Mates: Prequel (Claws Clause 0)

They were together. Whenever he called her his mate, she smiled indulgently. He hadn’t scented any fear coming from her since the first time he saw her in the park. She slept in his bed, letting him hold her near, and allowed him to feed her, pet her, and protect her.

She absolutely was his mate.

Evangeline still called him her boyfriend, mainly because she argued that mate sounded weird coming from her since she was a human, and Maddox decided that what she called him wasn’t the hill to die on; he just needed the my part in front of it. So long as she didn’t deny that they were a bonded pair, that was fine by him.

And, he assured his wolf, once she finally consented to mate with him, she would be his mate in truth.

Only, after six months of growing closer, learning everything about his human, falling deeper for her every day… after six months of fantasizing what it would be like when she opened her heart to him, then opened her body for him… after six months of the worst case of blue balls in history, Evangeline still showed no signs of taking their relationship to the next level.

So, one evening after dinner, when they were sitting on the couch together, watching television, Maddox decided it was time to make his move. The next time she turned into him, cuddling close before she stole a kiss along the edge of his jaw, Maddox grabbed her hand. Instead of holding it chastely, though, he circled her palm with his rough thumb, took a deep breath, then placed her fingers along the edge of his very obvious, very noticeable erection.

Evangeline jerked her hand back, her eyes wide and staring. She didn’t say a single word, just ga

ped up at him.

And Maddox realized he might have made a huge fucking mistake.

With an apologetic grimace, his eyes gone gold with regret for upsetting his mate, he picked up her hand and tucked it into her lap again.

Hesitantly, as if she could hardly believe she was doing it, Evangeline put it back.

He exhaled softly, going stiff—well, stiffer—under her soft touch. He groaned. He couldn’t help it.

She gave his length a single, tantalizing, erotic stroke.

“I’ve never done this before,” she blurted out. “Any of this.”

Maddox was stunned. He never would have guessed that she was as unpracticed as he was. Evangeline was a human, and she’d confessed he wasn’t her first boyfriend. As jealous and possessive as he could be, he refused to let her elaborate. Who or what Evangeline did before they met was her past and he was totally good with leaving it behind them.

She was gorgeous. She didn’t have a weird biological quirk that kept her from exploring her sexuality. If Maddox hadn’t been a shifter, he would’ve been humping everything in sight from the time he turned fifteen. It never occurred to him that Evangeline hadn’t.

He just thought she was getting to know him, making him wait until she was sure before she went all in on being his mate.

But if she was also a virgin—

He realized a moment too late that he’d been silent longer than he should have been.

Evangeline’s fingers curled up against his cock, drawing away from his jeans before pulling back. She settled her hand in her lap again.

Maddox missed her touch immediately.

“I know,” she said, a bit of deprecative laugh in her tone. “My friends used to make fun of me for it all the time. And it wasn’t that I was waiting for any big reason or anything, it’s just… I don’t know. It never felt right.”

Maddox hated that she felt like she needed to move away from him, or explain anything at all to him. He belonged to her, now and forever. She could touch him however and whenever she wanted to.

He only hoped she didn’t mind when he did the same to her.

Quick as a flash, he took her tiny, tiny hand in his massive paw, pulling her closer, pressing their entwined hands against his heart. His silence had her babbling—and, fuck, he loved the way she had no filter, spilling her secrets to him as if he was worthy of them—but he never wanted her to be uncertain.

Not of him.

Not of where they stood, either.

She was his mate. And he loved her more than anything in this world.

“No offense, babe, but your friends are fucking idiots.”

Evangeline laughed again, some real humor in the sound this time.