Animal Instinct Read online

  “Luke!”

  He gave her a lopsided grin. “I thought you might still want that ice cream.”

  Heidi looked at the brown bag he was holding up in confusion for a moment, wondering if she were dreaming him up like she had the past two nights. Considering they were both wearing all their clothes, probably not. Which meant that he was really there. And that she was staring at him like a dufus.

  Her face coloring with embarrassment, she gave him a smile and opened the door wider. “You have no idea how much I wanted ice cream. Come on in.”

  Closing the door behind him, Heidi turned to find Luke eyeing her bare legs. The cotton shorts she was wearing barely covered her bottom, so they were a lot more skimpy than the khaki ones she’d had on earlier, and she felt her pulse quicken at the almost predatory look in his gold eyes.

  As if just realizing that he was staring, Luke cleared his throat and held out the bag. “I wasn’t sure what flavor you liked, so I got a pint of vanilla and a pint of chocolate.”

  Heidi laughed as she took the bag from him. “Any flavor is fine with me,” she said, then added, “Well, except for rum raisin maybe. Those are two tastes that just don’t go together.”

  He chuckled. “I’ll have to remember that.”

  As Heidi took the containers of ice cream out of the bag and set them down on the counter, she stole a glance at Luke. Though she had really been in the mood for ice cream just a few minutes ago, now that he was here, she suddenly had an appetite for something completely different. Having to resist the urge to push him down on the couch and climb into his lap, she opened the cabinet beside the fridge and took out two cereal bowls.

  What was it about Luke that had her acting like a sex-crazed nympho? She’d been on fire since the moment she’d stepped into his house, and she hadn’t cooled off the whole night. Maybe she was in heat or something. She supposed that could be a side effect of turning into a werewolf. Of course, it wasn’t like she could ask Luke about it. What would I say? Every time I look at you, I want to tear off your clothes and have wild, crazy sex. Is it because you’re hot as hell, or is it simply because you’re the nearest available werewolf in town? Oh yeah, that would go over really well.

  “These are really good.”

  Heidi looked up from the ice cream she was scooping to see Luke admiring the watercolor paintings she had lined up against the wall in the living room.

  “Thanks,” she said.

  He crouched down to take a closer look at the painting she’d done of the purple fireweed flowers up in Chugach State Park before getting to his feet again. Entering the kitchen, he leaned back against the counter beside her. “Do you show them at a gallery back in Denver ?”

  She rinsed the ice cream scoop in cold water and put it in the rack beside the sink, then stuck a spoon in each bowl and handed him one of them. “I’m in a few galleries and I have some prints out there,” she said, then smiled. “I think I’m even in a few hotel chains.”

  “Wow.” The corner of his mouth edged up. “I didn’t know I was in the presence of such a famous artist.”

  She laughed as she dipped her spoon into her ice cream. “I’m not sure if having my prints in a national hotel chain qualifies me as famous.”

  Luke chuckled. “Well, if not famous, then certainly talented.” His eyes met hers, and he added softly, “Not to mention beautiful.”

  Heidi caught her breath at the hot look in that gold gaze, the spoonful of ice cream in her hand forgotten. He had looked at her exactly the same way back in the driveway outside his house when she’d thought he was going to kiss her. Her pulse began to race, her lips parting in anticipation. His masculine scent was intoxicating as it enveloped her, and she took an unconscious step toward him.

  But instead of bending his head to kiss her, he gave her a lazy grin. “I think you’re melting.”

  “W-what?” she stammered in confusion, her voice a little breathless.

  “Your ice cream,” he said. “It’s running off your spoon and down your hand.”

  She looked down, surprised to see ice cream running down her hand and dripping onto the counter. Quickly putting the spoon back in the bowl, she set it down on the counter and turned to the sink. Before she could wash the ice cream off, though, Luke took her hand and pulled her close.

  “I’ll get that,” he said, his voice husky. “No need for it to go to waste.”

