Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 128380 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128380 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
“The blame belongs to Gerard and Therese—be angry at them.”
“Oh, I am,” he fairly growled. “I could have happily tore him to pieces if my priority wasn’t finding you. And as for Therese … part of me regrets she’s dead, because now I can’t make her pay.”
“I did that well enough for both of us.”
“I can believe that.” He pressed a kiss to the tip of her nose. “Camden assured me that you’d be fine. But how could I not be a fucking wreck? You were gone, and I couldn’t find you, I—”
“Lived your own nightmare,” she finished. “I know. I wish I could kill her all over again for that.”
He exhaled heavily, trying to relax into his mate as she nuzzled his throat. But it was fucking hard when she—the only woman he’d ever loved, ever would love—had almost been killed.
“How about I get dressed, and you let out your cat so I can give him some snuggles?”
His pacing cat stilled, more than interested. “He’d like that.”
“Then let’s do it.” She led the way into the bedroom, where she quickly pulled on a long tee. “Now you can …” She trailed off, her brow furrowing as her head cocked to the side.
Deke, too, was frowning. “Is that the TV?”
“Uh-huh.”
His lips thinned. “I already know what I’m going to find before I open the door. Or should I say who I’ll find.”
They both padded out of the room, down the hallway, and into the living area. As he’d expected, Havana and Aspen were sat on the sofa watching a movie. They gave both Bailey and Deke a tip of the chin before sliding their gazes back to the TV.
He sighed. He should have anticipated this. Whenever something happened to one of the girls, the other two turned temporarily clingy. “Do your mates know you’re here?”
“Probably not,” hedged Havana, still looking at the TV.
“But they’ll guess when they can’t find us,” added Aspen.
With a heavy exhale, Deke turned to his mate and dropped a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll be right back, I need to put on some clothes.”
“Don’t bother on our account,” Aspen told him.
Ignoring that, Deke returned to the bedroom and slipped on some sweatpants and a tee. He then picked up his cell and rattled off a text to both Tate and Camden, asking that they come take their mates home. He wanted time alone with Bailey to—
A yowl came from the living room quickly followed by a grating hiss.
“I cannot believe you two!” yelled Havana.
Letting his eyes close, Deke dropped his head with a groan.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
A month later
Half-propped up against the headboard, Deke watched as his mate swallowed his cock again and again. It was a beautiful sight—her lips stretched around him, her face flushed, her sleek back arched, her delectable ass up in the air.
He’d woken to the feel of her tongue licking at his shaft from base to tip, which had to be the best alarm in existence. She’d gone easy at first, lapping and playing. But the moment she’d taken his dick into her mouth, she’d gotten right down to business.
She sucked hard and fast, taking him deep with each pass, doing wicked things with her tongue. And now he had his fingers buried in her hair, so close to snatching the control and fucking her throat raw.
She was good at making his composure erode. It was how she’d ended up with a claiming mark on her neck before the imprinting process was complete.
It was exactly two weeks ago when he’d been riding her hard that his control had vanished, his possessiveness had taken over, and his teeth were then buried deep in her flesh before he knew it. Bailey hadn’t freaked on him for leaving a claiming mark so soon, no, she’d returned the favor.
It had been right then that the imprinting bond appeared. Up to that point, the process had dragged its heels. It was as if both he and Bailey had needed the other to back up their words with actions before they could truly trust the claiming would really happen.
That was Deke’s theory, anyway.
After all, Bailey didn’t find it easy to believe that people would want to keep her around, and she’d worried a part of him would prefer to find his true mate.
As for Deke … After Dayna had kept him dangling on a carrot with fake promises for so long, he’d needed more than verbal assurances to feel sure of Bailey’s intentions. More, he’d needed to be certain his cat wouldn’t have a relapse and suddenly withdraw from everyone—including her.
All of that could have interfered with the progression of the imprinting process, so their claiming each other would have been exactly what was needed to complete it.
Whatever the case, they were now officially mated. Something that neither he nor his cat could be more pleased about. They’d had the mating ceremony mere days later, and the after-party had been a blast. It was—