Page 8 of Link with Me

The invitation was there in her eyes, waiting for him to seize it. He stepped out from behind the counter, moving closer to where she stood in the dappled light.

“I was wondering if you might like to continue our... literary discussion over dinner. Tonight, perhaps?” His voice was steady, but inside, the wolf within him paced, eager and filled with a hunger that was new and exhilarating.

Lena’s eyes widened, just a fraction. If the scent of her desire wasn’t delicious enough to let him know she wanted him, that look she gave him told him the attraction was mutual. The charged silence between them was filled with the same restless want winding tightly in his chest.

A slow smile crept over her luscious lips, a match to the fiery burn he felt whenever her gaze met his. “Dinner would be...educational,” she replied, her voice teasing, laced with promises and unspoken desires.

Fuck. He wanted her. He wanted her now. Naked. But he’d control himself. He’d get his mate in his bed, soon.

“So…tonight?” she asked, her voice low and throaty. It made him uncomfortable in his jeans.

“Yeah. Tonight.” Dinner and anything else she wanted.

“What am I going to wear?” Lena screeched, tossing clothes all over her old room. Why the hell hadn’t she ever bought anything sexy in her life? “I have nothing remotely cute or rippable.”

Tara smirked. “Rippable? Who is this guy, Edward Scissorhands?”

Lena cursed. “This isn’t funny. I need to look hot.”

“You are hot, honey,” her mom said from the bedroom door.

“Mom, you’re not helping. Besides, you’re my mother. You’re expected to say that.” She tossed more clothes onto the bed and continued making a mess while frantically searching for the perfect outfit to seduce Alex.

“I don’t know. I think the one not helping is you,” her mother quipped. “Also, who’s going to clean up this mess?”

Lena glared at her mother and then glanced at Tara for help. “Don’t you have anything I can wear?”

The slow evil smile on Tara’s lips told her what she needed to know. Her sister was coming in clutch. “I’ll wear whatever you want. Anything. Nothing.”

“Oh, my,” her mother said and sipped her iced tea. “I’m guessing you’ve changed your mind about the orgasms?”

“Maybe. Yes. I don’t know what it is about Alex, but there’s this chemistry between us,” she said and sat on the bed. “It’s not all sex, either. Like we flirted. We laughed. We made stupid jokes about books. He got me.” She met Tara’s gaze. “Do you know what I mean?”

Her sister nodded. “I know.” Tara went into the very back of the closet and pulled out a dry cleaner bag. “You’re wearing this.”

Lena had never cared about being sexy or wearing anything that would make her feel more feminine in the past. But tonight, she wanted to look sexy for Alex. And herself. It wasn’t that she didn’t think she was pretty or sexy. It was that she’d never felt the desire to be sexy. Now she did. No man had made her want to be sensual until Alex. How had he done that?

“I know that bag,” her mom said with a grin. “If you don’t get laid tonight, he’s not for you.”

She took the dry cleaner bag off a simple black dress. It was made of a satin material. She opened her mouth to argue that the bit of fabric looked like something one wore to bed but decided against it. She decided to get ready at her mom’s house so she could borrow a pair of her sister’s heels too.

“I’m going to make you some tea,” her mom said, turning away to leave. “You need to calm those nerves.”

“Mom?”

Her mom glanced at her. “Yes, sugar?”

“Did you know Alex and I would hit it off?” She had been wondering if she’d been set up.

“I had hoped as had his mother,” her mom replied before leaving the room.

“All right,” Tara said with a serious look. “Go shower and shave everywhere.” She gave a slight nod. “And I mean everywhere.”

“Tara!”

“What?” She giggled, enjoying Lena’s discomfort way too much.

“You didn’t have to tell me that part.”

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