“Even better.” Thinking about what he’d said after we had sex the first time, I giggled. “Because I think you did it.”
He slid his arm under my back and pulled me close. “Did what, baby?”
“Put us both into a coma.”
He beamed a cocky grin at me. “Damn straight.”
9
Keane
There was a pounding on the front door, and a growl rumbled up my chest at the interruption when all I wanted to do was stay cuddled with my mate until she was ready for another round of sex. She was exhausted after the last one, but my cock was still rock-hard. I had a feeling it was going to stay that way for the rest of my life since all I had to do was look, smell, or touch her, and I was ready to fuck.
I brushed a kiss against her temple before I climbed out of bed. “Stay here, baby. I’ll be right back.”
Then I pulled on my jeans before I stalked out of the bedroom toward the door. When I recognized the outline of Rome’s body through the front window, I sighed and shook my head. Yanking the door open, I grumbled, “Were you so pissed at me for knocking on your door this morning that you had to come and do the same to me before you left? You can skip the goodbyes since you damn well know I just found my mate. I’ll introduce her to you and the family the next time you’re up here.”
“Sorry, but no can do, alpha.” He lifted his hand so I could see the emergency alert on his cell phone screen.
It was rare for anyone to come up missing on our land since the wilderness didn’t draw many hikers this far out, but we still helped out when search and rescue teams were called in. Only the woman pictured in the alert wasn’t missing—I’d just left her in my bed. “Fuck.”
“Yeah, I figured you’d want to know that they’re going to send people out searching the woods for her first thing in the morning.” He stepped closer and lowered his voice. “I called Chief Elrod, but he said he couldn’t call off the search because some spoiled daddy’s boy kicked up a huge fuss when he found out the girls she was camping with came back without her.”
The jackass who wanted my mate must’ve been able to pull some pretty big strings if the head of the search and rescue team didn’t listen to Rome when he called. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Do you need any help?” Rome glanced over his shoulder toward his cabin. “Danika is down for the night. I could run into town with you and talk to the chief. Get him to see reason and call off the search since the girl is safe and sound.”
“Where are you going?”
I moved so Rome couldn’t see past me into the cabin and growled, “Give me a minute, and I’ll be ready to go.”
“Sure thing,” he agreed before I slammed the door shut in his face.
Turning toward my mate, I was relieved to see that she’d pulled one of my shirts on before she’d left our bedroom. “I thought I told you to stay in bed.”
She planted her hands on her hips and tilted her head to the side, a stubborn gleam in her hazel orbs. “It sounded as though something was wrong.”
“I want you to stay here with Thora and the baby. Leyton will come into town with Rome and me to take care of this. Artemis is probably in his cave, but his cell phone still gets reception. I’ll call him so he can fly here to watch over you while I’m gone.”
“That’s a lot to take in all at once, and I didn’t understand half of what you said.” Her nose scrunched as she stared up at me with wide eyes. “Who is Leyton? Why does Artemis live in a cave? How can he fly?”
We hadn’t even had a full day together, and the outside world was already intruding. It pissed me the fuck off and had my grizzly pushing against my skin, demanding that we hunt the human who was the reason I had to leave my mate so soon. Even if only for a little while. “Leyton is my brother. Artemis is a dragon shifter.”
“Dragons are real?” she gasped.
I couldn’t help but chuckle at her shock. She’d barely blinked when I told her about shifters and fated mates. “Yeah.”
“Wow.”
Her reaction helped me to see past my fury as I explained the situation to her. When I was done, she asked, “Shouldn’t you talk to your alpha first?”
Her question stunned me until I realized I’d skipped over that part when I was telling her about life as a shifter. Moving close, I pulled her against my chest and brushed my lips against hers before I confessed, “I am the alpha, baby.”
“Oh.” Her eyes went wide as her pretty lips formed a perfect circle. “I guess that explains why you’re so bossy.”
“Admit it, you like it when I’m bossy.”
A pretty pink blush filled her cheeks, and my dick pressed against my zipper as I remembered how low it spread—all the way down to her perfect tits. “Only in bed.”