Wild Card (3 page)

The opening presented itself, and Jack maneuvered the conversation in the direction he wanted as deftly as any hunter. “I don’t mind. But maybe you could pay me back with a little bit of insight.”

“Insight about what?” She rubbed her left calf with the toe of her right boot.

That wasn’t a no.
Jack crossed the room and leaned against the wall a few feet away from her. “Hazel. She’s already past due for her first mating. The young wolves in town are losing their grip on their common sense, but Hazel ignores every reasonable, safe option that Lottie and I have put before her. If she hasn’t chosen a mate by the time she goes into heat…” There was no reason to finish. Ginny knew as well as he the sort of chaos that was likely to cause. “You’re friendly with the girl. What is going on in her head?”

She started grinning halfway through his speech. When he finished, she threw back her head and laughed. “Reasonable and safe. Sounds like what you know about women could fit in your coffee cup with room to spare, Jack.” The accusation was saved from being harsh by the low, honeyed tone of her voice. “’
Reasonable’
doesn’t make our hearts seize up. ‘
Safe’
doesn’t make us dream about you.”

He moved before he had time to consider the wisdom of his actions. Two steps and he had her trapped against the doorframe, his body pressed along hers. He braced his hand above her head and leaned down until his lips almost touched hers. “You don’t need to be a dangerous fool to know how to make a woman pant for you. To make her beg for your touch until her voice goes hoarse and she’s come so many times she can’t stand it anymore.”

“That’s one thing I never doubted about you, Jack.” Lust darkened her eyes. “You could make me see stars, I bet. The question is what comes after that.”

A lifetime.
He eased his knee between her legs and rocked against her. “We do it again?”

Her hands slid up his chest, and she ground down on his thigh with a harsh moan. Then she pushed him away and took his hand. “Come to my bed.”

Anticipation raced through him as he lifted her hand to his lips. He bit the inside of her wrist lightly and smiled when she shivered. “Yes, Ginny. A bed is a good idea.”

Chapter Two

Ginny paused in the doorway of her bedroom. Moonlight shone through the curtains, splashing over the faded quilt on her bed, and she shuddered. Though she wasn’t celibate, not by a long shot, she’d never invited a man into her bedroom before.

So why now? Why Jack?

Her hand pulled free of his, and she crossed to the bed to remove her boots. “Make yourself comfortable.”

Jack pulled off his boots and set them next to her door in silence. When he straightened, he lifted his fingers to his belt. “Are
you
comfortable?”

His hands hovered over the buckle, and Ginny caught herself staring. She tore her gaze away and rose, dragging her shirt from her pants. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“I’m the alpha, Ginny. You can’t fool me.” He dropped his hands and crossed the room, stopping in front of her. His hands covered hers and his knuckles brushed her stomach, a light touch that gave her a taste of the restrained energy inside of him.

Heat blazed through her, and she started unbuttoning her shirt under his hands. “I didn’t plan on this, that’s all.” Which was true enough.

He moved with such speed that she didn’t realize he’d spun her until her back hit his chest. One hand gathered her hair and held it away from her ear as the other splayed across her bare stomach. “Do you plan everything?”

His breath blew hot over her skin, but she didn’t hesitate before answering. “Yes. Always.”

“Too bad.” He teased at the shell of her ear with his tongue and bit the lobe with a soft growl. “No plans tonight.”

Making plans would involve thinking, and Jack had stripped her of that ability already. “No plans,” Ginny agreed breathlessly. She trembled and bared the side of her throat to him in silent invitation.

His breath skated over her, but he didn’t accept the invitation to mark her. Instead, the hand on her stomach eased up until he found the curve of her breast. Strong, callused fingers teased over sensitive skin, tracing tiny circles that moved closer and closer to her nipple without touching it.

Frustration drew a growl from her throat. “You’re a tease.” She needed to test herself against his strength, to revel in it. She bent a little, curving her back as she leaned forward and rubbed her ass against him.
Ignore that, Jack Owens.

He moaned, a quiet noise that rumbled up from the depths of his chest and vibrated against. His cock was hard already, and he rocked into her movement, pressing himself tight to her ass. “You’re a bad, bad little wolf,” he whispered, then caught her aching nipple between his thumb and forefinger as his teeth closed on her neck.

Ginny couldn’t hold back her whimper. Everything about him confused her, and she struggled with her own conflicting desires. Part of her wanted to draw out every touch for hours, but the rest of her needed him inside her. “Fast now, Jack.” She barely recognized the desperate tone of her own voice. “And then slow.”

The hand in her hair loosened and slid down her body to work at her belt while the other continued to tease at her breast. “How long has it been, Ginny? How long, since you had a man strong enough to take you the way you want to be taken?” Nimble fingers worked the buckle of her belt free and he tugged at the top button on her pants. “The way you
need
to be taken?” He smiled and eased her pants over her hips.

She didn’t even know. “There aren’t a lot of men around here who could.” She dragged her shirt over her head and turned in his arms. Her eyes locked with his as she reached for his shirt and slipped each button free. “That’s why you want me, isn’t it? The challenge?”

“Is that what you think?” He moved his hands back to his belt. “So you’re not in possession of a mirror, then. That is a pity.”

