He should’ve kept his damn mouth shut.
He didn’t.
“Well, yeah. It’s okay. I’ll show you.”
Her eyebrows winged up. “Really? Are you sure you even want a stupid human as your mate? I don’t have an animal inside of me, Maddox. It might prove harder to train me.”
Maddox knew that he went too far in that moment, but he didn’t exactly regret it. He meant what he said. It still wasn’t even about the sex, either. It was about the claiming.
Their bond was already there, growing stronger and stronger every day. All his bite would do would be to prove that she was his to everyone else. All Paras would respect his marking. Even Ants knew better than to get between a bonded shifter and their mate.
It was the whole damn reason behind the Claws Clause, after all.
Still, she was obviously angry. He had to try to make her see things his way.
“That’s not what I meant—”
“Oh, really? Could’ve fooled me. Just because I don’t want you to bite me the first time we make love, I suddenly don’t understand?”
“It doesn’t hurt,” he argued. He’d make sure of it. He’d give her so much pleasure, she wouldn’t even feel it when his fangs slid into her flesh.
“Yeah?” she shot back. “How do you know?”
Were they really having this argument? Hadn’t she already agreed?
What was going on?
His beast was snarling deep in his chest. It didn’t understand why Evangeline was refusing him.
And then she snapped, “And what’s the matter with getting married like a human? You’ve told me it didn’t matter that I’m not a Para. Is it wrong that I’d like to have a marriage license? Isn’t that what your precious bonding license is? A piece of paper?”
Maddox went absolutely still at the mention of the bonding license.
“Hang on. What are you talking about?”
He knew what a bonding license was. That wasn’t what he meant when he asked her that. Every Para knew every single letter of the damn Claws Clause. A claiming bite was all he needed to prove she was his mate—to another Para.
To the government, though? He needed a bonding license.
But how did she know that?
Pale pink spots appeared high on her cheeks. He knew every inch of her face, could read every expression. She was angry and she was horny and, to his surprise, she was embarrassed.
“I looked into it, Mad. You’ve been so careful to shield me from what you are. I wanted to know what to look forward to in the future.”
“I didn’t want to frighten you.”
“No, you wanted to protect me, right? Coddle me, just like my parents. I’m an adult. I have a damn degree. I might not have the most experience in the world about a lot of things, but I saw the writing on the wall a long time ago. You’re a Para, Maddox. A wolf shifter. Even if I wanted to get away, I could never escape you.”
As his wolf whined at just the thought of losing Evangeline, Maddox felt his fangs start to lengthen, his claws itching to emerge. “Don’t even tease about that.”
His voice was rough and raspy, his vocal chords constricting as he fought the shift.
“I’m not teasing. I’m being honest. This… what we have… it’s never going to work if you can’t respect what I want.”
“I give you everything—”
“Everything you think I should have. Protection is one thing. Following me home every night, thinking I don’t notice that you’ve been watching me whenever I’m not close by… I didn’t say anything because this is new to me, too. And you have instincts. I’m not asking you to deny them. It’s never really mattered to me that you’re a Para and I’m a boring old human. All I’m asking, right now, is that we do one thing my way. I’ll let you bite me the second we’re legally married.”