  She wondered what he meant by that, but before she could ask, he bent his head and began to slowly kiss his way along the inside of her wrist. When he reached the ice cream, he lightly ran his tongue over the sensitive skin, licking it up as he went. Between her legs, her pussy quivered as she watched his tongue move. Oh God. If she had been hot before, now she was on fire. She’d never had a guy do anything so damn sexy before.

  “There,” he said, lifting his head to give her a sexy smile. “All clean.”

  Heidi gazed up at him, her pulse beating wildly. “I think you missed a spot,” she said softly.

  He lifted a brow. “Really? Where?”

  “Right here,” she said, going up on tiptoe to kiss him.

  Luke bent his head to meet her halfway, his mouth closing over hers. The kiss was even better than in her dreams. Heidi leaned into him. His mouth was firm and yet gentle as it explored hers, and she parted her lips with a sigh. He slid one hand in her long hair, pulling her closer and deepening the kiss. His tongue swept into her mouth, finding hers and tangling with it in an erotic dance that left her knees weak.

  Heidi ran her hands up the front of his shirt. The muscles were hard and well-defined, and she found herself longing to slide her hands underneath his T-shirt and caress his bare chest. She moved her hands down and slid them under his shirt, urgently pushing it up. His abs were as rock-hard as they looked, and she couldn’t help taking a few seconds to run her finger over every ripple on the way up to his broad chest. His muscles flexed beneath her hands as he ran his up and down her back. Mmm, she just loved a guy who was well built.

  Not to be left out, Luke’s hands began to do a little exploring of their own, slipping beneath the hem of her fitted cami. She held her breath, waiting for him to move higher. But he teased her first, his fingers merely gliding back and forth over the skin of her stomach. Only when he had her practically squirming with need did he slowly inch his fingers up until they were just grazing the bottom of her breasts. She pushed her breasts into his hands, silently letting him know that she not just wanted him to keep going, but that she needed him to.

  To her relief, Luke got the message and gently cupped her breasts in his big, strong hands. She wasn’t wearing a bra and her nipples immediately hardened beneath his touch as he traced little circles over them with his thumbs. The sensation sent waves of pleasure coursing through her body to pool between her legs. That made her pussy start to tingle even more, and she knew that she was going to be very wet, very soon.

  Moaning against his mouth, Heidi slid his shirt up even higher, letting her hands run all over him. Suddenly, she wanted to see him naked, if only to find out if he was this well built everywhere else.

  Luke lifted his head with a groan. “I want you, Heidi,” he said, his mouth against hers.

  “I want you, too,” she breathed. And she did. More than she had ever wanted any man. It was like she’d never really known what it meant to be turned on until now.

  “I was hoping you’d say that.” He kissed her again, gently tugging on her lower lip with his teeth. “Where’s the bedroom?”

  “Just through the living room,” she said.

  Heidi would have taken his hand and led him there, but Luke had already swung her up in his strong arms and was heading in the direction she had indicated. Not that she was complaining. There was something decidedly sexy about being in the arms of a big, strong, handsome man.

  Once by the bed, Luke gently set her down on her feet beside it, letting her body slide deliciously down his. With her arms still looped around his neck, Heidi went up on
tiptoe again to kiss him. This time, she was the aggressor, her tongue dipping into his mouth to tease his. He groaned and ran his hands down her back to firmly cup her ass through the skimpy shorts she wore. Mmm. He definitely knew his way around the female anatomy. Or maybe he just somehow instinctively knew where she liked to be touched.

  Luke tightened his hold on her bottom, pulling her more tightly against him, and she could feel his hard-on straining against his jeans. Well, that certainly answered the question as to whether he was well-built everywhere. She needed to see every inch of that gorgeous body of his. Now. Maybe even have a taste or two. Running her hands down his chest to the bottom of his shirt, she eagerly pushed it up.

  Luke got the hint. Letting out a low chuckle, he stepped away and reaching back, pulled his T-shirt over his head and tossed it on the floor.

