He continued to kiss her and the phone fell silent. It didn’t take long before it rang again. “Damn, damn and double damn.” He kissed her forehead. “I’m going mangle my brothers.”
Paige smiled at the subdued menace in his voice. It was good to know he was as upset about the interruption as she was. “Well, at least they didn’t interrupt you, umm, us, last night.” Her pussy creamed remembering. Dang it, what was the use in wearing panties around this man? “You better answer it.”
He moved away from temptation. “What?” He practically shouted into the phone. He listened for several minutes before swearing.
Paige slid off the counter and got out a handful of storage containers. She loaded them with the food she’d prepared and listened to Quinn’s side of the conversation. It sounded as if they might not be able to spend the evening together. As she moved around, her pussy twinged. The sensation wasn’t unpleasant. It reminded her that she might need some more recovery time before she took her bear shifter back to bed. By the time he was finished, she had most of the storage containers filled and was putting them in a large brown bag. She’d saved herself a small portion to take to work.
“I’m sorry, babe.”
Paige was also sorry. The connection they’d made last night had been incredible. He pulled her back into his arms and she breathed in the deep forest scent of his body. He must have read her mind because he rubbed his cheek against her hair and murmured, “You feel it, don’t you?”
She pushed away without answering. Yeah, she felt something. Love. Love for the big bear shifter, and she wasn’t his mate. Tears stung her eyes, maybe she couldn’t do this after all.
“Paige, what’s wrong?”
Quinn could feel the waves of uncertainty rolling off her. He’d thought he’d gained a little ground last night in convincing her that she was indeed his true mate.
She shook her head and picked up the bag. “Here, take this with you. There’s enough for your brothers if you want to share.” Her smile was lopsided, and sad.
He wanted to tell his brothers and the inspector who had apparently shown up out of nowhere to go fuck themselves. He wanted to wrap Paige up and secret her back to his house, never letting her out again. She’d felt so damn good this morning and looked so damn good last night draped over the boulder in the middle of the woods, his forest. All he could think about was taking her there again and fucking the life out of her. And claiming her. Again and again.
He clenched his hands to stop himself from doing just that. Then he realized why she was so upset and why his bear was practically clawing up his insides. He’d forgotten to actually tell her she was his mate. Again. He knew she hadn’t heard what he’d told her this morning as she’d fallen asleep in his arms. Shit. Fuck. Damn.
He grabbed her, his hands tight against her upper arms. “Paige, listen to me. You are my mate.”
“Quinn. We both know I’m not your mate.”
The disbelief in her voice caused his fur to stand on end in affronted masculine pride. He might not have said the words, hell, even gained her consent, but he’d claimed her just the same.
She placed her hand on his chest right over his heart. “This is okay. What we’re doing is okay, Quinn.”
“You’re my mate, Paige. I marked you. I fucking claimed you.”
Her hand went immediately to the place on her neck where he’d bitten her. “No, you didn’t.”
“Oh, yes I did.” He wanted to shake some sense into her.
“But—”
His damn phone buzzed again. Tonight he would tell her. Tell her all about true mates. The exchange of marks. The heat. Everything. He couldn’t now. If he did, he’d never make it to the construction site, for days. Once he explained, once she accepted him, his bear would take control, whether the man wanted it to or not.
A whole lot of people were depending on him going to the site today. Marcum had screwed them over with the concrete mix stunt. The Council’s order for him to pay restitution was great. Quinn knew it wasn’t the end of the trouble. Marcum was too sleazy not to have something else up his sleeve. Quinn’s instincts were telling him that he needed to go. Other instincts were warning him not to leave. Paige looked like prey about to run. He caught her chin between his fingers. They tightened, forcing her to meet his gaze. “My mate. Mine. Tonight we talk.”
She opened her mouth to reply. He knew what she was going to say and stopped her with a hard kiss to her swollen lips. The woman loved telling him no. “Tonight.”
CHAPTER EIGHT