Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 108368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Derren’s eyes fell on a bite mark—his mark—on her neck, and his wolf growled with satisfaction. A brand was a symbol of possession, and for a shifter to leave a brand on another was, in effect, a temporary claim. On some level, Derren had known from the very first thrust that he’d need more than one night. And just maybe the brands she’d left on him indicated that she felt the same. But shifters were known to leave brands if the sex was wild enough, and there was no denying that what had happened between them had been wild and primal.
Whatever the motivation behind Ally marking him, she wasn’t getting away from him. He needed more than one night. Of course she’d object to that, whether she wanted the same or not, because Ally was skittish. But he knew he wouldn’t behave and leave her alone . . . even if she did have the potential to fast become an addiction.
CHAPTER EIGHT
The smell of coffee woke Ally . . . which was odd, since she was sure she’d switched it off—
Derren’s mouth on hers. His fingers threading through her hair. His cock thrusting inside her. His teeth grazing and biting.
As the entirety of last night’s events crashed into her mind, she moaned. Although she didn’t regret any of it, she still cursed herself for being weak and giving in to him. Or, more accurately, for giving in to herself. Her wolf was extremely smug about it.
Ally was surprised he’d lingered. She’d pegged him for the type to scamper while she was sleeping and escape any morning-after awkwardness. She should have known better. Derren didn’t flee from anything. He faced everything in life head-on, almost daring the world to come at him.
She, on the other hand, would have been happy to avoid any post-one-night-stand discomfort. As a shifter, she had no hang-ups about casual sex. After all, a girl had to eat. Still, a one-night stand was new territory for her. She didn’t know the morning-after etiquette.
Did she say thanks and hint for him to leave?
Was she supposed to make him breakfast?
Were they meant to discuss it? She didn’t really see the point in postmortems.
Getting it right was important, because she’d have to see this guy every day for the next few months. She didn’t want things to be weird and uncomfortable between them from this point on.
Hoping she didn’t make an idiot out of herself by drowning in an ocean of unnecessary embarrassment, she headed inside the lodge. Fully dressed and looking unfairly presentable for a guy who had spent a huge portion of the night fucking her into oblivion, Derren was in the kitchen. His gaze met hers, filled with heat and awareness, as he offered her a mug of coffee.
“Morning,” he greeted, twirling a strand of her hair around his finger. “I’m not good in the kitchen, so I didn’t even bother attempting to cook.”
No awkward vibes, no uneasy silence. Surprised, Ally took the mug. The weight of his intense gaze made a blush unexpectedly stain her cheeks. She felt . . . vulnerable, but she couldn’t explain why. She cleared her throat. “I thought you’d have left.”
His eyes narrowed slightly. “Did you now?”
As his gaze dropped to her neck, she remembered how he’d bitten her there. “I told you not to mark me.”
“I carry your mark too.” Derren rolled back his shoulder, reminding her how she’d dug her claws so deep in his flesh that she’d drawn blood.
Her face heated even more. “That was my wolf.” The animal had lunged for him, wanted to brand him as he’d branded her.
A smile curved his mouth. “Blaming your wolf? Tut, tut, tut.”
Yeah, that was low. And yeah, okay, it would be fair to say that she hadn’t fought her wolf’s urge to brand him. That simply pissed her off, because, dammit . . . “I’m not a possessive person.”
“Neither am I.” He skimmed his fingers along her collarbone. “But you . . . it’s different with you.”
Seeing the flare of determination in his eyes, she swallowed hard. “We agreed that it would be just one night, Derren.”
“We did. But I’ve changed my mind. I want more.”
She sighed. “Look, I’m not saying last night wasn’t good. It was—”
“Fucking amazing. And it will happen again.”
“We need to forget it ever happened. Cain will flip if he—”
“What have I told you?” He gripped her jaw. “This is about you and me. No one else.” Neither Derren nor his wolf wanted her thinking of any other guy, particularly the one who was her intended mate. Jealousy slithered through Derren every time she even said Cain’s name. “What he’ll think or feel about us makes no fucking difference to me.”
She pulled out of his hold. “It should. He’s your friend, and you’d be risking that friendship.” Cain would be pissed that his friend had “used” the girl he viewed as his little sister—that was how he’d see it.