Dante's Temporary Fiancée

She gave herself up to pleasure, exploring him with an open curiosity that he seemed to find intensely arousing. She’d never realized how hard and uncompromising a man’s body could be in some areas and how flexible and sensitive in others. But she didn’t allow a single inch of him to go uncharted.

One minute laughter reigned as she painted her way across his shape with her fingertips and the next minute it all changed. “I can’t imagine ever becoming bored with you.” She whispered the confession.

It took him a moment to reply. “I’m not sure it’s possible for me to be bored, either. Not with you.”

What should have been a light and carefree exchange took on a darker aspect, shades within shades of meaning, filled with a bittersweet yearning. She kissed him. Lingered. Then she began to paint him into her memory again. Only this time she did it with her mouth and lips and tongue, sculpting him with nibbling bites and soothing kisses. Arms. Chest. Belly. He called to her, the cry of the wolf for its mate. But all it did was drive her onward to the very source of his desire.

He didn’t allow her to linger as long as she would have liked. Instead, he became the sculptor, shaping and molding her until they became one. He linked his hands with hers, just as he had before. She knew why, could see it in his eyes and in the emotions he didn’t dare express. Even though he would have rejected its existence with every ounce of his intellect, it throbbed between them, giving lie to his denial.

She opened herself to him, took him deep inside her until they flowed together in perfect harmony. She wrapped herself around him, surrendering to the explosion of passion, swept away like a leaf before a whirlwind. Tumbling endlessly into the most glorious sensation, a sensation made perfect because she wasn’t alone. She was there with Rafe.

The people in his life called him a lone wolf and he’d more than lived up to his reputation, to the point where he believed it himself. But there was something he’d never considered. Something he either didn’t know or had forgotten. But she knew. She understood. Because she was as much a lone wolf as he was.

Wolves mate for life.

The next week proved one of the most incredible of Larkin’s life. Making love to Rafe shouldn’t have made such a difference. But somehow it did. Whenever she bothered to analyze the situation—which wasn’t often—she realized that it wasn’t the sex itself that accounted for that difference, but the level of intimacy. It deepened, became richer, added a dimension to their relationship that hadn’t existed before.

They spent hours in conversation, discussing every topic under the sun, except the few she avoided in order to keep him from connecting her to Leigh. Art. Science. Literature. The jewelry business. It all became rich fodder for the hours they spent together.

How could anyone consider him emotionally distant? Or unavailable? Or even intimidating? It defied understanding. To her delight, he’d taken to Kiko, the two becoming firm friends. Even more amusing, she’d come across him a time or two conducting a lengthy one-way conversation with the animal.

“You will let me know if she answers, won’t you?” Larkin teased when she discovered him discussing the merits of raw versus cooked beef with Kiko.

“I don’t know what it is about that dog, but she insists on eating her food raw.”

“She likes it the way nature intended. That might not be the healthiest for us, but it works for her.”

He set Kiko’s bowl on the ground. “Have you finished packing for the lake?”

“I have. Not that there’s much to pack. Even with your mother supplementing my wardrobe, I can still fit everything into my backpack.” She winced. “I think.”

“Mamma does seem intent on filling up your closet.”

Larkin smiled, though it felt a bit forced. “Every time I go in there I find another new outfit.”

“Don’t sweat it,” he reassured her. “She’s enjoying herself.”

“I realize that.” She shifted restlessly. “But it bothers me because she doesn’t know our engagement is a sham. I don’t want her to spend all this money on me when I’m never going to be her daughter-in-law. It’s not right.”