Page 38 of Howl Will I Know

Nora catches it. “So he understands some.”

“He understands mine.”

“And yours are?”

I let out a short laugh. “Stay the hell away from you.”

“Going brilliantly,” she deadpans.

She raises one hand slowly, giving me every chance to stop her, then rests her palm flat against my chest. Her touch is light. My reaction isn’t. Heat punches through me so hard that I have to lock my knees.

I catch her wrist as her thumb shifts against my shirt, not to remove her hand but to keep it still. “Nora.”

“You want me.”

“You have no idea how much.”

“Then tell me.”

I look down at her hand beneath mine. Years of nothing. Years of women I liked and sometimes wanted to want, only for my body to shut down the moment they got close. Years of the wolf pacing under my skin until I escaped whatever room I’d put us in.

And now Nora can stand three inches away and turn me hard with one hand against my chest.

“I can smell when you want me.”

Her breathing falters.

I keep going because she asked for the truth. “It gets stronger when you’re close. When you touch me. Yesterday, when you kissed me…” My grip around her wrist loosens. “I could smell how wet you were.”

Her pupils dilate, and heat floods her scent almost instantly.

The wolf surges.

I shut my eyes for a second. “Like that.”

When I look at her again, her cheeks are flushed, but she hasn’t stepped back. “Does that bother you?”

“Yes.” I shake my head before she can misunderstand. “Not because I don’t like it.”

Understanding replaces uncertainty. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” My hand slides from her wrist to her waist.

Nora’s body is soft and warm beneath my palm. I can feel the curve of her even through her clothes, and my cock hardens painfully against my jeans.

“If you want me to stop, Nora, you need to say it.”

Her breath leaves her slowly. “I don’t.”

I pull her closer so her hips brush mine, and her eyes close for half a second. A growl rolls through my chest. When she looks at me again, there’s no fear in her face. Only want.

That’s what breaks me.

I kiss her because I want to. Nothing else. No excuse. No one else to blame.

Nora rises onto her toes as my arm locks around her waist. Her hands slide over my chest and around my neck, and when she opens for me, I take the invitation. She tastes of coffee and cinnamon.

I back her against the counter, careful enough that she barely makes contact with it, though everything in me wants to press closer. My cock is hard against her stomach now, and this time, I don’t tear myself away when she notices.