“I have a mirror. But you --”
You’re beautiful.
She bit her lip and pushed his shirt to the floor before smoothing her hands up his chest to frame his face. Her height kept her from having to stretch too far as she kissed him. It was soft and it was slow, and she shook with the need to drive her tongue past his lips and taste him.

But the wolf held her back. She needed something different, something
more
, from him. So she whispered against his mouth, “Take me.”

He lifted one hand and clasped hers, drawing it down to his open belt. “Undress me,” he commanded.

Ginny’s pulse quickened, and she unbuttoned his pants. She bent as she coaxed them down, skimming her mouth lightly over his chest and belly. His underwear followed, and her knees hit the floor as his cock sprang free, thick and erect. She could barely breathe as she looked up at him, waiting.

The corner of his mouth kicked up as he reached down to thread his fingers through the loose strands of her hair. “Wrap your lips around my cock.”

Her nipples tightened. She wet her lips carefully and closed one hand around his shaft. Her tongue just barely touched the blunt head, tracing delicately. A moan escaped as she obeyed and drew him into her mouth.

His head fell back, baring the strong line of his throat as he let out a low, rumbling growl of approval. For several heartbeats he did nothing else, letting her work her tongue over him in silence.

When he finally spoke, his words were low and hoarse. “Spread your knees apart, but don’t stop.”

Ginny moved her knees apart and kept sucking his cock, though she dropped her free hand between her thighs to stroke her pussy. She imagined Jack’s fingers or tongue instead, and a thrill of pleasure wrung a shudder from her, along with another moan that vibrated around his shaft.

His fingers tightened in her hair and he laughed low in his throat. “Did I say you could touch yourself?”

“Mmm.” She released his cock but coiled her tongue slowly around the head before answering. “If you were doing it, I wouldn’t have to.”

“A valid point.” His hand guided her lips back to his cock. “Touch yourself. One finger only, and go nice and slow. If you do anything else, I’ll turn you over my knee.”

The temptation was too great. She sucked him between her lips again, then pushed two fingers inside her pussy and whimpered.

His laughter filled the room as he pulled back, snatched her up and tossed her onto the bed. Her stomach hit the quilt, but a moment later Jack dragged her body over his muscular legs until she lay sprawled across his lap with her ass in the air.

He traced his hand slowly over her hip and down, dipping between her legs. His fingers slipped between her wet folds and he growled in approval. “Someone likes the idea of being spanked.”

The intimacy of his touch sparked through her like an electric shock, and Ginny jerked and cried out. “I like the idea of you fucking me. If you ever get around to it.”

Jack slid his hand away from her body and slapped her ass.

She bit her lip hard to keep from crying out again. “Jack.”

His fingers slid between her legs again, rubbing teasing circles over her clit. “Oh, yes. You want this, don’t you?”

Ginny bucked into his touch and gritted her teeth. What did
he
want? “Stop it.”

“Is that what you want?” He pulled his hand away and smoothed it over her lower back. “I’ll stop touching you, if you don’t want it.”

That was the
last
thing she wanted. Trouble was, she couldn’t quite figure out what was bothering her. She twisted on his lap until her eyes met his. “I don’t like it when people play games with me.”

His eyes glinted in the light from the lantern, a glimmer of gold proving that the wolf hovered close to the surface. “Sex is play, Ginny. It’s the most enjoyable game there is.” His hand rubbed in slow circles, inching higher until his fingers curled in her hair again. “You want me to throw you on your knees and ride you so hard you can’t remember your name. I’ll do it if you come for me first.”

Control.
Realization hit her along with a fresh wave of arousal. She wanted him to have control of her… but not of himself. She wanted him to need her. “All right.” Ginny wiggled, rubbing her bare skin over his. “Make me come.”

The world tumbled end over end as he rose and dropped her to the bed. She landed on her back, and his hands hit the bed a moment later on either side of her head. For an endless moment he hovered there, broad chest inches above hers as he stared down at her. There was nothing controlled about the look in his eyes or the way he panted for breath, and his body shook with barely leashed power.

And that was what she needed. Ginny shuddered and lifted her arms to thread her fingers through his hair. “Please, Jack.”

He crushed his mouth to hers, sweeping past her lips to kiss her hard and deep. He growled against her mouth as his tongue clashed with hers, demanding surrender and submission.

She gave it to him with every breath, every heartbeat. His kiss left her weak but exultant, insensate to anything but him. The world had collapsed, drawn so close that nothing existed but their mating.

And it
was
mating. Ginny had tried to deny it, had lied even to herself, but the primal need that drove her to arch under him could be nothing less. It burned in her, a wildfire that swept away everything, and she didn’t care.

He slipped away from her, pausing to nip at her jaw before he blazed a trail of hot, wet kisses down her neck and across her collarbone. He worked his way lower, sliding down until he’d wedged his torso between her knees. One hand curled around her hip and tugged her ass to the edge of the bed as he lifted his head and stared up at her. “Are you ready to see what a safe, reasonable man can do with his tongue and a little bit of imagination?”

Ginny laughed, lightheaded. “Don’t kid yourself, Jack Owens. You’re the furthest thing from ‘safe’ I’ve ever seen.” She tucked an arm behind her head and raised one foot to stroke his side. “But tell me more about this imagination of yours.”