Series: Shifter Ops Series by Renee Rose
Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 65371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65371 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 327(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 218(@300wpm)
Who would do anything to protect her and Geo.
I kiss her hair, breathing in her lavender and lilac scent.
“Strange but good,” she says, and my heart gives a double-pump.
“So good.” I somehow manage to keep my voice steady.
My wolf nudges me to take this further, but I ignore him. For now, this is enough. My mate is here in my arms. Naked. Sated. Well-loved.
Not claimed, but that can wait.
I’d wait an entire lifetime for this female.
Chapter Nine
Julia
On Tuesday, I wake before Channing and wrap myself in a warm robe. Not wanting to wake anyone, I slip my feet into my house shoes and step outside on the deck to witness dawn.
Today is the anniversary of Geoffrey’s death. I don’t know if Channing remembers. Geo won’t. I don’t usually make a big deal out of it.
For the past four days, Channing has turned my world upside down. In a good way. He makes me coffee in the mornings, gets Geo off to school. He invited over his shifter friend, Buddy, and together they’ve knocked out all the little house projects that have accumulated over the years.
Buddy is a strange character, a huge guy who drives a run down old Charger. His hair is thick black except for white streak right on the center. I want to know what shifter he is, but I’m not sure if it’s polite to ask. When I met him, he blinked at me sleepily and said not a word, just quietly helped Channing replace all the windows in the house.
“He’s not a big talker,” Channing told me later. “But he’s the best at surveillance.”
“You used him to keep an eye on us?”
Channing gave me a secret smile. I protest, but deep down, I love that he went to such lengths to protect us. To care for me.
Channing’s fixed every broken thing around the house.
Including my sex life.
That’s been the most incredible part. Every night he makes me scream with pleasure. Last night, he kept me on the edge of an orgasm for over an hour before finally giving me the command to come.
I’ve never climaxed so hard in my life.
He’s been great with Geo. Making sure he gets his homework done. Taking him for a run after dusk. He says Geo can shift between his human and wolf form without a hitch now.
Which has me anxious.
Because I don’t know if Channing will hang around much longer. He said I’m his mate, but we’ve had absolutely no discussion about what that means. What he wants.
It’s probably too soon, anyway. We’re getting to know each other again.
Today, though, everything feels sticky and hard.
I usually spend the anniversary of Geoffrey’s death out in nature on a hike. Out in the forest where Geoffrey loved to run. Every year gets both easier and harder. Easier because the grief lessens its hold on me. But harder because his memory fades even more. I don’t want to let go of all the little memories and reminders that used to poke and hurt me. I want to keep them forever. To honor everything Geoffrey was to me.
This year, though, I don’t know what to think.
Channing is here. I’ve slept with him. Multiple times.
It feels disloyal to Geoffrey’s memory but not entirely wrong.
The door opens quietly behind me, and Channing steps out in nothing but his boxer shorts.
“Hey.” The word is soft. Laced with concern.
He remembers, too, then.
He comes and wraps his arms around me from behind. One of his hands is closed.
I pry it open and find Geoffrey’s Army tags. “Where did you find these?” I take them from his hand and turn them over. The sight of them gores me right through the middle. The Army is what took him from me.
“I took them when he died. I…needed something of his to remind me of the kind of man I wanted to become.” I hear an ocean of pain and regret in Channing’s voice.
I press the tags back into his palm. I don’t turn around because I’m already so raw. It’s easier to speak without eye contact. Joined together but without the added intensity of being face to face.
I watch the sky changing color from shades of gray to pink and orange.
“He’d be so proud of what you made of yourself, Channing.”
Channing clears his throat. “I don’t know about that.”
Now I turn. I have to. Is Channing functioning from some idea that he still doesn’t measure up?
And–oh, God–have I reinforced that by treating him like the fuck-up he always was when he showed up here this time? A tight band squeezes my lungs.
“Why do you say that?” I demand.
Channing shrugs. “I’m not Geoffrey. I’m not the leader of my team. I’m a sell-out. I left the military to do work-for-hire. I’m still the guy who you’d rather invite to a party than have a serious conversation with.”