Page 39 of Feral
“Want to try that again, in a bed?”
How could I do that, have sex which wasn’t just sex, it was aconnection, with a lie between us? How could I tell him the truth? It was a federal case I was involved in. I couldn’t even tell my mother, if I had one.
And yet, I did want to try that again. In a bed.
“Food first.” I was starving.
“I have no clothes here. I’m not sure if cooking naked is a good idea.”
“Walking home naked is?” I countered.
“I’ll stay here until dark, then shift and run home.”
Something he’d said before made sense now with some context. “I’m guessing the dog Markle shot wasn’t a dog?”
He moved me, so I lay mostly on top of him, one of my legs settling between his. He stroked back my hair from my face. I had no idea where the hair tie went, but I had no doubt it was a wild snarl now.
“It was one of the younger wolves—just a teen—cutting across your property to meet a girl.”
I couldn’t help but grin. “You shifters are a randy bunch.” Another thought came to me. “Audrey came by the other day. Is she—”
“No. She’s Boyd’s mate. Wife, too. She’s human like you. Her sister, Marina, is mated to Colton.”
“Mated?”
His skin beneath me was almost hot to the touch. I swirled my finger through his chest hair.
“When a shifter finds the female for him, they mate.”
“Is that a kinky word for sex?”
“It’s a permanent bond, a lifelong one. Mating occurs during sex when a male bites his mate.”
My mouth fell open, and I met his gaze. “That’s why you said you’d want to mark me with your teeth.”
He blinked. “Yes. It embeds our scent into the female’s skin, so the other males will know she’s been claimed.”
“And the full moon...makes you want to mark a woman?”
He shook his head. “Only one. You only get the urge to mark the female your wolf chooses.”
I swallowed. “And you have that urge with me.”
I caught a vulnerability in his gaze—the first time I’d seen him anything but strong. He nodded. “My wolf chose you.”
Oh my God.
“Oh my God,” I whispered. He wanted tomateme? As in a lifelong, permanent bond? Withme?
“I… I don’t know what to say. I mean it’s—”
He put a finger over my lips. “Don’t freak out. It’s too much to take in all at once.”
“So, what makes the wolf choose?”
He shrugged. “No one knows. Fate, I guess.”
I suddenly recalled his use of the wordfateduring sex when we were at his place. Like a curse word. Or praising a deity.
