As he worked his tongue against her, teasing and flicking and driving her so crazy her knees threatened to buckle, he also slid a finger inside her.

She was already so wet for him she wondered if she should be embarrassed. But when he groaned against her clit, she finally let herself relax.

Slowly he began moving his finger in and out of her. The action was so gentle and restrained it was in direct opposition to the hungry way he was teasing her with his tongue. And she needed more if she ever wanted to find release.

Lifting a leg, she put one over his shoulder, spreading herself open even more to him. Her clit was pulsing with uncontrollable need and her inner walls clenched around his finger. Her body wanted more than just that, but there was no way she was asking for anything else. The thought of his cock inside her…she arched her back off the door as images flooded her brain. It was bad enough that she’d have the sight of his head between her legs buried in her memory forever; she couldn’t start fantasizing even more.

He gripped her other thigh and used it as an anchor as he continued stroking with both his tongue and finger. When he slid another finger inside her she jerked against his face, unable to contain herself any longer.

She couldn’t stop the moans that escaped, each one louder than the last until finally he pushed her over the edge.

It was like she was in a freefall as wave after wave rolled over her. Tingles of pleasure danced through her veins, twining to all her nerve endings and leaving her feeling almost weightless.

She wasn’t sure how much time passed but eventually she sagged against the door, letting her leg fall from his shoulder, her foot hitting the ground.

She couldn’t find the energy to be embarrassed about how she’d just let Owen pleasure her so quickly. Despite the residual anger she carried for him, this moment had felt absolutely right. He’d played her body so expertly it was frightening. Her nerve endings sighed in relief, a heavy languor stealing over her.

Owen gripped her hips tightly. Sighing, he leaned forward, laying his forehead against her stomach. Despite the shirt she still wore, she could feel his hot breath through the material. A light tremble raced through her.

“I’m not sorry about this but I didn’t plan for this to happen. I hope you don’t think I did,” he said softly.

She laughed under her breath and increased her hold on his head. “I don’t think either of us could have planned this.”

“Go to dinner with me tonight. I want to take you on a date.” The abrupt change from him took her off guard.

A date? Yeah, that so wasn’t happening. Swallowing hard, she shook her head even though he wasn’t looking up at her. Going on a date with him would only remind her of all the good times they’d shared. And what was the point when he’d never want more from her. “No. I’m not sorry this happened, either but…no. I need to go home and check on my family. And this can’t happen again.”

His hands tightened, digging into her skin. Not enough to hurt her, but with enough pressure that she felt as if he was almost trying to mark her. Suddenly he let go and was on his feet in front of her so quickly that if it had been possible, she’d have taken a step back. Unfortunately the door barred her way.

“Why not?” he demanded softly.

“Because I’m a feline and you’re a wolf and we both know how you truly feel about my kind,” she snapped out, letting some of the hurt she’d kept bottled up for years out in those two words.

He drew his eyebrows together. “Your kind?”

Rolling her eyes, she ducked out from under him, refusing to have this conversation. There was no point. She’d heard him telling his friends what he thought about her all those years ago. Owen would never settle down with a feline. No, a wolf was the only kind of shifter he’d ever mate with. It didn’t matter that they were best friends—that she had fallen completely in love with him—he hadn’t viewed her as good enough.

But he wouldn’t let her off that easily. Grasping her upper arm, he tugged her close. “What the hell are you talking about?”

She jerked her arm, to no avail. “Save it! I heard everything you had to say about me when we were teenagers.” She shoved at his muscular chest but he didn’t budge.

Still, his grip lessened. “What?”

“You told me to meet you at our special place on my birthday.” God, she could feel heat pricking her eyes but she angrily blinked away the traitorous tears. “I was a little early but I heard everything you said to your pack mates. About how I wasn’t that important to you. How you’d never settle down with a feline, as if the very thought of mating with me was disgusting.”

Owen completely dropped his hand. “Is that why you stopped talking to me?”

She’d never wanted to have this conversation with him. It was too painful and it didn’t matter now, anyway. “What do you think?”

