Page 9 of My Boyfriend Bites (A Moonstruck Mating #3)

Selene slept in. A rarity for her, but she’d found it hard to sleep the night before. The eventful day kept playing over and over in her head. It might sound terrible, but the deaths in the jungle—and the one in the cabana by the pool—weren’t what nagged her the most.

Dinner with Dante, and what it might entail, took center stage in her thoughts. Running into him shortly after musing that he might be a vampire had her questioning her theory. While he didn’t run as hot as her, he was by no means cold. Nor was he pale for a guy who never went outside, but that could be the Italian in him. Was it also the European in him that made him such a good flirt? His comment about preferring her naked had left her flushed. No masturbation, though, a day with that many dead bodies shouldn’t be finished with her pleasuring herself.

The last corpse nagged her the most, even though she had nothing to do with it. What did it say that she didn’t want Dante to be responsible? It should be noted the killing itself wasn’t the issue. Death happened. Circle of life and all that. She wasn’t one to judge a diet, either, seeing as how the rabbits she raised were mostly slaughtered. The kitchens she sold them to only part of their demise. She and her siblings often chased them during the full moon. Blood sport for their wolves. And before anyone demonized her for such a thing, wolves were wild creatures at heart. Carnivores who hunted. To deprive her lycan half of being its true self could lead to problems, or so her father had claimed. At a young age he’d taught them, “It is in the wolf’s nature to hunt. To prevent it is to risk losing control of it as the suppressed instincts burst forth.”

She might have argued his point but for the fact the times she let her wolf be a wolf, she found herself slightly better able to keep it leashed. When her furry side didn’t get to be itself, the slightest thing could bring out her incisors.

With that understanding, why did she care if Dante might have killed the man in the cabana? Because it came across as sloppy. Hunting on the boat, an enclosed space, lacked sport. Not to mention leaving the body where it could be found. Did the killer want to be caught?

Her mom hopefully hadn’t caught any of her angst when she’d called her the night before. Selene left out the disturbing parts of her voyage and spent most of it telling her about Dante. How charming he was, how they had plans for dinner, yes, on Valentine’s. Mom had sounded so happy, gushing, “I knew this cruise was a good idea.”

Selene would reserve judgement on that until later that night.

As she exited her room for breakfast, she ran into Renard leaving the suite across from hers.

“Morning,” he said with a bob of his head.

“Hi.”

“You seem none the worse for wear for yesterday’s misadventure,” he noted as he kept pace on their way to the elevator.

“I had last night to process the kidnapping and my escape.” Her lips twisted. “Thanks for sending Dante to find me.”

“The man almost stepped out in daylight he was so worried about you,” Renard admitted as the elevator took them down two floors.

“We’re having dinner tonight.”

“So I’ve heard. Been a while since I’ve seen him this excited about a date.” Renard glanced at her. “Which is to say you must be pretty special.”

Her nose wrinkled. “Not really.” Which wasn’t a lie. As far as anyone was concerned, she was a normal woman.

“Shall we have breakfast together?” Renard suggested as they entered the restaurant.

“Yes please,” she exclaimed, pretending to not see the older ladies waving at her.

They dined at a table for two, chatting about nothing in particular. While Selene remained curious about Dante, it didn’t seem right to interrogate Renard about his boss. Not to mention rude to Dante himself. If she wanted to know the man, she’d speak to him directly.

After breakfast, Selene treated herself to a spa day. Nails trimmed and painted—both fingers and toes—legs, pits, and bikini line waxed—because she didn’t dare try and rip out the entire bush at the apex of her thighs. She got a massage that left her boneless. A facial that had her glowing. She even splurged on a blow-out at the hair salon.

As to how she managed to get in at every place she visited? Selene could only assume her upgraded status allowed her to skip appointments and lines. Each time they scanned her bracelet it was, “Right away, ma’am. This way please.”

Kind of a neat perk. She could see why folks paid extra for it.

Despite keeping busy primping, the day dragged. Not a good sign. Her excitement over this dinner would likely lead to disappointment. Would Dante try and seduce her? Would she let him? How far could she go before she had to put a stop to things? Would he understand if she told him she needed to take things slow? Would he die tonight if the wolf emerged during a make-out session? She really hoped not because it might be hard to convince authorities she had nothing to do with it if she were the last person he was seen with.

Her hands shook as she lathered on some makeup, more than she usually dared. Eyeliner and mascara, a hint of blush on her cheeks, a pink gloss that made her lips look wet.

