Keri Arthur - Dangerous Games

"Not here." His fingers had slipped under the stretch satin, and it was all I could do not to move, to guide those fingers to where it ached so badly. "Your place. It's warmer."

He made a low sound of frustration then grabbed my hand and pulled me forward, forcing me into a run. Water splashed across my bare legs, but if they were chilled I couldn't feel it. Jin's heat and desire and something else—an energy I could sense but not name—pulsed over me in waves, causing perspiration to dot my skin and my blood to boil through my veins.

If he had been were, I would have thought he was using his aura to make me compliant and ready. And, God help me, I was ready, for whatever he wanted to dish up.

We turned left into a side street. Three houses down, he pushed open a gate and raced me up the front steps. I had a brief glimpse of a white painted, classic double-story Victorian town house, then the paneled door was opened and I was all but pushed through.

"First right," he said, as he slammed the door shut.

I walked into the lounge room, stripped off my coat, and tossed it onto the nearest chair. My shoes were flung in the same direction, but I kept my purse long enough to grab some condoms.

Though I heard no footsteps—despite the wooden floors—he was suddenly behind me, his hot hands briefly brushing my thighs as he grabbed my dress and pulled it roughly over my head.

He made a low noise of appreciation, then pushed a hand against my spine and propelled me across the room toward the back of the big old leather sofa.

"Grasp it," he ordered.

I did. He grabbed the condoms from me, kept one, then tossed the rest onto the sofa. After kicking my legs farther apart, he began to explore, his touch so fierce it was almost bruising as he pinched and caressed and teased, until the need to have him inside was so intense I thought I'd surely explode.

And then he bit me, hard, on the shoulder. Somewhere in the last few minutes pain and pleasure must have become one, because I gasped aloud at the exquisiteness of it.

"You like it rough," he commented, breath harsh and fast against my shoulder.

"No," I somehow managed to say. "But that felt good."

Why was the question. I'd never been into the whole pain for pleasure routine, though I had played around the edges of it a few times.

This was already further than I'd ever stepped before. Further than I'd ever wanted to step. And yet I couldn't stop it, didn't want to stop it, and some deep down part of me worried about that. Worried if it was willingness and pleasure or something else that was allowing previously set boundaries to slide.

But that tiny spark of worry had no hope of stopping events. Not when the tide of pleasure was rising.

His teeth scraped my skin, nipping and teasing as he moved down, then he bit again, this time on my rump. I shuddered, unable to hold back a thick groan that was part pleasure, part pain.

He drew a deep breath, as if sucking in the sound. His fingers trembled against my skin, evidence of the control barely maintained. "Perhaps a little bit rougher?"

Part of me shuddered at the thought but I didn't say anything, too caught up in the moment to protest now.

He slapped my rear. Like the bite, it was hard, and sent little jolts of stinging electricity skating across my skin. I groaned, seesawing between desire and pain, part of me wanting to push it further, part of me resisting and wanting to hit back.

"How good does that feel?"

He gave me no chance to answer, but slapped again, harder still, leaving my butt stinging and my body quivering.

"Very good," I gasped. So why was I suddenly so willing to push the limits here with Jin? I had no idea, and that in itself was scary.

Then I remembered the odd energy I'd sensed earlier. Was Jin using an aura the same way a wolf might? But how was that possible if he were human?

"And this?" His sudden bite was brutal, but the swell of pain was met with a kiss, his heated lips somehow casing away the ache. My knees just about buckled under the flood of sensation.

"Good, good," I somehow said.

He slapped again, this time my thigh, and sharp enough to have tears stinging my eyes. And then he was in me, driving deep, the icy feel of the condom an almost painful contrast to the warmth of my body. Yet it felt so good I moaned.

His grip bruised my hips as he held me still and thrust and thrust, until it felt as if the cool, latex-covered heat of him was trying to claim every single inch of me.

My breathing was fast, urgent, the air thick with need and desire that was both mine and his. The low down pressure built under the sweet assault of his body, and all too quickly reached boiling point.

We came as one, his roar mingling with my cry, his body slamming into mine so hard the whole sofa seemed to shake.

Then it was over and I was trembling, sweating, my limbs so weak they seemed barely able to support my weight. I took a deep, shuddery breath, and released it slowly. "As coffee went, that was damn fine."

He chuckled and kissed my shoulder. "Perhaps we should make our way down to the kitchen and get the real thing."

"We should." I needed it to calm my pulse rate and the odd quivering still running through my limbs.

He took my hand and guided me down the dark hall to the kitchen. He tossed the condom in the trash, then put on the kettle and pulled a rich-looking chocolate cake out of the fridge. Surprisingly, despite the fact that I hadn't long finished a three course meal, I was famished.

We drank and ate and chatted. After nearly an hour, he pulled me to my feet and led me back down the hall to his bedroom. We had sex, harder and rougher than before, leaving me drained and yet satisfied.

It set the pattern for the rest of the night.

When I finally woke, it was to the unfamiliar sensation of an aching body. It felt like I'd run a marathon, and I suppose in some respects I had, yet I was a werewolf, well used to all night sex-a-thons. Sex with a human shouldn't have left me this weary. But it wasn't only aching muscles that plagued me. Hot spots dotted my body, little pinpoints of agony where Jin had bitten or slapped too hard or too often.

And yet there were several times during the night when I'd felt his need to go further, harder.

I was damn glad he hadn't.

I groaned softly and opened bleary eyes. Light flooded the room, an indication that dawn had well and truly come and gone. I shifted, briefly enjoying the caress of silk as the sheets slithered over my naked body, and glanced at the clock. Nine AM Guess I was going to be late for work again.

I rolled onto my back. There was very little in the way of sound in the house. No movement, no whistling kettle, nothing to indicate there was anyone here. I frowned, listening more intently, and caught a noise that had me puzzled for several seconds Then I realized what it was—someone snoring.

So, I wasn't alone in the house But Jin's scent was a distant thing rather than active—an indication that he wasn't actually in the house.

Frown increasing, I tossed off the blankets and got out of bed The aches intensified briefly, and I winced. Damn, if sex with Jin was an everyday affair, I'd be black and blue before a week was out Not that I had the stamina for a week of him—which was a very odd thing for a werewolf to admit.

The bedroom door squeaked as I opened it. I winced and waited tensely for some reaction. Nothing happened. Other than the soft snoring coming from behind the door opposite, the only other sound to be heard was the soft hiss of warm air coming from the vents in the ceiling.

I grabbed a robe from the back of the door, putting it on and lashing it around my waist as I padded softly down the hall.