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)
I grabbed my jacket, muttering a curse as another lightning flash lit up the sky when I pushed out the back door. Cold rain slapped my face the second I stepped outside. The parking lot was already a slick sheet of water, and the sky had turned an ugly kind of gray that promised trouble.
I climbed into my truck, slammed the door, and gunned the engine. My polar was close to the surface, urging me forward as I headed toward the cottage Rowan’s grandmother had called home when she was alive.
The wipers barely kept up, and tree branches bowed dangerously over the road. Visibility was down to thirty feet at best, but I still drove ten over the speed limit.
Every minute I wasn’t with Rowan felt wrong.
By the time I turned onto the gravel road leading to her grandmother’s cottage, the rain hammered the roof of the truck as the storm howled around me.
As I parked behind her rental car, the porch light flickered, then went completely dark. “Shit.”
I killed the engine and was out of the truck before the headlights even faded. Rain pelted my shoulders, soaking through my jacket in seconds. My boots pounded against the steps as I took them two at a time. I lifted my fist and knocked, my pulse thundering louder in my ears than the storm.
The door jerked open, and every coherent thought I had disintegrated. Rowan stood there, wrapped in nothing but a towel, her eyes wide as she stared up at me.
Heat slammed through me so violently I had to brace a hand on the doorframe just to stay upright. My bear nearly took my skin with him in an attempt to lunge forward.
“Bexley?” she whispered, breathless and confused.
The storm howled behind me, rain slashing sideways across the porch, but all I could see was her bare legs, her damp hair curling over her shoulders, and the droplets clinging to her collarbone.
I forced my voice into something human. “Storm’s bad. We check on new folks in weather like this.”
It barely sounded convincing, even to me, but her expression eased, as though she was too overwhelmed to question what I said.
“Do you know if my grandmother had a generator?” she asked, hugging the towel tighter around herself.
The motion drew my eyes down instinctively, and my cock got painfully hard.
Before I could answer, thunder cracked so loudly that it rattled the porch boards. Rowan gasped and stumbled back.
I caught her instantly, my hand closing around her upper arm. Electricity shot up my arm, powerful enough to drag a quick breath from my lungs. Her lips parted on a tiny inhale, confirmation she’d felt the jolt too.
I forced myself to let her go before I forgot every line I wasn’t supposed to cross. “I don’t think she did, but I know how to light the fireplace.”
Rowan looked like she wanted to protest. She even opened her mouth, the hand not holding the towel in a death grip lifting slightly, but thunder rolled again and shook the cottage.
She flinched and whispered, “Okay.”
I stepped inside and kicked the door shut behind me as another blast of wind made the windows tremble. “I’ll keep the fire going. Check the place. Make sure you’re warm and safe.”
“A fire sounds great.” She turned toward the bedroom. “I’ll be back in a second.”
I forced myself to look away from her. I couldn’t think about that towel dropping to the floor so she could put something on. My gaze snagged on the tiny couch pushed against the wall beneath the window. It was barely big enough for someone half my size. My knees would hang over the edge by a mile, but I was determined to stay the night. Convincing my mate of that without scaring her off meant proving my worth first.
I crossed the room to crouch in front of the hearth and coaxed a spark into flame, feeding it carefully until warmth and light flickered across the room.
When Rowan padded out of the bedroom, she was dressed in layers. Her pretty eyes filled with relief when she glanced at the fire. “It’s a good thing you stopped by. I probably would’ve burned the place down if I tried doing that myself.”
The thought of anything bad happening to her filled me with dread. “I’ll give you my number. Whenever you need a fire lit, I’m your man.”
The alternative meaning of my words didn’t hit me until Rowan giggled. I just shrugged because that was sure as fuck true, too. My little human mate didn’t know she’d only ever feel desire with me yet, but that didn’t make it any less true.
Rowan settled on the rug near the fire, tucking her legs beneath her as the flames cast a warm glow over her skin. I forced myself to sit a safe distance away on the couch to help me resist the temptation she presented.