“Don’t do that,” she snapped.
“What? Talk to my female through the door?” He chuckled. “I’d much rather talk to you face to face, but you keep hiding from me.”
Katy took a deep breath and nodded her head. He was right. This was ridiculous. He was her mate, essentially her husband. She had every right to lust after him. Right?
“I’m opening the door,” Gage warned before the knob turned. The lock broke as if it was nothing, and he pushed it slowly open. His green eyes practically glowed as he stared at her. His dark, wavy hair fell around and framed his face. He was shirtless, as usual, so really, this was all his fault.
“I can smell you,” Gage growled.
“Okay, that’s just rude.” Katy huffed folding her arms across her chest.
“And you smell delicious.”
She shifted on her feet as she tried to look unaffected by his words.
“I want my mate,” Gage told her as he stepped toward her. “And you want me. So what’s the problem?”
Katy’s mouth dropped open, then shut, then open again. Great, she was doing an impression of a fish. “I’ve never done this.”
Gage reached for her. “Excellent. Fewer people I have to kill.”
As Gage approached her, Katy’s heart raced in her chest. She couldn’t tear her gaze away from his powerful stride or the way muscles rippled beneath his tanned skin. His emerald eyes blazed with hunger as he closed the distance between them.
“I don’t know what I’m doing,” she admitted, nerves still fluttering in her stomach. “What if I disappoint you?”
Gage’s response was a primal growl. “Never.” He took control, closing the space between them with a predator’s grace. With rough hands, he framed her face and gazed down at her with an intensity that made her knees go weak.
“You were made for me,” he declared in a gravelly voice. “My mate. My perfect match.”
Katy’s breath caught at his words, heat spreading through her body despite any remaining doubts. This beautiful man wanted her and only her.
In a moment of surrender, she turned her head and brushed her lips over his palm. Gage sucked in a sharp breath, his grip on her face tightening.
“Show me,” she pleaded, meeting his fiery stare with determination. “Teach me how to be yours.”
Without hesitation, Gage answered by claiming her mouth with his own in a fierce, dominating kiss. Katy melted into him, feeling every inch of their bodies pressed together. His tongue commanded entrance to the softness of her lips and she eagerly yielded, letting him explore every corner of her mouth.
His arms caged her in against the hard wall of his chest, every point of contact sending sparks of desire through Katy’s veins. She forgot all hesitation in the heat of the moment, lost in the taste of him and the ferocity of their passion.
When they finally pulled apart to catch their breath, Gage’s intense gaze burned into hers. “Ready for me to show you what it means to be mine?” he asked in a husky voice, promising so much more.
In response, Katy fisted her hands in his hair and pulled him back to her with a sense of urgency. She was beyond ready to embrace her true nature and join with her mate in every possible way. It was time for her to take her rightful place by his side.
Katy gasped as Gage’s hands roamed her body, leaving trails of fire in their wake even through her clothing. His lips trailed hot, open-mouthed kisses down the slender column of her throat, nipping and sucking until she was mindless with need.
“Gage,” she keened, giving his hair a slight tug. His answering growl vibrated against her racing pulse.
“Minx,” Gage rasped, fingers flexing and bunching the material of her shirt. “Do you have any idea what you do to me? What you’ve been doing to me for days?”
In response, Katy pressed herself more tightly against him while trailing her lips along his stubbled jaw. Gage cursed, a delicious tremor running through his powerful frame. His hands slid lower to grip her backside, keeping her locked in place.
“I need you, Gage,” she whispered against his ear. Whatever fear had been there was gone. Now she wanted him to make good on his words. “Make me yours, completely.”
With a snarl, he lifted her effortlessly until her legs wrapped around his lean waist. Bracing her against the wall, Gage captured her mouth in a searing kiss. Katy could feel his restraint hanging by a thread, his desire a palpable force surrounding them. And she wanted nothing more than to shatter that restraint completely.
Dragging her nails down his chest, she breathed his name like a plea. “Show me everything, my mate.”
Gage’s eyes blazed, and his voice dropped an octave. “As my female commands. No more hiding.”
