Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 60481 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60481 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
She searched my face. “What do you mean?”
“People think I’m just a pretty face.” I winked. I was going for charming but didn’t quite hit the mark. My frustration bled through, but all I did was shrug it off. “My father died when I was twelve.”
Her eyes widened briefly. “I’m so sorry.”
I gave her a soft smile because what was there to say? One day he was with us, the next… gone. “I wanted to be the man of the house. I figured it was my job to take care of my mom and sisters, but everyone treated me like a child. I tried to get a job on the ranch, but they wouldn’t take me. That’s why I jumped at joining the rodeo circuit when Boyd Wolf offered to mentor me. I was able to make the money my momma needed to keep things going. I paid for a complete remodel of her house and helped my sisters through college.”
“See? Still underestimating,” she said.
“Yeah, they still don’t take me seriously. My sisters love me, but damn, they are always telling me what to do. If people think I can’t do anything more than ride a bull or seduce a female, that’s okay.”
Except Clio. I wanted her to see me as more than a guy only interested in an easy buckle bunny.
“Well, I can attest to the second skill,” she added. “But, Sam, if I’m honest, you turned me on more tonight than all the nights we’ve hooked up.”
My heart did a double pump. I stroked down her sides to rest my hands on her hips. “Is that true? I guess I’ve been doing something wrong.”
She laughed, and the sound was… magical. “Definitely not. No, I mean, you turned me on in a different way. You were a hero. You saw what needed to be done and jumped right in. I guess you’ve been trying to be that guy since you were twelve. I… I appreciate you.” She stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against mine.
Mine. Mine. MINE.
This wasn’t a heated kiss. It wasn’t like all the others that were filled with desperate and frantic need.
This kiss held… promise.
I held my breath to keep my wolf from doing something rash and obscene. “Well, you probably guessed that I plan to collect on that appreciation.” My voice took on a lower rumble. “I’ll give you a fifteen minute head start. When I get to your place, I’m coming upstairs to fuck you in your bed. With JT at a sleepover, I can’t wait to finally hear you scream my name.”
It was bold of me. She hadn’t invited me to her bedroom before. She’d let me into her apartment once, and I’d taken her hard up against the shower wall, but it had been a quickie, like all of our hookups. And that shower stall was tiny. It was more brazen need than comfort.
I wanted more, and I was glad I was going to have a night with her alone. I owed Wes a beer.
I wanted my mate fully naked, writhing beneath me. I wanted to hold her afterward. I wanted to wake up beside her.
I probably wasn’t going to get that tonight, but I could try. I would always try.
I scented her arousal. Picked up the flare of excitement in her eyes. She kissed me again then ran a finger down my cheek.
“You’d better be naked in your bed, legs spread for me to see if you’ve done your job getting that pussy wet for me.”
Her fingers slid down my torso and turned into fists in my shirt. She growled and bit my pec, just like a she-wolf would.
Holy shit.
When she turned to head back to the others, I smacked her ass. “Sparks, I want it real wet.”
“Oh my Gawd, Sam,” she breathed on a laugh. “How am I supposed to make it home now?”
Mine.
I gave her a mock-stern nod. “Drive safe and think about how you want me to fuck you when I get there.”
She turned and fled, and I swore I heard a little whimper of desire as she jogged down the hall.
I grinned. For the first time, it felt like I was getting somewhere.
19
SAM
* * *
Thirty minutes later, I prowled up the stairs to Clio’s apartment with the most expensive bottle of Prosecco I could find at the liquor store. I tested the door handle and grinned. The fucking thing opened.
The scent of my mate’s arousal hit me, making me lightheaded with lust.
Mark her. Mark her. Mark her.
The moon was nearly full, and my wolf was losing his shit.
I grabbed two glasses from her kitchen cabinet, then I tracked my prey into the bedroom where I found her on the bed in a pair of black panties and a matching lace bra.
My eyes raked down her.
Damn, her body was smoking. The swells of her breasts spilled out over the top of the bra. Her belly showed the soft skin and beautiful stretch marks from her pregnancy. Her legs were long, lean, and muscular. But she looked, perhaps for the first time since I’d met her, a little unsure.