A part of her wished she’d brought a fancier dress from the online shop for the meal, the sleek black wrap-around sexy but also kind of plain.

Dante didn’t seem to care she wasn’t wearing a designer gown because when she opened the door—the firm knock at five fifty-nine setting her heart to thumping—he eyed her up and down before slowly smiling. “You look stunning.”

“You’re not too shabby yourself,” she quipped. Dante looked absolutely dashing in his suit. Black on black. Some might decry the lack of white shirt, but she rather liked it. She’d always had a soft spot for villains in movies and books.

“This old thing?” he teased with a wink.

“What time is dinner?” she asked.

“When we show up,” he replied with a laugh. “I reserved us a table for two with an ocean view.”

“Sounds great.”

It truly did until they walked into La Maisonette to find it packed. Every table full. The music clashing with the raucous conversations. The decorations, gaudy and bright. Sensory overload. She didn’t even realize she’d tightened her fingers on Dante’s sleeve until he pried them loose so he could turn her to face him.

He didn’t ask if she was okay. Didn’t have to. He simply murmured, “This is much too busy. Would you mind if we dined in your cabin instead? I’d suggest mine, but Rennie is lounging inside tonight to avoid the festivities.”

“You don’t have to change our plans because of me.” She saw right through his chivalry.

“Your discomfort is more important than us eating in public. I have no need to be on display. On the contrary, I think an intimate dinner would be a much better idea. That is, if you’re comfortable with it?”

“Do you think we can still get the food on the menu? I was rather looking forward to the lobster bisque.”

“As if I would let us starve. Whatever you want will be yours. If you want our meal served by the chef himself, I will make it happen.”

“No need for that. But thank you.” She allowed him to tuck her against him as they turned and waded out past the diners who’d forgotten to make a reservation and now tried to finagle their way in. They said nothing until they reached the privacy of her room, a suite as large as his with a dining table positioned with views of the ocean. When he tapped the tablet that controlled the room, music began to play via the hidden speakers.

He grabbed her around the waist and sat her on the counter that ran part of the length of the living room wall and knelt.

“What are you doing?” she squeaked.

“Making you comfortable.” He removed the heels that she’d brought and never planned to wear, one of the few things that survived the room flooding. He then massaged the arch of her foot, and she sighed.

“How did you know I hate those shoes?”

“I notice everything about you, Selene.” His gaze rose to meet hers.

“Not a creepy thing to say at all,” she uttered with a nervous laugh, discomfited by his intensity.

“Think of it as a compliment. No other woman has so quickly and thoroughly enchanted me before.”

“How can you say that when we’ve barely spent time together?”

“And how long should it take for me to know I am smitten? Isn’t the very definition because it comes about rapidly?”

Her lips parted in surprise, and her heart fluttered in pleasure before reality set in. “You probably say that to all the women you try to seduce.”

“Here’s the thing. I don’t have to try. This might sound crass, but they tend to throw themselves at me.”

“So the fact I didn’t is why you’re trying so hard,” she surmised.

“On the contrary. Usually, your aloofness would have led to me ignoring you. I’m not one to chase where I’m not wanted, but from the moment we spoke, your bold nature?—”

“Bold?” she interrupted him. “I just about had a panic attack going to dinner.”

“And? You aren’t comfortable in large social situations. You’re still strong and confident. Why look at how well you recovered after your kidnapping and the deaths of those responsible.”

“Some would call me callous.”

“Not me. I’m not a soft-hearted man who thinks criminals deserve a second chance because they had a poor childhood or because they were never taught better. People know right from wrong, and as soon as the excuses start, I’m done listening.”

“You believe murderers are irredeemable?” What would Dante think if he knew what she’d done?

“Depends on why they killed. Self-defense? Completely justifiable. Had you taken out any or all of those thugs in the jungle, I would have applauded. If done in defense of another, also fine. Where I draw the line is murder for gain or for sadistic pleasure.”

“What about hunters?” She didn’t specify human or animal.

“So long as we’re not talking the trophy kind, then as a carnivore, I applaud those with the skill to catch and then eat their meat.”

“Meaning if I told you I’ve released and then trapped my own rabbits for stew…”

“I’d be mightily impressed,” he replied. “Most women would look at them as cute little creatures that shouldn’t be harmed, but in reality, they’ve been a source of food for thousands of years.”

It occurred to her in that moment she might be smitten as well. Dante might just be the type of man who would understand her lycan side, who wouldn’t be scared by the predator within.

