Fur Factor by Christine Warren

moronic than others,” she agreed. “But I’d really prefer it if you didn’t act as if you’ve suddenly realized that I’m utterly gorgeous and sexy and everything a man has ever dreamed of.”
    “But you are.”
    She shook her head and her expression took on a hint of anger. “Just because I teach kindergarten does not make me a simpleton. Don’t lie to me, please.” The way her skin flushed and her breasts rose and fell with her angry breathing made his beast sit up and howl. Her indignation turned her scent sharper, more bitter, more heavily spiced. He wanted to lick the pique from her skin until it turned to lust, and then he wanted to lick it from between her thighs until it turned to satiation.
    “I’m not lying,” he said, forcing himself to concentrate on the conversation. “I really am a moron, and I really do think you’re utterly gorgeous and sexy. Didn’t you figure that out when you had me so hard and hot that I devolved into a monosyllabic cretin just because I couldn’t wait to get inside you?” He shook his head. “That’s not the kind of thing I can fake.”
    “From what I understand, you don’t have to fake a thing,” she snapped. “You’ve got quite a reputation, Graham. I hear there’s not more than a handful of women you’ve Christine Warren
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    ever met that you haven’t ended up in bed with. So forgive me if I don’t think it’s an accomplishment that I gave you an erection.”
    An unexpected spear of hurt coursed through him. He had enjoyed every single one of the women he’d taken and had no reason to regret a single one, but somehow his mate made him want to wash away his past. He raked a hand through his hair and frowned.
    “You’re making it sound like I only wanted you because you were there. Like I would have just as soon had someone else.”
    “Exactly.”
    Frustration made him want to howl. It succeeded in making him pace. “It’s not like that,” he growled, trying to think of a way to make her understand his need without terrifying her so badly she’d run. “I want you , Missy, not just another female body.”
    “Yeah,
    right.”
    “I mean it. I’ve had plenty of female bodies. You were right about that,” he admitted, and had to grit his teeth against the hurt he saw flicker in her eyes. “But that means I know the difference between them and you. I don’t want another woman. I didn’t invite another woman to spend the weekend with me.” He saw her shake her head and strode back to her side, grasping her by the arms and forcing her to meet his gaze. He needed to impress her with the truth, and he hoped she’d be able to read it in his face. “I didn’t invite another woman to move in with me. I’ve never invited a woman to do that. Just you.”
    “But that’s what I don’t get,” she whispered, her eyes wide and confused as she gazed up at him. “Tonight is the first time you’ve ever spoken more than five words to me, and all of a sudden you’re crazy about me? That doesn’t make any sense.” For the first time in his life, Graham regretted being a werewolf. If he’d been a vampire like Dmitri, he could read her thoughts to figure out exactly how to reassure her, but instead he floundered for a way to make her trust him without also making her see him as an even weirder creature than she already did.
    Unable to resist, he reached up to stroke her silky hair, remembering the way it looked spread out on his silk sheet. He wanted to see it there again, now, but he wanted more than that. If he were going to convince this woman to be his mate, he’d have to move slowly. And if that wasn’t a matter of teaching an old dog new tricks, he didn’t know what was.
    “Why don’t you stop thinking about it so hard and give me a chance?” he suggested. “You’ve already agreed to stay here this weekend, so let me use it to convince you that I’m serious.”
    “Sex is not going to—“
    He chuckled and gave into the urge