Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 36641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36641 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 183(@200wpm)___ 147(@250wpm)___ 122(@300wpm)
Supper came and went, and Tiernan was nowhere to be seen. Olivia didn’t mind. She needed time to think and perhaps he realized that and let her be. She read some before turning in for the night, though she barely recalled what she read, her mind too busy to concentrate on the words.
She lay there twisting and turning, not able to sleep.
She heard the heavy footsteps and listened as they grew closer to her door. The door swung open and Tiernan stood there naked. His rugged scent preceded him into the room, and it flared her desire as usual.
He walked to the bed and stood a moment looking down at her, then threw the blanket off her and scooped her up into his arms. He didn’t say a word. He simply carried her to his bedroom, dropped her down on the bed, his strong hands making quick work of her pajamas and socks. Then he got in bed, pulled the blanket over them, and wrapped himself snuggly around her.
“I missed you,” he whispered, as if that was explanation enough for his actions, then he brushed his cheek faintly across hers. “You belong here with me.”
Strangely enough, she agreed with him. She missed him as well and she missed lying naked in his arms, his heat keeping her more than comfortably warm. That he didn’t attempt to have sex with her made it all the more satisfying. It showed her that it wasn’t sex he was after, it was having her there with him, in his arms, sleeping with her. He missed her, not just the sex, but her.
Of course, that stole her heart even more. She was really in a pickle now.
What does a woman do when she’s fallen in love with a werewolf?
A poke to the side followed by a quick kiss woke her.
“Get dressed while I start breakfast,” he said and got out of bed and dressed.
She stirred, some, not eager to leave the warmth of the bed, Tiernan’s heat and scent still lingering there and she still wishing to enjoy it.
He returned to the bed, leaning over her to give her another quick kiss. “Hurry up, we have much to discuss.”
She was eager to talk with him, though she was more eager to share a quicky with him. Where this sudden, hungry, sexual appetite came from she didn’t know, but she intended to enjoy it.
He turned when he reached the door and sent her a wicked smile. “I’ll see to that need of yours after breakfast, mo ghràdh, but first we eat and talk.”
She smiled as she stretched herself awake like a lazy cat unfurling from a satisfying sleep. It always touched her heart when he called her my love. She bolted up to sit, the blanket falling off her, leaving her bare chest to chill fast. She did not care. She was too consumed by her sudden revelation.
“He’s been courting me from the beginning,” she said as if saying it aloud somehow made it sound probable. “Courting me like a wolf would an intended mate—to a human—a wife.”
Did he want her as his wife? Or was she crazy?
They had found each other appealing from when they first met at the train station. He had even offered her his gloves, touched with wolf hair, his wolf hair, and she had accepted, letting him know she was interested, that he could approach her. And he had that first night when he entered her bedroom as Laird. He had whined as a wolf did when he approached a female wolf he was interested in mating with, and he nuzzled her face and neck often another show of affection, of love.
Could he really love her? Had he fallen as hard for her as she had for him?
A wolf would not approach a female unless she allowed him to, and he would not have sex with her unless she agreed. Once they mated that was it. They were joined for life.
Being his mate, his wife, would also explain the job position, second in command. The female wolf had almost as much authority as the alpha wolf, the pack obeying her. She wouldn’t be an employee of the preserve, but more a partner, leaving no restrictions when it came to her.
She smiled at how easily the problem of having sex with her boss was solved. But what of the werewolves’ need for an infusion of human blood? Where did that fit in? Had that come first? Or had love been the driving force for his reason to mate with her?
She needed to talk with him and settle this once and for all. She hurried to her room and dressed, leaving her hair loose, not wanting to waste time finding the clip that usually held it, and then rushed to the kitchen.
Olivia halted a few steps into the kitchen, Tiernan’s back to her. The room was filled with delicious scents, but his rugged scent dominated and set her heart to beat faster.