Page 65 of His White Moonlight (Dominant CEO Shifter Romance #1)

“I don’t know,” I said honestly. “The way you were before, controlling and not listening, would have been an easy no. But you’re saying the right things now.

“Saying and doing are two different things, though. First, I’ll need to see if you actually do them. Then, I’ll need to figure out if that’s enough to make me want to spend a lifetime with someone whose default is to smother me.”

The truth was brutal, and I saw it in his gaze. But withholding it to spare his feelings would only hurt us more later on.

I noticed the way his hand was shaking as he got out and opened the door for me. He didn’t do anything, though.

We ate dinner together without much conversation; then I went upstairs to watch a movie by myself. It was a rather boring night…until I got ready for bed. When I emerged from my bathroom with my pajamas on, Bennett was already in his spot. Awake. Watching. Waiting.

After what I’d said in the car, I thought he’d go back to his distant self. What did it mean that he was waiting for me?

He watched me watch him.

“This feels like a test,” I said.

He didn’t smile as he patted my empty spot.

“Are you going to pounce once I’m next to you? Because I just brushed my hair when I shouldn’t have, and my arm is aching a little.”

He immediately got out of bed. “I’ll get the ice pack.”

I hated that I liked his consideration so damn much. It softened me toward him, and I couldn’t afford to be soft. I knew what waited for me.

No more cage, Wrenly, I reminded myself.

While he was gone, I hurried into bed and considered hiding his pillow. However, it would most likely encourage him to use me as a substitute rather than stop him from joining me. So, I nudged his pillow to the edge of his side of the bed instead.

He returned a few minutes later with a pain reliever and an ice pack.

I took the pain reliever and settled in with the ice pack as he walked around the bed to his side.

He didn’t even blink at the space I’d created between our spots.

He just got into bed and rolled toward me to use the edge of my pillow.

“Why don’t you save us both time and tell me what your goal is?” I said.

“I want to fall asleep with you.”

I arched a brow at him.

“That’s all?”

He nodded.

“Fine. Close your eyes and go to sleep.”

He grinned and looked so damn boyishly handsome that my heart did its weird, heavy beat thing.

I rolled away from him, trying to deny what my body wanted me to feel. But there was no escaping Bennett. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me flush against his chest.

Moving my hair off my neck, he inhaled deeply. I knew I should move away, but I was so tired of running away from him. From myself. So, I didn’t move. I waited.

I knew I was in trouble before his lips even touched me. Once they did, though, I forgot why I needed to fight what he made me feel.

Safe.

Wanted.

Loved.

His lips skimmed my neck. My breath caught, and my skin prickled in anticipation. Lips, tongue, and teeth teased the side of my neck, warming me, making me want more from him.

I moved to give him better access. He approved with a growl.

The feel of his hand on my stomach added to the heat slowly consuming me. When it slid under my tank top, I didn’t think to stop him. Everything felt too good, especially as his fingers inched higher, stroking my skin and making me ache for more.

My pulse raced as I rolled toward him a few more inches.

He pulled back, and I saw his pupils were so large that his eyes seemed black.

“Ask me for anything,” he said roughly.

“Kiss me.”

His mouth claimed mine hungrily, surpassing the need in all his previous kisses. Raw and demanding, it consumed me. His body caged mine. I threaded my fingers into his hair, trying to pull him closer, needing more. Needing him.

I arched against him.

Our hips connected, and an electric feeling rushed through me.

I tore my mouth from his, gasping at the sensation. The sound of fabric ripping registered a second before air touched my chest. Then he was kissing me again as his hand covered my breast. The heat and pressure of his palm added to the fire slowly burning through me.

An aching throb started between my legs. He swallowed the sound I made as I arched into him again.

Warning bells rang faintly in my head, but I couldn’t focus on them. Bennett’s touch demanded attention.

The warning grew louder as his hand left my breast and trailed down my stomach.

I tried turning my head to the side to break the kiss, needing a second to think.

But his lips followed, keeping me submerged in a sea of hunger I didn’t fully understand, unable to draw a breath without him filling my senses.

His fingers found the waistband of my shorts and slipped under them. He was touching me… there, over the thin material of my underwear.

Panic fluttered in my chest, and I pushed at his chest. Pain flared in my arm.

He growled and pulled back to look down at me.

“Don’t hurt yourself, Wrenly,” he warned as his fingers moved.

