Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 220(@200wpm)___ 176(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44044 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 220(@200wpm)___ 176(@250wpm)___ 147(@300wpm)
Inside, he held his breath, praying she wouldn’t be the first mate in the history of wolf shifters to dislike the taste of the formula. After she swallowed several mouthfuls, he relaxed. She would have scrunched up her face and balked if she’d hated it.
“Good?”
She purred around the nipple, noncommittally. Adorable. She also kept sucking. In fact, she picked up the pace, probably because she was so hungry.
Jayce was so smitten by her he didn’t dare blink and miss a single moment of this first feeding. The first of what he hoped would be many. If she remained as stressed as she’d been for the past weeks and months, she might balk at eating solid foods for a while. Her tummy might not be settled enough to accept more than the mild formula. Time would tell.
He certainly wouldn’t complain if she preferred being bottle-fed. It wasn’t that unusual, and the experience was bonding in a way he’d only heard about. He was falling harder for her by the second as she relaxed in his arms and let him care for her in this most basic of ways.
Before long, the bottle was empty. She sucked it until all she was getting was air. She also whimpered when he removed it, staring at the bottle as if she wanted more.
He set it on the table next to him and grabbed a pacifier. It was possible she’d simply grown to enjoy the feeling of sucking. He knew from other Alphas that many mates liked the soothing sensation and could relax deeper with a pacifier.
Without a word, he popped it into her mouth and held it in place.
She frowned and squirmed in his lap, not putting up too much of a fight, though.
“Try the pacifier, Little one. I bet it will help you self-soothe. There will be plenty of time in the coming days when you’ll be faced with stressful situations. Taking a bottle and going down for a nap with a pacifier will relax you in between.” At least he hoped that would be the case. No two women were alike.
But Sienna started sucking as her eyes drooped. Good. She was so tired. As much as he hated to let her nap, because he would miss her while she slept, she needed the rest. He would be patient with her while she got her bearings and learned about her new life. He would always be patient with her. She was his life. But for now, that would mean letting her sleep a lot. Hopefully she would feel less stressed after a few days of napping and sleeping all night. He would see to it that she didn’t lie awake fretting. In fact, he would hold her in his arms at night to ensure that was the case. Even if they had yet to consummate their bond, he would still want her in their bed at night.
He should put her in her crib. Instead, he held her for a long time, gently rocking her while she slept. He really should have changed her clothes. This dress couldn’t be comfortable. The neckline was so high it was practically choking her. The sleeves were tight, intentionally protecting the mark on her wrist to avoid inadvertently touching him with it. It was similar to every other ceremonial dress, the design meant to exude purity and modesty.
Once he got the layers of material off her, she would never be pure or modest again. It wasn’t a custom practiced among the Alphas and their mates.
Jayce was certain no one had come anywhere close to touching his mate before. Certainly not a man. The entire society in the valley was rather prudish, but marked females were guarded more than others to ensure their total innocence at the time of their claiming.
The fact that Sienna had kept her marked status a secret probably meant she hadn’t been as closely supervised when she wasn’t with her parents. But it also meant a protection detail hadn’t been necessary.
In addition, Jayce doubted she’d been told much more than the basics about sex, all of which would have come from her mother who wouldn’t have had the first clue about the sort of bond her daughter would have with her Alpha mate.
Sex in the valley was rather repressed, even between mates. That was not so up in the mountains. Sienna would soon discover that her mate intended to worship her body in ways she couldn’t begin to imagine.
He couldn’t wait to show her, but he would for as long as she needed.
She whimpered and snuggled into him deeper, making it harder for him to want to put her down. Almost from the moment they’d been left alone in the ceremonial room, she’d leaned into him. Trusted him in a way.
The instinct was caused by their growing bond. He knew that. But he didn’t care what was causing her to turn to him. He’d take whatever he could from her for the rest of his life. She could sit in his lap and wrap her arms around his neck every damn day if she wanted.