Page 15 of Reindeer in the Headlights
“Anything else I should know?” I was keeping my distance, because if I got too close, I’d scent him and want to put my hands on him. But Ambrose had other ideas and strolled toward me. I shivered, which had nothing to do with the temperature.
His bare hands took my gloved ones. My mind, which was still reeling from the new developments, was prepared for a proposal because what else could he be about to say? He wasn’t on one knee, but did shifters do that?
“You’re my fated mate, Wyndham.”
I was both wrong and right. He wasn’t asking me to marry him, but performing the shifter version, which was even better. Mates. We were mates. Of course, we were. That was the weirdsensation I’d experienced when he was near. His body and mind were calling me.
I stamped my feet because I was cold just standing in one place. “Let’s walk.” I was doing less hobbling and more having a slight limp, so Ambrose tucked his arm in mine and we trudged in circles around the yard.
In theory, I understood mating, and being his mate settled the confusion in my head as to how connected we were. But it was a huge revelation, and I had questions, though with Ambrose being so close, my mind was befuddled. It was his damned scent that was making my knees weak, and my brain wobbled and couldn’t focus.
“I only told you part of the story before. Yes, my cousins are shifters, but also… I’ve worked with shifters. The head of our sales department is a wolf shifter, and I met his mate at the dreaded Christmas party last year.” I only knew that because they used it as the excuse for what they had been doing.
“Don’t tell me they were dancing naked on the tables?”
If only that had been it. I shook my head because I didn’t want to get into what they’d done in the utility room. But I had longed for a relationship like theirs—not what they did at the Christmas party, because that was ewww. At least my uncle was human enough to protect me from that side of his relationship because that would’ve been worse than seeing the head of sales’ bare ass.
“You’re not upset about this, are you?”
He went on to describe how some humans rejected the universe putting them and their mate together. “Even though some felt the connection with their shifter mate, they refused to be with them because it wasn’t their choice.”
When he put it like that, it did sound manipulative, but that wasn’t how I imagined it.
“Are you a fan of rom coms?”
Ambrose screwed up his face. “I don’t have a TV, and it’s been years since I went to the movies.”
“Okay, imagine this. A human in a crowded library. He glances toward the door as a man strolls in. He doesn’t know the guy’s name or anything about him but thinks, ‘this is the man I’m going to marry.’”
“Okay, and how does he make that happen?”
Ummm, yeah, that was part creepy stalker and part lovesick wanna-be boyfriend.
“Let’s skip over that bit. But it’s instant.” For one of them, anyway. “And it’s special whether it’s the human or shifter version.”
“Cool.”
But I needed to understand why I’d dreamed of him and whether that was normal for shifters or just shifters and humans.
“My brother said you might not experience the dream, but you did, and that suggested our bond is powerful.”
Oh goody, I was going to enjoy this powerful connection when I finally got Ambrose into bed.
He glanced back at the cabin. “Understand you have a choice. Right now, tomorrow, and at any time in the future.”
I tilted my head as if I was pondering. “Mmmm, do or don’t I. Gosh, it’s a huge decision, and I might have to think about it.”
Ambrose, my mate, the man I longed to kiss and wake up beside every morning, nodded, but I refused to be a meanie and torture him. The sun peeked through the clouds and revealed a hint of auburn in my mate’s hair, and I wished to plant my lips on his, but we had to talk before I stuck my tongue down his throat.
“My thinking time is up, and I’ve made my choice.” I draped my arms around his neck. “I choose you and me.”
He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer. “It’s huge.”
I giggled. “Ummm, yeah.” I glanced between us. “I agree. Massive, even.”
His cheeks reddened. “Not that.” His face was dotted in pink spots, making him appear even more handsome. “Mating and bonding and being connected forever.”
“I’ve watched mated pairs and how they sync together. Their smiles and how they look at one another.” I’d always wanted that and never dreamed that was my destiny too.
