“This is as good as any place to do this. Come on,” she ordered.
Thadd’s lion chuffed as did he. Neither were good with taking orders. Yes, they’d allowed Hollis to be in charge, kind of. Looking back, he hadn’t truly submitted to the older male like a submissive lion, more like a son to a father figure. He watched his mate stride around the front of her pickup, itching to show her who was in charge. “Not yet.”
Shoving open the door with a little more force than necessary, he met her near a large rock. The view below them would’ve been breathtaking if they’d been there for sightseeing.
He reached for her, his hands itching to slide around her hips to see if she was as soft as she looked.
A hard stare from dark eyes kept him from following through with his desires.
“Alright, why don’t you start with why you’re here with me.” She folded her arms over her chest. The action one of self-defense.
“I’m here because you’re my mate. The how I got here, or why I’m here is a little different.” He couldn’t stand the space she was trying to put between them. Moving closer, he pulled her arms down. A little surprised at the ease he accomplished his task. “I’ve been having dreams.”
His snarky little mate raised one brow, otherwise she kept quiet, so he gave a nod. “They start off the same. I’m chasing after an elusive female as she calls my name, begging me to save her.” He paused as she shook her head. “Hush, I can see your denial written all over your gorgeous face. When I finally catch up to...to her, she’s...you’re lying in the middle of a road.” He couldn’t go on. Not with the images in his head being overlaid with the very real images of Torrance.
“What am I, or rather your dream female, doing in the street?” she asked, wiggling to put a little space between them.
It was in that moment he realized he could be hurting her with his much larger self. “Shit, I’m sorry, upendo. Are you okay?” He ran his hands up and down her arms, rubbing over her shoulders and down again, checking for any injuries he may have caused.
“Stop stalling and start speaking. And just so you know, these goosebumps are from the air, gratus.” She shivered in his arms, her sweet peppermint scent giving lie to her words.
“Hmm, I like that, upendo.” His body did too, hardening even further at the name she’d called him when he recognized it as beloved in Gaelic.
“Thadd, I will start removing beloved body parts if you don’t start spitting the words outta your mouth I need to hear. Notice I didn’t say want.”
“There is fog all around us until I fall to my knees next to you. Upendo, I didn’t know you, the dream you, but I knew in my soul you were mine. Even as the female lay there, her life slipping away. I had to save her. Night after night, I chased a ghost until I woke up drenched in sweat with a need to get on my bike and ride. I let my instinct show me the way. It was instinct that had me stopping here, or rather tried but I had stopped listening and found myself in Asswhatever and came face-to-face with Zelda. Let me tell you, she is not all there.” He shuddered slightly.
“Do you have a prejudice against witches, Thadd?” Her dark eyes blinked up at him while her scent disappeared again.
“How do you do that?” he questioned.
“Do what?”
“That? Your scent? You mask it or it disappears. I’m not sure which it is.” As she tried to move out of his arms, he held tighter. “Stop it. I’m not letting you go. We will work things through by talking and being honest.”
“Fine, then answer my question.” Her panther was pressing forward, making his lion rise to meet her.
“I have nothing against witches. Hell, I’ve never met one until you, Zelda, and her friend Sassy. Why do you ask? Did you think I didn’t notice your wiggling fingers or whispering words before things happened?” Hello, she was not only a kickass panther who had a questionable familiar, but she was a witch. What did that make her exactly?
“He has finally realized his maybe mate is a freak. Give the lion a prize and let him pass go without collecting the weirdo. Let me go now.” She pushed harder against him.
“Fuck that. Did you not see what the hell you were saddling yourself to back at your place? For shittastic mates, you definitely win the prize, my beautiful mate. I mean, I probably should offer you a dowry or something.” He bent, his lion needing to wipe the scent of sadness from her. He did too. Both of them hating that she’d worried they wouldn’t accept her.
“Your dream?”
Thadd wanted to curse at her reminder. “Yeah.”
“I died right?” she whispered.
“I won’t let that happen,” he growled. His lion roaring inside would’ve scared all of wildlife within a hundred-mile radius.
She pushed away from him, her hair crackling. “You can’t predict the future or be with me twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.”
“Wanna bet?” He crowded against her back, wrapping
