Page 109 of Mated
I’ve never let myself love since Isabelle. But with Nisha …
I could.
She lifts up in my arms, slipping her hands into my hair as she licks across my bottom lip. I open fast, letting her tongue tease mine until my body coils and my hands tighten in her skin to keep from ripping off her clothes.
“Fuck, woman,” I growl, pulling back. “Keep it up and I’m taking you now.”
Her lips curve against mine. “Promise?”
I growl.
The sexy sound of her laughter makes my eyes glow.
There is no way I can walk away from her. That I can leave her.
So when it’s time to go back to Lock Lake, how the fuck am I supposed to let her go?
Chapter 46
Nisha
We leave Mom’s after true dark and make our way back to the campground. After Tanner’s kisses in the swing, I’m more than ready for some alone time with him.
I peer at his side profile in the dimness of the Jeep as he drives.
Mom seemed to genuinely like him. Which is unheard of for her. But Tanner, despite his rough edges, is almost southern gentleman perfect.
So much about him now makes sense, but it also makes me ache deep inside for him. And not where I am used to aching.
He was seventeen when he lost his kid and his girl in one go. That kind of thing does shit to your head. It fucks you up inside and out, and if not for Ruin and the others … Where would Tanner be now?
“You’re staring at me,” he says into the stillness before peering at me.
“Would you prefer me not to gaze at you in adoration?” I bat my lashes at him.
His sexy lips curve in that roll that is all Tanner. My stomach fucking heats.
Damn it, man.
“Adoration, huh?”
I nod. “Lots of adoration. And horniness.”
He laughs, and the dimple in his cheek makes a bright appearance. The man is too fucking hot for his own good.
“So …” I say, clearing my throat at the wash of need. “Candy skulls and shamrocks. Story there too or do you just like them?”
His gray eyes glint. “Family is an eclectic mix of Irish, Hispanic, and White.” He flicks the directional. “You noticed Silver Rock is pretty diverse too. Most of the bloodlines that have been there since the beginning are still present.”
He turns off the highway. “I got the tattoos not long after I joined the coven. Figured I should always have a fucking reminder of what I came from. Who I came from.”
“Do you still talk to any of them?” I ask. “Your family.”
“Parents moved to Texas after Callus took the pack. Dad said he couldn’t be at Silver Rock with someone else’s son on the throne. Mom died a few years later. Doctors ruled it as a heart attack.”
Another wave of pain flows through me. “And your dad?”
“Dad has a ranch out there. Stays beast more than human and blames me for mom’s death. I went out there once after I joined Lock Lake. To explain. It didn’t go well, and we haven’t spoken since.”
