Promised at the Moon by Rebekah R. Ganiere Page A

shiver. The way she called his name as her breath caught sent his need skyrocketing.
    “You are so beautiful.” He ran his tongue over her collarbone again and swirled it down between her breasts. She bucked her hips and ground against him. Desire to feel her skin, to taste her, to make her his overwhelmed every sense of reason. Her hands tangled in his hair and she pulled on it hard, making his pants suddenly too tight to contain him.
    He tugged her skirt higher. His hand moved slowly up the inside of her leg.
    “Liam,” she gasped.
    Her scent swirled around him, making his head fuzzy. Jasmine and musk. He grabbed her hip and pressed his fingertips into the protruding bone. Rubbing his body against hers made her scent grow stronger still and made his arousal spike so hard he thought he’d lose all control.
    It wasn’t rational to feel so connected to another person after only a month, but he did. He’d shared things with her that he’d never shared with another. And he wanted to share more with her. He wanted to share everything.
    He plunged his tongue deep into her mouth and ran his hand up over the outside of her dress, over her breasts and up to cup her face. Her legs intertwined with his, and she tugged at his belt buckle.
    Natasha’s only thoughts were of Liam. His rough, calloused hands made her body quiver like Jell-O. His scent filled her head, making it hard to concentrate. It’d been months since she’d even held a guy’s hand. She needed the connection. And for the first time, it felt right. He felt right.
    She fumbled with his buckle, unable to make her fingers work right with him kissing her skin. His scent grew stronger, and her core thrummed with need. They’d both been hurt before. But for the first time in months, she felt like she could possibly make a life for herself outside of her parents. Outside of her pack. On her own.
    “Liam,” she whispered, “make love to me.”
    He pulled away slightly. In the moonlight, his Alpha eyes stared at her. She reached up and stroked his cheek, then ran her fingers through his dark hair. He kissed her softly on her swollen and sensitive lips and when he turned his head to kiss her neck she spotted his hooped earring. She nipped at it and sucked it into her mouth.
    He growled deep in his chest and gripped her hand tight. “Natasha, I want you.” The growl in his voice was barely restrained. “Do you have protection?”
    Her brow furrowed, and she blinked several times, trying to make sense of his words. Protection? Why would I carry protection? She shook her head. “No I— I’ve never…”
    His head whipped up and his eyes narrowed. He propped himself up on his arms, leaving a wash of cool ocean breeze to brush over her exposed legs.
    His mouth opened and closed. He cleared his throat. “You’ve never— You’re a—”
    “A virgin.” She swallowed. What was going on?
    He rolled off her, sat up and hung his head between his knees. Her mind and body collided in a battle of adrenaline and need. Tears of frustration welled in her eyes.
    “This was wrong. I never should have brought you here.” He stood and brushed the sand from his jeans.
    She didn’t understand. He didn’t want her? Being a virgin was a bad thing out here? Back home a female wolf who wasn’t a virgin was looked down upon. The risk of accidentally bonding to another wolf had been drilled in her head so many times that she’d never risked it. Before now.
    Liam lifted his head, his eyes full of sorrow. “You need to get home.”
    She sat up, adjusted her dress and grabbed her purse. Her tongue clung to the roof of her mouth like a wad of cotton. She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming at him. He was hot and then cold. The change in his emotions gave her whiplash.
    Liam offered his hand, but she threw his jacket at him instead. She’d put herself out there, allowed herself to become more vulnerable than she ever had been, and he’d shut her down. Brushing the