Unless he ended up in bed with her wolf during an intimate encounter.

“You lost your smile. What’s wrong?”

Selene slid from the counter where she’d been conversing with him while he rubbed her feet. “Nothing. Just hungry,” she lied.

“Give me a moment and I’ll have that rectified.”

As she stood by the balcony door staring out, he used the phone in her room to order but very firmly stated any and all charges be put on his suite’s bill. She let him. There was something nice about having a man take charge. A man who claimed to be falling for her. Even if he lied, the woman in her enjoyed hearing it. Glowed at the thought of someone finding her special.

Surely a vampire wouldn’t have been so honest with her. Then again, he’d been out and about last night around the time she found the body.

She felt him behind her before he spoke. “Cloudy night,” he remarked.

“Foggy too. I didn’t realize that could happen at sea.”

He leaned in and nuzzled the hair over her ear while murmuring, “Guess it’s a good thing we chose to stay in.”

She turned and gazed at him, her heart racing, but her hands clammy with nervousness. “This is probably a good and bad time to tell you that I have trouble with intimacy.”

“What kind of trouble?” he asked, a finger pushing back a lock of her hair before rushing her cheek.

Since she couldn’t exactly tell him she turned into a wolf, she gave him something more human. “Anxiety attacks.”

“Did something happen to you?”

She shook her head then bit her lip. “More like a fear of being vulnerable. Losing control.”

“Would that be so bad?”

“Yes.”

“How can I help to make you comfortable?”

“It’s not that. I mean you’re fine. It’s me… I…” She didn’t know how to explain.

“We’ll take it slow,” he murmured, cupping her by the back of the head to draw her lips near. “If we need to stop, then just say so. We’ll go at your pace.”

His mouth touched hers, and she stopped breathing. Her eyes closed as he kissed her, the slanting pressure of his lips making her tingle. The hand he placed on her waist to draw her against him arousing. She laced her hands around his neck and let herself enjoy the kiss even as her excitement grew.

When her skin began to shiver, she pulled back, expecting him to protest.

Instead, he gave her a lazy smile and drawled, “I think I’ve never been more flattered.”

It took her a second to realize that her quick response let him know just how much he excited.

Her cheeks flushed. “I’ll understand if you want to go. I don’t want you thinking I’m a tease.”

“ Au contraire . It’s refreshing to take things slow.” He lifted her hand to his lips for a feathery kiss. “Take all the time you need.”

What she needed was to hide in the bathroom for two minutes and masturbate. She throbbed something fierce, and her wolf simmered beneath her skin.

But it remained buried.

For the moment.

“Perhaps a glass of something,” he suggested, heading to the mini bar.

Would wine make things better or worse? She kicked herself for not taking the dulling pill. At the same time, she wanted to feel everything.

“What’s in the fridge? I haven’t actually looked.”

He held up a bottle of sparkling water flavored with lemon. “A little something to quench the thirst.”

It surprised that he didn’t go for the booze. Guys eternally tried to get her sloshed.

As she sipped the tingly water, Selene eyed Dante, who also took a few swallows. Could a vampire drink things other than blood?

“You look so serious.”

“Just wondering about you. Who you really are.”

“Right now, just a man enjoying the company of a beautiful woman.”

A knock at the door had him setting down his glass. “Aha, our dinner has arrived.”

“That was fast.”

“I’m a man who expects prompt service.”

A cruise line employee entered, rolling in a stainless-steel trolley enclosed on the bottom. “Evening, madam and sir, I am Larry, your mini chef for the evening. If you’ll have a seat, we’ll get started with your meal.”

Selene had never had this kind of personalized service. The lobster bisque proved delicious, heated over a brazier that Larry whipped out from his trolley.

While they spooned the creamy soup—Dante appearing to savor each mouthful—Larry prepared a Caesar salad from scratch, the redolent garlic making her salivate. Dante ate everything she did, soup, salad, the asparagus wrapped in prosciutto, the steak—blue, AKA barely singed on the outside—and then the finale. Larry whipped out strawberries and whipped cream, leaving them on the table before taking his leave.

Selene dipped a red berry and slid it between her lips, sucking the cream off before biting. Dante didn’t touch the fruit, his stare intent on her.

“That was delicious,” Selene declared, grabbing another.

“Without a doubt, one of my finest meals, although it could be the company,” he complimented.

