Page 70 of Alaska Lights

My face is burning with embarrassment. I can’t even look at him. What kind of mate am I?

“It’s…I…you…we…I just…I wanted…I thought…” I stumble over every attempt to explain myself.

“Hey.” His voice is soft, along with his touch on my arm. “Please look at me.”

I do as he says, knowing he can see how beet red my cheeks are. I am not the guy who gets embarrassed. I’ve turned off most of my emotions over the years, and it’s been a very long time since I’ve felt like this. Caught red-fucking-handed, proving I have no clue what to do.

“I’ve researched too.”

My brows raise. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Like you, I wanted to know, but um…”

“But?” I bend down, trying to capture his gaze again. “But I didn’t…I didn’t research this. I researched the opposite because I don’t think I want to top. Unless that’s a problem for you. We can try anything. I’m just trying to listen to myself.”

Gripping his shirt, I tug him forward, planting a kiss on him. I groan the moment our lips touch; the relief of knowing I’m not alone has me relaxing. Leo’s arms wrap around my waist, tugging me forward, and I follow because being close is never close enough when it comes to him.

I pull away before I strip him bare right here and now. “Whatever you want, I’ll do. That’s what is most important to me. Whatever you’re comfortable with.” The last thing I want to do is rush him, and that’s exactly what is going to happen when I tell him how much time we have if we don’t complete the bond.

He blows out a breath and closes his eyes, nodding, his heart galloping as fast as a horse setting free in a field.

“We go at your pace.” I step back, wanting to get a good look at him. “I was going to ride up to the cabin to pick you up. You didn’t have to walk out here. I’m a gentleman.” My eyes blaze when I see what he is wearing; my vision is dripping in red.

“I didn’t have a lot of options considering you don’t like when I wear Soren’s clothes, so I didn’t bother asking him or Glenn. Your shirt was the best I could do.”

“Give me a spin, Honeybee.” I twirl him. “Nice and slow. Let me look at my beautiful mate.” His blood sings from the praise, rushing through his veins, warm and inviting, just daring me to take one little sip.

He decided on one of my many black shirts, but this one is huge on him and swallows him whole. I know I’m a big guy and my mate is nothing to sneeze at. He’s over six feet tall, and I love that my shirt engulfs him.

“Soren talked me into wearing sweatpants since it gets so cold at night. I was ready to flaunt my bare legs in nothing but a shirt.” The sweatpants bunch at his ankles, showing how they are too big for his frame.

I growl, forcing him to spin for me again. “I’m going to be taking those off anyway, and it’s going to be me who keeps you warm.”

“Alaska,” he blushes while moving in a slow, tight circle so I can have my fill.

I wish he wasn’t wearing sweatpants. I want to see the slightest tease of his thigh and lift the bottom of that shirt up, up, and up, revealing the body that was made for me.

“You look gorgeous.” The compliment leaves me without effort. “I love it when you’re in my clothes.”

“You’re so possessive. If you weren’t a vampire, it would be a red flag.”

I tug him forward, his chest bumping against mine. I drift my fingers down his spine, and his long lashes flutter, shadowing his high cheekbones.

“I’ll always be possessive when it comes to you.” I brush my thumb across his bottom lip, the plump cloud as soft as silk that I really want draped all over my body.

My boots look giant on his feet. A few sizes too big. He looks like a whole fucking meal dressed from head to toe in my apparel. He even styled his curls, which lie perfectly over his forehead. Every time he moves, those curls bounce.

To others, he is wearing nothing special, but to me, he looks like he stepped out of my dreams.

“There’s no way you’re real,” he wonders out loud, lifting a hand to my face.

Pinching my brows together in understanding, I lean against his palm. “I’m real, Honeybee. As real as you. As real as the way you make my heart race every time I’m around you.” I move his hand to my chest. “And my kind, we have very slow heartbeats.”

He reaches for my mouth with his index finger, and my entire body freezes, completely still, wondering what he could want.

“May I?” my sweet, curious mate questions, eyeing my fangs.

I take off my cowboy hat and hold it behind my back, tilting my chin to my chest as a yes. I’ve never had anyone touch my fangs, but I’ve heard they are very sensitive if the right person strokes them.