At least, they didn’t until they fell. Then all of the human emotions and needs slammed into them.
Lust. She was sure lusting right then.
Tanner had been the first man to kiss her, and when she’d felt that initial touch of his lips against hers, she’d wanted more.
“Don’t be afraid of me,” he whispered against her mouth.
Fear was the last thing she felt right then. Her ni**les were so tight they ached, and her body was rubbing against him because she felt so . . . restless.
Aching.
Needing.
“Kiss me back,” his rough order.
Her tongue moved against his. Her lips opened wider, and she tasted the shifter.
Her legs were parted, and she could feel the heavy press of his erection against her. Tanner wanted her. Maybe that should have scared her. It didn’t. It made her feel . . .
Powerful.
Sexy. She’d never felt sexy before. But Tanner wanted her, so she had to be sexy to him.
His hand flattened over her stomach. The ache between her legs grew sharper, and Marna lifted her hips up against him. His fingers—a little rough, so strong—rose and covered her bra.
She didn’t want him touching the bra. Marna wanted his hands on her br**sts.
His mouth. What would it feel like if he licked her nipple? Sucked the aching flesh?
Her heart was racing, her body quivering, and she knew this was wrong. She should stop but . . .
Humans enjoyed sex so much. They lied, stole, even killed for their fleeting pleasure.
She’d never tasted pleasure. She knew too much about pain.
I want my taste.
Growing bolder, Marna sucked against his lower lip. Tanner growled. She liked it when he growled. The sound was wild, and that was just the way he made her feel.
Her nails dug into his shoulders.
Then his hand was sliding beneath her bra, and his fingers stroked her tight nipple. The first touch of his hand had her hissing out a breath.
Tanner stilled.
The drumming of Marna’s heartbeat echoed in her ears. Tanner lifted his head. She could see the power of his beast reflected in his eyes. His face was harder, sharper, and there was no missing his lust.
For me.
“I want . . .” Were those words really hers? That husky, hungry voice—hers? Yes. “I want your mouth on me.”
His pupils expanded. “Baby, all you had to do was ask.” Then his dark head lowered. His breath rasped over one eager breast and then she felt—
His tongue. Sliding over the nipple. Easing over the peak. Her heels dug into the mattress even as a ragged moan escaped from her.
A hot current seemed to streak from her breast to her sex. She was aching, empty, and her hips tilted up so she could better rub her sex against his cock.
The friction just intensified the ache. Pleasure waited, tempting her, just out of reach.
He sucked her nipple. Scored her flesh with his teeth.
The ache built. Her eyes squeezed shut. She couldn’t seem to draw in a deep breath.
Then he began to stroke her other breast. The sensual touch had her jerking beneath him, and she realized that her panties were wet.
“So damn beautiful.”
His growled words made her eyes open. She’d never thought about beauty much before. Yet he made her feel beautiful right then.
Feeling beautiful—that just wasn’t enough. Her body seemed too hot, her heart raced too fast, and she wanted the pleasure that was so close.
Her hands slid over his chest. Her touch was slower than his had been. Far less certain. But as she touched him, his body stiffened against her, the muscles clenching.
“You should . . . be careful.” His words barely sounded human as he gritted them out. “Shifters . . . aren’t known for their control.”
She was already losing her own control. What did it matter? “I want to know . . .” Marna stopped. She wasn’t sure what to say. Pleasure? Sex? Was that what she wanted? Did she just want to know what it felt like?
He wasn’t a safe test for her. She should find someone else. Someone not a shifter.
Someone who wasn’t the brother of the bastard who’d hurt her so badly before.
Tanner isn’t like him.
Tanner’s hand eased down her body. She expected him to rip away her panties. Weren’t shifters supposed to be savage and uncontrolled like that?
But he didn’t rip them away. He slowly eased down the silk. Silk he’d bought. His mouth kissed its way from her belly button on down to—
Her breath caught in her throat. His fingers were between her legs, parting her to him, and his mouth—Tanner’s mouth—was on her sensitive flesh. His tongue swiped over her, and her hips jerked as if an electric shock had jolted her.
Again.
She’d whispered the word. But she realized she didn’t have to tell him. Tanner was licking her. Kissing her. Tasting her with his tongue even as his finger slid into her body. The pleasure might have been out of her reach before, but right then it was so close.
His tongue swiped over her core again. Then his mouth was on her clit and he sucked—
Marna screamed when the climax hit her. An explosion of pleasure shook her whole body. It went on and on, and the room actually seemed to dim around her.
Nothing, nothing had ever been like this. So good. So consuming.
So much . . . pleasure.
Marna realized her hands were fisted in Tanner’s dark hair. Her thighs were trembling, and her breath heaved out. She forced her fingers to unclench. Forced herself to suck in more air for her starving lungs.
Tanner’s head lifted. His eyes were shining as he stared at her—and he licked his lips.
Her sex clenched.
“I love the way you taste.” His voice was so deep, dark.
She couldn’t speak. Had she shouted before? Screamed in pleasure?
Maybe.
“I could eat you up.”
Her heart lurched.
His gaze dropped to her sex once more. He swallowed. “Want . . .”
She still wanted him. She’d come, erupted, but . . .
Marna wanted Tanner inside of her.
And he was—he was pulling away? Why? This wasn’t the way things worked, at least not for humans. “Tanner?”
He rose beside the bed and stood with his back to her. She saw the heavy marks on his skin, marks she hadn’t even noticed before. Long, twisting scars that cut deep into his flesh. Scars that curled out from his back, wrapped around his sides and—
He turned to glance back at her.
Her gaze locked on the scars that cut across his stomach. Sunlight shot through the window, so there was no hiding the scars. But then, Tanner wasn’t trying to hide the marks.