My breath caught at the ache his touch was creating. It felt so good. So wrong. Why was it wrong?

“Wait.”

“To what? To kiss you?”

He kissed me tenderly. Then, his fingers hooked my underwear and slid underneath. His touch was feather-light as he gently stroked over my center, making me forget how to breathe.

“Why? I can smell how much you like me kissing you.” His lips skimmed the corner of my mouth then my chin. “Maybe you want me to kiss you somewhere else?”

He kissed my throat again, and then his mouth closed over one of my breasts. The sound that came out of me was a blend of a sigh and a gasp. He used his tongue and teeth to melt my thoughts and my resistance as his fingers continued to tease me.

Nothing had ever made me feel so…perfect.

He used his foot to nudge my leg aside, giving his fingers more room to skim over me.

“Bennett…I…we…”

“I know, baby,” he said, shifting his attention to my other breast.

My hips lifted off the bed when he sucked it into his mouth, and his fingers used the opportunity to press a little more firmly against me.

He groaned. The vibrations shook the bed.

“Wrenly, baby, open a little wider for me.”

I listened and felt his fingers part me.

“You’re so wet, baby. I need?—”

Material ripped again, stinging my lower back, and baring me to the air.

Before I could register the pain, he ducked down, and he started kissing me there .

I grabbed his head, completely lost. His tongue flicked against a spot that made me feel feverish.

The shaking grew worse. A finger stroked my opening, teasing it but not entering.

“Bennett. There. Please. I?—”

Pleasure unlike anything I’d ever known shattered me from head to toe, intensifying when his finger dipped into my opening and found a spot to stroke from the inside.

I screamed, tensing and curling into myself so hard that my stomach cramped.

The euphoria didn’t stop, though. It kept spreading out in waves, taking me away with it.

* * *

With a yawn, I stretched myself awake. The slip of the sheet against my bare skin froze me as the night before came back to me. My face flushed, and I slowly pulled the cover up over my head.

How could I let that happen? Idiot.

I frowned as I realized something very important—the bed next to me was empty.

Flipping the cover back, I sat up and scanned the room. He wasn’t lurking somewhere, safely watching my response from a distance. He really was gone.

Just when I was starting to feel hurt by his abandonment, I spotted a note waiting on my bedside table, along with an ice pack that had frost on it and two pain relievers.

I wanted to stay, but I wasn’t sure if you wanted the same. Last night doesn’t change anything unless you want it to. I’ll keep my word. I won’t take what you’re not willing to give. I’ll let go.

The ice pack and pain relievers are for your arm. You used it too much yesterday.

Please tell me when you’re ready to see me. I’ll be downstairs until you call my name.

Bennett

I reread the note, unable to believe what I was seeing. Flopping back onto the bed, I relived what happened before I’d passed out. It’d been intense, magical, and dangerous because I wanted to do it again.

How had his mind not changed when mine was starting to?

Grandma’s words repeated in my head.

He would try to persuade you so you’re willing. He wouldn’t do anything to cause you to reject him.

Was that what last night had been? A taste of how good it could be if I accepted him?

I wanted to go back to being ignorant. Back to when I thought I had no real interest in him.

Just a little physical attraction. But I couldn’t go back to that self-delusion.

I liked Bennett. His face. His moodiness.

His absolute obsession with me. I felt wanted .

Needed. For the first time in my life. And I didn’t want to walk away from that.

But I didn’t want his need to trap me either. Not ever again.

With a sigh, I sat up and wrapped my arms around my bent knees.

So, how did I play this then?

Pretending it hadn’t happened wouldn’t work for either of us. Trying to pull away would only make him want to hold me closer. Did I…accept it then? The pull I felt to be with him? And then what? Would I find myself mated and pregnant before the start of the semester? No thanks.

Setting my chin on my knees, I reached for the ice pack and continued to ponder my options.

He’d stopped metaphorically holding me too tightly when I’d stopped resisting and had instead pointed out how much he was going to hurt me by being physical. Last night had proven he could control himself, though.

I thought back to his shaking and frowned.

Had he been holding on by a claw?

My phone rang. I glanced at Miranda’s name and answered.

“Good morning, my MBBF,” she said.

“Shouldn’t it be MBFF? My Best Friend Forever.”

“Please, I’m not that sentimental, Miranda’s Beautiful Bag Financer.”