Page 23 of Clashing With The Grumpy Wolf

Jeez. I need to get laid as soon as this is over. I’m being ridiculous.

"So," I say, aiming for casual but landing somewhere closer to breathless, "what's next in this scent-day spa treatment?"

"It's simple," he says, his voice dropping to a low rumble. "I just need to mark you with my scent. Nothing complicated."

"And how exactly does one do that? Roll around on the floor like a dog marking territory?"

“Nothing like that.” His eyes narrow slightly. “Each person has a scent that is uniquely theirs and there are places on your body that produce more of that scent than others.”

He pauses and I feel the burn spread all the way to the tips of my ears.

“For example, your pulse points and along your jaw.” He reaches up and touches my face, running a rough, calloused thumb from below my ear all the way to my chin. A shiver runs through me at the contact.

A shiver that shoots straight between my legs.

“And then there’s that spot, just behind your ears.” His thumb moves, his hand so big it cradles the entire side of my face as heslightly caresses the sensitive place below my hairline and behind my ear. “Then there’s the inside of your wrists.”

I’m transfixed as he reaches with his other hand to bring my wrist up to his face, then inhales deeply. For a moment just before he closes his eyes, his irises shine a vibrant, iridescent emerald green.

“It’s just wolf instincts. Verynotsexual.”

Except the way he says it, with his voice dipping lower on the word ‘sexual,’ makes it sound exactly that. And that heat between my legs rises by several degrees in response.

"May I?" he asks, stepping closer.

I nod, not trusting my voice.

Adrian moves into my space with deliberate slowness, like he's approaching a skittish animal. He's so much larger than me that I have to tilt my head back to maintain eye contact. His heat radiates toward me, enveloping me before he even touches me.

"Try to relax," he murmurs.

Then his hands are cupping my face, steadying me as he leans down. His cheek brushes against mine, warm and slightly rough with stubble. He drags it slowly from my temple to my jaw, then back up.

The sensation sends another shiver down my spine and a raging inferno burns between my legs. I have the blazing thought that perhaps he can smell the arousal on me.

And it should mortify me. But it doesn’t. If anything, it makes me even hotter.

"You smell like cinnamon," he says, his breath warm against my ear. "And musk. So good. You smell so good, Julia."

“Are you a wolf or part bloodhound?” I ask, but my voice is shaky at best.

He chuckles, the sound vibrating through me where we touch. His movements are slow and controlled, like he’s not touching me to fulfill a crazy pact we just made, but like I’m some sort of timid little animal. He repeats the cheek to cheek, then leans even closer to rub his nose down to the sensitive spot just beneath my ear, then along the curve of my neck where my pulse thrums wildly beneath his touch.

I should be embarrassed by how my body responds, goosebumps rising on my skin, breath catching in my throat. But Adrian seems just as affected, his breathing becoming deeper, more deliberate, as though he's fighting for control.

His hand slides down to my waist, steadying me as he continues his ministrations. He brings my wrists up to his face and skims the tender skin along his mouth, his firm lips brushing the spot over and over. By then, I’m so flustered I have to bite my lip to stop from making a sound.

"Is that enough scent marking for now?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.

Adrian pulls back just enough to look at me, his eyes now a luminous green in the dim light. The eyes of a beast.

"Almost." His gaze is nothing human now, the wolf fully on display. His irises shine and there’s a wildness there that I can’t pinpoint, yet an instinctive, primal part of me recognizes. “The last part is the most important. We have to exchange saliva.”

“You mean you’re going to kiss me?” My mind twirls like an untethered bird, and I can’t look away from his rugged, gorgeous face.

“Yes.” He nods. “Is that okay?”

I can’t speak. I can’t even formulate a thought.