stop herself from drinking in the sight of him.
Coal-black in the dim light of the bedside lamp, his shaggy hair fell across his brow and curled at his ears. Regular trims obviously weren’t high on the alpha wolf’s list of priorities. Fingers curling with the urge to sink into his thick mane, grab handfuls and pull his mouth to hers, she dropped her gaze to his chest.
Even if she didn’t know about his Moon magic, she would think of him as a night creature. Some people shone in the bright of day but it was the dark that favored Beck. Shadows played in the ridges and hollows of his broad chest and flat stomach, somehow giving his muscles more definition than if he stood in the full light of the sun.
And below his stomach….
Mouth dry, she plastered her back to the door and fought the pull to go to him. The moons patterned around his navel called to her body on a primal level. Her stomach muscles, marked the same, flexed in response.
Goddess, she wanted to know this man. She wanted to use her hands to memorize his hard angles and rippling muscles until she could identify him blindfolded in the dark.
But she couldn’t have him.
“January.” Beck unfolded his naked frame from her bed. Dark hair roughened his strong thighs and shadowed his flat stomach. A triangle of wiry curls cradled his thick cock. Despite the futility of the response, her body softened in immediate readiness.
Not speaking, she dropped her bag on the floor beside her dresser. Beck studied her tightly-bound brown hair, her thin-pressed lips and her bare collar bones, the only bit of skin visible above the boat neck of her scrub top.
"You stink like death," he said. He always said that.
"If you'd let me know you were coming, I might have made other arrangements." Like leaving the state even sooner than planned.
Offering neither explanation nor excuse, Beck left the room. She followed him into the hall and watched him step into the bathroom. His muscular ass and broad back disappeared from view. The shower started seconds later.
Closing her eyes, January blew out a deep breath. Her nipples stabbed the cotton of her bra and heat flushed her skin. She could tell him no, send him away.
A growl from the bathroom signaled Beck’s impatience. She could refuse him but she didn’t want to. Stripping her top over her head and shoving her pants to the floor, she acknowledged the truth of his observation. She did stink of death. The nursing home where she worked dealt in decay. January didn’t often notice the odor. Beck’s wild, alive essence contrasted sharply with the stink and made her aware. Made her aware of a lot of things, like how much she wanted him even when her body wasn’t in the throes of Heat.
Eager to be clean--and to accept Beck’s mark--she finished undressing, grabbed the condoms he’d left behind, and padded after him. He waited in the shower, his powerful frame an indistinct blur behind the frosted glass doors.
She didn’t speak as she stepped into the shower, self-conscious at first as the water sprayed her heavy breasts. The fire in his gaze surged even hotter, and she released her body concerns. A man couldn’t fake that kind of appreciation.
Facing him, January stood beneath the spray and soaped her breasts and stomach. Beck fisted his cock with, slow tight strokes. They said women weren’t visual creatures when it came to sex, but the heavy throb between her legs proved otherwise.
She slid soapy fingers down her belly and found her folds already wet. The muscles in her thighs jumped as she twirled a fingertip around her clit. Needing a distraction, she asked , “Why is the whole pack here? Even the new guy.”
Ignoring her question, he released his cock. “Turn around and put your hands on the wall.”
She drew her fingertips along her slit and met his eyes. Some small spark of rebellion made her say, “This is the last time.”
His jaw tightened. “You belong to me. You belong to the pack.”
She