“Nah,” he says as he looks up at the mountains.
I swallow hard and force out the words. “Where is your mate?”
His eyebrow raises as he looks at me. “What do you mean?”
“Wouldn’t she have a problem with you taking me for a ride while you’re naked?”
His horse comes to a stop as he stares at me with a heated look. My horse stops too and suddenly we’re right beside each other, our legs touching.
“Willow,” he says in a low voice that’s charged with emotion. “It’s you. You’re my mate. Didn’t you realize that?”
“Oh, yeah,” I say with a wave of my hand and a nervous laugh. “Totally. I knew that… the whole time.”
“Come here,” he says in a husky voice as he leans toward me. “You’ll know it now.”
My skin tingles as he reaches up and gently takes my chin in his big hand. He tilts my head up as his comes down and suddenly, magically, perfectly, we’re kissing.
His mouth is hot and slippery and I could kiss it for hours. A low rumbling growl from him has me trembling and getting so wet as it rolls through me.
My hand slides up his slick muscular arm as it wraps around my hip, pulling me and Artemis closer.
It’s everything I hoped my first kiss would be—sweet, sexy, hot, romantic, and toe-curling. Sharing it with Cameron, with my mate, makes it that much sweeter.
Eventually, he pulls away and I’m breathing in breathless pants as my cheeks flush red. When I open my eyes I see his hard on standing up straight and thick. He makes no effort to hide it, so I take an extra second to gawk at it before I look into his loving brown eyes.
“You’re the one for me, Willow,” he says in a firm unwavering voice. “I knew it the second I saw you. I had never seen anything so beautiful in all my life. I didn’t think beauty like you existed.”
And my crush ramps up times a hundred.
“It’s not just physical, although there’s plenty of that, but I already love every part of you. I can’t wait to discover every amazing thing you’re hiding. You got me obsessed in a big way, Willow. We’re mates. That means everything has changed.”
He leans in and gives me another organ-shaking kiss. I’m all dizzy with my brain not working properly when he pulls away, licking his sexy lips.
It does make sense now that I think about it. The pull to come here. All of his cryptic words. The incredible feeling in my body whenever he looks at me in that territorial way.
We are mates.
As crazy as that sounds, it’s true.
That’s why I was never interested in any boys growing up. That’s why I shook off all the men who tried to ask me out. This is what I’ve been saving myself for. It’s all been leading up to Cameron.
I felt the pull all the way from Atlanta. It felt almost physical. A persistent, incessant, unstoppable need to head right here. To head home.
Cameron is my home. This ranch is my home.
I look around it with new eyes as our horses start walking again. It’s in desperate need of some rain, but it’s still beautiful. Rolling hills, high mountains in the distance, forests, rivers, lakes. This ranch has it all.
“Come on,” he says as his horse picks up some speed. My horse follows. “I want to get in that lake. And then I want to get in you.”
I gulp as I watch his massive muscular back in front of me.
Mates or not, I still don’t have my bathing suit and it’s making me nervous.
Not as nervous as I am to try and fit that thick long rod inside of me.
But even though I’m nervous, I’m still excited to try.The private lake is gorgeous with a sandy beach and ducks floating in the middle. The sun is shining on the clear water inviting us in for a swim. It’s a spectacular view... But I’m not looking at any of it.
My eyes are glued to Cameron’s naked body as he steps into the water. His broad shoulders are a work of art with more muscles than I can count. And I’ve never been a girl who checked out guy’s asses, but I can’t take my eyes off of his.
“Coming?” he asks as he turns around with a grin.
I swallow hard and nod. “Yup!” I respond in a high-pitched voice.
“Take those clothes off and let me see my mate’s body,” he says with a growl. “I want to see everything.”
“Okay,” I say as I casually walk around to the other side of my horse where Artemis can hide my body. “I’ll be there in a second!”
I watch him walk into the water and then dive in. He comes back up a few yards away with water dripping down his massive chest as he runs his hands through his wet hair.