I’d forgotten that my parents had been talking with the Gundersons when I ran up to the car. Mom had wrapped an arm around me and squeezed me. Dad had ruffled my hair, and I’d climbed into the back to wait. They’d continued to talk for another five or ten minutes. I remembered now because I’d stuck my head out the window to tell them I had to pee, and I’d even run off to the restroom while they finished their conversation.
Shit, I’d forgotten all about that. I blinked, stared at the back of my truck. Yeah, I’d been late. But that wasn’t the only reason we’d ended up in the canyon when the storm came through. I’d have to think on it, about everything. I’d been so bent out of shape over it—and rightly so—but I wasn’t the only one with a fucked-up childhood. With bad stuff happening to them.
Audrey hadn’t had an easy time. Parents were supposed to take care of their kids, not the other way around. At least Mom and Dad had never once made me think I wasn’t loved or wanted. I’d been lucky, even though they’d died. I had a lot to think about.
But not now. The sun was shining. The spring-fed pool was just over the hill. And I had the best companion ever. My fucking mate. Soon enough, she’d also be my fucking mate.
I adjusted myself, went around the truck and halted in my tracks.
Audrey was leaning into the cab. Since she was so short, she was up on her toes and her ass stuck out.
Fuck. Me.
In her snug jeans and tank top, I couldn’t miss every inch of her curves. I’d had my hands on them the other day, knew the width of her hips as I held her in place for my tongue and fingers. My mouth watered with the need to get back there and taste her some more. It was her tits, small lush swells pressing against the pale blue stretchy fabric, that I hadn’t seen. Touched. Tasted. Licked. Sucked.
She dropped down to the soles of her feet.
“Hold it right there.”
She froze facing the interior of the truck but turned her head to look at me. Her eyes instantly widened, and I couldn’t miss the way her pupils dilated behind her glasses. I felt more wolf than human at the moment. Her scent caught the air, and I breathed it in. Sweetness, but also musk. Fuck, she was wet. Just as eager for me as I was for her. The last thing I’d said was for her to get the butt plug and lube, which meant—
I set the blankets over the side of the truck bed and placed the food basket on the ground.
“What?” she asked.
“I want to mark you.” My voice was deep. Rough. I was barely hanging on. Maybe it was the talk about my parents. Or her parents. Or the fact that we’d shared shit that I never told anyone. Rob didn’t know I blamed myself. I knew he blamed me, but I’d never outright said it was my fault. I’d never apologized to him for making him alpha when he wasn’t ready.
Something was different, though. Inside, I felt lighter. I wasn’t absolved, but Audrey hadn’t slapped me and jumped from the truck. She hadn’t rejected me. In fact, she’d told me I wasn’t to blame.
Someone liked me, wanted me, was staying with me even with all my fuck ups. Somehow, she’d seen every bit of my false bravado, the cockiness for what it was. She’d heard my darkest secrets, and she was dripping wet for me.
She was mine. Not just mine as in bend her over and fuck her. No, as in, I loved her. She was my other half. I didn’t give a shit if she was human. I couldn’t bite her, but I could mark her in other ways. My cum on her skin, dripping from her pussy. My scent on her so every wolf in the west knew she’d been claimed, that could come later. But right this second, I needed to see my mark on her.
I stepped up behind her within the open door, reached around and undid the front of her jeans, pushed them over her hips. She held still for me, almost shaking with anticipation. Her gorgeous ass was covered in red satin. Fuck, that was hot, and I’d get those off her later, but now I needed her ass bare. I needed all that creamy skin on display. So I could mark.
Hooking my fingers in her panties, I lowered them, so they and her jeans were bunched mid-thigh. I heard her ragged breathing, saw the frantic beat of her pulse at her neck.
“Boyd.” Her voice was almost a whisper, but I heard it as if she’d shouted.
My hand slid over her ass, caressed it. Cupped it. Squeezed it.