Page 72 of His White Moonlight (Dominant CEO Shifter Romance #1)

“This. Non-stop. You’re the oxygen I need to breathe, Wrenly. Without you, I’m slowly suffocating.”

I pulled back enough to capture his face.

“Go put some clothes on. I’ll meet you in the kitchen and let you buy me breakfast on the way into work.”

He closed his eyes and nodded. I kissed his nose and whirled out of his hold when he tried to tip back into bed. Laughing, I left him to dress.

The time on my phone when I collected my things made me cringe. I’d either woken up late, or we’d taken more time in the shower than I’d thought. Either way, Miranda had already sent a message.

Miranda: Coming in today?

Me: Yep. We’re running late. Leaving the house in a few minutes and stopping for something to eat on the way.

She sent the location of a bagel place that was on the way.

Miranda: Best bagels you’ll ever eat. Just in case you haven’t decided yet.

Me: LOL what’s your order?

Miranda: Everything with avocado and smoked salmon for me. I recommend the French Toast bagel for you.

I liked her text and looked up as Bennett walked into the kitchen. He was neatly dressed in his usual suit ensemble, but missing his tie today. The collar of his shirt was unbuttoned and proudly displaying the mark on his neck.

“Most people try to hide those,” I said.

“First, how would you know that? Second, most people didn’t have to wait twelve years for their mate to acknowledge them.”

I rolled my eyes at him.

“You already know I escaped my prison as often as possible. It was an all-girls school, not a convent. The dick pic you saw was proof of that.”

“It would be better for everyone if you don’t bring that up too often.”

“Noted. Miranda sent me the location of a bagel place for breakfast. Ready?”

We arrived at work exactly an hour late. A few women muttered under their breath until Bennett shot them dark looks. Miranda didn’t mind our late arrival, though. She made grabby hands for the bag I held.

“Good call on the bagels. It was good,” I said, handing over her order.

“I’m going to work in Bennett’s office today. The door and blinds will stay open for self-preservation, not welcome. Deflect everyone.”

She grinned at me. “On it, boss lady.”

I turned to Bennett. “Would you mind setting up my laptop on the coffee table?”

His slow smile accompanied his quick compliance.

* * *

Friday morning dawned with a shower of kisses on my stomach, which is where Bennett had kissed just before I’d fallen asleep. Naked. He’d been pretty persistent about reciprocating the kisses I’d promised.

He veered south of my belly button, and I caught him by the hair.

“Wait.”

“For what?”

“I need five minutes again.”

“I’ll give you two. Turn the shower on when you’re ready for me to join you.”

I hurried out of bed and shut myself in the bathroom. When I glanced at the mirror, I saw I had several kiss marks on my body. One over my heart. One on my neck. One just under my belly button, and when I looked down, I saw two on the inside of my thighs from when he’d been down there last night.

He seemed to really like kissing me there . I definitely didn’t mind it since it always ended with me feeling good and nicely relaxed.

“You’re wasting time,” he said from the other side of the door.

“I’m going to kick you out of my room if you’re going to stand right outside the bathroom.”

“Two minutes. Leaving now.”

I hurried to do my business and turned on the water. He didn’t come in until I’d already quickly washed some important parts. But when he did walk in, he was completely nude.

This time, I didn’t look away. I took in the sight of his broad, muscled shoulders, chiseled torso, and…I swallowed hard at what lay not-so-limply between his powerful thighs.

“You’re frowning,” he said.

I stopped and turned away from him to wet my face.

His hands stroked down my back.

“Why were you frowning?” he asked, kissing my shoulder that wasn’t in the water since I was still making an effort to keep the bandage covering my stitches dry.

“I was thinking that sex with you might not be comfortable initially.”

His hands stalled briefly on my back, and he made a sound between a growl and a purr.

“Was that a happy noise or a mad noise?”

“Happy. Definitely happy. My mate is thinking about the next step. I’m over the moon. But will you promise me something?”

Facing him, I watched his eyes do their mood swing thing.

“Promise you’ll tell me if I do anything that doesn’t feel good when the time comes.”

“You’re both wanting it and afraid of it, aren’t you?” I asked. “Sex with me, I mean.”

“I am.”

“Me too. Probably for different reasons.”

“Not really. I’m afraid sex will change everything and result in you leaving me.”

“Hmm. I think I’ve tabled that and am more afraid that it’s going to hurt.”

He kissed my cheek, my nose, then my mouth. When he finished, I couldn’t remember why I’d been nervous.

“I’ll pre-pay by making you feel good every day so that, when you’re ready, you won’t be worried about any pain.”

“That sounds nice. What’s nicer is knowing that it won’t hurt for long. At least, that’s what Grandma told me when I went to the first pack run.”

He hugged me close, smoothing a hand over my wet hair.

“I want to make the world a perfect place for you, Wrenly.”

“It doesn’t need to be perfect. Bad days are okay. We all have them. I just want to know that someone is there for me. Unconditionally. And…” I swallowed hard, debating whether I was ready to admit the truth. Honesty won. “I think you might be my best option for having that.”

Pulling back so his hungry, intense gaze could see what his nose was already telling him—that I wasn’t lying—he nodded to my bad arm. “Keep your hand on the wall again.”

