She finally collapsed on top of him, nestling her head in the crook of his neck. She stared at his nipple and grazed one finger over the tip while her breathing came back to normal in sync with his.
“You must be starving. I know I am.” His voice was raspy and deep
,
and it vibrated through her.
She nodded against his chest. “I haven’t eaten since breakfast. God.” Her stomach picked that moment to rumble.
“Well, me neither. Someone was having the nap of a lifetime against my chest.”
She lifted her face to see his. “And it was the best sleep of my life.”
“Good.” He set a finger on her nose. “Now, let me feed you before you collapse on me.” He sat, taking her with him, still buried inside her.
Their faces met at the same level in this position and Allison took his head in both hands. “How did I get so lucky? It’s like the universe is making up for a year of bad luck in one day.”
He set his forehead against hers. “I don’t know, but I’m not questioning it. I’ve never been this happy. And I’m a happy kind of guy.” He grinned.
She lifted off him, wishing she could stay locked in that particular position forever, but knowing they needed to eat soon or they wouldn’t have the energy for round three.
•●•
Daniel eased from the bed, setting his feet on the ground and then padding to the bathroom. He flipped on the shower and then stuck his head back into the bedroom. “You coming, lazy?”
He watched as his sweet mate pulled herself reluctantly to standing and approached on wobbly legs. He knew he’d worn her out, but in addition she wasn’t back in full swing yet from lacking good food for so long.
He took her hand and led her into the shower. He’d built this cabin himself, intentionally ensuring the shower was large and luxurious so he could share it one day with his mate. That day had come
,
and as he pressed her against the wet tile and took her mouth, he thanked God for the delivery of this woman into his life.
They had ten thousand issues to overcome in the near future, but they would work things out because there was no other choice. She was his and he would follow her to the ends of the Earth if necessary to make her happy.
Fleeting thoughts of his obligation to NAR made him pause for only a moment. He chased that hurdle from his head, preferring to deal with reality later.
He released her lips, leaving her with pink cheeks and deep breaths. He loved how easy it was to bring her to such a heightened aroused state. But now they needed soap and then food.
Reluctantly he grabbed the shampoo and poured it on his hand.
Allison stepped under the hot spray of the shower and let it cascade down her long hair. He paused to watch it drip over her pert nipples. Her breasts weren’t huge. They were less than a handful, but they were gorgeous and he knew they would fill out more as she gained some much-needed weight.
When she lifted her hands to run them over her head, he sucked in a breath watching her nipples rise higher. He had to close his eyes a moment to control himself.
His hand shook
,
and he glanced to see he still held a pool of shampoo. “Come here, baby.” He tugged her from the spray with his free hand and proceeded to wash her hair. The thick locks eased between his fingers as he massaged her scalp.
Allison moaned and tipped her head back, turning at the same time to face the wall so he would have a better angle.
Daniel rubbed the suds into her shoulders next and then reached around to caress her breasts with both hands, the slippery shampoo making her feel slick and smooth. She leaned her back into his chest and sighed, her eyes closed to avoid the soap running down her face.
He had to release her and finish the shower, but it took a grand effort.
While she once again stood under the spray, he grabbed the bottle of body wash. He had to disassociate to run his hands over the rest of her body, her gorgeous pale skin making his cock rock hard. When he finished with the soap, he handed her the conditioner. “I’ll let you finish before I can’t control myself.” He looked away so he could wash himself without nailing her sexy body to the wall. His cock wanted her again already. Hell, his brain and his heart did too, but she needed a break.
And they both needed food.
As if they did this every day of their lives, he stepped from the shower, handed her a towel
,
and they dried themselves in silence.
Daniel secured his towel to his waist and nodded toward the door. “Dinner first. Then we’ll talk.”
He didn’t want to talk. He wanted to fuck. But they hadn’t mentioned the details of their future yet
,
and soon that would have to be faced. At least the immediate decisions. Like the fact that he didn’t intend to let her out of his sight even for a moment.
