When they reached the darkest part of the woods, about half a mile from the main Shiftertown, Zander pulled Rae to a halt, his hand on her shoulder. “Hold up.”

Rae instantly came alert. “What?” She scanned the shadows under the trees. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Zander turned Rae to him and cupped her face. “I just need to kiss you.” He leaned to her and let himself stop holding back.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Kissing Rae made everything bad go away. Zander tasted the warmth of her mouth while he wrapped his hands around her hips to draw her closer. Her kiss in return was welcoming, growing more intense as it went on. They were alone, no one knew where they were, and Zander let the frenzy come.

He slid the sword from Rae’s back, dropping it gently onto the pine needles that surrounded them. Then he lifted her, holding her in strong arms.

Rae fit against him as though she’d been made for him. Her breasts were soft against his chest, her eyes half closed as she wrapped her legs around him, fingertips finding purchase in his back.

The night was warm, Rae against him hotter still. Mating frenzy had hold of her but Zander loved that she wanted him. This town was full of sex-crazed Shifters—every Shiftertown was—but Rae had wrapped herself around Zander, her dark braid like a rope of silk in his hands.

He needed to touch her, to be inside her. Here in the woods? Too crude.

He wanted to do it somewhere quiet, beautiful, soft, so Rae would gaze up at him in contentment. Zander knew a guy who could fix that up.

In the meantime, Rae roved her hands down his back and under his waistband, sliding her fingers to the bare flesh of his backside. She wanted him as much as he wanted her, making no coy pretense of shyness.

Zander tugged up her shirt and tank top, finding the warm silk of her skin. She’d taken off her bra to sleep and hadn’t resumed it, and he cupped her breast, the weight of it sweet. Zander slid his thumb over the nipple, smiling into her kiss when the nipple grew firm for him.

Rae moved her fingers to the front of his jeans. Before Zander could stop her, she’d unbuttoned and unzipped, and then her cool hand closed around his cock.

Zander dragged his mouth from hers and barely stifled a snarl. “Damn, Little Wolf.”

Rae only gripped his cock harder and ran her fist all the way to his balls.

“Ah, son of a . . .” Zander’s head dropped back as hot sensations flooded him, but he held Rae firmly, not letting her fall.

It was a tight fit, her hand between them, until Zander’s jeans chose to go slack and fall to his knees. Rae pushed his underwear out of the way, and then his ass was exposed to the night air, the most beautiful woman in the world with her hands on him.

Zander could tell she didn’t have much experience stroking a man and he felt raw joy about that. Rae was willing to learn though. She cupped him then slid her hand to his tip, fingers exploring.

Every touch, every stroke sent erotic fires through Zander’s blood, which only made his cock stiffer and Rae’s touch even more electric. Zander clenched his jaw, trying to keep himself still. It was a hell of a choice whether to lay her down, yank open her clothes, and thrust inside her, or just let her play.

Either would kill him. Rae’s eyes glistened in the faint light under the trees, and her lips parted, red and moist. Zander licked across her mouth, tasting heat.

Rae’s fingers worked magic. Zander’s hips moved, wanting her strokes, wanting her.

“You’re beautiful, Little Wolf. I’ve never seen anything so beautiful as you, never felt . . . You make me whole again.”

The words came out an incoherent mumble but Zander meant every one of them.

Rae said nothing at all. The little noise in her throat when he kissed her once more made him want to come.

If he did that, his scent would be all over her—everyone in Shiftertown, including her father and protective brothers, would know what they’d been doing out here in the woods. Zander didn’t mind so much but Rae might, and it could be dangerous for her. Not from her father and brothers, but the other Shifters. Zander wanted to keep her safe, would to his dying day.

Rae sped her caresses and Zander deepened the kiss. Want her. Need to fill her, hold her, make her my own.

Zander nipped her lips and dropped open-mouthed kisses along her throat, the silver of her Collar warm against his lips. She made him wild, crazier than ever.

Zander cupped her face in one big hand, keeping himself from kissing her again. “Rae, damn you woman, stop.”

“Why?” She gave him a hot smile. “You had your hands all over me—why can’t I touch you? Feel you.” She stroked him as she said it and Zander groaned.

“You’re killing me, Little Wolf.”

“Good.” It was a whisper, full of promise.

Zander let out another groan, then he snarled and jerked himself away from her. Hardest thing he’d ever had to make himself do.

He nearly fell as his jeans and underwear tripped him but he kicked them all the way off. Rae’s gaze raked down Zander’s body as he yanked off his T-shirt and dropped it to the pile of his clothes.

Rae hugged her arms to her chest, her shirt covering her again, eyes dark in the shadows. Her mating frenzy called out to him, and Zander wanted to respond to it.

Not until she was safe. He wasn’t going to let any Shifters stumble over them while they went at it in the pine needles. Maybe one of the hostile Shifters would “accidentally” injure Rae while trying to keep her away from the un-Collared mate-frenzied bear. If Rae were to die, that would be the end of the female Guardian problem.

Rae let out a soft cry as Zander forced his body into that of his bear. The only way he could stop himself from taking Rae down to the damp ground or bending her over the nearest fallen log was to go bear and get himself away from her.

The thought of her bending forward, reaching down to open herself to him, made Zander tear away from her, baring his teeth when she took a step toward him.

“Fine,” Rae snapped. She tugged her shirt over her head and tossed it aside, then her tank top. She slid out of her jeans then bent to take off her underwear, her breasts swaying.

“If you can do it, so can I.” She shook her hair back, growled, and changed with amazing quickness into a wolf.

Her coat was the same glossy black as her hair, her eyes light gray, her ears pricked and alert. Rae growled at him again, a cute snarl, and then she dashed away, straight into the woods.