Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 113406 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 454(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113406 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 567(@200wpm)___ 454(@250wpm)___ 378(@300wpm)
Spitting a silent stream of curses at his wolf, Bracken asked, “Have you eaten?” His words came out thick and curt with arousal.
“Yes, hours ago. But I was just about to have ice cream, if you want some.”
He smiled at the begrudging note to her invitation. She wanted him there or she would never have let him cross the threshold, but he sensed that she found it awkward to share her space. “I won’t say no to ice cream.” He followed her into the kitchen, where she dug out a tub from the freezer.
“Cookie dough okay?” she asked.
He relaxed into a chair, replying, “Sure.”
Madisyn felt the heat and weight of his gaze as she scooped a few dollops of ice cream into two bowls, proud that her hands weren’t shaking due to the overwhelming tension thickening the air. She set both bowls on the dining table and then took the seat opposite him.
She took a moment to study him. Lounging in his chair—shoulders straight, head up, gut sucked in, legs spread, taking up as much room as possible in that way dominant male shifters did—he looked cool and casual and completely at ease. More relaxed than she’d seen him in a long time. Yet he didn’t come across as any less menacing. In fact, it kind of felt like being in the same room as a jungle predator—one that was watching and waiting to see what you did, biding its time until it was ready to pounce.
His eyes boldly raked over her face, flaring with avarice and so much heat. That look said he wanted to straight-up fuck her right then . . . but he wouldn’t, not yet. And damn if the carnal promise there didn’t send a little shiver down her spine. Madisyn hadn’t ever expected him to train all that dark masculinity and raw sexuality on her. Hadn’t thought she’d ever find herself the center of his intense focus—it was intimately mind-warping. She realized this was no simple visit. No, the seduction had started.
He pulled his bowl toward him. “So you told Makenna and Dawn that we’re mates?”
Nodding, she spooned some ice cream, ensuring she got a big chunk of dough. “Did you tell your pack?”
“Not until just before I came to you.” Bracken’s eyes locked on her mouth as she ate the dessert off her spoon, his cock twitching at the way her cheeks hollowed. It was far too easy to imagine putting something else in her mouth.
“Why wait?”
“I wanted to give you time to tell Makenna and Dawn so that they’d be the first of your friends to know.” Liking that he’d taken her off guard, Bracken put a scoop of his dessert in his mouth, enjoying the combination of chewy dough and cold, smooth ice cream.
Her mouth opened and closed a few times. “Thank you.”
“You don’t have to look at me so suspiciously.”
“Dominant male wolves are generally all grr, mine, grr when it comes to their mates. They feel the need to share the news with the world.”
His mouth twitched into a smile. “Grr, mine, grr?”
“Am I wrong?”
“No.” He ate another spoonful of ice cream. “It was hard to keep it to myself.”
“You didn’t even tell Jesse and Zander?”
“They would have told their mates. Mates don’t keep secrets from each other. But you pallas cats sure are a secretive bunch.”
It was a struggle, but Madisyn hid her surprise at his comment. Just how had he found out that little nugget? She shrugged, going for nonchalant. “It’s how we’ve managed to stay under the radar of humans all this time.”
“But as I said, there aren’t secrets between mates. Which brings me neatly to the subject of those sows. They didn’t confront you over some guy.”
“Didn’t they?”
“No. I saw the CCTV footage. They weren’t bitchy females driven by jealousy. They meant business. And I gotta say, baby, it pisses me off that you held back info on people who rammed me with their damn car. Or didn’t that bother you?”
Madisyn sighed. “I couldn’t share everything with you without Dawn’s permission. It’s a shelter matter.”
“We’re mates—”
“And there are no secrets between mates. Yeah, you’ve said that already. And I don’t disagree. But we haven’t mated yet.”
“Semantics,” he bit out. “We are mates. That means if shit goes down at the shelter or shit’s related to the shelter, I want to hear about it.”
“How very serious and forceful you sound. I’m actually starting to feel sorry for you.”
“And why is that?”
“Because it seems that it’s going to take a while for you to realize that your authoritative tone is wasted on me.”
Swallowing back his instinct to pressure her, he instead softly pointed out, “As your mate, I have the right to know of any threats to you.”
“And I’ll tell you in the future, providing you agree not to act on a shelter matter without Dawn’s say-so—that’s something Ryan agreed to when he mated Makenna, even though he’s not terribly happy about it. It’s no different than how you wouldn’t want me acting on a pack matter without Nick and Shaya’s approval.”