Page 60 of Taken by Moonlight

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After the picnic table session,I cleaned up discreetly at the nearby creek and then we continued the tour. The ranch was huge, with cattle grazing in the distance, horses cropping grass in the pasture right before the lodge. I saw a few shifters, who nodded at me and greeted Gabrielwarmly.

All seemed sonormal.

Except for that picnic table sex. That seemed very shifter-like. Gabriel had an aggressiveness to him Iloved.

We pulled up before the barn, where Dante emerged, a tablet in hand, accompanied by three men in jeans, western shirts and cowboy hats. Dante took one look at me, my rumpled dress, tangled hair and the color in my cheeks and gave a knowingsmile.

Then his expression turned serious. He introduced me to the trio, all cowboys who were preparing to move the cattle to the summer grazing grounds further out, which was an intricateoperation.

Dante in formal dinner dress and polished leather shoes was urbane and handsome. But I liked this Dante equally – in faded denim jeans, a blue chambray work shirt, sleeves rolled up to reveal tanned, muscled forearms, and Western boots. Sunshine glinted off the gold band around his black cowboyhat.

He dismissed the cowboys and touched my cheek. “Sleepwell?”

I nodded, leaning into histouch.

His thumb stroked a line down to my lips. Then he lightly grazed my bottomlip.

“You look like you’ve received a good morning loving,” he murmured. “But not kissed well enough. I’ll take care ofthat.”

He undid the clip holding my hair up and let it fall to the ground. Fisting his hand in my long hair, he tugged and tipped my headbackward.

Then his mouth met mine, his tongue sweeping past teeth to tangle with mine. He slid a hand around my neck, pulling me close. Eyes closed, I tasted him, all delicious salt and caramel and a tang of sharp aggression. He nipped at my mouth, then soothed the tiny bite with alick.

Pure alpha, he kissed like a master. I fisted my hands in his shirt, needing this, needing him. Dante left my mouth and nibbled his way down my neck, and then sucked hard, giving a tiny, stinging bite he soothed with a delicious flip of his tongue.Wow.

I’d just had hard and fast sex with Gabriel, screaming out my orgasm for the entire ranch to hear and now my lady parts clenched hard, ready for sex once more with a differentshifter.

Thealpha.

Dante cupped my breast, flicked my nipple and then his hand trailed down, cupping me between the legs. One tiny flick and I bit back a scream, the climax shattering me likeglass.

Boneless with pleasure, I leaned against him as he raised his head, giving a very male smile ofsatisfaction.

Dante touched my mouth with his thumb once more. “Now you look like you’ve kissed, and kissedwell.”

Steadying myself with a hand on his arm, I took a deep breath. “Ohyeah.”

“I like pleasuring you, Peyton,” he murmured. “Especially right after Gabriel has fucked yousenseless.”

The crude words and the knowledge behind them startled me. “How did youknow?”

Another smile, more wolfish. “I’m a shifter. I could smell him on you a mileaway.”

Gabriel had left us, I realized. Dante kissed my mouth, gently, thistime.

“I’m glad you’re here withus.”

It worried me that I was glad as well, because every moment I spent here, I dug myself in deeper emotionally. I was getting too attached to these shifters, and the pleasures they showed me, as well as theircompany.

“You must be, since you’ve planned this for more than two months.” I told him about theclothing.

The alpha didn’t even look guilty. Instead, he maintained a calm poker face. “I have planned this, Peyton. I’ve wanted you to visit with us for a long time, and now you’re finallyhere.”

“Why the interest in me, Dante? You shelled out a lot of money to have me for one night and now you’ve taken me to your ranch.Why?”

The caress of fingers against my cheek was gentle. “I will share everything with you, Peyton. I promise. Later. For now, simply enjoyyourself.”