That was the only warning he gave me before he did his best to make me forget my name with his mouth and his hands.

Like the day before, we were an hour late to work.

Miranda grinned and accepted another bagel.

“It was good enough to go back for seconds, huh?”

I nodded and flushed, knowing she wasn’t talking about breakfast. She had a nose and could probably smell what we’d done not only today but yesterday, too. Ignoring her silent applause, I followed Bennett into his office.

He took calls for the first hour, and I worked on spreadsheets until I got annoyed with using my left hand and stood, needing a break. Bennett watched me stretch, his gaze hungry.

I shook my head at him, and he grinned.

“I’m going to grab Miranda for a walk,” I said quietly.

He nodded.

Miranda looked up from her work as the door opened.

“You busy?” I asked.

“For you? Never.”

“Want to take a walk around the block?”

She was quick to lock her computer and join me. She seemed to sense that something was on my mind because neither of us said anything until we reached the street.

“What’s up, my horny little buttercup?” she asked.

“How bad is it?” I asked.

“It’s pretty strong, but from him. I can just smell him all over you and a little bit of your lust occasionally.”

“Not that,” I said, making an ‘ew’ face at her.

“The fallout from saying I won’t be at the challenge.

Bennett’s been keeping me purposefully distracted, and no one’s said a thing.

Which either means the challengers honestly thought they had a chance against you, or that everyone is trying to hide something from me. We both know it’s not the former.”

She grinned. “I was wondering if they were actually fooling you.”

“What was that necklace you wanted again?”

“The challengers have already backed out, so there’s no point in going.

Mr. Wulf has announced that this is the end of the challenges, but he started a petition for anyone who wants you out of the pack to sign.

If it gets half the pack’s signatures, the Wulfs will leave the pack and start the process of relocating headquarters. So far, no one’s signing it.”

I wasn’t the type to think my parents were leaving everything behind because of me. They were willing to leave because they’d lost faith in the people they’d spent their lives helping.

“When did he start the petition?” I asked.

“The day he announced you wouldn’t be at the challenge.” She glanced at me. “Bennett told me you thought the challenges were just a distraction. What do you think is going to happen?”

“Nothing good. Dad’s forced the people opposing me into a corner.

They’ll need to choose between their hate for me and their need for the Wulf family’s benefits, which, after seeing the numbers for these past few weeks, are too considerable for any smart person to give up just for the sake of a bias.

But it’s not just about bias. It’s about status and money.

Why should a lowly human have the coveted place of Mrs. Wulf, future Luna, when a fur-born female could hold that place and distribute even more wealth back into the pack? ”

“Kind of twisted thinking since most fur-borns—I like that phrase by the way—are likely to spend more on themselves than you ever will.”

I shrugged. “Everyone makes dumb decisions in their life. Theirs is thinking someone is better just because of their race.”

“What dumb decisions did you make?”

“Ha. Don’t you remember pinning me to the bathroom door?”

“I still cringe whenever I think about Bennett hearing about that.”

Grinning, I said, “I’ll keep it our dirty little secret until you get your necklace.”

“And this is why we’re friends.”

“Is there anything else I don’t know?”

“The Shanes publicly disowned Lindi last night.”

She took out her phone and showed me the articles about their fallout.

They hadn’t just disowned her. They’d given reasons.

Physical and financial victimization of her peers.

No remorse or plans for atonement for past actions.

And a complete disregard for her parents’ repeated pleas for rehabilitation.

The Shanes had publicly apologized on behalf of their daughter to anyone she had victimized and said the only way they could compensate for her actions was to cut ties completely.

Anyone who wanted to press charges should do so.

“Wow. That’s better than I’d hoped,” I said. “Now the pack just needs to make up its mind whether or not getting rid of me is worth losing the Wulfs’ money.”

“Or maybe we can have both,” a familiar voice said from behind us.

Miranda spun around fast, meeting Storm’s lunge head-on. I backpedaled quickly, getting out of their way.

As Storm started to shift in broad daylight—something shifters typically didn’t do because it freaked out humans—people around us were starting to yell and run. Tires screeched on the road, too.

Miranda growled and shifted, tearing her clothes and bending the bracelet that had been on her wrist. The way she went after Storm said she was pissed about it, too.

Storm wasn’t like the other women who’d challenged her, though.

She was a fighter, and Miranda had to work to keep away from her teeth and claws while still trying to counterattack.

They moved so fast and everything was so chaotic that I didn’t realize someone was behind me until a hand covered my mouth and I was lifted off the ground. My eyes went wide. I thrust back an elbow as I tipped my head forward. When they grunted, I flung my head back as hard as I could.

Something stung my arm as whoever had me groaned but held firm.

I kicked back with my heel, missing the leg. I tried to use my stitched arm to pull the hand away, but I was either too weak, or whoever had me was strong.

Things started to get fuzzy. I tried to fight as my vision swam, but I knew I was going under from whatever they’d given me.

Miranda continued to fight Storm, unaware of the growing space between us as I was dragged away.

Whoever had me threw me into the side door of the van as my vision started to tunnel.

I was so fucked.