest. Sebastian unbuttoned his jeans, his heavy erection protruding from his boxers. A second later both articles were removed, and he stood naked in front of Eva.

His body was superior to anything she’d imagined, his thighs like rock, his manhood deliciously large and thick. He began to kiss her again, more ferociously this time, nibbling at her lips, taking the breath from her parted mouth. As the intensity increased, she felt the lower part of her body start clenching and releasing in anticipation as his erection naturally sought out the wetness between her legs.

He picked her up with his right arm and gently lifted her on to the bed. With deliberating slowness he peeled her panties down, and firmly parted her toned thighs.

Sebastian felt his scrotum tighten in anticipation as he gazed on the light, tender skin that framed the silk-like folds of her core. He could see the slick wetness that he had caused earlier inviting him in.

“God, Eva. I want you so much. I need to taste you.” He leant his head forward without waiting for a response and inhaled her sweet scent. He licked lightly between the delicate layers tucked within her, feeling them engorge as he did so, and her nub tighten. His tongue explored her languidly, taking his time, never wanting this moment to end. He felt like he could drink Eva in all day. In that moment his mouth flooded with wetness and her body convulsed around him. She cried out his name as her orgasm overtook her. He smiled to himself – she tasted like honey and milk. She was so exquisitely beautiful. Even more so than in the dreams he’d had of her every day since puberty.

He moved slowly upward, burying his lips in the soft hair at her sex and then upward across her taut stomach – licking the dip of her bellybutton, and continuing till her reached her lush breasts. Her nipples were a rose coloured hue, perfectly offset by her creamy skin. He wanted to memorise every shape, colour and movement of her body. He felt like he had been waiting for this moment all his life, and being present in it was more unbelievable than he could ever have hoped for.

Eva arched her back, feeding him more of her breasts as she gasped in excitement. She moved her hands down his abdomen till she reached his throbbing erection, running her fingers over it, feeling it’s silky-soft harness and the drop of wetness at its tip.

“Eva – wait” Sebastian didn’t want to lose control, and took her hand in his instead, individually kissing each of her fingers.

“I’ve waited for years,” she replied, a soft smile playing on her face. His chest rumbled with laughter.

He didn’t need more encouragement than that. He began to stroke the softness between her legs, lightly teasing her nub with his thumb. She pushed her body further into his fingers, urging him on.

Slowly he rolled on top of her and entered her, sharply inhaling his breath as he felt his way through her tightness, glorying in her wetness. Every movement they made together sent sharp, intense bursts of light flooding through his body. Making his way inside her, inch by inch, he heard her cry out in pleasure and felt the tightening of her thighs around his hips, bringing him closer.

Her hands clasped at his buttocks, and she revelled at the tight muscle there, clawing at them, driving him crazy. As their rhythm increased, Sebastian felt a familiar tug in the pit of his stomach.
Shit
, he thought. He cursed himself for not considering this earlier. Whilst part of his mind tried to fight through the haze of pleasure and calm his body back down, it felt like the wolf instinct had already taken over. Both beast and Eva were in charge of his body now, and he was barely able to stop the throbbing sensations coursing and building through him.

Eva could feel her climax building rapidly, and she moaned in pleasure. She loved the way their bodies fit together so perfectly, his largeness filling her up, making her feel complete.

She noticed the change in his eyes, their brightness she’d seen earlier intensifying. As she stared at him, his eyes seemed to glow an inhuman color. He knew he had to hold on just a little longer. Eva’s body was responding with pure excitement, her core welcoming his girth and more wetness flowing through her. She clutched at his strong, muscular back and drove him more furiously into her, panting as she came for him again and again, screaming out his name.

He looked into her eyes and saw an outpouring of love, and in that moment his body tipped over the edge. He felt his entire being thunderously crash through with white-hot pleasure as his seed pulsed into her. He had never felt anything more intense and altering than this moment. He felt intrinsically connected to Eva, as if their bodies and souls had fused together as one, and that his passion might burn them both out of existence.

He held onto that perfect moment for a heartbeat, and then it fell away.

He rolled off the bed in pain as his body started an uncontrolled change, the dark hair on his abdomen growing thicker, the hair on his head growing longer.

“Eva – I’m so sorry - ” the words were a gasp, as he fully transformed before her eyes. Eva knew she should be horrified, but she wasn’t.

Sebastian was vaguely aware of his claws shredding the mattress and bedspread beneath them, as he hopped up and collapsed down beside her, afraid to touch her until he felt himself return to human form.  As soon as he did, she leaned over and kissed him leisurely on the mouth. Sebastian turned to cradle her in his arms as if she were the most precious creature on earth.

“The stories…they’re true, aren’t they?” She said, after a moment.

“Yeah, they’re true.”

He looked down at her, and saw a blissful calm spread over her face as she looked into his eyes. She smiled at him, “I always thought they might be.”

“Eva – I have to tell you something” his tone was harsher, the curtness returning. He sat up, gently folding her away from him.

Eva had her dreamy state rudely interrupted by panic and a bleak sense of impending pain, “What is it?” she asked.

“It’s about how I got like this. About your father.” He hesitated before continuing.

Eva had brought the covers up around her naked form, and he suddenly wanted to howl at the sight of her defensive and distanced from him. But he couldn’t not tell her now. Not now that she felt part of his very soul.

“Your father was like me, like this. He was pack leader and had wanted to turn me since I was young. He decided that he would do it the night my father and I went to the White Mountains. I didn’t know – I’m so sorry, Eva. It was an accident. He attacked me in wolf form - I didn’t know it was him.” 

Eva stared at him blankly. She felt ice-cold shock creep through her veins.
This can’t be happening, this can’t be true.
He whole world felt like it was splintering and cracking.
I love you.
Please don’t let this be true.

“It was an accident Eva – I’m more sorry than you’ll ever know.” He met her gaze, and almost welcomed the pain that it caused him to do so. 

“Eva, I’m in love with you. I’ve can’t remember a time when I didn’t love you. My world only wakes up when you’re in it. When you went away to study I was so happy – I didn’t want you to end up in this town, but every time you returned it was like the sun came out, you’re
everything
to me Eva.”

She looked at him, uncomprehending. She didn’t understand how he could have felt this way all these years and never said or done anything. Only now, after killing her father, did he come to her.
Why?

“Sebastian…I…I need some time. I think.” Her words sounded cold to her own ears.

              She saw the shutters come down across his face, the cold and dispassionate look replace the openness and warmth from only moments before, but she couldn’t find a way to soothe him.

Sebastian picked up his jeans and threw them on hastily, ignoring the rest of his things and walked out of the bedroom door without looking back.

She started to scream in her head for him to return, not to leave her, but the words wouldn’t form in her mouth.