There was a connection between them she couldn’t quite put her finger on. It wasn’t just the mating call of her wolf, either. No, this felt deeper…more human. Booker had quickly weaved his way into her heart and mind. She was fairly sure she was falling in love with him, and she needed to touch him to be sure.
“How was your nap?” he heaved as he placed another round piece of wood on top of the tree stump he used to do his work.
“Very restful,” she admitted. “Need help stacking?”
“Sure,” he panted. “I’m almost done.” Almost done meant there was still another hour or two worth of work to be done, but they worked together while getting the chore completed.
Aspen caught him several times watching her as she worked, and she’d be lying if she said she hadn’t watched him either. The heavy eyes and heated glances were driving her insane, and her mating scent was thick in the air. So much so, she was almost drunk on it by the time they entered his cabin.
“Your scent is driving me mad, Aspen,” he growled as he stalked her across the living room. She walked backward, bumping into the wall. His hands came up beside her head, and he leaned over to scent her neck, but he didn’t touch her.
“I want to touch you,” she admitted as he boxed her in between his arms. Aspen’s wolf prowled and pushed at her skin, causing her eyes to change color and her canines to thicken in her mouth. “If I do, I will submit to you, Booker, and you need to understand how that is done.”
“Submit?” he asked, using his eyes to trace her lips. His heated gaze left a burn across her skin like he’d already touched her and marked her like a male of her kind.
“We mate as our animals do,” she began, releasing a soft breath as she lowered her eyes. “A shifter male will take their mate from behind, biting her to mark her skin. The female will then, in turn, push the male to his back and mount him on top. She bites him next. It’s a mark to show other shifters that they are a mated pair.”
“I don’t care if you bite me, Aspen,” he admitted. “In fact, I want you to. I want you to stay with me and never leave. The last three days have been terrible without you here.”
“Oh, Booker,” she whispered. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, Aspen,” he stated, and his words were strong. “I want you to touch me to see if we are mated by your kind’s laws, and if we are, I want you to stay with me. I can’t imagine my life without you in it. I don’t know how this has happened so fast, but I don’t care. I need you, honey. I need you…bad.” The last word rolled off his tongue, and she felt her sex ache with need for him.
“I have to warn you, though,” she said, not in the least bit shy about what she was about to tell him. “I’ve never been with a male before.”
“Ever?” he asked. His blue eyes darkened, and she scented his desire. It wasn’t as strong as a shifter male’s mating scent, but as a human, he still released the pheromones that told her he was aroused.
“No, I haven’t,” she replied. “I know what will happen, though. My cousin, Harper, has prepared me for a mating since she has been through it with her mate.”
“I’ll be careful with you, Aspen,” he vowed and moved closer.
“I know you will,” she admitted.
She was ready. There was no hesitation on her part. She knew what she wanted, and Aspen was excited to finally find the male made just for her, and complete it. It was time she found her forever.
“You might feel magic when I touch you,” she warned, using both hands to cup his face.
The moment her skin connected with his, the wolf inside her howled as the magic that lived inside her swirled invisibly around them. Like a livewire had been set ablaze in her veins, Aspen gasped when he mimicked her pose, tightening his hands to keep her from melting in a puddle at his feet.
“Make me yours, Aspen,” he growled around her lips. He sucked air through his teeth so quickly, it sounded like a hiss. “I feel it…the magic. I know now what you mean. It’s true…real.”
“It is,” she whispered with a smile.
He pressed his lips to hers again, but this time, Booker scooped her up into his arms, carrying her to the bed she had used when she was there before. He set her on her feet and the backs of her legs bumped the edge of the mattress.
“Your teeth,” he mumbled, never reeling from her exposed canines.
“My wolf is close,” she admitted, reaching for the buttons of his shirt. “The animal wants control, but I want you to have it first.”
“What do you want me to do, Aspen?” He hadn’t stopped in his attentions, cupping her breast as he kissed a trail from her lips to her jaw, and onto her neck. She yearned for his bite, but it wouldn’t come. He was human.
And Aspen didn’t care.
“Make love to me, Booker…please.”
“Forever, honey,” he hummed as she reached for the waistband of his jeans.
Booker lifted her hip, wedging the top of his thigh under her. His first touch of her wetness spurred him on to prime her for their connection. “Relax, honey.”
Her moans and growls excited him, because she was very receptive to his touch. The magic she’d warned him about wasn’t lost on him. He felt it, and the connection between them grew
