Page 60 of Shattered

She took a deep breath and let it out slow. “What does a sixty-six year old man want with a twenty-something girl?”

He blinked, caught off guard by her question. It wasn’t where he thought she’d go, for sure, nonetheless he expected it at some point. No, he expected something more along the lines of sex. Or, perhaps it’d been because that was all he could think about at the moment.Idiot,he chided himself. “Well, wolves aren’t like normal humans. My body and my mind, even with all the trauma, aren’t the equivalent of my birth age. My physical age is more of a forty year old, and as it stands, my age progression will slow as will yours.” He was rambling. “Danielle is better at these things. Anyway, the point is, I don’t see myself as an old man. Oh sure, in the beginning after Rapier found me I did—”

Aurora placed her finger to his lips. “You’re all over the place, old man.”

He growled. “I’m not old.”

Her eyes twinkled mischief. “You still haven’t answered the question.”

“My wolf knows who you are,” he replied. “It’s a spark of knowledge and age doesn’t mean anything.”

“What if I was a child?” she pressed.

“I would have waited until you were old enough,” he replied. “Did you ever hear the story of how Hayden and Nico got together?”

She shook her head.

Mackenzie tucked her closer to him. “Hayden was fourteen when she met an eighteen year old Nico. He’d been brought in because of some mischief, if you believe Hayden’s story, but Nico’s been undercover more times than I can count, even before he officially joined the Sheriff’s Department, and Kalkin always wanted everything to look as good as possible—especially when it came to arrests and using Nico. Anyway, Nico knew the minute she walked in the door of the Sheriff’s Department she was his, but she was too young. So, they started slow, made mistakes—huge ones—some I thought would destroy Hayden—however they overcame it all.”

“But, don’t you feel skeeved out? You’re mature. You should have someone who’s had a lifetime of experiences. Or at least know what they’re doing, in bed or whatever.”

“Skeeved? No.” He shook his head. “Experience is relative. Someone can have a lifetime of everything, but no substance.” Mackenzie placed his hand on her hip. “If you’re worried about being a virgin or about not satisfying me, you’ve got another think coming. You were perfect. Still are.”

A tinge of pink crawled across her cheeks exposing the freckles he hadn’t realized she’d had until then. “Well... Sure. But you’ve had women in your past.”

“Correct. In my past and, no offense, they fucked me over.”

“How do you know I won’t?” Her gaze lowered as she tucked her bottom lip between her teeth, a nervous habit he noticed when he first met her.

“I don’t.” He sighed. “I didn’t know they would either until it was too late.”

“So, you could be stepping into the same shit pile as before, only with me this time.” Her statement had merit.

“I could. You could be jumping into a bigger one with me,” he added. “It’s why I’m hesitant about starting anything too intimate with you.”

She snorted. “I think we went well past intimate.”

“Touché.” He laughed. “I should apologize for all of this.”

“Which part?”

“All of it.” He gathered her up in his arms. “The wolf sometimes, in his own way, tries to do everything with the best of intentions, and sometimes, the damn beast fucks everything up.”

Aurora threw her leg over his hip and the heat of her sweet little pussy seared his groin. Mackenzie bit back a curse as his dick throbbed, straining against the material of his sleep pants. If she realized what she’d done, she didn’t show it. “I wouldn’t say it’s all fucked up.”

“Wait,” he murmured. “Before we do something stupid here, are you sure you want this? It’s not a full mating? I don’t know... I can’t promise you anything.”

She cupped his cheek and Mackenzie nuzzled her palm. “Yes. I think I figured it out yesterday when we were all with your family. I get it. You all have your quirks. Some are a little more severe, but after seeing Senator Winters and Jochi and knowing what I do now, I can’t say I blame you for being cautious or put off by the idea.” She might have given him the answers he wanted to hear, but he still smelled her sadness and tasted the bite of her lie.

Despite the words coming out of her mouth, she did want to be his mate.

“No regrets then,” he whispered.

“None,” she replied.

As much as he hated the idea of using the condoms in his bedside table, he grabbed one anyway. He wouldn’t put her at risk. As it stood, they were close to the full moon and anything was possible, including pregnancy. She didn’t need the extra worry. He lowered his sleep pants while she removed her panties. He ripped the foil package open then rolled the latex over his cock, the foreign sensation disturbed him. He didn’t like it. It was slimy and snug. His lip curled in disgust. It’d been the first time he’d ever used one, and he swore, if they made it through all of this, and the time was right, he’d never use them again.

“Can we stay like this?” Aurora had repositioned herself, facing him with her leg draped over his hip.

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