“Yes.” She spoke the word softly, but there was certainty in her eyes. “I’m yours.”
His gaze slid to the bare spot on her shoulder. The sight taunted him. He wanted his bite there. He didn’t want to wait. She’d said she was his. She’d meant it. His cats pushed an image of Jasmine into his mind. She stood in a flowing white dress, her hair in some elaborate twist with flowers decorating it. The veil and rings on her finger completed the beautiful picture, but it was the mate bite on her shoulder that made their point.
Jasmine was the one who’d brought them peace. They wanted the world to know she belonged to him.
So did he. His mate. His wife. His partner. Everything—he wanted to make her his everything.
He closed his mouth over the delicate spot before he could think better of it and bit. The taste of blood teased his senses, yanking him back to reality. He couldn’t mate her. Not yet. She didn’t know everything.
He licked the wound, healing the cuts, then kissed Jasmine in order to distract him from how it had felt to have his female’s tender flesh in his mouth.
His cats pushed at him, their demand clear. This wasn’t what they wanted him to be doing with Jasmine. They wanted to guarantee their little slice of heaven.
Oh yes. Rafe needed to talk to Jasmine, sooner than he’d like. His cats had made their decision known. She would be his, and if he didn’t agree, they might just take the choice out of his hands.
Chapter 35
Jazz stood at her bedroom window and surveyed the landscape. Gray clouds hung over them, and fogged had rolled in, giving the woods surrounding her home a sinister feel. It matched the dark mood that had settled over her household.
For two days, they’d been inundated with drenching downpours. It was great for the dry spell the area suffered from. The weatherman claimed they were no longer under a drought warning. He’d delivered the week’s weather forecast with a smile while every single person staying under her roof—shifter and human alike—grumbled.
Her place was too small for the number of people in it. Josh’s parents were sleeping on an air mattress in the dining room because Josh’s mother couldn’t climb the steps. Mira and Megan were bunking with the boys. Josh and surprisingly, Devin, had the spare bedroom Megan had used on the first night. And the tiny room smack-dab in the middle was shared between Kade and Xander when they weren’t out in the rain patrolling the grounds.
Zach and Evan had the worst sleeping conditions—the chair in Mr. Wilkins’ hospital room. They’d decided not to take any chances with his life and had pulled strings to guarantee twenty-four hour surveillance. Well, they’d lied. She wasn’t about to sugarcoat their actions. They’d provided some documentation claiming they were related to him, then gifted the hospital with a large donation as long as they could stay with him.
Jazz was certain it was the sorely needed money for the funds-strapped hospital, along with the phone call from some colonel, that swayed them to break their rules more than the lame story Zach and Evan had come up with. No matter, the end result was the same.
All the people Jazz loved were safe. Sure, there were friends in town and some distant cousins scattered throughout the state but her seclusion had cut most of them out of her life. A few phone calls, here and there, were the extent of her interactions with them. Rafe didn’t believe Jon would target them. Jazz agreed.
Everyone in danger was here. Safe. That was a good thing but going into the third day since Jon had last struck—killing Cindy—nothing had happened. The waiting was driving her nuts. Jazz wanted the threat to them eliminated, once and for all. Any more catastrophes, and she’d scream.
The place was constantly messy, and tempers were flying. So many fistfights had broken out that even Josh’s mom didn’t bat an eye anymore.
Everyone was miserable—except for her and Rafe. Their days were spent talking and playing with the kids, while their nights were filled with passionate, hot, and sweaty sex. Throw in a good dose of oral stimulation and a little “punishment” and she was sated and happier than she’d thought possible.
She loved him. No doubt. No questions. After only a few days, she shouldn’t feel so sure, so confident in her choice, but she was. Rafe was the man she wanted to spend her life with…her immortal life.
Her decision was made. She was mating Rafe, but the conversation she’d overheard earlier in the day had made her doubts flare. Rafe was hiding something from her. Not about his love for her. He hadn’t come out and said the words, I love you. Neither had she, though. It was something else. Something big. She just didn’t know what.
Xander had asked Rafe if he thought she was strong enough to be a shifter’s mate, and Rafe had only grunted. Not the enthusiastic response she’d expected. He’d only ever told her how grateful he was to have found her. It had annoyed Jazz that Rafe wouldn’t proclaim the same to his friend, but she could understand not wanting to talk about emotional things with another guy. It was Xander’s parting words that sent Jazz running to her room and left her questioning Rafe.
“Well, I hope she makes it through the mating. You look good together.”
Just what was Rafe hiding about the mating? And if he was keeping details from her that involved tying her soul to his, what else was he failing to tell her about?
The bedroom door clicked, announcing Rafe’s presence, but she didn’t hear his approach. He shared many of the same traits his animal spirits did. Stealth and stubbornness being the biggest ones. Both had helped him capture her. He hadn’t given
