Mac returned his smile. “No, I didn’t.”
She licked her lips, waiting for him to climb up on the desk with her, but he simply stood there gazing at her.
“Thank you for coming back to me,” he said, his voice rough with emotion. “I don’t like to think what my life would have been like without you.”
The words made her heart squeeze in her chest. What did a woman say to something like that? You’re welcome just didn’t seem to cut it.
She beckoned him closer. “Care to show me your appreciation in a gratuitously physical manner?”
He hesitated. “Yeah, about that. I don’t have a condom. One of the other guys might, but…”
She grimaced. “Let’s not. Fortunately, one of us was planning ahead. I started taking birth control pills Wednesday morning.”
“Wednesday?” He frowned. “The morning after I took you to dinner at Chambre Francaise? How did you know we’d sleep together?”
“I didn’t,” she said softly. “But I’d hoped.”
Mac motioned him closer again, spreading her legs wider in open invitation. Gage stripped off the rest of his clothes and moved between her legs. He ran a hand up the outside of one thigh, making her quiver all over.
“And you’ve been taking the pill long enough for it to work, right?” he asked.
She nodded. “Most experts recommend seven days, but I think six days is okay. Unless you’re not planning to stay with me if I get pregnant? Now that we’re mentioning it, can you get me pregnant?”
Gage trailed his hand down her thigh and across her stomach. He left it there, caressing her lightly. “Yes, I could get you pregnant. And before you ask—no, the kid wouldn’t come out growling and howling at the moon. That’s not the way it works. And no, if I got you pregnant, I wouldn’t leave you.”
He leaned over and she wrapped her legs around him, pulling him closer and preparing herself for the rush that came whenever he slid inside her. He didn’t enter her, though. Instead he gazed down at her so intently she started to worry he wouldn’t make love to her without protection. But then he licked his lips and she knew he was trying to figure out how to say something…big.
“Mackenzie, there’s something you need to know. Something important.”
O-kay. “Is now the best time for this?”
“Now is the perfect time for this,” he said. “Werewolves have an urban legend that’s been around as long as there have been werewolves. Whether they’ll admit it or not, they all believe there’s one special person out there for them. As in The One—capital T, capital O. Unfortunately, while the legend is so common as to be cliché, I’ve never met a werewolf who found The One.”
Gage leaned closer, so his lips were only millimeters from hers. “But I’ve found mine. You can’t understand the significance of that until I tell you that none of the werewolves in my pack have ever been in a serious relationship—not one. Sure, they sleep with women, maybe even live with them for a while, but it never lasts. Hell, I’ve never been involved with a woman that I even wanted to be around for more than maybe two weeks at the longest, until I met you.”
His mouth traced along her jawline and settled next to her ear, his voice dropping to a whisper. “I knew from the moment you stepped into the operations vehicle that first day that there was something different about you. I didn’t know at first that you were The One—I never believed in that kind of stuff—but some of the guys knew. Cooper. Xander.”
“Xander?” she repeated. “He didn’t even like me.”
“Regardless of what he tells people, Xander believes the legend more than any werewolf I’ve ever met. But he figured you’d use the irresistible attraction I felt for you against me to get your story.”
She winced. “Which is basically what I did. No wonder he looked like he wanted to bite my head off when I showed up tonight.”
“It doesn’t matter now,” Gage whispered. “We’re together, and I’m never going anywhere. I never could have.”
She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him more tightly against her, burying her face in his neck. “But you were leaving when I got here.”
He lifted his head so he could gaze down at her. “I was, but only long enough to make sure my pack got out of town and someplace safe. I was coming back to make sure Hardy was no longer a threat to you. Then I intended to watch over you from a distance for the rest of my life.”
The look in his eyes told her he wasn’t kidding. She didn’t let herself dwell on the part about making sure Hardy was no longer a threat. She was just comforted by the thought that Gage would have willingly lived on the street outside her apartment just to be near her. It was insane, but romantic at the same time.
She threaded her fingers in his hair, pulling him down for a kiss. He growled, kissing her back with an urgency that left her gasping for breath by the time he lifted his head.
Straightening, he grabbed her ankles and spread her legs wide. Mac did her best to be quiet, but she couldn’t hold back the moan that escaped her lips when he pushed inside her. Right then she didn’t want to be quiet. She wanted to shout her pleasure to the world—and if his pack heard, oh well.
Gage took her slowly, sliding his thickness deep with steady, even strokes that made her whole body tremble. He moved in and out of her over and over, and the whole time, he gazed down at her with those vivid gold eyes.
She was so in love with him that it hurt, and right there in the middle of their lovemaking, she thanked God for helping her repair the damage she’d done and for making this moment possible.
Her orgasm built higher and higher, but it wouldn’t crest, even though