“Can I borrow a T-shirt?” she asked as she followed him back into the bedroom, her towel wrapped around her body.
Daniel padded to the dresser and pulled out a T-shirt for Allison and a pair of loose shorts for himself. While he stepped into his shorts, dropping his towel on the floor, he watched his mate set her towel on the foot of the bed and shrug into his shirt. It was way too big for her tiny frame, hanging halfway down her thighs, but he figured it would give her some semblance of modesty while they ate.
He kissed her soundly and then took her hand and drew her from the room. “It’s not a huge house,” he said as they walked. “But I built it myself and I love it.” Hell, he’d only finished it this past spring, doing most of the work himself.
She released his hand and wandered around the open living room
-
kitchen area, her eyes soaking in every aspect of his home. “I love it. It’s so…open. I love the space. Even though it’s not very big, it feels open.”
He watched her face. She meant what she said. He knew she was uncomfortable with tight spaces after being confined for so long. “I’m glad you like it. If you want to change anything, it’s your home now too.”
She smiled at him but then resumed perusing his belongings. He watched as she wandered from the stone hearth to the dark black leather couch. She ran her fingers across the end table. “You don’t have a television?” She lifted her gaze.
“I do. It’s inside that cabinet.” He pointed at the rustic armoire in the corner. “I just don’t like to see it all the time. Something about the modernness of it doesn’t suit the space.”
She twisted around, her gaze roaming over the real wood logs that made up the walls. “You’re right. It doesn’t really fit in.”
Daniel left her to explore and entered the kitchen area. The room was all one great room, so he could see her while he pulled food out of the refrigerator and began to cook. “Do you like hamburgers?”
“God that sounds delicious.”
He set about making patties and then grabbed a bag of precut fries from the freezer to stick in the oven. Anything more elegant would have to wait for another day. Right now, he just wanted to eat and wrap himself around his mate again.
She wandered over to the island he worked at and leaned on her elbows. “Feed me.” She grinned.
“Working on it.” He grabbed a pan and set it on the stove. “Cheese?”
“Yum.” She licked her lips
,
and he couldn’t resist leaning over the island to kiss her again. “What can I do to help?” She righted herself and propped her hands on the granite surface.
Daniel turned to the refrigerator again and pulled out lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles. “Want to cut the tomatoes?”
“Sure.”
He handed her a knife and a cutting board
,
and they worked in silence for a few minutes. When he set the burgers in the pan, the smell filling the room made them both groan.
“I’ve never been this hungry. Even though I haven’t eaten well in months, I feel like a weak
,
starving refugee right now.”
“Mating will do that to you.”
She flushed. Her cheeks grew pink as the heat rushed down her face and neck.
The dinner was easy. They devoured everything. He loved the way she didn’t worry overly so about manners or filling her mouth too full or getting ketchup on her lips.
When he finished, he set his elbows on the table and watched her eat the rest of her food. “You’re beautiful.”
She swallowed a bite and rolled her eyes. “I’m eating like a pig.”
“I love it. You’re too skinny.”
She grinned. “There’s a line men don’t usually use.” She glanced at the window. “Shit. It’s dark. I haven’t spoken to my parents all day.”
“Do they know where you are?”
“Yes. I told my mom when I left this morning. About you, I mean.”
“Then they know.” Every wolf who’d ever mated understood what happened in the first few hours, days, weeks. “When are they leaving?”
She turned back to him. “We were supposed to leave together in a few days.”
He took her hands across the table and held her gaze. “Will you stay?”
“Twelve hours ago I would have told you hell no. I don’t see how that’s an option anymore. But I haven’t been home yet. I need to go back to New York and take care of my things.”
“Were you living with your parents?”
She shook her head. “No. But my belongings are at their place. I was living with a family as their nanny.” Her gaze lowered as she inhaled.
“I’m so sorry. That must have been hard.”
