Page 12 of Fated Surrender

“Then again you weren’t even born then,” she quipped.

“Are we back to that?” he asked.

“You’re too damn easy to talk to,” she grumbled.

“Makes my job easier.”

“I doubt the fry baskets are all that talkative,” she retorted.

He simply shrugged.

“You know, if you keep frowning like that you’ll get wrinkles.” Connor’s deep voice filled the car. Her hands flew to her forehead, and he began to chuckle.

“Bitch,” she muttered.

“Jerk,” he replied.

She looked up to find him watching her in the mirror again.

“Do you think Aleks has a weapons stash in the trunk?” Connor asked brightly.

“This is no Impala.” She grinned, unable to help herself.

Feeling better about the situation, he grinned back at his mate. That was until he saw her smile shift into a predatory, feral grin. He swallowed hard.

“Game on,” she said.

He pushed down the rising twinges of panic.

Oh yeah, this was going to be fun.

Chapter Three

They came to a stop in front of an older but well-built log cabin. Connor put the car in park and turned to look at his mate. She was asleep, lying across the backseat. With her eyes closed she looked like a little girl. All the world-weary cynicism was erased and she looked peaceful. He had gotten her to laugh before she had fallen asleep. That had to be a good sign.

“Madison, Madison, wake up. We’re here,” he called softly. She stirred and curled into a smaller ball.

She had slept through his small shopping trip at the small general store a few miles from the cabin. She must have been exhausted from traveling.

He got out of the car and opened the front door to the cabin. It was late afternoon, they would only have a couple hours of daylight left before it got dark and he wanted to make sure the cabin was sound.

He walked back to the car and opened the door behind the driver’s seat. He pulled her legs and scooped her up into his arms. For someone so tall, she was a light thing. He frowned, thinking that she wasn’t eating properly. He easily carried her inside to the back bedroom and lay her down on the bed.

Unable to stand her hair pulled back a second longer, he pulled the pins free from her bun and let her long hair cascade around her shoulders, filling the room with the scent of her shampoo. His cock hardened instantly at her scent. He wanted to roll around on the silky waves of auburn and pull back the luxurious curtain to watch her wrap her lips around his cock. Grabbing the crotch of his jeans, he tugged hard trying to give himself more room.

Okay. Enough ogling his unconscious mate. He had a lot to do before sunset. He left his mate sleeping in bed and carried in their groceries. He stocked the refrigerator, started a fire in thelarge fireplace, and walked the perimeter of the cabin to check the outside to make sure there weren’t any issues. Honestly, he didn’t like leaving the safety of Arkadia’s perimeter, but she had left him with no choice. He had to get her to see him as a person, beyond her already formed perceptions, and that meant leaving Arkadia.

He was about to head back inside when a loud scream shattered the twilight tranquility.

Madison!

He shot forward and jumped the front stairs, hitting the front door at a run. He nearly crashed into Madison, who was spinning wildly in circles down the hallway.

“Get it out! Get it out!” she screamed.

Connor skidded to a halt and looked up and down the hallway, trying to identify the threat.

“Don’t just stand there. Get. It. The. Fuck. Out of my hair!” Madison screeched.

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