celiabreslin

“It’s stress,” I whispered to myself. The old pipes groaned, slowing the water pressure to a drip, but finally the shower turned warm…then scalding. I twisted the knob, not shifting out of the spray even as my ears burned. They’d probably look funny so bright red against my white-blond hair.

I hated it. One summer, I’d spent every day I could in the cheap-ass city pool, hoping the green tint would be permanent. To finally rip away that mark. We were all stuck with the same eyes, but his hair…

Stop thinking about him. He’s dead. The cult’s…who the fuck cares. They’d gone silent as Thanksgiving became Christmas. I’d tried to keep an eye on the compound, but the sudden downfall of snow made trudging to the woods treacherous—far too easy for guards to track a man or beast in that weather.

The light shifted. I yanked my head from the downpour and was about to spin around when chilled hands cupped around my chest. She pressed her cheek flush with my back, and my rapid heartbeat calmed itself.

“I thought you might like some company,” Layla said, most of the croak gone out of her voice.

Her company was the only thing I wanted anymore. Work. School. Tests. Transformation. Eating. Sleeping—there was no joy to be found in any aspect of my life…except for Layla.

I caught her fingers wafting through my soaked chest hair and pulled them to my lips to kiss her knuckles. Her body caressed against mine, […]

The wolf knew her body’s reactions. It smelled the flush of her skin dewing in arousal. It heard her heartbeat picking up in tempo, the micro-gasps that made no sound to the human ear.

I spun so fast water beads whipped off in all directions. A groggy smile clung to her lips, the humid shower highlighting the petal-pink color against the tawny hue of her skin. Dew drops beaded across her entire body that kicked off a pant in my throat. But it was her eyes that ensnared me, wide in her face and so round they almost looked like perfect spheres. I was entranced with them, with the deep brown color that bore a trace of green in the bright summer light and her dark lashes that brushed to the sides naturally like curtains before a work of art.

“You’re so damn…” I said, but the words in my throat garbled to a growl. I dove for her lips while focusing on her eyes. The jolt of surprise in her irises was eclipsed by hunger, the slow flutter of her lids slipping closed as she folded her hands around my neck and tugged me closer.

Every lingering taste from my dream vanished, my mouth flooding with only Layla. I pressed her pillowy lips open and plunged my tongue inside, needing more of her. All of her. She tugged on my hair, guiding me to kiss her harder than before.

Nip her. Scrape your teeth down her throat. […]

My hand cupped to her neck, causing Layla to break off the kiss. Those wide, beautiful eyes hooded and she turned her jaw to the side. An invitation.

Yes. Bite her. […]

Running my nose against the hollow behind her ear and down, I trailed my lips to her throat…and placed a soft kiss instead. Layla giggled in delight, while the wolf inside me pouted. It’d had enough attention already.

Cupping my hands to the side of her face, I scattered the water droplets on her forehead with my thumbs. “How can you be so beautiful the second you wake up?”

She snorted at that. “You are a terrible liar.”

“No. I’m painfully…” I swept my palms over her […]. “Awkwardly…” My hips twitched […]. Stars shattered in my eyes, telling me this wasn’t going to be a slow and gentle session.

Layla tossed her head back, her spirals of hair flattening against the shower tile. Another moan from her kicked off one in me.

I dove to her lips, about to press a kiss when I whispered, “Honest.”