Free Shifter’s Surrender by Jennifer Dellerman Page A

chance for a happy future? Did he feel unworthy to that level?
    We’ll just see about that , she thought with determination as a plan formed. He didn’t have the right to take this away from her without even trying. Damned, stubborn wolf.
    “Really,” she drew the word out in derision. “But you think you can bring yourself to ease me through the mating heat?”
    She heard him suck in a breath behind her. “Yes,” he said so quickly she nearly smiled. Typical male. But she was a typical woman. She didn’t orgasm easily.
    Kaylie cast a sly look over her shoulder. “Then I have a proposition for you.”
    “And that would be?”
    “Well.” After scanning him from head to toe and back again, she flicked her eyes away as if dismissing him. An action he clearly didn’t approve of if the low rumble she heard was any indication. “A bet actually.”
    She never heard him move but suddenly she felt him at her back again. “A bet?” He paused as if thinking it over. “And what exactly does this bet entail?”
    Nerves mixed with excitement, making it hard to stand still. “As much as this pains me to say, I will need a man to take care of my, hmm, needs lets say, until this initial heat passes. You think you can provide it.”
    “I don’t think,” he growled out. “I know it.”
    Kaylie made an unbelieving sound in her throat, thankful he wasn’t facing her to read the mischievous glee in her eyes. “So here’s the deal. If you can make me come before you do, then I’m basically your bouncing buddy for the next week or so. There’ll be no public interaction between us that would give away what we’re doing behind closed doors, no entangled emotions, and no ties to keep us together once the heat has run its course.”
    Dean slipped into her line of vision, making her gasp with surprise at his silent move. “I’m assuming that’s my side of the bet. What is yours?”
    Her voice dropped to a whisper. “If you come before I do, then you not only take care of my physical needs, you act like a proper and caring mate for the duration. That includes dates, public interaction as a couple and an affectionate attitude.”
    Dean swung away for a moment and when he turned back his face was unreadable. His piercing eyes focused on hers for so long that she felt stripped to the bone. His nostrils flared, as if drawing in her scent to remember for all time. Then a decidedly wicked smile curved his lush lips, sending alarm bells to shriek in her head. Slowly, he began to circle her smaller frame, inch by purposeful inch, coming close but never touching. The green of his eyes began to burn to amber, a sign of heightened awareness, or that of his wolf slithering to the forefront. His movements could only be construed as feral, possessive, knowing. His every step made it clear to Kaylie that he knew he could take her at any time he so desired.
    His voice altered, becoming quiet, low and seductive. The sound of it seemed to crawl under her skin and take erotic root. “Sweetheart, you’re so close to the edge you won’t last three minutes once I’m inside your delectable body. Are you sure you want to make this bet?”
    She drew in a ragged gasp and cast her eyes downward. “If you’re so confident of yourself, why bother trying to talk me out of it?”
    Once again he was at her back, and Kaylie couldn’t see Dean’s features, but she did sense a new tenseness in him as he tilted his head down and brought his mouth close to her left temple. “I am always in control sweet Kaylie. I can last for hours while I make you come until your body simply gives out. You’ll be limp, exhausted, and so sated you won’t care what wicked act I do next. I’ll take you in positions you’ve never heard of, and in ways no substitute could ever manage. I’ll take my time between your creamy thighs, kissing and sucking and licking every delectable, juicy inch. Then maybe, just maybe, I’ll ease your ache by slowly slipping my finger