Mated To The Alpha: A Standalone Wolf Shifter Romance, стр. 34
"Mine." He muttered the words into her hair, his thick voice sounding sleepy, proud and aroused all at once.
She smiled a feline smile at the word he'd called her. Mine. She liked it. A lot.
She knew she should probably bristle at the implied ownership, but she reveled in it instead. She already loved being his, and she thought it was surreal that he was also hers.
"Ready to go again, mine?"
She laughed at the eagerness in his voice, and asked him, "How do you do it, Elam? I know I'm in heat, but how can you keep up with me, again and again?"
"One of the perks of being part animal, my sweet. Roll this way, Em. I want to kiss you before I take you again. Or before you take me. You were quite the aggressor last time. I feel your restlessness beginning again. Maybe we should wrestle for the right to be on top."
She rolled against him, facing him and snuggling into the warmth of his body. She kissed each of his closed eyelids before pressing another kiss against his lips.
She felt his mouth smile against hers as he woke up a little more. He pulled her tighter with one arm as she teased his mouth with her tongue.
"I can't decide what I want just yet,” she said, in between kisses. “I'm torn between sliding down under these blankets and waking you good and proper, with my mouth, or pursuing that wrestling idea of yours and letting you pin me down and fuck me. Then there is this third option that is just starting to surface- food. I'm starving Elam. I want a huge, fat, steak. No salad, no sides, just a big 'ole chunk of meat. Have you ever been to the fair? You know how people walk around with those turkey legs, just ripping chunks of meat off as they walk? I want one of those, only bigger. Think I could walk around carrying a big 'ole cow leg? Is that done? Or is it unbecoming for an Alpha's mate to wander around in front of the pack doing something as uncivilized as that?"
"Worked up an appetite, did we? As your mate, it is my job to keep you both well fed and well fucked. Seems I'm failing on the keeping you fed part, aren't I?"
Elam said those words with a teasing laugh, and opened his eyes to tease Emma some more, but instead of crinkling in aroused laughter, his sleep heavy eyes took one look at her and widened in shock.
She gazed back at him, confused, but before she knew it he had rolled her over, pinning her to the bed. He had her wrists pinned above her head, straddling her hips, and staring down at her with an odd look on his face.
"Mmmm, it's going to be like that, is it Elam? Just flip me over and take me? You are afraid I'll give you a run for your money if we wrestle for it, aren't you? I've gotta admit- it's kind of hot. What are you going to do with me now, Mine?"
"Emma, your eyes..."
"What's wrong with my eyes?"
"They are red rimmed."
"Well, I'm not all that surprised. Are you? I mean I didn't exactly sleep well last night, ya know."
"No, not tired red. Shifter red. Emma, how do you feel? Do you feel different?"
"I'm sore as all hell, does that count?"
"This cow leg you want to eat, what is your gut reaction to imagining eating it raw?"
"Hell, right now I'd take it. I'm starving, Elam."
"You're shifting, Emma."
"What? No. I'm just in heat."
"Yeah, like a half-human shifter. You're in heat. You've been claimed with my bite. But it's more than that. The red ring to your eyes right now, the hunger for meat that doesn't necessarily have to be cooked. I think if I push you, just a little, your wolf will take over. I think you can shift, Em."
Fear filled her eyes, chasing away the teasing arousal. She started to fight him, to thrash and buck under him as he pinned her still.
"Emma, stop. Relax. Emma it is a natural thing for our kind. I told you it was possible. Your mom was a shifter. You've watched people shift for weeks now. It's ok."
"No! I don't want to. I've never... How would I even? And damn, it looks like it hurts! I don't want my body to rearrange itself. I like my body just fine as it is, thank you very much! Hell, I just got used to this heat thing, that's enough! I can't be..."
Her words were jumbled and chaotic, driven by fear and panic.
"It doesn't hurt."
"What?"
"Shifting. It doesn't hurt, I promise."
Her struggles stopped. She lay still, tilting her head to look hard at him, confused. Her panic and fear were still there, but hearing him just nonchalantly, factually state that it didn't hurt got her attention. Her curiosity about what it felt like took over long enough for her to relax a little.
"How can it not hurt? It looks like it would be awfully painful. Excruciatingly painful."
"It isn't. It's somewhat awkward at first, until you get the hang of it, but there is no pain. At all. It's...freeing, actually. You just kind of...grow. You get bigger, stronger. Everything gets enhanced. The smells, the sights. Running is amazing, and jumping! Jumping is crazy!"
"But that's after, right? Once you are all animal."
"Yeah, but it happens so fast. The in-between isn't anything, really. It's like a sneeze. You get this urge, and then you just...explode with it. Then it's done. There's really nothing to it, if you can shift. If you can't, no amount of trying will make you. But if you can, it's nothing, really Em. If there is anything bad at all, it's when you switch back to human."
"Why? How so? Does