Page 17 of Fated Surrender

“So, what are we doing today?” she asked.

“Well, we have a ton of board games, including my favorite. Trivial Pursuit,” Connor said, looking up to catch her blush.

“Oh. I thought that we would…”

Connor grinned and waited for her to finish the sentence.

“Would what?” he teased.

“Oh, I don’t know. Fuck like bunnies?” she suggested.

He shook his head.

“Nope,” he said, his lips popping the P.

She shook her hand loose.

“Why the hell not?” she demanded.

“Because when we come together it will be for me to claim you or not at all. When you’re ready to be claimed I’ll be waiting for you to seduce me,” he said, standing up and taking their plates over to the sink.

“Un-fucking-believable,” she grumbled.

Connor turned back around smiling brightly.

“Monopoly?” he asked and held back his laughter as her head banged on the table.

“Yahtzee! Take that!” Madison yelled and jumped up to do a happy dance.

Connor couldn’t believe how much his mate had relaxed since yesterday. All day she had been opening up more and more. Now, it felt like they had known each other for years. He thought that maybe Madison’s change of heart was too quick to be genuine, but then he remembered what Aleks had said about his first date with Rebecca. That after being together for only a few hours everything seemed to slip into place. That as a couple you start to fill the voids in each other’s hearts and how years of dating seemed to compact into hours.

“Cheater,” he said, taking the dice.

“Don’t hate. I’m running to get some chips, want anything?” she asked.

“Can you grab the mint chocolate cookies?” he asked, pouting.

Laughing, she leaned down and kissed him before heading to the kitchen. Connor leaned back against the couch and laced his fingers behind his head. Yesterday, he was a hated kidnapper. Today, he was her best friend. He was congratulating himself when he heard her screech his name. Jumping up, he ran to the kitchen to find his mate standing on the chair.

“Mouse!” she yelled.

He looked at his mate. “Really?”

“Yes really, over by the fridge. There.” She pointed.

He motioned to her in the chair. “No, I believe you about the mouse, I meant, you. You’re really up on a chair over a mouse?” he asked, eyeing his mate in disbelief. Movement caught his eye as he saw a black blur dart to the pantry. She screamed again.

“Get rid of it!” she yelled.

“You shift into a four-hundred-pound tiger, you get rid of it,” Connor said incredulously.

“Three hundred and fifty pounds, thank you very much. And what the fuck is my tiger going to do with a mouse?” she asked, her hands on her hips.

“I don’t know, eat it?” he asked.

“You want me to eat a rodent?” she gasped.

Connor looked at his mate’s horrified expression and quickly reassessed the situation. “Of course not, I was kidding. How about you draw a nice hot bath. I’ll deal with Mickey Mouse, and when you get out I’ll have a gourmet dinner and a glass of wine waiting for you,” Connor said, helping her off the chair. He prayed she would never know he had been serious. Her eyes narrowed at him and she sniffed.

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