M&L03 - SS by Stacie Simpson

almost always had sex
in public places. I do enjoy having people watch me, but more importantly, it
was easier to avoid cuddling in a bar than it was in a bedroom. But even when I
did end up in a bed, it was never mine and I never stayed long after the sex
was over.”
    I knew I should be outraged
for females everywhere, but I just couldn’t manage it. I’d never had any idea
why he felt the need to flaunt his sexcapades in front of everyone, but I never
imagined it was to avoid intimacy with his partners.
    “If you weren’t interested in
the intimacy, then why have sex at all? Why not just bite someone and get off
that way?”
    He leaned down and ran the
tip of his nose up my neck inhaling my scent as he did. “As long as I kept my
body sated it was easier to deny my craving for you. But now that I’ve had a
taste of you, I will never get enough Renee.”
    I shivered as moisture pooled
between my legs. He placed a small kiss on my neck... then another... and
another...
    I stepped back out of his
reach, panting with the effort it took.
    “Look, we don’t have to let
the mating frenzy rule us. I know your half-hearted attempts to get me into bed
were just your way of making me feel better about myself. If we make a clean
break now maybe your fox will eventually give up and let you get back to your
life.”
    “If my attempts were
half-hearted it was only because I knew sex with you would mean something and I
didn’t want you to be hurt if and when I ever found my mate.”
    I shook my head but before I
could argue, he moved back in front of me and cradled my head gently between
his hands. “You felt it Renee just as I did. Neither one of us could have
stopped what happened between us. How would you have felt if we had spent the
last thirty years together as life partners and then my mate came along and
swept me away with the mating frenzy? Or hell, now that you have a fox of your
own you could have found your own mate. Where would that have left me?” He
shook his head, obviously not wanting to contemplate that kind of pain. “I’m
sorry if I’ve hurt you, but I really did think I was trying to protect you.”
    His eyes bore into mine
willing me to believe him.
    Could any of this possibly be
true? Could Solomon really want me as much as I’ve always wanted him? Even
without the influence of the mating frenzy?
    “I need time to think
Solomon. Could you give me that without making me worry about you challenging
Dimitri?”
    He growled low in his throat.
    “I went to him, not the other
way around, and technically we weren’t mated yet.”
    His eyes remained locked with
mine for a long moment before he finally said, “I’ll give him a pass just this
once Renee. If he touches you again I will kill him.”
    A shiver went up my spine and
even though I’d always thought shapeshifter possessiveness was a bit over the
top, my womb clenched with raw, hungry desire. It was the fox of course. Until
six months ago I’d been a vampire, not a nightshifter, and I was still getting
used to sharing my soul with a fox. She wanted to be possessed by Solomon, to
be one with him and his fox. When it came down to it, mating was all about the
animals - our human and vampire sides were just pulled along for the ride.
    Solomon groaned, closing his
eyes and inhaling deeply as a tremor ran through his entire body. When he
opened his eyes again, they were bright gold with no trace of the human’s
caramel or the vampire’s black. I knew his fox was in control and if I didn’t
act fast, I’d be pinned to the wall with him thrusting between my legs again.
Not that it hadn’t felt incredible, but there was more going on here than
sating physical desire.
    Reaching up, I brushed my
hand along his jaw. It was rough with stubble, at least two days growth adding
a few years to his boyish good looks. To me he was always a living fantasy, but
when he let his beard grow just a little like it was now, he was something
more. It was almost as if