Page 101 of Rejecting his Mate

My throat feels tight. The way he’s taking care of me feels so foreign, so strange I don’t know how to handle it. “You… don’t have to do that. I can run my own bath.”

“You’ve been so busy taking care of everyone else that you’ve forgotten about yourself. Tonight, I’m going to look after you.”

He pulls away, and my wolf whimpers at losing him. She wants him to come back as much as I do. I don’t move from the edge of the couch as I watch him walk into the bathroom.

After a couple of seconds, I hear the taps run and the bath filling. I go to one window that looks out over the grounds, and I understand why they call it a sanctuary. Here, for the first time, I feel at peace. I feel like nothing can touch me.

Not Dalton, not hunters.

Nothing.

I am safe.

That understanding makes the adrenaline that has been consuming me from the moment I went on the run leave my body. I lean against the kitchen counter, my legs suddenly feeling like jelly.

And that is where Cade finds me when he steps outof the bathroom. His eyes narrow as he takes me in. “You okay?”

I nod, even though I’m not. Everything suddenly feels like too much, but the one thing I am sure about is that I am meant to be here with him.

“Come here,” Cade gestures to me.

From anyone else, that order would have me bristling. From Cade, I obey.

I cross the room, stopping in front of him and tilting my head back to look into his eyes. Such pretty eyes. Those blue orbs are easy to get lost in, and for a moment, I do.

He brushes my hair off my shoulder, grabbing the hem of my shirt and tugging it up. I lift my arms so it comes over my head easily. When I’m free of it, I watch his expression as he takes in the lacy cups of my bra. His eyes are heated, and he rubs his thumb over his lips as he considers me. “Beautiful.”

My cheeks heat. “So are you,” I tell him. “I mean… you’re just really handsome and I don’t know how to control myself when I’m around you...”

I trail off.Stop talking, Halle.

He doesn’t make fun of my words or belittle them, even though that’s what I’ve been conditioned to expect.

“Beautiful inside and out,” he says. “I want to see the rest of you.”

My eyes widen. “The… rest of me?”

“Unless you’re planning on getting in that tub clothed.”

I’m not, but I didn’t think I’d stripping with an audience. “You don’t have to help me. I can manage.”

“I know.”

Slowly, he pushes his fingers into the waistband of my pants. I think I stop breathing as he slides them down my legs. My skin pebbles, even though the room is not cold. This might be the single most sensual moment of my life, and all he’s done is take my pants off.

Cade goes down to his haunches and takes my muddy sneakers off, one at a time. Then he peels my socks off before removing my pants from around my ankles.

Wolves are used to nakedness, but I never got used to being naked because I never shifted. As I stand there in my bra and panties, I feel the urge to hide my body from him.

His throat bobs as he takes me in. “Fuck.” He drags his shirt over his head, leaving him bare-chested. It feels as if I have a whole jar of butterflies in my belly. I want to touch him, but he moves first, stepping into my space and dropping his head to the crook of my neck. His breath tickles as he sucks in a noseful of air.

His fingers slide down my belly and to my pussy. I hold my breath, waiting for my wolf to shove him away, to remember we’re mated to another, but she doesn’t. She doesn’t care that we’re with another wolf, not when it’s Cade.

Cade’s fingers slide my panties aside and slip between my folds, skimming over my clit in a way that has me gripping his forearms to steady myself. Mybreath catches in my throat as he continues to stroke me.

The pressure is delicious, but I need more. I widen my legs, giving him the space to touch me as he wants and let my eyes flutter shut. He pinches my clit hard enough to make my hips jerk.

His mouth hovers inches from mine. “You like that, little wolf?”

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