Chapter 3

I started going a little weak in the knees, but before that mattered he shoved me through the office door, sighed and collapsed backward, resting against it. His huge arms strained the sleeves of his dress shirt as he ripped off his jacket and reached for his tie.

Without looking, he took a second to click both deadbolts and the lock on the door’s handle.

The grin from earlier came back, this time joined by a flashing pair of pale yellow eyes. His swelling muscles were just about to tear through the slacks that I’d had tailored for him not even a week before.

“Here?” I said, almost breathless. “But won’t everyone in the room hear?”

“Oh like it’s the first time,” Erik said. “The way you were looking at me with those side-eyes of yours, I could hardly control myself. I didn’t give a shit about anything going on in there for at least half the day. I’ve been thinking about this since lunch.”

“About what?” I asked, feigning innocence.

“Get over here, Izzy.” Erik grabbed me by the wrist and yanked me across the floor. “I can’t keep myself calm much longer. You better either take that dress off, or not care if I rip it to shreds.”

His words burned my skin just about as hot as his fingers on my wrist did. “I’ve got others,” I said in a breathy whisper. “You keep buying them for me.”

“You keep making me tear them off,” he said. “What choice do I have?”

Before my eyes, Erik’s arms swelled, his shoulders and his legs grew larger until the fabric on his clothes gave just a little. He grabbed my modestly-sexy v-neck collar between both of his hands and ripped my dress straight down the middle.

I unbuttoned his shirt, running my finger from where a tattooed leaf poked out just above his collar, all the way down to where the roots disappeared under his belt.

“No panties?” he said, breathing hard and ragged.

“You tore them off at lunch, remember?” I smiled, dragging my fingernails along the curve of Erik’s neck. “And before that, you scolded me for wearing any.”

Erik took a deep breath, inhaling my scent, and hoisted me off the floor. I wrapped my legs around him and sighed as his cock pushed into me, then let out a long, moaning exhale when he settled in.

“I’ve missed you,” I whispered, kissing his neck.

He thrust hard, and I threw back my head, laughing as he went. Every inch of him stretched into me, making my whole body flare to life. He didn’t say anything, but then again, he never did. When he got like this, speaking was about the furthest thing from Erik’s mind.

Seconds later I felt his burning flesh against the deepest parts of my thighs, I started moving backwards. At the exact same time, I slammed against the couch that he kept in his office for exactly this purpose, and he was all in me.

I let out a howl of pleasure, and the back of the couch thumped against the wall.

With each increasingly desperate, wonderful push, my chest heaved harder and harder, my breath came in short bursts.

After a few hours apart, we were both quick to please. I squeezed him with my legs, reaching down to massage. As soon as my fingers wrapped around his base, Erik started letting air out of his mouth in snorting grunts.

“Bite me,” I moaned. “Just a little.”

Fangs brushed my skin, and he gave me a nip that sent a chill straight down me. Underneath my bra, my nipples got all prickly and sweet. With each thrust, he took more and more of my breath away until I thought maybe I’d be smothered in the pleasure.

Erik took a huge breath and held it tight. Every cord in his neck was taut when I stroked him, and his cock had somehow swelled even bigger when I wrapped my fingers around him and pulled.

“Can’t... can’t... hold off,” he groaned. “So close, so...”

I couldn’t even bother with speech. I just squealed with delight. He bit harder, but not enough to hurt, just enough to feel really, really good. Short, hard hairs had started pushing out of Erik’s pores. He was normally pretty good about not shifting, but sometimes when he really got going like this, he couldn’t help himself.

Something about me – normal, curvy little Isabel Deschaine – being able to drive this incredible hunk of man so wild he turned into a wolf never stopped thrilling me.

Then, all at once, we both took a breath at the same time, and held it in.

I opened my eyes to find him smiling at me, staring straight into mine.

“Let go,” he whispered. “Now, let go... I can’t hold on.”

I shook my head, trying to protest, but probably not very convincingly.

“You first,” I said.

Erik squinted in silent defiance. Then, he thrust into me again, ending the debate. Every muscle in my body quivered and shook, and before I could think about stopping myself, the whole world went fuzzy, white, and warm.

For a few moments, we stayed together, our bodies pulsing and gripping at one another until they were satisfied. I wanted him again. I always wanted him again.

“Well,” he said, pushing off the couch. “I guess now we go from my most favorite part of the day to my least favorite.”

I knew what that meant, but I wanted him to say it. “Which is?” I asked.

I wanted a cigarette. I always did, even though I quit four years ago.

“Which is,” Erik kissed me as he shrank back to normal size. “Going back to pretending you’re not my mate.”

“Why?” I asked with a shrug. He’d told me the answer before, but it didn’t make sense. “Why can’t we just be... us?”

He shook his head. “Can’t happen. Alpha and a normal human? The pack would go nuts. There’d be a damn riot.”

“Sounds like there already is,” I said, tilting my head to the door behind us and the noise bursting from the courtroom.

“If you think that’s bad, you ain’t seen anything, little girl.”

When he called me little girl, my stomach quailed. “So, what,” I said, pulling my dress together enough to keep it from falling open in the middle of everything. “We just keep pretending this isn’t real? We just keep on

acting like I’m your... what, your booty-call or something?” Erik laughed in an almost over-done, cartoonish way.

“What’s so funny?” I demanded, putting my fists into the small of my back. My dress fell open, and he immediately stared at my bared curve.

“It’s just... hump stump?” he laughed again. “I’m sorry, you know how this works. We’ve been over it a thousand times. I’m trying to figure it out. I’m trying to come up with some way that we can be together without the charade, but...”

“But what?” I asked when he trailed off.

“I...”

I clicked my teeth.

“Sorry,” he said with another laugh. “You’re just... kinda open there, you know? I have a hard time keeping myself from...”

“From what? Come on, you big stud, at least say what you mean. Or wait.” I pulled back the tatter of a dress and looked down. He’d started stirring back to life again. I cocked an eyebrow. “Looks like someone isn’t exactly sure they’re finished.”

He flashed another grin. “How do you do this to me all the time?”

Erik took a step forward and grabbed one of my shoulders, spinning me around. I reached back and ran my hand along his length. As he caressed my back with his fingers, my skin prickled and tingled, and then he ran himself between my legs, against my belly.

“Soon,” he said softly, and guided himself slowly into me after grinding for an incredible second. “Someday soon, we...” he trailed off, sighing deeply

“I know,” I whispered, and urged him all the way. “I know.”