Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 68126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68126 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 341(@200wpm)___ 273(@250wpm)___ 227(@300wpm)
“Shit, sorry.” He flashed me a sexy grin as he walked over to the doorway. “Nudity isn’t as big of a deal for shifters, and I forgot it isn’t the same for humans.”
“Oh.” I wasn’t sure what else to say since I hadn’t expected that to be his reason for wanting to see me strip.
Zeke stopped and turned to face me again. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. It’ll be a big damn deal for me from now on. No way in hell do I want anyone other than me to see your beautiful body.” He swept his hand down in front of his chest. “And I’m all yours, so I’ll be careful about who’s around me when my clothes come off before shifting.”
I grinned, happy with how he just put everything all out there. “Thank you.”
He returned my smile before walking away. The door was still open, so when he was out of my line of sight I hurriedly stripped out of my clothes and climbed into the tub. The bubbles were thick enough to cover my body, but I still let out a surprised squeak when Zeke strode back into the room. Shifters were real, I was the fated mate of a sexy wolf, and I was naked in a tub only a few feet away from him. It was a lot to take in.
“Is it like this with all fated mates?” I asked as he dropped a big T-shirt on the vanity.
Pulling my knees up to my chest, I covered myself a little more. “Like what?”
I was acutely aware of the fact that I was completely naked with only the bubbles stopping Zeke from being able to see my body. My nipples pebbled, and I felt a slickness between my legs that had nothing to do with the bathwater and everything to do with my overwhelming attraction to him. “This instant connection to someone you’ve just met who seems to have been tailor-made for you.”
“For the most part, yeah,” he confirmed with a grin, his green eyes gleaming with male satisfaction. “So you think I’m perfect for you?”
“I mean...I don’t really know much about you except that you can shift into a wolf, are the sheriff, and have a niece. But from what I’ve seen so far—which has only been about an hour—yeah, you seem pretty perfect to me.”
“What do you want to know about me? I’m not the best at sharing stuff with people, but I’m an open book for you,” he offered.
I figured the whole getting to know each other thing would work best if it was a give and take thing. He’d mentioned having a niece, so I assumed talking about siblings was an easy place to start. “I’m an only child, but I didn’t feel lonely growing up because I had my best friends. How many brothers or sisters do you have?”
“Just one brother,” he answered as he bent over to pull some more bath stuff out of the cabinet under the tub. “He found his mate almost a decade ago when he was only eighteen. He was one of the lucky ones. I spent years being jealous of him and worrying I’d never find you.”
My heart raced at how grateful he sounded. I’d always known my parents loved me, but I’d never experienced romantic attention like he was giving me. “Does that happen often?”
“Before I met you, I would’ve said it wasn’t too bad because most of us find our mates. But now that I’ve experienced what meeting you feels like, I understand that even one shifter never being mated is too many.”
It was impossible to resist Zeke when he kept saying things that made me want to cry in the best way possible.
7
Allegra
Zeke poured body gel onto the washcloth and stretched his arm out, his hand hovering in the air for a moment before he offered it to me. I had a feeling he’d intended to wash me himself and then decided I wasn’t quite ready for that. And I really shouldn’t have been, considering we’d just met, but I had the whole fated mate thing to blame for it when I leaned forward so he could reach my back instead of taking the washcloth. Goose bumps broke out along my spine in the wake of his touch.
I rested my chin on top of my knees while he cleaned my back and arms. It felt so good to have him pamper me. And incredibly sexy. I watched the flexing of the muscles in his arms and breathed in his scent as he leaned down to reach into the water and lift one of my feet higher. The bubbles were still thick, but he still ate me up with his eyes. When his nostril flared, I wondered if it was possible that he could smell the proof of my desire. His fingers grazed my skin, and my need for him intensified.