She bit her lip. “Yes, I want children, but not right now. That’s why you need a condom.”
His bear snarled at the word, and he heard her gasp in surprise. She also straightened, pulling herself into a sitting position while he fought himself. The drive to have her seared him, pushing every cell forward to her. But he kept himself back.
I choose balance. I choose sanity.He voiced it inside his head. He repeated it beneath his breath.
“Hank?”
“I choose balance. I choose sanity.”
She nodded, and she gently grabbed his hand, tucking it tightly between hers. “What can I do to help?”
“Get dressed,” he rasped. “But hold my gaze.”
She complied, though it was awkward. She held their eyes locked together as she pulled on leggings, which hid her fertile scent. The tunic came second, bra ignored. He saw in his peripheral vision that her hands shook, but her gaze remained steady on his.
“I choose balance. I choose sanity.”
Then a third voice cut through the air. It was hard and cold. The voice of his alpha, and both bear and man listened. The bear because it had to, the man because it chose to.
“Step into the hallway, Dr. Lu. I will handle Hank.”
Like hell. No man came between him and the female, even his alpha. He bared his teeth and forced out words. “She stays.”
“Hank!” the alpha snapped, and Hank could hear dominance in every word. “Get control!”
“She. Stays.”
Cecilia froze, her hands raised in surrender. “I’m not going anywhere, Hank. I’m right here.”
The alpha shot her an irritated look. “You don’t know what’s going on here.”
She snorted. “The hell I don’t. He spent the night protecting us. God knows when the last time he slept was. And then he scented…then he.” She swallowed. “He wants—”
“To mate, Dr. Lu. He wants you.”
She dropped her hands on her hips. “Well, duh. And you getting between me and him is just going to rile him up.”
“He’s dangerous.”
The female bared her teeth at the man. “He’s in control. Aren’t you, Hank? Remember? Balance. Sanity.”
He dipped his chin. He was in balance. He was in control.
“How about you put on your pants?” she suggested.
Hank growled low and deep, but the human mind returned to the frozen balance point of control. And with it came the bear, however reluctantly. They had trained too many times in this for it to refuse.
I choose balance. I choose sanity.
He looked down, consciously seeing the clothing and imagining what he had to do. His body obeyed because he required it to. And when it was done, he looked at the female.
“I am balance,” he said to her.
“Yes, balance.”
“I am sanity.”
“That’s good, Hank.”
“And I am bound to you.”
“Um…what?”
