Page 35 of Lured By Shadows

“Touching you is more effective than words,” he replied, his lips curving into a smirk with surgical precision. He had to be flirting now. That much was certain. He wielded innuendo like a blade.

Heat surged up my throat, and I blurted the first thought that burst forth. “You perverted wolf!” The words cracked across the car, splitting the air between us. I yanked my wrist back and crossed my arms tightly over my chest, as if they could forge armor.

He laughed warmly, utterly unbothered. “Perverted? Is that how you see me?”

“Yes,” I said without hesitation, staring out the windshield. “You’re a total pervert. You don’t even hide it. Dragging me to see your big fancy house, very subtle.”

His brow arched. “Are we back on this?” he said with mock weariness. “It is a very large house, Ira.” Men really did turn anything into a competition.

“Oh, I’m sure it is, Culver,” I shot back, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “Told by every girl who sees your money and decides to tell you what you wanna hear.”

He didn’t respond right away. His eyes remained fixed on the road, his jaw tightening subtly. Then he dragged his tongue slowly along his teeth. It was a small motion that felt far more suggestive than it should. Something in my stomach twisted in response.

Then he spoke, his voice dipping softer and quieter. “Are we still talking about my house? Or are we circling the elephant between us?”

I blinked, caught off guard, then laughed, pressing my palm against the seat. “An elephant?” I said incredulously. “You must be really proud of your little friend, huh, Culver?”

He scowled, though no real heat laced it. He exhaled as if I had worn him down. “Ira,” he said evenly, “you seem very interested in other parts of me. If you want a look, you only need to ask.”

I gasped and threw my hands up. My entire face felt like it might combust. “Who said I wanted to see anything?! See, this is exactly my point! You are a perverted wolf! What, you just think you’ll whip it out, I’ll have a look, and then we’ll carry on like it didn’t happen? Seriously?”

My heart barreled in my chest, heat crawling across my skin in ways I didn’t have the courage to analyze. The ridiculous back-and-forth between us pulled me in even as it left me flustered and on edge.

He let out a laugh, low and rough, as if he couldn’t help himself. “You seem to forget that you are the one who brought it up.” He pulled the car into park with an easy flick of his wrist, but I barely noticed the shift. I was too caught up in his words. “I was only offering an option to satisfy your curiosity. It is only natural to be curious.”

“Oh, sure,” I snapped, heat flooding my face. “You think I’m just going around asking guys to flash me? Like that’s my thing? ‘Hi, nice to meet you. Please show me your dick; I’m curious.'"

One second, we were locked in sharp, ridiculous banter; the next, my back met the cold glass of the window with a soft but unmistakable thud. The impact stole my breath. Not from pain, but from sheer surprise. His body boxed me in, close enough that I felt the electricity crackling from him through our layers of clothing. I lifted my hand instinctively, pressing it to his chest to create space, but he didn’t budge. He caught my other hand effortlessly, pinning it against the window with steady, unyielding pressure. His palm was cold, matching the chill of the glass beneath my fingers, and it seeped through my sleeve into my veins.

A shiver raced down my spine. Not just from the chill, but from the darker pull low in my gut that struck without warning, warm and insistent, scattering my thoughts as his gaze locked onto mine with that intense stare that reshaped everything between us. I felt my pussy quiver with excitement as his eyes fixed on me, his expression taut and difficult.

“W-What…” My voice emerged thin and breathless. His scent filled my lungs with my next inhale. He no longer looked at me like a boy. His jaw clenched tight, nostrils flaring, his features strained as if an unseen restraint battled something fierce within him. I pushed harder at his chest, feigning control. “Let go. This is uncomfy.”

“No,” he said, low and final.

The single “no” sent a rush surging through me, my legs pressing together instinctively against the sudden warmth pooling there. My thighs clenched, striving to quell the ache blooming between them. I’d never felt this before. Filth coated the thrill of my terrible excitement.

“I could say you’re hurting me,” I challenged, though it wasn’t true. My eyes held his, searching… testing. My heart raced, and I feared he could hear it.

“I am not,” he replied at once, his gaze narrowing enough to expose the lie. “Never repeat that again.”

My breath hitched. “Repeat what?”

He didn’t answer immediately. His eyes dropped, and mine followed before I could stop them. The shape straining against his pants left little to the imagination, and my lips parted unbidden. Hot damn. I dragged my tongue across them. It was a careless reflex that betrayed every secret I tried to conceal.

Culver noticed.

His gaze rose again, slower this time, heavy as it traveled back up my body. I felt it like a physical thing. Like hands I couldn’t shake off. He studied my eyes first, as if reading the want I hadn’t admitted aloud. Then my cheeks, flushed and warm. Then the line of my throat, where my pulse jumped nervously. His attention lingered there, his expression tightening as though committing the sight to memory.

“Discuss other cocks,” he said coolly. Incredible. The man was jealous over a hypothetical penis.

Heat rushed to my face. “Are you insane?” I snapped. “You’re seriously mad about me hypothetically talking about dicks that don’t even exist? What, am I supposed to only talk about yours now?”

He said nothing, but something stormy stirred beneath his skin. It showed in the tension pulling across his shoulders and the tight set of his jaw. After a moment stretched taut between us, he released me. He pulled back, raking a hand through his hair as if to steady himself.

“I apologize,” he said, his voice low and controlled. “That was not my intention. I do not know what came over me.”

I exhaled shakily, the back of my hand still pressed against the glass. “You didn’t hurt me,” I admitted quietly. “But it was your eyes. You looked like you might actually do something if I touched someone else…”