He scrubbed both hands over his face and took a step back from her. When he finally looked at her again, shame burned bright in his blue eyes. “I was a seventeen-year-old kid. My pack mates found the quilt, cake and candles I’d set up for your birthday and…” He cursed low under his breath. “I was embarrassed they caught me doing that for a girl. I just wanted to get them off my back. I didn’t mean any of it…I was a stupid kid. I’m sorry, Gabriela. So damn sorry.”

He might have been younger, but he’d been her best friend. His words had sliced her deeper than anything before or since. They’d made her feel like she wasn’t good enough, like what they’d shared had all been some dirty secret because of her bloodline. “You might have been a stupid kid, but you were also my best friend. You should have had my back.” She opened the front door and stepped outside, already pulling away from him in more ways than one. She needed physical space to get emotional distance. It was the only way she could keep her head on straight. “If you think you can restrain your pack from kidnapping or killing me, I’d like to go back and get my rental truck and head home. I’m going to talk to my family about what’s going on. I know no one in my family would kill innocent humans but I’ll see if they know more about this than they’ve let on to you.”

“Gabriela—”

She shifted to her jaguar form. The shirt she’d been wearing shredded, but she didn’t care. Owen could try to talk to her all he wanted, but it wouldn’t do him much good while she was an animal.

He stared down at her for a long moment, annoyance on his handsome face. Growling under his breath, he stripped off his jeans and underwent the change. Once he was a wolf—a gorgeous all-white wolf she hadn’t seen in years—he yipped at her and tilted his head in the direction of his pack’s land, telling her to follow.

As long as they didn’t have to talk, that was fine with her. The sooner she got her truck and got off his land, the better.

Chapter 3

Owen hated the overwhelming disappointment he experienced as he and Gabriela neared his cabin. Not surprising, all of his pack mates who’d been out patrolling had given them a lot of space. At least his brother had followed those orders. Ethan was young and more than impetuous and Owen planned to punish him, but right now all he could focus on was Gabriela’s tantalizing scent.

After he’d kissed her, tasted her…he was edgy. And swimming in guilt. He remembered the day he’d said those awful words about her. How he’d denied what she’d meant to him to his pack mates. Things between them had literally changed overnight and their relationship had suddenly become fragile and almost new. They’d been in the process of discovering a sexual and physical side to their relationship and he’d completely screwed things up.

He could still remember the day she’d cut him from her life. He’d asked her to meet him in the woods because he’d wanted to celebrate her birthday just the two of them. She hadn’t shown up so he’d gone to her house, but she’d refused to talk to him. Her father had practically threatened him with physical violence if he didn’t get off their property, and had even called his father and told him to keep Owen away from Gabriela. Since he didn’t attend the local high school that she did, he hadn’t even had the excuse of seeing her at school.

Overnight it was like someone had cut his heart out. He’d forced himself to forget all the good times, all the damn memories he’d shared with her over a decade of their friendship. When she’d made it clear he meant nothing to her, he’d had to compartmentalize all his feelings or he would have gone crazy. But the moment he’d seen her again today all that emotion had come rushing back with the force of an avalanche. Now he felt like he was suffocating under the weight of it.

His paws pounded against the cold ground, the icy sensation almost distracting him from his inner pain. There was a foreign ache in his chest he figured would never truly go away after today. Not unless he could convince Gabriela to give him a second chance. God, did he want one even if he didn’t deserve it.

When they finally reached the front porch he underwent the change, shifting back to his human form with a loud growl. There was always a slight discomfort during the change. He pushed up from all fours, breathing hard as he looked down at Gabriela still in her feline form.

Her coat was darker than the rest of her family’s and he’d always thought how gorgeous she was. Unlike her family members who had that brighter orange coat with the black spots covering them, she had an almost all black coat. Her spots could only faintly be seen if you were up really close, which made her even harder to find in the woods. But he would always be able to find her. All he had to do was follow that sweet scent.

Opening the door, he motioned for her to go inside. There wasn’t anyone around but on the off chance someone came to the house, he figured she wouldn’t want to shift in front of them. And even though he didn’t care about nudity, the thought of anyone seeing her naked made his canines and claws pulse with the need to shred into someone.

Even in animal form she barely glanced at him. Just trotted past him with her head held high and her tail swishing. She smacked him with it as she entered his house and he was pretty sure it had been intentional.