Page 6 of Protected By The Polar Bear

I stare at the full moon as I hear the shower turn off. My body is all tingly, and I know that it must be because I’m picturing a naked and wet Ash. I feel my face flush with a blush, and I try to get my mind out of the gutter as I hear him moving around in the bathroom.

I want him.

Sadness hits me at the thought. I’ll never have him. I’m not his fated mate.

I turn away from the window and pull the blinds closed. My eyes fall on the king-size bed, and I look away quickly. Even if I’m not his mate and I know nothing is going to happen tonight between us, I still can’t deny that I’m excited to be sleeping with him.

It’s the first time I’ll be spending the night with a guy, and a little thrill skates down my spine. This is the longest that I’ve been alone with a guy. In high school, I was the quiet, chubby girl who tried to go through my classes and be as invisible as I could be. Guys didn’t look my way, and I liked it that way. I just wanted to do well in school and get a scholarship for college.

I did that, but nothing really changed in college. I would try to date, but no one ever caught my interest. I got asked out a few times, but never accepted any of them. I thought that after college, things would be different, but they weren’t. I didn’t have to worry about school, but I still had deadlines and being a writer means that I rarely had to leave my apartment. I wasn’t getting out to meet people and online dating scared me.

I was happy being alone, or at least that’s what I told myself. Until Elle went to Alaska and met Niko.

As soon as my best friend found love, it seemed to light a fire in me. When I met Ash, it was like BANG! Instant attraction.

Too bad for me, it was only on my side.

Ash is the first person I’ve been attracted to. He’s the only one I’ve ever wanted.

The bathroom door opens, and a plume of steam comes out with Ash. He’s got a towel wrapped around his waist, and my mouth drops open as I watch a drop of water run along the column of his neck and down to his chest. The drop gets lost in his chest hair and I blink..

I swallow hard and force my eyes away from his bare chest and up to his eyes. I freeze when I see the look in his eyes. He looks absolutely feral as he stares at me, and I take a step back.

“Ash?” I ask, my voice quivering as he breathes hard. “What’s wrong?”

He takes a step toward me, and I back up another step.

“What’s going on?” I ask, and I realize that I’m breathing just as hard as he is.

“It’s you,” he growls, taking another step my way.

“What about me?”

“The mating heat,” he snarls, and I swallow hard.

“The… wait. What?” I ask.

I must be dreaming, or maybe I’m just extra tired. There’s no way that he just said what I think he said. I mean, that doesn’t even make any sense. We’re not fated mates.

Are we?

“I-I I thought that shifters only felt the mating heat when they found their fated mates?” I ask, and he nods.

“We do,” he confirms. “I have. It’s you.”

My mind is running a million miles an hour, and I try to process what’s happening.

Is it possible that he didn’t realize I was his mate until tonight? I mean, maybe, right? All I really know about shifters is from romance books and the little that Elle has told me. When I asked her about shifters and her mate, it was always more about his animal or what it felt like to have a mate. I never asked much about how they knew that they were meant to be together.

Maybe they have to be with their fated mate on the full moon to tell? That would explain why he hasn’t claimed me before now.

“I thought that you just had to smell your mate,” I murmur, but I’m not sure he’s listening to me.

I look at him, and as I stare at him, my body starts to burn.

“The mating heat… can I feel it too?” I ask as my nipples pebble in my bra.

“I think so. The other guys said that their mates could.”

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