Page 12 of Primal

Smart girl that she was, she only nodded.

“But you were drawn to him.”

She nodded again.

“That’s because he’s my son, andyouaremymate.” I rushed on because there was no doubt she had a million questions.

Her gaze whipped to mine, and her brows shot up. “Excuse me?”

I climbed up beside her on the bed. I wanted to straddle her waist, hold her down, and explain myself with a long, claiming kiss, but I’d already fucked this one up pretty good. If I wanted to make her understand, I needed to stop scaring the poor girl. One way to do that was untie her, but that wasn’t happening.

So I’d continue to unintentionally scare her and try to explainat the same time.

“Every shifter has one true mate,” I began. “The female who nature deemed perfect for you. Some believe it’s fate, not nature. It’s true that it’s more than a biological match–it’s a true connection. Since there’s only one, and your mate could be anywhere in the world, most of us don’t even hope to find ours.” I stabbed my fingers through my hair. “Like me. Especially when you’ve stayed in the same small town you grew up in and had a kid.”

Riley’s gaze was riveted to my face but remained quiet.

Did she wear mascara or were her lashes naturally that long and dark? Fuck–I was losing focus. I’d better not look at that mouth of hers, or it would all be over.

I cleared my throat. “My, uh, ex-wife found her mate. It wasn’t me, obviously.”

I couldn’t help but watch when Riley licked her lips, her little pink tongue flicking out. My dick twitched. Balls ached. “So…”

“So, I showed up at your house to take you to Missoula to have the memory of you seeing Tyler shift to a wolf and fight the mountain lion wiped from your head, but the moment I caught your scent back at your place, I realized you belong to me.”

“Am I supposed to call you Daddy or something? Is this a kink of yours?”

I frowned at what she was suggesting. “What? Hell, no, you’re not calling me Daddy. That’s not a kink of mine.Youare my kink.”

Riley started shaking her head slowly. “Uh uh. No. I don’t belong to you.”

Now I did shift positions, straddling my reluctant mate. She was so much smaller than me. Fragile, yet so bold and daring. I had to wonder if she even knew how wild she was.

“Yes. You’re my mate,” I repeated. “The one female who is perfect for me.”

She whimpered, but it sounded more wanton than afraid. It sounded like a pickup line, something a woman longed to hear, but it wasn’t. Although I did have her in bed. Tied to it. Heated and pumping out her sweet scent that called to me.

“I’m gonna kiss you, Riley Abbott,” I warned her, unable to control it a second longer. “And you’re gonna tell me if it feels wrong, like when you kissed Tyler. Or if it feels like you just found the one male who makes your body come alive.”

I lowered my head slowly, giving her time to protest. I might’ve talked a big game, but I wasn’t going to force her into anything she wasn’t ready for. Even if it killed me.

She didn’t stop me. Yes! Those juicy lips of hers parted, and she lifted her face to mine.

I tried to go slowly. Tried to force down the aggression of my wolf, who was howling to claim her. I stroked my lips across hers, taking my time with a few sensual glides before my tongue slid into her mouth.

The feel of her. Her taste. Her scent. FUCK.

The moment she started kissing me back, though, I forgot to go slow. My dick surged against my zipper, pressing into the notch between her legs. I rocked my hips as I fucked her with my tongue, sucked her lips, claimed her mouth like someone was trying to steal it from me.

When I broke the kiss, we were both breathless. I was sure my eyes were glowing amber. Her skin was flushed a lovely shade of pink. Her scent was thicker than ever.

“Well?” I demanded. I stroked my thumb across her silky cheek. Her body trembled beneath mine.

“Untie me,” she whispered as she looked up at me with those chocolate eyes. They were cloudy with desire. She wasn’t unaffected, thank fuck.

“Sugar, the rope’s for your protection. You ran from my wolf,” I explained. “You can’t do that unless you want me to fuck you good and hard.”

“You’re saying you tied me to the bed, so you won’t fuck me?” The way she took in every inch of me, I wasn’t sure if she was asking because she didn’t want me to or because she did.