Maddix
I’d never had a woman at my home. Hell, I’d never had a female in any capacity. A thirty-something-year-old bear shifting virgin who had waited for his one true fated mate his entire life.
I flipped the steaks on the grill, the sound of sizzling meat, the scent of dinner filling my head. I didn’t even know if Allison liked meat but that’s what tonight was about. Tonight, I’d learn about my mate.
Tonight, I’d make her mine, because even waiting these past couple days had been hell. Living hell.
Even before meeting Allison, she was all I’d thought about. I hadn’t known her, but I knew she’d been out there for me, waiting, ready to be claimed and marked by my bear.
A low grumble left me and I pulled the steaks from the grill and placed them on the plate. I’d wanted to pick her up at her cabin, make this all official and gentlemanly, but my mate was independent, had fire in her. She wanted to come here herself, and when it came to her, she called the shots, even if I was an alpha.
What Allison would realize was, although I was bigger and stronger, she was the one who held all the power.
* * *
Allison
“Tell me everything.”
I picked up my wine glass and took a small sip. I’d never been much of a drinker, but tonight a little liquid courage would do me some good. Or maybe it would make things worse, mainly speaking about my arousal. “What do you want to know about me?” I asked Maddix as I stared into his blue eyes.
I’d been at his cabin for the last hour, and we were nearing the end of dinner. For not knowing him, and for the mating being pretty intense thus far, the evening had been very relaxed and comfortable. It was like I was supposed to be here. And that in itself was insane to me. But it was also perfect.
It was a contradiction, it seemed.
It didn’t help that he was so easy on the eyes, that his animal magnetism and male prowess seemed to put me at ease.
And the meal he’d cooked had been delicious, far better than anything I could’ve ever prepared myself.
He was gorgeous, masculine, and could cook. A package all wrapped into one nearly six-and-a-half-foot tall sexy bear.
I set my wineglass down and picked up my napkin to wipe my mouth. Last thing I needed was to look like a lush with droplets of wine sliding down my face. I didn’t miss the way his gaze was locked on the act. I wondered what he was thinking.
I couldn’t deny the fact I’d thought about what it would be like to be a shifter, to be able to take in someone’s scent and know what they were feeling. If they were afraid, happy. If they were excited or aroused.
Was he right now?
The way he looked at me, the way he tracked my movements as soon as I’d gotten to his place, told me that he was and he didn’t want to hide it. He made me feel wanted without touching me, without saying a single word.
It was the possessiveness and the way he looked at me, the way he would walk by me so close, yet not touch me, that made me feel extremely intimate with him.
It was insane. But it was also pretty incredible.
“What do you want to know about me?” I didn’t know if he wanted to know all the grizzly details about my accident, but a part of me wanted to be completely honest with him, to tell him every single little bit information about me.
“Anything. Everything.” He leaned back in the chair, and I took in his appearance. He wore a red flannel, one that molded to his muscular form perfectly. He reached out and grabbed his beer, his hand so big and masculine. As he took a long pull from it, he watched me over the rim, his eyes so blue they almost seemed unreal.
I thought I was doing a pretty good job of keeping my emotions in check, acting like I had my shit together, but I knew that was probably just wishful thinking.
“I used to dance professionally.” He lifted his eyebrow in interest and I smiled softly. “Ballet. It was my life. And not to toot my own horn but I was pretty good at it.”
“No doubt,” he said honestly, genuinely. “I bet you were fucking incredible.”
I averted my gaze to the table and felt my face heat. Hearing him compliment me had me pleased and embarrassed. I wasn’t used to people saying these kinds of things to me. But I knew it wasn’t just the things he said, but the fact I felt this happy because it was Maddix saying them.
“What happened that made you stop?”
I looked up and caught his gaze with mine. “A bad move during a performance that resulted in me falling in just the right—or wrong as luck would have it—way and ruining my dancing career.”