“It’s not that—” She squeaked as his fingers tightened, a fraction from crushing her windpipe. “Yes, fine. I’ll have one here by dusk.”

“Good.” He released his grip, watching her crumple on the floor before turning back to the curs. “Dolf.”

The cur lowered his head, flinching as if he expected a blow. “Yes, Commander?”

“Get rid of the body upstairs.”

“Yeah.” The cur hissed a sigh of relief. “No problem.”

Feeling the heavy press of dawn begin to sap what little energy he had left, Gaius turned to leave the room. The night had been a debacle. For now he just wanted to lock himself in his private rooms and drift into oblivion. He’d reached the doorway when Ingrid foolishly halted his retreat.

“What about me?”

Gaius threw a jaundiced glare over his shoulder. “Try not to burn down the house while I’m sleeping.”

Caine stood between Cassie’s legs, gliding his fingers up and down her throat as he studied the faint color that stained her cheeks. The wolf inside him remained edgy, needing the comfort of holding this woman in his arms to reassure himself that she was safe. The man . . .

He needed something far more primitive.

“You are so beautiful,” he breathed.

She brushed the hair from his brow, her smile oddly uncertain. “Do you truly think so?”

He frowned. Was it possible she didn’t realize she was the most gorgeous creature ever to walk the earth? “You’ve looked in a mirror, haven’t you?”

“Not often. My appearance has never mattered to me.” She shrugged. “Not until now.”

His thumbs slid beneath her chin, tilting back her head to meet his curious gaze. “Why should it matter now?”

“I want you to find me attractive.”

He growled, his hands cupping her face as his body ached to show her just how damned attractive he found her.

“You are exquisite,” he assured her, his voice thick with the need pulsing through his veins. “But it’s not the shimmer of silver in your hair, or the stunning emerald of your eyes that has bewitched me.” His gaze slid downward. “It’s not even your hot little body, although that has given me more than one sleepless night.”

She leaned forward to nip the lobe of his ear. “Then what?”

Pleasure jolted through him at the tiny bite, his erection so hard that the mere brush of the ridiculous apron was painful. Christ, he felt like he was going to explode.

Don’t pounce, Caine. Do. Not. Pounce.

Gritting his teeth, he instead lowered his hand to press his palm over her rapidly beating heart. “This.”

Her brows lifted. “My heart?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.” Her arms wrapped around his neck as her eyes melted into pools of emerald. “I don’t know much about these things, but I believe that was the perfect thing to say.”

He flashed a smug smile. “Was it?”

She stroked her lips along the line of his jaw. “Hmmm.”

Caine went rigid, a groan wrenched from his throat. “I try.”

“Yes.” She found a particularly erotic spot just below his jaw, using her tongue to drive him mad with need. “You certainly do.”

He muttered a curse, reaching his breaking point. There was more than one way of sharing pleasure.

“I could try better if you had on fewer clothes.”

Without missing a beat, Cassie leaned back to hook her hands beneath the bottom of her top and peel it off. “Like this?”

His breath escaped him on a hiss as she tossed the shirt on the floor, his gaze locked on the sight of her mouthwatering breasts barely concealed by the black lace bra. “It’s a start,” he managed to choke out.

“More?”

Oh. He wanted so much more.

“Let me help,” he rasped, reaching to pop the button and unzip her jeans before dropping to his knees.

Ignoring her protests, he gently removed her tennis shoes and tugged off her socks. He lifted her foot to stroke his lips along the line of her arch.

She gasped, the scent of her arousal spicing the air. “That tickles.”

He chuckled, nipping the tips of her toes. “Such sweet little toes.”

“Oh . . . Lord.”

Grasping the hem of her jeans, he pulled them ruthlessly downward. They dropped on the tiled floor as his hands lifted to worship the pale alabaster skin of her calves.

“And these legs.” His voice was rough with the power of his wolf. “They were surely made to wrap around me.”

Her breathy chuckle filled the air. “And here I thought they were made to take me from one place to another.”

“They are far too lovely for such a mundane task.”

His kissed a path up the inside of her leg, tilting back his head to savor the sight of her poised above him.

Wearing nothing more than her lacy bra and matching panties, she perched on the edge of the breakfast bar like a statue of feminine temptation. Her fragile features were flushed with passion and her hair a satin curtain of pale silver that tumbled over her shoulders. But it was the musky scent of her wolf that made his heart slam against his ribs.

Cassie might not be able to shift, but her beast was telling him that she was ready and eager.

He swallowed a pained groan, continuing to kiss a path up her leg, taking time to explore the sensitive back of her knee before performing the same service to her other leg. She shivered beneath his light caresses, her fingers gripping the marble top of the bar as he found the sensitive skin of her inner thigh.

“Caine,” she pleaded.

“Patience, pet.” He used his tongue to outline the edge of her panties, breathing deeply of her sweet scent. “There’s so much to explore. And I intend to taste every . . .” He kissed the icy tattoo just below her belly button. “Satin . . .” He grasped her hips to keep her from squirming as he continued up her flat stomach until he was able to slice through the bow holding her bra together with a sharpened fang. “Inch.”

“I want to explore,” she protested.

“Later.” His tone was distracted as the bra fell away to expose the tender curves of her breasts.

They were delectable, he decided. Perfectly shaped to fit his palms and tipped by rosy nipples that tightened beneath his heated gaze.

“And I can do whatever I want?”

“Whatever you want,” he agreed, his head dipping toward the waiting bounty.

“Do you promise?”

“Mmm.” He abruptly paused, sensing he’d just stepped into a trap. Lifting his head, he studied her with a narrowed eye. “Wait.”

She blinked, her eyes glazed with need. “Why?”

“What did I just promise?”

“That I could do whatever I want.”

“Maybe you should be more specific.”

A slow, teasing smile curved her lips. “Scared?”

“Wary,” he admitted. “I’ve told you I won’t take your innocence.” He watched as her expression tightened into stubborn lines.

“You can’t take something that I give you willingly.”

His gut twisted. What the hell was she trying to do to him? He was hanging on to his nobility by a thread. A very thin, very fragile thread.

“Dammit, Cassie.”

“What?”

“You don’t know what you’re doing.”

Her eyes glowed with an emerald fire. His wolf was on instant alert, sensing the sudden danger in the air.

“Are you saying I’m too stupid to decide what I want?”

Okay, so his words hadn’t come out right. He was lucky he could still form a full sentence when his brain had relocated considerably lower in his body.

“I’m saying that you don’t have enough experience to know what you want. That’s not your fault.”

She looked spectacularly unimpressed with his logic. “So you’d make love to me if I wasn’t a virgin?”

“It’s not just that.”

“Then what?”

He struggled to express his fear that he was taking advantage of her naivete. It was easy for her to become convinced that he was some sort of Prince Charming when she didn’t have a comparison.

“How many men have you known in your life?”

“I told you, there were a few.”

He cupped her chin, forcing her to meet his piercing gaze. “Briggs and the demon lord don’t count.”

“You weren’t Briggs’s only accomplice.”

He snorted. “I can just imagine the kind of scum who would work with the bastard.”

She poked her finger into the center of his chest, seemingly annoyed by his dismissal of her potential lovers. “Some were scum, but there were others who were like you.”

He frowned, offended by her comparison to Briggs’s nasty servants. “Me?”

“Yes.” She gave him another poke. “They were decent men who were simply desperate and willing to believe Briggs’s promise he could give them what they most desired.”