“This isn’t fair,” I complained, sitting naked in the back of the limo and glaring at Sinclair. “You said you would claim me if I shifted.”

“Greedy mate,” he teased, kissing the soft spot behind my ear. “I didn’t say I would do it in the middle of the forest.”

He hadn’t, but I was still very displeased when, instead of ravishing me the moment I finished the painful but brief shift back into human form, he pulled me to my feet and strolled back to the waiting cars and guards. “I don’t see why not,” I grumbled. “I like the forest.”

“Because we’d be too exposed in the forest. I wouldn’t be able to really enjoy myself because I’d be too on my guard,” he answered in a low rumble. “And it’s our first real time together. I’m not going to make love to you up against a tree.”

“Then how are you going to do it?” I asked, peeking up at him and discovering his eyes already glued to my sulking features. “In the back of a limo, maybe?” I suggested, stroking his muscular thigh and batting my lashes.

“No, you naughty thing,” he chuckled, pulling me closer, even though we were already flush against each other. He paused to claim my lips, then trailed kisses over my jaw until his warm breath fluttered over my ear. “I’m going to take you home and lay you out on my bed—”

“My nest,” I corrected him, disliking the mischaracterization.

Sinclair emitted a wordless rumble, heavy with amusement. “Fine then. In your nest. I’ll lay you out like my own personal feast, and then I’m going to kiss every last inch of your lovely body before I even consider touching your sweet pussy,” he declared, his deep voice igniting my body. “And when you’re so desperate and needy that you’re all but begging for relief, I’m going to make a home between your legs and absolutely gorge myself on your honey. I’m going to make you come so many times that you think you can’t take any more pleasure… and then I’m going to prove you wrong.”

His big hands trailed over my naked body as he spoke, stroking and caressing me with such intense focus that I felt like I was the only thing in the world—in his world. Suddenly, I understood why he hadn’t wanted to do this in the forest, where he had to worry about safety and privacy, where he couldn’t disappear into the moment. “And every time you beg me to go faster, I’m just going to go slower,” he continued darkly, sending delicious shivers down my spine. No one had ever spoken to me this way, and there was something about it that felt so forbidden, I felt even more turned on. “And when I finally drive my cock into you, and stretch your tight little sex until you’re full to bursting, I’ll let my wolf take over.”

Oh Goddess, I thought, my body flushed and smoldering simply from listening to him speak. Is it possible to climax from words alone?

“I’m going to take you so fiercely, so ruthlessly, that your own wolf is going to come to absolute pieces,” Sinclair stated huskily. “I’m going to possess you so completely that you won’t even feel whole again unless I’m inside you.” I shuddered, and he purred, cupping my breast and brushing his thumb over my beaded nipple. “That’s right, gorgeous. I’m going to make you crave me as wildly as I crave you, and only when I’ve brought you to another climax on my cock, when I’ve gotten so lost in your beautiful body that I won’t be able to hold back any longer—will I claim you.”

Sinclair dropped his head to the spot where my neck met my shoulder, grazing his teeth over my sensitive skin. He closed his fangs over my flesh, applying gentle pressure, and my wolf began howling with need. How could a man touching such an innocent spot cause so much pleasure? So much desire? I whined aloud when he released me, and an amused rumble accompanied his next words. “I’ll bring you back to the edge and sink my fangs deep. I’ll claim you as my one and only mate for the rest of our lives… the force of the bond will scare you, but you won’t have to worry because I’ll be right there, holding you tight,” he promised, filling me with an entirely different kind of warmth. “It will send us both into the fucking stratosphere, and when it’s over we’ll sleep for a while, but then we’re going to wake up and do it over, and over, and over again.”

I was nothing more than a puddle in his arms at this point, and the smug Alpha knew it. When I looked up at him, his wolf glowed in his eyes, and even though he’d turned my brain to mush, I couldn’t help but notice that I wasn’t the only one who’d gotten excited by his dirty talk.

He was as naked as I was, and I had to fight not to gape at the size of him. Surely he hadn’t been that big in our dream? Either way, my wolf preened with the pride of knowing his desire was for me and me alone. I had the strongest impulse to reach out and take his hardness in my hand, and my mouth positively watered. “And will I finally be allowed to… to touch you?” I inquired shyly, not brave enough to use the same blunt terms he did.

“If you ask very nicely, and you tell me exactly what you want to do,” he replied, pressing his mouth to mine and nipping my plump lower lip.

My heart skipped a beat as I realized he wanted me to speak as he did, to be explicit about my desire and shrug off my inhibitions. I wanted so badly to give him pleasure, especially after all these weeks of receiving his selfless affection and not being able to return it. Still, I’d never spoken about sex this way—even with Mike. At best, he would ask if I was in the mood, then lie on top of me for a few minutes before groaning out his release and patting my bottom to reward me for a job well done. In hindsight, I hated that I’d been such a doormat with him, but I didn’t know what sex could be like until I met Sinclair.

The car pulled to a stop in front of the house before I could conjure a reply, and Sinclair wrapped me in a robe before donning one himself and carrying me inside. He bounded up the stairs to his bedroom, then swept into the bathroom and set me on the ground. “Bath or shower?” he asked, pulling off my robe.

“What? But I thought…” I stammered, thinking of his promises in the car.

“Are you so eager to get your nest dirty?” Sinclair inquired, quirking his lip and gesturing to the conifer needles and streaks of mud on our legs. I forgot we’d been romping through the forest as our wolves, and even the snow couldn’t keep the dirt away entirely.

“No!” I immediately objected, despising the very idea. I tried to focus on his first question, but the thought of a bath raised images in my mind, fuzzy memories of being held down as Sinclair tried to warm my frostbitten fingers and toes.

“Dominic,” I murmured, for the first time emerging from the joyful haze that had consumed me since realizing my baby survived the shift. I was quickly recalling everything my mate had done for me in the last few days and, worse, I remembered the horrible things I’d said to him during that episode, and horror washed over me. “I’m so sorry for the things I said when you were trying to help me. I didn’t mean them. I—”

“Later,” Dominic pressed a finger to my lips, stroking my hip with his free hand. “We have all the time in the world to talk about it, Ella. And that’s the last thing I want to do right now.”

I nodded, gulping down my welling emotions. “Shower,” I decided, more determined than ever to show my mate the same generosity he’d shown me.

We washed ourselves quickly, or perhaps I should say we washed each other quickly. Sinclair insisted on cleaning me himself, and it’s no surprise when his attention got sidetracked, his powerful hands taking detours to my breasts and between my legs as he extracted fevered kisses from my lips. I eagerly did the same to him, and he knelt in front of me, kissing my belly and breasts as I tried to clean his shoulders, face, and hair. Of course, when I tried to pull the same trick he did and reach for his hardness, he caught my wrist. “Ask me, baby,” he rumbled sensuously.

My eyes widened with alarm, and my cheeks flushed. I couldn’t! I couldn’t talk about these things the way he did… Could I?