“Wow.”
“Mmm.” Evangeline wanted to echo his sentiments, but she’d been nailed so thoroughly, the soft murmur was all she had the energy to let out.
Maddox threw his arm over her tits, tugging her close to him. “I’ve missed that.”
“Yeah. Me, too.”
“We shouldn’t have done that, though.”
That comment right there sure as hell perked her up. It wasn’t regret in his voice, not really, but she caught enough of a hint of frustration to immediately feel on guard.
Shoving his arm off of her, she turned so that she could glare over at him. “Excuse me?”
“Not all of it,” Maddox quickly corrected. “But I should’ve pulled out at the end.”
Her stomach twisted. “What for? I’m your mate. Isn’t the whole point to come inside of me?”
“Normally, yeah. But, Angie… look, the Nightwalkers have a bounty on your head all because of Wright. I hate even thinking it, but I know damn well that Cilla has it out for you because of me. We’re all we got. Now I’m the fucking Alpha, and, yeah, that gives me the might of the whole pack to back me up against those assholes, but it’s not the right time to bring a pup into this.”
Forget twisted. Her stomach tightened so much, Evangeline thought she might hurl. “You don’t honestly mean that, do you?”
“I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t. Don’t get me wrong, though. Shit, Ang, I want to start a family with you more than anything, but now?
“You do want to have pups, though, right?”
“‘Course, I do. Except for you, it’s all I’ve ever wanted. And if it happened just now, we’ll make it work. As long as it’s you and me, Angie… you and me and our kid… I know I can handle anything. I’m just saying… wait. Why are you looking at me like that?”
She gulped. “Like what?”
“Evangeline Wolfe. Are you trying to tell me something?”
She couldn’t find the words. Not yet. Not when he just said two seconds ago that he had wanted to wait.
Too bad Junior didn’t get the memo.
He took a deep breath. His nostrils flared and he jolted. The next moment, Maddox had braced himself on his elbow as he stared down at her.
Just… stared.
Evangeline met his unblinking gaze. She chuckled weakly.
“Merry Christmas?”
6
In retrospect, she wasn’t quite sure what she expected his reaction to be. When Sarah said that Maddox would figure it out eventually—or, as her mother-in-law put it, pulled his head out of his ass and finally noticed her scent had changed—Evangeline thought he’d be as excited and stunned and, well, overjoyed as she was when she found out.
Except, only a good couple of seconds had passed by now and Maddox was still staring at her.
She cleared her throat. “Um? Babe? You gonna say something?”
He didn’t. Instead, slowly inching his way down her naked body, he snuffled at her midsection, nosing her belly as he sniffled, then breathed in deep again.
She knew when he confirmed what she told him the second he pulled himself up to his knees, threw his head back, and howled.
Evangeline had to check. She was almost sure, but… “Uh… was that a good howl or a bad howl?”
His eyes flashed while his fangs punched out of his gums. “You have to ask?” he said, his voice a hoarse rasp as his wolf came to the forefront.