Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22464 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 112(@200wpm)___ 90(@250wpm)___ 75(@300wpm)
His inhale was quiet but betrayed his surprise at my question. “Your scent called to me all day. I kept getting the smallest trace of it, and my polar pushed me to find you. Only I didn’t know until you walked into the restaurant that that was what had him all riled up.”
I licked my dry lips, which made me think of his kiss…and want more. “But now you’re certain?”
“If there had been any doubt, it would’ve been erased when we touched.” Bexley reached for my hand and interlaced our fingers. “The spark of desire was unmistakable.”
I tilted my chin down with a frown. “I’m sure you’ve felt stuff like that before.”
“Never,” he rasped, tugging me closer. “Something you need to know about shifters is we don’t experience passion of any kind until we meet our fated mate.”
My head jerked back as adrenaline rushed back into my system. “I’m the first woman you’ve ever…”
His lips curved into a sexy smirk. “Yes, baby. You’re the only woman who’s ever made my cock so hard I could barely think straight.”
A sense of feminine satisfaction rolled over me, but my cheeks still pinkened when I asked, “Is that why I’ve…um…never been interested in a guy before?”
My question made his smile widen. “Yeah, it can be confusing for human mates who don’t know about shifters, but the same is true for you.”
“You don’t have to sound so pleased by that,” I murmured as I playfully swatted at his shoulder.
He gave me a pointed look. “Can you honestly tell me you weren’t thrilled to hear I’d only ever want you?”
“No,” I huffed, pressing my lips together in a flat line. “I guess I can’t.”
“Feeling territorial is normal, so don’t be embarrassed by it.” His eyes twinkled in the firelight as he winked at me. “I’m not.”
His reassurance went a long way, but there was still something important that I needed to know. Especially since I was only in Timber Ridge for the weekend. Our lives were literally worlds apart, which made it hard for me to picture where we went from here. “What exactly does being fated mates mean for us?”
8
BEXLEY
Her use of “us” gave me hope that she was asking because she could already see a future as my mate. I cupped her face gently and held her gaze. “It means I’m yours, and you’re mine. We have a bond that won’t break.”
A thread of uncertainty flickered in her eyes. “Not even with distance? I’m supposed to fly home tomorrow evening.”
I hated the thought of her leaving so soon, or at all. But nothing would keep me from my mate.
She looked away like she regretted saying it, but I tilted her chin back up so she could see how confident I was as I promised, “Now that you know what I am and who you are to me without running screaming out of the cottage, we’ll figure that out.”
“I guess it’s good I didn’t go with my first instinct when you said you were a shifter then,” she teased.
“Fuck, I want you so damn much.”
I hadn’t meant to say that, but she was just too tempting.
She swallowed, her breath catching. “Bexley, can I—?”
Her hand lifted, hovering in the space between us, waiting for permission.
I lowered my head a fraction. “Anything you want from me, little one.”
Her breath shivered out of her as she closed the space, her fingertips brushing the side of my throat. A soft sound escaped her, and my vision went white at the edges. Keeping my polar under control was getting more difficult.
I locked my jaw. “Rowan.”
“Hmm?” Her fingers slid higher, brushing my jaw, exploring me like she couldn’t stop herself.
“You’re going to undo me.”
Her smile was shy, but her eyes had darkened to green with the need burning in them. “Maybe I want to.”
“You’re playing with fire,” I warned, doing my best to ignore my hard-on.
“Maybe we can burn together.”
She moved closer, her knee bumping against mine, and one of the last tethers on my control snapped.
I should have held the line and backed away, putting a safe distance between us. But Rowan rose onto her toes, and her lips grazed mine. The rumble up my chest wasn’t human.
I kissed her slowly at first, savoring how she sighed into my mouth. Her hands tightened in my hair, and the kiss deepened, growing almost desperate.
She pulled back only enough to breathe against my lips, “Don’t hold back.”
My vision narrowed to her. “You’re making it damn near impossible to go slow.”
Her hands slid up my chest, hesitant at first, then bolder when I didn’t move away. Her fingers curled into my shirt, pulling me toward her.
I kissed her until she was breathless, melting into me completely. Until instinct roared to take her to the floor, lay her beneath me, and claim her in every way a mate could.