Page 5 of Summertime Secret

“Answer me,” he commands, his fingers closing tight on my throat. It ought to scare me, this aggressive move. No, it turns me on until I am aching in his embrace.

“Yes. Yes, I feel it. Whatis it? Why do we feel this way?”

“We’re mates, sunshine. You.... are....mine.”

Chapter Four

Edon

Finding my mate is the purest thing I have ever known. Holding her in my arms, feeling her heartbeat, tasting her sweet skin, I am vibrating with joy. My wolf is whining inside of me, barking his own joy, so thrilled we have found her at last.

This soft, sweet, gentle little creature is mine. As I am hers. Once I tell her everything, once I explain who I am, who my wolf is, I will have to mate her. Not just take her as mine, but mate her with my mark. I must put a mark on her neck that brands her as mine.

“Lord you smell so good,” I moan the words as I scent her, smelling her skin, her sweet blood, even her wetness between her thighs. I want to taste it. To lick it up and swallow it down. I want to eat her whole, taste every inch of her glorious skin.

“Like muffins?” she mutters, tilting her head so I can kiss her throat, bite at her flesh, my fingers closing on her slender throat.

“No, sweetheart you smell like you. Like mine. You’re going to smell so good once we mate. I’m going to have your sweet scent on me for days.”

“Do you mean...mate as in... have babies?”

I almost laugh. Because yes, we’re going to have babies. As many pups as my sweet girl can carry. I’ve thought about nothing but her since last night. I never should have let her go. I cannot stand the idea of her not being close, not being where I can protect her.

If she had not come back tonight, I would have gone to her. I would have been able to follow her sweet scent. It has intoxicated me since last night. I almost left my campers to go to her, to be sure she was safe before I found her today. I am pleased my mate came to me.

“Yes, babies. But I mean everything else you think I do, sweetheart. Am I scaring you yet?”

Humming the words against her throat, her pulse jumps against my lips. I smile, squeezing her tighter to me. No, she is not scared. Hell, part of me thinks she ought to be. It was scary for me to find out about this other world, one living right alongside the rest of the world.

“No. Is this you trying to scare me?” Her voice hitches with humor and I swear my heart flutters as if she just gave it wings. How could I have gotten this lucky?

“Never. Just want to prepare you. Lots of change is coming our way. First things first, don’t you ever bring sweets out here for anyone else but me, sunshine,” I tease her, pressing a kiss to her jaw.

Turning in my arms, she smirks at me. My chest swells because goddess above, she is beautiful. Those eyes of hers, they’re a color unlike I’ve ever seen. Mossy green, but clear, warm. They crinkle at the edges as she smiles, and I decide I want to keep her smiling for the rest of my damn life.

“Who said I was bringing them to anyone else?”

Growling, I almost claim her mouth in a kiss. Not yet. I am excited, my wolf is wild inside of me, but she is lying. Well, not about those muffins—she brought those just for me, I can tell. No, she is scared. Not that I will hurt her or that I would ever let anyone else hurt her. My sweet baker girl is afraid of what she is feeling.

Letting my arms drop, I take a step back. I almost laugh again. That move does not sit right with her. We both prefer her nestled against my chest. Soon. Reaching out, I cup the side of her face, our gaze locked as I take a calming breath.

“Tell me your name, sunshine.”

“Bessi. You said this is not magic. I think magic exists,” she lowers her voice, as if we’re sharing a secret. I guess in a way, we are. “Luci found some magic with someone. I love all the stories about magic here in Moon Haven. Witches or wizards. Wild animals. You said this is not magic.... why does it feel as if it is?”

Cupping her face in gentle hands, I note the shimmer in her eyes. Those beautiful eyes show everything. Bessi believes in magic. Because she can sense it inside of me. Inside of herself. There is a reason she was drawn out here. It was not her getting lost, as I said to her just last night. No, it was her finding her way to me.

“It is a little magic. You will understand soon. Bessi, let me take you home. I do not want you out here in the wild.”

“I like itout herein the wild,” she shoots back as she beams up at me.

“So do I. Be a good girl and let me take you home, yeah?”

“Yes,” she answers before I even finish asking. I smile and rub my thumb softly over her soft lips. Praising her with touch. “What do I call you? I told you my name now tell me yours.”

“You may call me whatever you wish. Edon is what the rest of the world calls me.”

Bessi’s face flushes warm beneath my touch, the prettiest pink touching her cheeks. God, she’s beautiful. How am I just finding her? How has she hidden somewhere right here in the open? Moon Haven is small enough I should know of her, of this other woman she calls Luci—her sister, I sense from the fondness of her tone—and yet I have never seen her. I would have known the moment I laid eyes on her that she was what I’ve been searching for all my life.