Page 5 of His Rescued Mate

"Tell me about your work," Max said, breaking the silence. "What drew you to journalism?"

Alexa took a sip of the beer, savoring its taste while she considered her answer. "I've always loved writing and exploring new places. Journalism seemed like the perfect way to combine those two passions. Plus, I enjoy telling stories—real stories about real people. There's so much beauty and resilience in the world, and I want to share that with others."

Max nodded thoughtfully. "It's a noble pursuit. There are so many untold stories out there, waiting for someone to give them a voice."

"What about you?" Alexa asked. "Your carvings—the sculptures and then the tools.” She nodded toward the cabin where he’d set the two axes. “The handles on those are gorgeous and yet mine was comfortable to hold. The designs are intricate—why do you take that time and care to make something as utilitarian as an axe so beautiful? They're so evocative. It’s as if you imbue a little bit of yourself into each piece. What drives you to create?"

Max's expression softened before growing distant, his eyes darkening with a shadow of something she couldn't quite identify. "I think there’s beauty in the ordinary. The tools that we work with each day don’t have to be plain. They can do their job and still bring us pleasure in the way they look and feel. It’s funny to me that my more artistic pieces—like the sculptures—are not as satisfying as, say, the handle to something utilitarian. Or an ice axe or a canoe paddle are far more interesting. Figuring out what the wood wants to reveal… well, it's a way of processing things. Of making sense of the world and my place in it. Sometimes, it's the only way I can express what I'm feeling."

Alexa sensed that there was more to his answer than he’d been ready to reveal, but she didn't press him. Instead, she simply nodded, understanding that some things were best left unsaid for now. She understood what he meant about the wood revealing its design or purpose. She often felt that way about interviews.

As the night settled around them, they made their way back to the cabin. The smell of roasting potatoes assailed her nostrils, as did the scent of a number of herbs—parsley, garlic, oregano, cilantro—and olive oil.

“That smells amazing.”

Max grinned. “Well, it isn’t fancy, but I like a little kick to my food. Have a seat at the island. I don’t have a table and chairs for dining. Normally, I either eat here at the island or over at my desk if I’ve got bookwork to do. What can I get you to drink?” he asked, opening his fridge.

Spying the bottled water, she answered, “Water would be great.” When he went to grab a drinking glass, she shook her head. “Straight out of the bottle is fine.”

Max put the steaks on the grill portion of the stove and then walked over to the massive fireplace to start a fire. Once the steaks were cooked, he dished them up, added potatoes to the plate and handed one to her while he grabbed forks and steak knives. Alexa took a bite and moaned—the food was divine.

“Amazing,” she said, smiling at him.

“Thanks. It’s not fancy, but it fills a hole.”

“It does a lot more than that.”

After dinner, they each sat on one end of the chesterfield sofa, facing each other and enjoying the fire’s warm glow, sharing simple stories of their pasts and getting to know each other. Alexa found herself drawn to Max’s quiet sexual magnetism—it seemed to bubble just under the surface. She was attracted to his strength, both physical and character, and to the depth of his emotions. She sensed that he epitomized the old saying, ‘still waters run deep,’ sensing so much more than was readily apparent on the surface. It was if the weight of his past lingered just beyond her reach.

She knew there were secrets he wasn't ready to share, but she also felt that whatever he chose to reveal would be worth the wait. There was something about Max Renner that called to a deep, dark place within her—some primal feeling of connection she’d never felt before. She knew she’d found the story she wanted to write. There was something about him that made her want to uncover his mysteries.

And as she looked into the flickering flames, she couldn't shake the feeling that her journey on Kodiak Island was only just beginning. Where that journey might lead and whether it would be good or bad had yet to be determined.

CHAPTER 3

UNCOVERING LAYERS

Max wondered if Joe had any notion of what he’d done when he asked Max to look after the magazine journalist. It had seemed simple enough. The woman was from the lower forty-eight and wanted to write an article about Kodiak Island. Simple enough. Except for the fact that Joe had broken his leg leading a group of inexperienced mountain climbers up a steep incline and wouldn’t be able to put her up at the loft over his store that he rented out for extra income. Joe had asked Max to let her stay out with him and act as her guide. That should have been easy enough to do, only it wasn’t.

Long before he saw Alexa or heard her call his name, Max had known she was there. More than that, he’d known who she was. When he’d turned and come face-to-face with his fated mate, it was all he could do not to go all primitive alpha male, swing her up onto his shoulder, and take her to his cabin, taking her to bed and claiming her then and there. Sure, he’d brought her to his cabin, but there had been no carrying her out of the airport caveman-style, much less taking her to bed, marking and claiming her as his. There might have been a time that kind of thing was overlooked in Alaska, maybe even embraced and cheered, but now was not that time.

Max’s wolf had been prowling in his mind, looking for a way to escape and take over. That wasn’t really how it worked with shifters—the human side always had control except when there was extreme danger and the only way to ensure survival was for the beast within to come forward.

Max knew that in this day and age, he needed to build a relationship with Alexa first. Talk to her about what it was to become a she-wolf and live her life with him. His wolf didn’t give a damn about talking or building relationships, though, and neither did his cock. His wolf wanted to claim her, and his cock was in complete and total agreement. Not only did it want to thrust in and out of her repeatedly, but it also wanted to form a knot and breach her with it before tying her to him for hours.

At this point, his wolf was snarling and growling at him. Max could sense Alexa was attracted to him on both a physical and an emotional level, but he was pretty sure she didn’t have a clue as to his true nature. Knowing she was so close and yet so far away was nothing short of torture. A cold shower hadn’t helped at all.

He banged his head quietly against the handmade tiles of the enormous shower that was part of the bath attached to his bedroom. The water was as frigid as he could make it, and considering it was well water in Alaska, that was damn cold, but it seemed to have no effect whatsoever on his unruly cock. It was fully engorged and had no intention of doing anything that didn’t get it inside Alexa’s pussy.

Wrapping his hand around it, he leaned into the tile, standing under the water as it pelted down, and he began to stroke from the root to the tip and back again. Adjusting the pressure of his hand so it was just this side of painful, he picked up the pace, imagining that it was Alexa’s pussy that was squeezing him.

He meant to have her. Hell, he meant to claim her, and he didn’t much care what anyone thought, including her. It was so easy to fantasize how she would feel. He’d been fantasizing about his fated mate for years. It was as if in the past he had fantasized about the outline that depicted her. Now he could color her in. He had a whole new box of crayons and didn’t even have to stay between the lines.

Alexa would take everything he had to give her—wanting even what she didn’t know he had. Max squeezed harder and pumped his fist around his cock faster. He could hear her calling his name in the sound of the wind coming through the exterior bathroom door he’d deliberately left open to try and chill his lust. It hadn’t worked. The door led out onto a small deck with an outdoor shower.

He ruthlessly shoved down his need to howl. He wanted the world to know he had taken a mate, and she was his. The fact that she didn’t know it didn’t mean much—she would in a short amount of time. Max’s body stiffened as he imagined Alexa wrapped around him as he pumped into her, filling her up and emptying himself until there was nothing left to give. Warm cum shot out of his cock, covering his fist, falling to the floor and being rinsed away.

When the need to be with her abated slightly, Max stepped out of the shower and dried off. His cock almost immediately began to stiffen again as he detected the faintest trace of her scent. Maybe letting his wolf run and plunging into the almost frozen lake would help.

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