  Though she had gotten a glimpse of him without his shirt earlier at his place, seeing all that sculpted muscle up close was even better. She hadn’t done nude figure studies since art school, but a body as gorgeous as his made her want to grab her pencil and sketchpad. That was definitely going to have to wait, though. Right now, what she wanted to do with him didn’t involve a pencil and a pad of paper. It involved his naked body on top of hers.

  Leaning forward, she pressed her lips to the side of his neck before slowly kissing her way down to his chest. His masculine scent was strong and intoxicating, and she closed her eyes as she breathed it in. It was almost enough to make her dizzy, and she clung to his shoulders. When she reached his nipple, she swirled her tongue around it before drawing the stiff, little peak into her mouth to gently suckle on it. Above her, Luke sucked in a breath and thrust a hand into her hair, his fingers lightly massaging. Playfully flicking his nipple with her tongue, she moved to the other one to lavish it with the same kind of attention. She would have continued moving lower, but he tightened his hold in her hair, gently bringing her head up.

  “My turn,” he said huskily.

  “Hey, I wasn’t done…”

  But he silenced her by covering her mouth with his. Urging her back on the bed, he found the hem of her cotton cami and began to pull it up. Just as eager to get naked as he was to see her that way, Heidi quickly lifted her arms so he could take it off.

  Luke gazed down at her, his gold eyes molten in the soft light as they caressed her bare breasts, and Heidi felt her nipples tingle under their heat.

  “God, you’re beautiful,” he breathed.

  Other men had told her that she was beautiful, but there was something about the way Luke said the words that made her feel warm all over. Before she could say something suitably complimentary in reply, though, he bent to kiss her again and his mouth pushed all rational thought out of her head.

  Luke gently pushed her back on the bed. Cupping a breast in each hand, he slowly trailed scorching hot kisses along the curve of her jaw and down her neck until he came to a nipple. Heidi instinctively arched against him, offering herself to him. He swirled his tongue around the taut peak before taking it in his mouth to suckle on it, and she let out a moan. God, that feels good. She’d always had ultrasensitive nipples, but tonight, they seemed to be even more responsive to a man’s touch. But as he moved from that nipple to lavish the same glorious attention on its twin, she began to think that maybe Luke just had the magic touch.

  As he began pressing moist, hot kisses down her stomach a few moments later, however, she held her breath, waiting to see where else he might put that talented tongue of his.

  But it seemed that Luke was determined to torment her, because rather than make his way directly to her pussy, he stopped to tease her belly button on the way. Having a guy play with that part of her anatomy was definitely a first for her. She squealed in delight as he made circles around the tiny hollow, then dipped his tongue inside. She was so into what he was doing that she barely realized he had pulled down her shorts until they were halfway down her thighs. She lifted her legs to make it easier for him, and soon her skimpy shorts were flying across the room to join the ever-growing pile of clothes on the floor.

  Hands behind her knees, Luke leaned back and gently spread her legs, drinking in the sight of her. As his heated gaze took in her neatly trimmed pussy, a low groan of approval escaped his lips, and she shivered in anticipation. This is going to be so good.

  A moment later, Luke leaned forward, but rather than bury his face between her thighs like she wanted him to do, he instead started at her ankle and began to slowly kiss his way down her leg. He really did enjoy teasing her, didn’t he? She had to admit that it was the most delicious form of torture, though. He was driving her wild with his mouth, and he hadn’t even gotten to her pussy yet. She couldn’t wait to see what it would be like when he actually did.

  The closer Luke got to her pussy, the more that area of her body throbbed. Damn. If he didn’t put his mouth on her soon, she was going to go mad, she was sure of it.

  “Luke, please…” she begged as he pressed a gentle kiss to the tender skin on the inside of her thigh.

  He lifted his head to give her a look that managed to be hot and yet teasing at the same time. “Please what?”

  Heidi almost groaned in frustration. He was so bad, making her say it. “Lick my pussy,” she demanded, saying what she knew he wanted to hear.

  “You mean like this?” he asked, before bending his head to swipe his tongue along her slick folds.

