“I’m right here, sugar,” he called out. “Don’t you move—”
Of course the moment she appeared to get a lock on his general direction, Nelly didn’t listen. Jaw setting in a stubborn angle, she began to stomp through the dense, crunchy snow that separated them.
“Clark! I opened my gift!”
“Sugar, stop! I’m coming to you!” He couldn’t help but laugh breathlessly as he made his way to her — going markedly faster than her much shorter, less muscular legs would allow.
Only about ten feet separated them when he realized she was crying. His laughter died.
“Sugar?” Clark’s alarm grew as he watched her suck in hiccupping breaths. Her eyes were glassy and wild, her cheeks wind-chapped and red. There was a good amount of snow dusting her knit hat and when he looked down, he noticed that her leggings —leggings, in snow? —were soaked all the way up to her knees.
“I opened your gift,” she cried again. “I loved it so much. I’m sorry I wasn’t ready. I was afraid of— of popping the bubble and finding out that you didn’t like me as much as I liked you but that’s not fair because you’ve always liked me and I was just being a coward and I told my sister about us and— and—”
Clark closed the distance between them in a rush. Gripping her shoulders, he brought her in tight against his chest and rasped, “Whoa, whoa. Nelly, sugar— Please take a breath for me. Everything’s okay.”
Nelly clutched at his jacket, hugging him as hard as her arms allowed, as he lifted his head to look around the yard. The blood drained out of his face in a rush. “Where’s your truck?”
Her voice was muffled by his jacket, but he still heard her just fine when she answered, “Wouldn’t start.”
“Nelly, did youwalkhere?”
She nodded. “H-Had to tell you that I—”
“Damn it, Nelly!” Clark didn’t think he’d ever been as angry with another person as he was then. He stooped down to wrap his arms under her back and knees, sweeping her up against his chest as he seethed, “Are you fucking kidding me? You walked through the snow at night inleggings?Were you trying to take a year off your mate’s life? What could possibly be so fucking important that you couldn’t call and ask me to come over?”
With their faces so close, Nelly managed to look even wilder. The wavy hair that escaped her beanie curled with moisture. Her cheeks were ruddy and wet with tears. Her lashes were spiky and frost-tipped. Her expression was…
Clark’s lips parted with surprise. She didn’t look upset. She lookeddetermined.
“Thisis more important.”
Before he could react, cold hands clapped down on his cheeks, holding his head in place as Nelly lurched forward to cover his lips with her own.
Shock came first. Then there was heat. So much heat.
My mate is kissing me,instinct crowed, victorious and relieved and full of longing.Finally!
Clark made a hungry sound in the back of his throat and pressed closer,needingher closer. His tongue snaked out to trace the trembling cushion of her lower lip. The one kiss they’d shared was barely more than a blur in his mind, but it haunted him with barely-there memories of her taste, the silky feeling of her lips on his.
It wasnothingcompared to the real thing.
When her lips parted, Clark gave her lower lip a gentle, scraping bite, encouraging her to open more, to kiss him back. He wanted to feel her tongue glide against his and hear her moan. He wanted her to move with him in that singular, erotic rhythm. He wanted…
Why isn’t she reacting?
His mind returned to him with a cruel slap. Clark choked out a curse and pulled his head back as if he’d been burned. “Fuck! Fuck, Nelly— Are you okay?”
Her cold hands still gripped his cheeks. Her head remained exactly where it had been when she’d kissed him. She appeared stuck there, frozen, her eyes opened wide and vacant. All around them, the crisp scent of fresh snow was replaced by the metallic, bloody tang of magic.
Fear was an icy deluge in his veins, instantly extinguishing the heat of his lust. Clark’s voice shook when he whispered, “Sugar, please talk to me. Are you okay?”
There was no response save for the way her eyes flickered, moving back and forth as if she was caught in a dream.
Clark could only watch, helpless, and know that his mate was seeingeverything.All his life. All his faults. All his mistakes. He liked to think that he’d lived a good life so far, but of course he’d done and said things he wasn’t proud of. Nelly knowing everything didn’t bother him, but for the first time since he learned about her true ability, he wondered if it would botherher.
What if I’m not enough for her?
His heartbeat sped up as panic took hold. “Sugar.” His voice cracked, but he didn’t have pride enough to care. “Sugar, whatever it is you’re seeing, please know that I—I’ll do whatever it takes to be a good mate. I’ll love you every day for the rest of my life if you just give me a chance to. I can be better for you, I swear. I—”
