“She’s the mate of a wolf, she’s got to be strong.”
“Yeah, I guess so. Anyway, I’ll let you get off. See you tomorrow. And thanks.”
“Anytime.”
After Cole ended the call, he went from room to room double checking everything was locked and that all the lights were switched off before heading up to bed. He wasn’t used to having company in the house and didn’t have the first idea how he was supposed to get to sleep knowing that his mate was in the room just next to his. He took a hot shower, wondering whether a cold one might have been better, then toweled off and crawled into bed. Despite expecting to lie awake for hours, he fell asleep not long after his head touched the pillow.
He was sleeping soundly when the scream woke him. It usually took him a fair amount of time to come around, but the sound of his mate in distress was like getting doused in a bucket of ice-cold water. He shot out of bed and ran to the room next door, all but crashing through the door to get to her. He switched on the bedroom light then ran into the room looking for the threat. A frown flickered across his face: there was no sign of any intruders.
“Maya?”
His mate sat up in bed and peered at him groggily. “I’m sorry. Did I wake you? I had a bad dream. I thought someone was breaking in and—”
Her words cut off as her eyes traveled down Cole’s body. He followed her gaze and his eyes widened when he realized he was standing in front of her as naked as the day he was born.
“Oh, damn. Sorry.” He grabbed the comforter off the foot of her bed then wrapped it around his waist. “I was fast asleep when you screamed. It didn’t occur to me to grab clothes.”
“It’s okay. Thanks for running in to save me. You seem to be doing that an awful lot. I’m not usually this high maintenance, I swear.”
He grinned. “Yeah, but at least when there’s a damsel in distress I get to play the hero.” She laughed, as he’d intended. He walked over and sat gingerly on the edge of her bed. “So you had a bad dream?”
Maya nodded. “Yeah. I guess what happened earlier is finally catching up with me. I dreamed someone was trying to break in. I woke up just as he reached for me.”
“You’re safe here. You know that, right?”
“Yes, but it’s not because of this house, it’s because of you. You make me feel safe.”
The wolf inside Cole preened at the compliment. For the first time, Cole took in her disheveled hair, sticking up in every direction. It made him smile. It looked so soft and he ached to touch it, to feel it slide through his fingers. On instinct, he reached out then smoothed down the hair on the top of her head. He’d been right about her hair—it was as soft as the finest silk.
“I’m glad you feel safe with me,” he said, his voice about an octave lower than usual. “I’llalwaysprotect you.”
It was only after the words were out of his mouth that Cole realized the fervent tone and the sentiment behind the words were overly possessive. But he wouldn’t have taken them back even if he could. Maya was his—his first priority in life from this day until the day he drew his last breath.
“Why do I believe that?” she asked, her forehead creased. “How can I believe it with every fiber of my being? It’s like, Iknowit’s true.”
“It’s because itistrue. No harm will ever come to you when you’re with me. I promise you that.”
When Maya leaned forward and pressed their lips together, Cole sucked in a sharp breath, surprise making him momentarily freeze. But then his brain caught up with what their mouths were doing and he groaned, molding his lips to hers.
Just as he’d wanted to do earlier, he reached up and threaded his hands through her hair, holding her in place as he kissed her with more fervor. She tasted of coffee and toothpaste, a mouth-watering combination that immediately became Cole’s favorite flavor.
When he slid his tongue into Maya’s mouth and deepened the kiss, it didn’t even occur to him to slow down or stop. Maya kissed him with equal passion, making the hottest needy moans he’d ever had the pleasure of hearing. As his cock hardened, his wolf was howling within, ecstatic at the turn of events. It wanted nothing more than to be set free so that it could sink its fangs into the tender flesh on Maya’s neck, forever marking her and claiming her.
But there was no way that could happen. A shifter couldn’t claim a human without their consent, regardless of who the human was to the shifter. If Cole was to let his wolf out now, even a little, his mate would be terrified. The claiming would come later when Maya knew Cole was a shifter and had accepted him as her mate. For now, Cole was just grateful that he was getting to be with his mate in this way.
Maya slid her arms around Cole’s back and groaned into his mouth. She fell backward without breaking the kiss so Cole came down on top of her.
He slid his hands down from her hair and felt her pulse pounding at the base of her neck, right where he would bite her to claim her. He forced his eyes away.
Not yet, wolf.
“Cole,” she breathed against his lips.
When he lifted himself up so he could meet her gaze, she tried to pull him back down.
“This is about to get serious fast,” he said. “Are you sure that’s what you want?”
She held his gaze for a long moment and Cole wondered what she was thinking.
