“Yeah, I guess something has changed. I found her.”
“Oh,” Maya says, her mouth forming a small o-shape and her brow creasing. She’s disappointed. I can see it painted on her beautifully expressive face. As a human, she doesn’t feel the bond like Ido. That’s okay, she will. “That is a big change. And you sound so sure.”
“I am. She’s perfect. Intelligent, beautiful—breathtaking, really—and she challenges me. She makes me want to be a better person. She’s the one I want to have a family with. Live happily ever after with.”
Maya’s pulse ratchets up, and her heart pounds in her chest, a frantic drumbeat against her ribs. While to anyone else her face would give the impression of being impassive, her body tells me she isn’t unaffected. I inhale deeply; her scent fills me up and grounds me in the present.
“She’s also sitting right across from me,” I continue. “It’s you, Maya. You’re the woman I want to be with. You’re my future.”
Maya blinks slowly. Once. Twice. Her heart thumps, and her pulse flutters like the wings of a hummingbird. She takes several slow breaths, and her body tenses.
“Ryan, what you’re experiencing is called transference. It’s where a patient transfers their feelings for another onto their therapist. It’s not… Your feelings for me are not real. Is there anyone in your life I might be representing for you?”
Instantly, my wolf’s hackles rise, and he starts pushing back.Show her. Convince her. Claim her.The short-lived peace I experienced moments ago is fracturing, the joy slipping through my fingers. This can’t be happening.
I know she’s human; she doesn’t understand mate bonds or fate. But she must be feelingsomethingfor me.
“You represent my wife,” I press, coming on way too strong, but I can’t stop myself. “This is as real as the couch I’m sitting on or the fuck-me heels you’re wearing.”
Maya gasps and her mouth drops open before she composes herself again. “Ryan, this is extremely inappropriate. If you continue to speak like that, I will have to ask you to leave. Are we clear?”
My wolf howls inside me, urging me to claim her. I’m sure my eyes are blazing gold, so I squeeze them shut and hang my head forward. I can’t reveal that I’m a shifter with any human unless they have accepted they are my mate. The risk of our kind being discovered is too high. And while my wolf and I are sure she is the one for us, Maya will obviously need more convincing before I can share that part of me with her.
My wolf doesn’t care about any of that though. To him, it’s fate and biology. Maya is perfect for me; I am perfect for her. There’s no need to delay the inevitable. I inhale deeply, her delicious scent soothing me and my wolf. Fates, I can’t wait to taste her. She’ll be so damn sweet.
“Was it the fuck-me shoes comment that was inappropriate or the part where I said my feelings are real that you objected to?” I ask when I feel like my wolf is back in check enough that I won’t shift right here in front of her.
She leans back in her chair, two fingers massaging her temple on one side while she contemplates her reply.
“My licensing board and code of ethics prohibit romantic relationships between therapists and current patients. I’m flatteredby the… whatever it is you’re suggesting, but nothing could ever happen between us.”
My head spins. What the hell is happening right now? Without becoming her patient, I would never have met Maya. How the fuck did Fate screw me over so completely?
“Wait,” I say, turning her words over in my mind before processing them fully. “You said current patient. That’s an easy fix; you’re fired.”
“Ryan,” she says, her tone stern and hot as fuck. As much as it’s tearing me apart that she isn’t accepting the bond, her fire and commanding presence are everything. She would be an amazing luna.
“Yes?”
“I also can’t date former patients for at least five years after therapy ceases. A relationship between us is not happening. Now, am I still fired—which isn’t actually a thing—or do you want to get back to work?” She raises an eyebrow, and my shoulders slump.
I need to figure out a way to win her over. But how do I get her to stop caring about her ethics? I won’t survive five years without her. Fates, I’m unlikely to survive five weeks. Being close to her will help in the short term, but my wolf only wants her more and more by the minute. He’ll go feral if she doesn’t accept our bond. If she doesn’t accept me. And Maya is human. Vulnerable. The longer this goes on, the more at risk she will be. He already wants me to claim her with my bite. And I can’t let anything happen to her.
If I can’t win her over, I’ll need to distance myself. Even if that means certain death.
“Maya, I’ve fallen in love with you.” I say, hoping my voice conveys the sincerity of my words. “I believe you are the one woman made for me. I understand you are telling me that can’t happen because of your job. But at no point during this conversation have you told me you don’t want me.”
I push to a stand and take the three steps needed to close the distance between us. Maya gasps as her eyes snap to mine, but she remains seated.
“Tell me you’re not feeling anything,” I say, bending forward and caging my arms around her. Fates, she smells sweet up close. And there’s an edge there. Not like a wolf, but not entirely human either. Interesting.
Maya inhales sharply, and the scent of her arousal floats up to me, telling me everything I need to know. She’s not as unaffected as she’s letting on.
Feeling emboldened by how wet I know she is, I lean in even more—as close as I can get without actually touching her. “Tell me you aren’t wet for me right now. Tell me you don’t want me to drop to my knees, push up that skirt, spread your legs and taste your dripping pussy.”
Maya’s breath hitches and the scent of her arousal intensifies, swirling around me and pulling me in.
“You can’t, can you?” I ask, my voice a husky whisper in Maya’s ear. Her skin pebbles under my hot breath and her respirations come heavy, but then something changes. Her eyes flash yellow, and she glares at me.
