After the cage fights, the first person he’d shifted around was Ben. His wolf didn’t attack his brother like he’d feared, but Wheeler knew he needed to make sure his wolf wasn’t aggressive or else he’d never be accepted into the pack. His nerves were on edge when Austin had introduced his wolf to his brothers. Part of the process included Austin staying in human form and asserting his dominance as the alpha. Wheeler thought for sure something would spook his wolf and he’d lunge at Austin, but no such thing had happened. Maybe his wolf sensed they were family, or maybe it had to do with them also being wolves.

Wheeler made a quiet decision that he would never shift around Naya. Ever. That could never happen. The panther fights were some of the most vicious he’d endured, and no way in hell would he risk putting her in danger.

After Lexi left the heat house, Naya rapped her knuckles lightly on the door and announced he was free to go. When he got up and opened the bathroom door, she’d already switched out the lights and had gone to bed. The only light in the room emanated from a dim nightlight behind the sink.

He eyed the doorknob, but something compelled him to stay.

“What are you doing?” she asked sleepily.

“Scoot over. We’re cuddling.”

She giggled in a way that made the hair on the back of his neck stand up. Wheeler pulled the sheet over them and pressed their bodies together. She had put on a baby-doll nightie, and he couldn’t stop touching the lacy fabric. Damn, she was such a sexual creature, and he was so uptight about sex. Not the act of it, but sexuality itself.

The tenderness.

The vulnerability.

The intimacy.

Wheeler was no stranger to strip clubs, but the performances were impersonal and didn’t have the same effect on him as when Naya jutted her hip out and played with the collar of her blouse.

Let alone curled up next to him in a fucking nightie that had him rock hard in seconds. All he wanted to do was touch the long ribbons in front, smooth his hand over the silky fabric, and play with the lacy ruffles along the hem.

He’d never felt a need to sate a woman as badly as he did with Naya. It was no longer about his needs, but hers. Had any of the men in her life cared about her wants and desires? Obviously not if they took off after sex. And when he gently slid her panties down, he made sure her needs were met. Wheeler laughed when she argued, wanting to satisfy him in return. Nope. He wasn’t having it.

After they’d fallen asleep, he awoke to the feel of her beneath the sheets, sucking on him hard.

Naya was unabashed about her sexuality, but the best part of that damn night was falling asleep behind her with his face nestled in all those beautiful curls of hair. The smell of her, the feel, and hearing the small grunts and moans as she slept. The way her cold feet would seek out his legs for warmth, her soft breath skating across his arm. She looked like an angel. He hadn’t realized how satisfying it could be just to hold someone.