Free Sleeping With the Wolf by Maddy Barone Page A

taking them off you.”
    Her mouth and eyes were wide. Her hands clenched around the edges of her blouse, holding them together as if he was about to tear it off her right now. “Taye, don’t you dare wreck my clothes!”
    Excitement was driving his blood frantically through him, and he wasn’t even touching her! She was challenging him, and his nature demanded he dominate her. In an effort to calm himself he smiled teasingly. “You humans are entirely too attached to your clothes. I’ll get you more.”
    “Good,” she said sharply. “These are getting rank. I’ve got dried blood on them. And this is the second day straight I’ve worn these pantie—these clothes. I need to wash them.”
    “Every time I tear something I’ll replace it,” he promised with a grin. “What’s a pantie?”
    Carla glared. “Very funny! As if you don’t know.”
    Taye shrugged his one uninjured shoulder. He really didn’t know. Clothes weren’t important to wolves, and women’s clothes were just plain foreign. From her reaction a pantie must be an intimate garment. He examined her with interest, wondering what she wore under the blouse and jeans. She released her grip on her blouse, and the glare softened, but only slightly.
    “Honestly, Taye, I can’t wear the same clothes every day.”
    “I have a couple T-shirts and more pants,” he offered. “But now that we have the stove, isn’t warm enough for—”
    “No!” she shouted. “Good lord, Taye, you’re making me crazy!”
    He wondered what the Pack thought of her shout. “Sweetheart, I can hear you just fine. You can wash your clothes in the bathtub tonight and wrap up in the blanket while your clothes dry.”
    “It will take longer than a couple hours for my clothes to dry. It would be better for me to have a couple changes of clothes,” she pointed out more calmly.
    “All right. I’ll send some of the boys to pick up a few things for you.”
    Her eyes were disbelieving. “If you think I’ll let some strange guys—wolves—pick out my clothes—” She snorted. “Uh-uh. No way.”
    “All right,” he said again, mildly. “In a few days when I’m feeling better we’ll go into Kearney and get you some things. For tonight, if you insist on wearing clothes to bed, you can wear one of my T-shirts and a pair of shorts. But under the covers you’ll be warm. You won’t need clothes.”
    “Taye.” Somehow she turned his name into three agonized syllables. He liked it.
    “I’m not ready for that yet, okay? I need to wear something to bed. So do you. Please.”
    He slanted a feral smile at her. “Not yet? But someday?”
    She sighed, looking torn between fear and embarrassment. “Do I really have a choice? I mean, I know you said you would wait ’til I’m ready—”
    “I will wait,” he cut her off, his voice emphatic. “I won’t force you.” His voice dropped into a wolf’s growl. “But I’ll do what I can to tempt you. I won’t hurt you. Ever.
    You’re my mate. I want you to scream my name when I’m inside you. With pleasure, not hate, not pain.”
    She stared, helplessly transfixed by the way his eyes shimmered wolf-gold as they caressed her. “Oh,” she breathed. She tingled between her legs, and she saw his nostrils flare as he inhaled. Boy, did she need a clean pair of panties. And a cold shower.
    “Sweetheart,” he groaned. His hands clenched the arms of his chair, knuckles showing white. ”I love the way you smell. I’m not well enough to do much, but I want to taste you. Slip off your pants. Let me touch you.”
    Carla tried to control her breathing. He was tempting, and she was aroused by just his words. He hadn’t even touched her and she was wet. “No, Taye. I don’t want to hurt you.”
    “I’m hurting now.”
    “I don’t think touching me will make you hurt less. Maybe a cold shower will help.”
    He leaned his head back with his eyes clenched shut. “Please, sweetheart. Please. Let me touch you. I’ll stop when you