Maddox finished hiding the bike, shifting his bulky body so that he could cover it up. Between the size and his disastrous attempt to wrap it in half a roll of wrapping paper, it was kind of obvious what it was, and he didn’t want her to guess what it was before Christmas.
He also had no clue what she was doing wearing a coat—since the bare legs peeking out from beneath the hem told him that she didn’t really have any intentions of going out into the freezing cold night.
Still, he had to ask. “Hey, sweetheart… it’s a little late. You going somewhere?”
Evangeline didn’t answer him. She just gave her head a coy shake. And then, to his shock and surprise, she unzipped her coat.
His mate was wearing the teeniest, tiniest, flimsiest lingerie nightie he’d ever seen before. A pale pink, almost completely see-through, it had a deep, plunging neck, and a wispy skirt that whispered just past her pussy.
It was also brand new. He would’ve remembered if she’d ever worn anything like this.
Evangeline bit her bottom lip, jutted out her chin—and her chest—then let the coat tumble to the ground behind her.
His cock punched straight to life. All of the blood rushed straight to his groin, leaving none for his brain as he stared at the vision of his mate in front of him. He couldn’t think of a damn thing to say and settled on licking his lips.
God, she was fucking gorgeous.
She shrugged one shoulder, allowing the thin, lacy strap to slip down to the crook of her elbow. It took half of the see-through top with it, baring a full tit, a rosy nipple winking right at Maddox.
He stifled his groan.
What was she doing?
Did she want him to explode in his jeans?
‘Cause he might. It was definitely a possibility.
He should stop her. Unless… unless this was a Christmas gift. Evangeline had been so distant lately, so quiet, always looking at him with a sad frown. And then there the dreams… at night, when he laid beside her in bed, she would whimper and cry and, when he asked her about them in the morning, she always acted as
He didn’t want to push her. As soon as he claimed her, he’d wanted to fuck her every which way he could, whenever he had the chance. But then Cilla stole Evangeline away and tried to really hurt her, then the witch tossed Colt out of a fucking window, and Maddox had to watch over his brother while he recovered.
By the time things were slowly getting back to normal, and he could finally enjoy the mate that was destined just for him, danger struck again and, damn it, Maddox knew whose needs he had to put first.
Newsflash: it wasn’t his.
Even so, it would be damn rude to refuse a gift, right? If that’s what his Angie was offering him, he couldn’t deny her anything. If she wanted to show off her body and possibly do a little more for Christmas, could he really say no?
If this was what she wanted, he’d go along with it, Maddox decided just as Evangeline slowly tugged the second strap down, the rest of the material pooling at her waist. She shimmied it down past her ass, Maddox swallowing roughly when he saw that she wasn’t even wearing panties beneath the nightie.
Ah, hell.
A man could only take so much temptation. And while his wolf was urging him to take his mate, claim his mate, Maddox wanted to prove to himself that he wasn’t all beast. Until Evangeline was fully recovered, until the bad dreams went away and he didn’t feel like he needed to hide her away, he shouldn’t take pleasure in her body when he was such a shitty mate, her life was constantly in danger.
And what if, this time, his seed finally took? Could he really bring a pup into this? When he was newly the Alpha, and Colt was out risking his own wolf, searching for Cilla while taking on the Nightwalkers?
But if he refused her…
Ignoring his wolf’s howl and his twitching cock, Maddox followed his heart—and his bond. Evangeline had come to him, bared herself to him… and he knew in an instant that, if he pushed her away, he’d do far more damage than anything his claws could do.
Besides, he really, really wanted to mate her.
No time to change his mind. No time to strip, either. In a snap, he shifted into his wolf, let it offer its mate an excited yip, then forced the change back. The tatters of his clothes rained down around him, but he didn’t give a shit. Shaking off the remains of his shirt, his jeans, his boxers, Maddox reached down, gave his aching erection a single, promising pump, then curled a finger at Evangeline.
This was her show, r
ight? Her gift? He was just going along for the ride.
Her forest green eyes sparkled with a promise that nearly brought Maddox to his fucking knees. Instead of moving toward him, though, she turned away, letting him gobble up the slight curves of her long, slender body. Already so magnificently tall, she glided easily on the arches of her feet, lifting her ass high as that he could watch the cheeks sway as she walked away from him.