His hands moved between holding her face while caressing her cheekbones and sliding down her shoulders and arms in a way that said he loved touching her. Likewise, she felt her way up his toned muscles and enjoyed how they moved beneath her fingertips.

Then he kissed her again. Her mouth, the corners of it, her chin, her throat. Her willingness showed her acceptance of his touch. A wolf would never expose his or her throat to another without completely trusting that individual.

He slid his large hand down her belly. The tips of his fingers paused at the waistband of her bikini panties. She was already wet with need. He could smell her, just as she could smell how aroused he was. His stiff erection brushed her naked belly as they moved against each other, stirring up their hormones, pushing to go further.

She wanted so to slide his hand beneath her panties, to push his fingers deep inside her to make her come, as hot and needy as she was.

He waited a heartbeat. She didn’t stop him. Didn’t place her hand on his and move it out of bounds. She barely breathed, her hands stilled on his arms, his gaze locked onto hers. As if he’d come to a decision, right or wrong, he slipped his fingers beneath her panties. He began to kiss her mouth, licking it, gently nipping her lower lip but not stealing her attention from the way his fingers moved to intercept the knotted bud waiting for his touch.

***

If Elizabeth wanted to live dangerously, Tom was all for it. He had no intention of mating with her, but he wanted to prove to her just how hot she made him. Especially since she was still wearing panties. Not that that would prevent him from giving her pleasure.

She seemed so needy. He slipped his hand beneath her panties, didn’t sense she wanted him to stop, and plowed right ahead—finding the tantalizing bud that made her arch and moan and whimper as he stroked her. He’d never been with any woman who responded so easily to his touch, wanting more, letting him know just how good he was making her feel.

She raised her leg higher on his, spreading herself more for his easy access, and he wanted to yank off her scrap of silk panties and bare her to him. If he was mating with her, he would. He did consider removing her panties anyway, just to show her that he wouldn’t take advantage of her even with them off, as much as he wanted to bury himself in her.

He was a little afraid he might do just that, with both of them losing their heads in the heat of the moment.

Instead, he stroked her, nuzzling her face affectionately at the same time and enjoying the aroused feminine scent of her mixed with his own musky scent, the heat of their bodies making him even hotter. He rubbed his penis against her soft belly and began kissing her again, so aroused that he wanted to end this now inside her, filling her, taking her.

His thumb stroked her bud, and he felt her come, the tiny ripples of orgasm, the soft mewl of pleasure escaping her lips. He loved bringing her pleasure.

He withdrew his hand from her panties and kissed her again, softly on the mouth this time, a farewell parting for the night. He wanted to go. He wanted to stay. If she wished him to remain here for the night, he couldn’t. Not without craving more.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” he said, stroking her hair.

She looked down at his chest, and he lifted her chin to see tears in her eyes.

“Elizabeth?” he said, his voice low, concerned, shocked.

She gave him a smile, faked to reassure him. “I’ll… see you in the morning.”

“What’s wrong?”

She just shook her head. “Nothing.”

He knew something had upset her, but when it came to figuring out women, more often than not, he and his brothers didn’t have a clue. “Are you hurting?”

She shook her head.

He thought she might be and didn’t want to admit it. That she didn’t want him to believe he was at fault.

He left the bed and threw on his boxers, then went into the bathroom to get her a glass of water.

He gave her the water and waited until she took a sip and seemed to feel a little better. “See you in the morning.” He didn’t think he could go to sleep again, as worried as he was about Elizabeth and the men and why she seemed upset.

The front door slammed shut. “Sounds like Darien.” Tom had planned to grab his clothes and retire to bed, but he dressed instead. “Sleep, Elizabeth. We’ll talk in the morning.” He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.

He smiled, but the smile she returned wasn’t genuine, and her eyes swam with tears. Not knowing what else to say if she wouldn’t help him out, he said, “See you in the morning.”

He left and closed the door, wanting to kick himself for taking things too far with her. He hurried downstairs and met Darien in the living room. He had brought in Elizabeth’s bags and raised a brow at his younger brother in question.

“She’s gone to bed. I’ll take her bags up to her. They’ve been dusted, right?” Tom asked him.

“Yeah. I can’t figure it out. Why steal her stuff and then leave it there?”

“Maybe they weren’t trying to get away with her stuff. Maybe they hoped that by bringing her stuff to the abandoned hotel, they could lure her there.”

“And then what?” Darien asked. “It certainly wasn’t just to talk. Breaking the window was an act of violence against Elizabeth. They could have jimmied the window open or attempted to pick the lock on the front door. They smashed her window as if they were angry.”

“Because she took pictures of them?” Tom rubbed his whiskery chin. “They stole everything she had to learn who she was, but they don’t want anyone to learn who they are. Her ID and airline tickets were inside the case of her laptop, so without having time to search through her stuff at the B and B, they just took everything. Why else would they need to ID her if she isn’t some sort of mark?”