“You might have a point there. You’re the first guy who didn’t throw a fit that I like to eat my steak almost completely rare.”

“You’re the first woman who hasn’t grimaced that I like mine that way too.”

“My whole family except for mom likes our meat like that. My brother, Ares, likes to joke, just knock off the antlers and slap it on a plate.”

Dante’s lips curved. “I look forward to meeting your family.”

She arched a brow. “What makes you think you will?”

“Because now that we’ve found each other, I see no reason for us to be apart.”

“Pretty bold thing to say.” Exciting, too, judging by her thumping heart.

“Bold is me telling you to come here.” He pushed his seat away from the table and patted his lap.

“Why would I do that?”

“So I can kiss you.”

“Why don’t you come here and kiss me?” she countered.

He immediately rose and loomed over her for a second before crouching. “I will kiss you anywhere you like.” With that, he leaned in to press his mouth to hers.

A shiver went through her at the contact. She moaned and cupped his head, tasting his lips, the scent of him enveloping her.

He stood and grabbed her hand, drawing Selene to her feet. “Shall we dance?”

Light music played, and he tucked her close to him, his hand splayed across her lower back, the other grasping her fingers as he led them into a slow waltz.

When the tempo shifted with a new song, so did his style of dancing. He spun her from him before rolling her close. Soon she laughed and gyrated as they boogied to some tunes, the sexual tension still simmering but, at the same time, relaxed.

She smiled as he put her at ease. She’d spent the day imagining what would happen and this didn’t come close.

When he spun her to his chest and dipped for a kiss, it proved fleeting before the music drove them apart again. Only to join up for a spooning dancing with her buttocks grinding into him, while his lips nuzzled at her hair.

She turned and plastered her mouth to his, hearing him hum in pleasure.

A pleasure she felt but that also came with a shivering growl. To her surprise, each time she felt herself getting too close to the edge with her wolf, he pulled away, suddenly dancing or taking a swig from the glass he kept full on the table.

Selene appreciated it, even as she knew he didn’t do it on purpose to keep her wolf in check. He had no idea why she had to be careful. Why she had to take things slow.

What sucked? She didn’t want to go slow.

On his next teasing kiss, she wrapped her arms around his neck and held on. Kept her mouth and body plastered to him. Tasting, enjoying, craving.

His hands grabbed at her ass, and he uttered a sound, half groan, half growl.

She just plain growled, the rolling guttural sound her indication it might be time to cool things off. Only she didn’t want to. Not yet.

But waiting would only make it worse.

As she went to pull away, his lips chose to forge a path down her jawline to her neck. She shivered and readied to put a stop to his petting, only to freeze as he nipped her with his teeth.

Not hard, yet hard enough. A sharp pinch of flesh that calmed her wolf and allowed her to sigh instead of pushing him away.

His fingers slid up the hem of her dress, teasing her bare skin. Her knees went weak, and yet she didn’t crumple. He held her snug as he sat in a chair and tugged her onto his lap. She panted hotly as he slid his hand over her thigh before delving under the edge of her panties.

At the stroke of his fingers against her, she cried out, and her hips twitched. She’d never gotten this far before, and her emotions boiled, hard enough she could feel herself?—

His teeth pinched her neck again, calming the lycan but not the pleasure as his fingers slid over her clit before parting her pussy lips to tease the entrance of her sex. Her breath caught as he pushed partially in, her muscles involuntarily clenching him tight.

He kissed her, relaxing her with his finesse, easing her enough he pushed his finger deeper and paused.

There was a note of incredulity in his voice—which sounded hoarse—as he whispered, “You’re a virgin?”

Her cheeks heated. “Yes,” her soft reply.

A rumble went through him as he murmured, “Thank you for waiting for me.”

Not so much waiting as never able to get this far. But perhaps it was for the best, because in his lap, his arms, under his touch, she felt things she’d never felt. And while her inner self pulsed, it didn’t burst through. Something about Dante kept her wolf in check.

Maybe she had been waiting for him. Knew that no one else would ever do.

“Shall we adjourn to the bed?” he asked even as he rose, holding her princess-style.

“Yes, please.” A little too enthusiastic but, in her defense, she’d thought she’d never make it this far with a man.

As he carried her to the bedroom, a knock at the door had his head turning sharply, and he snapped, “Go away. We’re having dinner.”

“It’s an emergency, sir.”

Dante yelled back, “Unless this ship is on fire, it can wait.”

“Not fire, sir, pirates. We’ve been boarded.”