“Yes. They were sweet kids. They had to scramble to find another caregiver when I disappeared. They’re also shifters
,
and the family has been very kind to my parents, providing them with a shoulder to lean on when they realized I hadn’t just run off with my mate but had been taken against my will.”
“What made them think you had gone on your own accord?” He gripped her hands tighter. He ached deep inside for what she’d been through.
“I texted them several times the first few days to let them know I was with my mate and the happiest person alive.”
“Why did you do that?” He furrowed his brow, confused.
“I didn’t.” She tilted her head to one side. “But they thought I did. My kidnapper acted as though he were me. It took several weeks before they grew suspicious enough to contact The Head Council. They knew from the start the matter would need to be handled by the shifter community and not the local human police. The way my kidnapper spoke to them by text tipped them off eventually that it wasn’t me making the communications
,
and his jargon solidified that he was a shifter.”
“God. That must have been awful for them. And you of course, but…”
“Yeah, they were very relieved when Evan was assigned to the case and worked night and day to track me down. My mother cried a bucket of tears when she got here.”
“I’m sure. And you were in Minnesota?”
“Yes, somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the mountains. Very far from anything. At least that’s what I was told. I spent the majority of the last year in a tiny, one-room, rickety, old cabin with a man who was like my guard. He barely spoke to me
,
and the only food we had was delivered by a group of shifters about once a month.”
“But they took you someplace else a few times?” He cringed inside, knowing he needed to discuss this with her and not wanting to upset her or make things worse. But she was his mate
,
and she needed validation right now, from him. It didn’t matter how many counselors she met with or how many group sessions she attended with the other women. She needed to tell Daniel what happened in her own words. He knew that.
“Yes.” She sighed. “And that part is very foggy. I was always drugged. My memory of what happened at that place is spotty. It was a sterile, white, hospital-type location. Shifters shuffled all around me at all hours of the day and night, but I was usually strapped to a table with an IV in my arm. I rarely woke up. It’s a blur.”
His chest beat harder. He knew all this. Evan had spoken to him. But it still hurt to hear it from her. “Come here.” He tugged her hands
,
and she stood to come around the corner of the table as he scooted his chair back from the edge. He pulled her into his lap and held her tight, threading his fingers into her damp hair. He inhaled her scent deeply and exhaled slowly until he could recoup some of his calm. “It’s over.” He stroked his other hand down her back, feeling every bump in her spine.
“I hope.”
“Maybe you’ll recover more of your memory about the times you were at that facility.”
“I hope for that too. Evan needs that information. The Head Council is counting on me to remember. I know doctors were in the room discussing things around me, but I can’t come up with anything specific. It just sounds like mumbling when I attempt to recover words.”
He kissed her temple. “Don’t stress over it. It will come in time or it won’t. It isn’t your responsibility.”
“Isn’t it? What if other women are there right now? What if more are taken?” She lifted her gaze. “It scares the shit out of me.”
“I know, baby. I know.” He kissed her forehead and trailed a line with his lips down her cheek to her neck.
She stretched her neck longer for him, tipping her head back and gripping his biceps as he worked his way to her shoulders.
Leaving the dishes where they were on the table, Daniel lifted his mate in his arms and carried her back to the bedroom. He lowered her onto the bed and climbed in beside her. As bad as he wanted to have sex with her again, her eyes were heavy with sorrow and lack of sleep. Even though she’d slept for hours all day while he watched her, she needed weeks of sleep to let her body heal and come back to herself.
Daniel tucked the comforter around his mate and held her loosely until her breathing evened out and he knew she was once again at peace in sleep. He eased from the bed and watched her for several minutes before leaving her to slumber and shutting the door to the bedroom to return to the kitchen.
“How’s it going?” Evan asked when Daniel finally called him a few hours later. He’d cleaned the kitchen and put everything away and then headed out to sit on the porch and make contact with the rest of the ranch.