  She sighed with pleasure. “Yeah, just like that.”

  “What about like this?” he asked, before pushing his tongue into the wet opening.

  She let out another sigh. “Oh yeah. That, too.”

  Luke shifted his hold on her to cup her ass cheeks with his hands and ran his tongue up her slit to bury his nose in the neatly trimmed curls. “Mmm,” he breathed. “You smell good, do you know that?”

  Heidi had never had a guy tell her that before. But then again, she’d never been with a werewolf before. “Do I?”

  “Mmm-hmmm,” he said. “And you taste even better.”

  She felt her cheeks grow warm. Damn, he really knows what to say to get a girl hot and bothered, doesn’t he? Talk about a sexy compliment. She was about to thank him, but just then he began to make slow, little circles round and around her clit, and all rational thought once again flew out the window. He seemed to have a way of making that happen to her.

  Heidi dropped her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes, writhing on the bed as Luke did things with his tongue that she hadn’t known were possible. He would use fast, little licks to push her close to the brink, only to draw her back by slowing his movements and moving his mouth down to her slit. It was like he could sense when she was about to come. Then again, maybe he could. Maybe it was one of those side effects to being a werewolf that he’d failed to mention. Like a werewolf mind-meld. She reminded herself that she would have to ask him later. Right now all she wanted to do was lose herself in the delicious sensations rushing through her body.

  Just when Heidi couldn’t imagine how it could possibly get any better, Luke slipped one of his long, tapered fingers inside her dripping wet pussy. Though she was perfectly lubricated for the entry of his finger, it still made her gasp in surprise. However, the startled sound quickly turned into a moan of exquisite pleasure when he began to wiggle his finger back and forth, introducing himself to her G-spot. That alone would have been enough to send her into orbit, but then he began swirling his tongue around her clit at the same time.

  The two sensations were more than enough to shove her over the precipice, and Luke couldn’t have held her back now even if he had wanted to.

  Most of the time her orgasms were slow, leisurely affairs, but this timeit coursed through her at a hundred miles an hour, and she was helpless to do anything but go along for the ride. Throwing her head back, she clutched at the bed sheets and screamed her release loud enough for the whole apartment building to hear.

  When she finally came back down to earth, all Heidi could do was lay back on the
pillow and try to catch her breath. She’d never come so hard in her life.

  Luke pressed his lips to the inside of first one still-quivering thigh, then the other. “Was that okay?”

  She pushed herself up on her elbows to find a teasing smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. “Okay?” she asked. “It was amazing.”

  With a chuckle, Luke got to his feet and unbuckled his belt, then made quick work of the buttons on his 501’s. From her position on the bed, Heidi watched eagerly as he pushed them down. His legs were long and well-muscled, just like the rest of him, and she let her gaze run over them before fixing her attention on the bulge in his boxer briefs. She pushed herself up a little higher as she waited breathlessly for the reveal. When he finally pushed down his boxer briefs and his hard cock sprang into view, all Heidi could do was stare. She’d never seen a guy so big. Or so perfect. She could only wonder what he would feel like inside her. But as eager as she was to find out, she decided that she owed him a little oral pleasure of his own. It would only be fair, after all.

  Flipping over on her stomach, she slithered her way toward the edge of the bed until she could reach out and wrap her hand around his throbbing cock. Her pussy gave a little spasm as she again thought about what he was going to feel like spreading her wide to push deep inside. The idea was almost enough to make her pull an “I’ll owe you one later” on the oral pleasure and get right to the main event. But that would be wrong. Besides, taking him in her mouth was bound to be fun, too. Tightening her hold on his shaft, she pulled him close with a firm but gentle tug.

  He left out a little chuckle. “You could have just asked me to step closer.”

  Heidi gave him a playful look. “I could have,” she agreed. “But my way was more fun.”

  Luke opened his mouth to reply, only to suck in a sharp breath when she reached out with her tongue and licked off the glistening drop of pre-cum on the head of his cock. He tasted sweet and yet musky at the same time, and she let out a little moan.