Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79587 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 398(@200wpm)___ 318(@250wpm)___ 265(@300wpm)
Then, her heart still hammering in her chest, she left his suite to call her mom and let her know she was bringing a ‘date’ for Christmas.
FOUR
GRATH
Grath grimaced and rubbed his aching groin as the door slid shut behind the little female. Damn it, if only she didn’t affect him so strongly! Feeling her soft, curvy body against his own had nearly driven him crazy. It was a damn good thing she’d been sitting on his left thigh and his shaft hung to the right. Otherwise she surely would have felt it when he started getting hard.
But it affected her too—getting so close, he thought and knew it was true. While she’d been sitting on his lap, all cuddled up against him, Madeline’s breathing had quickened and her heart rate had nearly doubled. He had heard it easily with his acute Hybrid senses. But those weren’t the only indications she was feeling the same thing he was.
Her scent, he thought, inhaling deeply. The warm, feminine fragrance of her desire still lingered in the air around him. It was the scent of her sweet little pussy getting hot and wet and ready and Grath wondered if she had any idea she was making it.
Probably not, he decided. Humans had exceptionally dull senses—at least compared with Kindred. He, on the other hand, was well aware that his own body had been making his Bonding Scent for Madeline—pumping it out like a cloud of pheromones to draw her to him and make her want him.
Grath frowned. He didn’t do it on purpose, anymore than Madeline’s sweet little pussy was getting wet on purpose when she was sitting on his lap. But it was going to be a problem if they kept on like this. A Kindred male’s Bonding Scent made him damn near irresistible to the female he was trying to attract—even if he wasn’t consciously trying to attract her.
That was the main reason he’d been keeping his distance from her all this time—because he knew that his body wanted her. That little tingle when they had first shaken hands had let him know they would be drawn to each other if given a chance.
Of course, his body didn’t know it couldn’t bond with her—any more than he hadn’t been able to bond with Ar’leenah. The attraction was purely a matter of chemistry and compatibility but it could never lead to anything, because he wasn’t going to risk another failed bonding.
Have to be careful, Grath warned himself. This is a tricky situation. I’ve got to keep my fucking head and remember that none of this can lead anywhere permanent. Madeline and I can never be together—ever! No matter how much I fucking want her.
With a sigh, he went to pack.
He had a feeling this was going to be the hardest mission of his entire life.
FIVE
MATTIE
“Okay, get ready,” Mattie said under her breath, as they stood outside the door of her parent’s home and prepared to knock. It was an old nineteenth century farmhouse which had been lovingly restored and it looked positively picturesque in the deepening dusk. “My mom can get kind of excited—she nearly gave me a migraine, she shouted so loud over the Think-me when I told her I was bringing a man home!”
Grath raised an eyebrow.
“She must really want you to get mated.”
“She does—sometimes I think it’s all she ever thinks about,” Mattie admitted, her breath puffing out in a little cloud of steam. There was already snow on the ground and the temperature was much colder than she liked. She blew on her hands and stamped her feet. Damn it—she always forgot how much she hated the cold until she came back home during the holidays!
“Should I do or say anything in particular when I meet your parents?” Grath sounded anxious—almost as though he was a real boyfriend she was bringing home who actually wanted to impress her family, she thought dryly.
“Just follow their lead,” Mattie told him. “Are you ready? Here goes.”
She knocked on the door and a moment later they heard bustling footsteps and then the door was unlocked and thrown open.
“Oh, Mattie!” Her mom was wiping her hands on a flowered apron, her eyes sparkling with excitement. Her gray hair was in a bun at her neck and her spectacles were perched on the end of her nose. She reached for Mattie and enfolded her in a lemon verbena scented hug. “I’m so glad to see you, sweetheart!” she said in Mattie’s ear. Then she pulled back and looked up at Grath. “And you must be Mattie’s new boyfriend! My goodness, I’m so happy to meet you!”
“I’m very glad to meet you too, Mrs. Porter,” Grath rumbled. He looked uncertain of what to do but Mattie’s mom didn’t let him wonder for long—she practically tackled him with a hug and then stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek.