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His eyes locked onto mine, and the room seemed to fall away. There was no room for doubt in his face. He wanted me with an intensity that frightened me only because I knew I wanted him exactly the same way.

The pressure built inside me again. I was still sensitive from his mouth, and every thick thrust rubbed over the ache he’d left behind. Rauf slid one hand between us. His thumb found my clit, slick with both of us, and circled once.

My body seized around him.

He kept moving, forcing me higher while I clamped tight around his cock. I could feel him losing rhythm, each thrust rougher and deeper than the last. I kept hold of his horn, my eyes on his face.

I came with his name on my lips, loud enough that the whole damned farm probably heard. My cunt pulsed around him, dragging a broken growl from his chest. Rauf thrust once more and buried himself as deep as he could go. His body locked over mine.

Heat spilled inside me in thick, hard pulses. He came while I was still coming, our bodies straining together, the pull beneath my heart blazing until I couldn’t tell whether the pleasure shaking through me belonged to him or me.

Rauf’s mouth found mine. The kiss was clumsy and desperate, both of us trembling too hard to manage anything else. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him there as the last waves passed through us. I didn’t want even an inch of space.

Eventually his weight settled over me. He caught himself before he crushed me and rolled onto his side, taking me with him without pulling away. I tucked my face against his chest. His arms surrounded me, one hand spread across my back while the other stroked slowly through my hair.

Rauf was warm beneath my cheek. His heart beat steadily against my ear.

I fell asleep holding him, with his body still wrapped around mine and the certainty that this was where I wanted to be.

18

RAUF

My mate slept soundly in my arms. Her chest rose and fell; her hair tickled my chest. I could stare at her for hours.

Her hand rested against my ribs, fingers loose in sleep. I covered it with mine and watched her nose wrinkle when a strand of hair brushed it. I moved the hair aside. She settled closer without waking.

There was light around the edge of the curtain. Outside, someone dropped something heavy and cursed. Usually I would already have been up, demanding to know what the idiot had broken. This morning I couldn’t bring myself to care.

Teresa was comfortable. So was I. The bed was warm, my arm had gone numb beneath her, and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this content to stay still. I wanted to learn whether she always slept this deeply or whether yesterday had exhausted her. I wanted mornings when there was nothing waiting for either of us except breakfast.

I carefully extracted myself from her embrace and kissed her cheek as she mumbled sleepily for me to get back in bed.

“It’s early yet,” I said. “Sleep awhile more.”

But it wasn’t that early, and there was work for me to do.

I drew the blanket over her shoulder and dressed. She’d already gone back to sleep by the time I reached the door. I closed it quietly behind me.

The kitchen smelled of hot bread. Nakhil had flour on one forearm and was scraping dough from the table into a bowl. He tipped his head toward a loaf cooling beside him. I tore off a piece on my way through.

Outside, the damp boards of the steps were warming in the sun. A male was opening the machinery shed. Beyond him, the fields were bright with moisture, the dark tracks between the rows still in shade.

Drev stood by the fence with a coil of wire over his shoulder. He saw me come out of the house and smiled. His gaze flicked toward the doorway behind me, and the smile got wider.

I stopped chewing.

He opened his mouth.

I looked at him. He lifted the wire and turned toward a loose rail. Wise fucking choice.

“I’m going into town,” I told him. “Keep someone by the house.”

He nodded, still looking at the fence. I finished the bread and headed for my truck.

Things were going to change around here. With a mate, I wouldn’t allow the town to ostracize us the way they did. But, I had to admit, that might mean making more of an effort to seem… civilized.

I scowled.