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 didn’t know what the issue was, but it must’ve been obvious to another shifter. Forest didn’t seem even a little confused.
“You don’t need to worry about me stripping and shifting right here.” Forest snorted. “I’m not suicidal. I’ll jog far out of view before I drop my clothes.”
“Good,” Bexley grunted.
Forest’s eyes flicked toward me, mischief sparkling in his eyes, and he added, “You’re in very good hands, by the way. Strong ones. And huge.”
Bexley’s growl was murderous. I slammed a hand against his arm before he could launch himself out the door.
“Bye!” Forest called, sprinting away from the house across the snow.
I shut the door quickly and whirled on the giant polar shifter vibrating next to me. “You can’t growl at everyone who talks to me!”
Bexley crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Seems like it worked just fine.”
I gawked at him. He stared back, not even slightly sorry.
And as wrong as it was, I melted anyway.
10
ROWAN
Iwas ready to scold him for growling like a jealous grizzly at a man who’d literally just brought us help, but when I met Bexley’s eyes, the words evaporated.
He looked wrecked. Like something vital inside him had been threatened.
“You don’t need to worry. He was just—”
“You’re supposed to leave today.”
That had been the plan, but I couldn’t imagine getting on the flight back to New York to return to a job I didn’t even like. Not after meeting Bexley.
But deciding to uproot my entire life after only two days seemed beyond impulsive, even with the whole fated mate to a shifter thing.
“Maybe my flight will be delayed because of the storm.”
He cupped my face in his big hands, lowering his forehead to mine like he needed to feel me breathe. “I can’t lose you, little mate.”
A helpless sound escaped my throat, and my hands grabbed the front of his shirt without conscious thought. It was all the encouragement he needed to capture my mouth in a deep kiss. By the time he tore his lips from mine, I was weak in the knees and gasping for air.
“Bedroom,” he rasped.
I nodded before I even realized I was doing it, but I didn’t get a chance to head there on my own. Bexley lifted me clean off the ground, and my legs wrapped around his waist like my body knew exactly where it belonged. My arms slipped around his neck, fingers burying themselves in his messy dark hair. His heat seeped into every sore, needy inch of me.
“Bed.” His deep voice vibrated against my collarbone. “Need you in one now that the power is on.”
A sensual shiver raced up my spine. “Uh-huh.”
His steps were steady as he carried me down the hall. I pressed my cheek to his jaw and brushed my lips against his stubble, and he pressed his face into the kiss. Then he set me carefully on the mattress, but nothing about his expression was gentle. His eyes drank me in, dark with desire.
Bexley’s flannel shirt swallowed me whole as I lay back against the blankets, and he looked at me like I was the only thing that mattered.
Then he dropped to his knees beside the bed, his hands sliding up my thighs to tug my leggings off. The flannel shirt he gave me hung down to my thighs, but he popped open the top four buttons and pushed it wide, exposing my chest.
His eyes darkened to molten gold as his fingers traced the valley between my breasts. “I need to show you why you can’t leave. That you’re mine.”
My breath caught, but I didn’t pull away. I reached for him, tugging at his shirt. “Please show me.”
That whisper snapped the last thread of his restraint. He yanked his T-shirt over his head, tossed it aside, and leaned over me, claiming my mouth in a kiss that started deep and quickly turned desperate.
I moaned into his mouth, my hands roaming his bare chest, my nails scraping lightly over his skin. His eyes flashed bright gold, and I gasped. “You’re so beautiful like this, wild and barely in control.”
“Only for you, Rowan.”
His husky words melted my heart right along with my ovaries. “Because I’m yours.”
“Yes, mine. And only mine.” He trailed his lips down my neck, nipping at my pulse. “Gonna worship every inch of you, baby. Make you feel how much I need you.”
I arched beneath him, my fingers fumbling with the remaining buttons of the flannel. He helped, peeling it open slowly and tugging the sleeves down my arms, until the shirt fell away completely.
His hands roamed my sides, thumbs brushing the undersides of my breasts, teasing without touching where I ached most. “You’re so fucking perfect. These curves.” He punctuated the compliment with a kiss against the upper swell of my left breast. “This soft skin.” Another kiss to the right side this time. “All mine.”