The Panther's Second Chance (Book 10 of the Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 19

Dominic woke the next morning with Natalia cuddled up in his arms. He still couldn't believe this was real. The one thing he'd craved for the last thirty years was happening, and she was in his bed, wrapped around him.

Her body was soft and warm and he breathed in her scent deeply, as his thoughts drifted to last night and what she'd done. She'd been brave; he'd give her that. He had a feeling she wanted to back down but she hadn't. Instead she'd given him a memory he wasn't likely to forget. Even now, he was half hard thinking about it.

They were going to have to talk today and start to figure out everything between them. The living situation mostly. She'd slept too much yesterday for him to talk to her about it, though he had given it some thought. He also wanted to find out what she had been planning to do with her life before he had showed up, disrupting it.

But they could talk about all of that later. For now, he just wanted to lay here and enjoy her. He was still naked, but she was dressed. Annoyingly, even though he'd touched her, he hadn't seen any of her bare yesterday. And she'd had him strip off everything. He smiled. He should have had her strip too. Soon.

Not that it bothered him that he was still naked. He was more concerned with it bothering her, but it didn't seem to. He generally slept naked anyways, though he would wear whatever he needed to in bed for her. Whatever made her comfortable.

But she'd wanted to see him naked. That had been obvious. Which made him think of her naked. He wanted to see her naked too. He wanted to see his mate's body, undressed and on display for him. He wanted to explore her curves, and know every inch of her.

Yesterday had been a bit of a tease. Well more than a bit. He hadn't really paid all that much attention when she'd first came to his room, but when she'd woken up and sat up to show him her non-bruised skin, he'd quickly realized she wasn't wearing a bra, and her breasts were quite visible beneath that thin, form fitting tank top she'd been wearing. Not as visible as he would have liked, but visible enough that he'd had a hard time keeping his eyes off of her nipples.

Even now, thinking about her breasts was arousing. He'd barely touched her yesterday. Not as much as he would have liked, but enough to give her what she'd needed. Of course, he hadn't planned to strip naked and let her explore and touch him either. That had been an added treat. And he definitely wasn't complaining about it.

Right now they were both laying on their sides, facing each other. She was cuddled up against him, her arms between them, and both of her legs were somehow between his. He moved his leg, not quite sure how that was comfortable.

She moved a bit, and made a soft moan, pulling him out of his thoughts, as he gazed at her. She really was quite lovely in the morning. And the evening. And any time in between. Her blue eyes opened and she looked up at him. "Hi."

"Hi," he said with a smile.

"I'm still here," she murmured, reaching up to cup his cheek.

"I'm not letting you go," he said softly, leaning down and kissing her.

"I'm stuck with you now, huh?" She smiled up at him.

"Forever," he murmured, looking at her, his hand rubbing her back.

"Forever," she agreed.

"Are you due in the gym this morning?" Dom asked her.

"Yes," she answered. "After breakfast."

"Okay. Please, do not get distracted," he said quietly.

"Are you coming down there?" she asked curiously.

"Probably," he responded. "I don't usually miss days at the gym."

"I can tell," she said with a smile