Mating Heat(12)

“You don’t have anyone. I don’t have anyone. We don’t have to be alone, Ophelia. We can make this work.”

I looked at him with surprise. This was getting too real for me. “This isn’t why I came here,” I said again, stronger this time.

“I’ve gone years without finding my mate. I have given up hope that I will. I want to start a life, have a family, and be with someone I can grow to love. We can make each other happy, and in time, we can learn to love each other.”

I didn’t know what to say after that. I wasn’t feeling him like that, and I knew I could never love him. That was reserved for two men that I probably would never have in my life in the way I wanted.

“What then, Graham?” I finally asked. “What if we do all of this and your mate comes along? What if we have children, grow to love each other, and she comes into your life?” Of course I had no desire to do any of that with him, not because he was a bad male, or that I could never be happy with him, but my feelings consumed me too much. They’d been with me far too long to just ignore. “If that happens how could you not go to her? If we got together it would be out of convenience.”

He shook his head and inched closer, but I stopped him with a hand out in front of me. “You would be helpless to not go to her, and I couldn’t blame you.” I took a deep breath. “And I can’t be with you, have that with you, because my love is elsewhere.” I know my words struck something deep inside of him by the way he kept his eyes on the ground. “You don’t have to be a stranger in the community, and you don’t have to hide from me. We can still be friends. I want that.”

He lifted his head and stared in my face. He kept what he was feeling and thinking locked down tight. Finally he exhaled. “You’re right. God, you’re right. I’m sorry.”

I felt anguish for this male, and found myself walking up to him to embrace him. “You’ll find what you’re looking for.” I pulled away and smiled, wanting to show him we were good, that things could just fine even if they didn’t seem like it. He walked me to the door, and when it shut behind me I stood there and thought about everything that had happened.

I could have taken Graham’s offer, but I knew that’s not what either of us needed.

Feeling resolve after speaking with Graham, I knew what I had to do. I wanted to tell Chase and Xavier how I felt, even if it ended up blowing up in my face.





Chapter Six



I stepped off his porch and made my way back to my cabin. The sun had since set, and the night was in full bloom around me. My mind was elsewhere, so it wasn’t until the wind blew from the north that I sensed I wasn’t alone. I stopped and slowly looked around. Aside from the flora around me, I couldn’t see who was near, not could I pick up on the exact scent and nature of who was so close. I inhaled, trying to catch what shifters were near me, but the direction the wind blew made it impossible to pick up on their scents.

“Ophelia.”

My name was whispered in a deep rumble, one that had everything in me tightening. My heart was beating frantically in my chest, pressing against my ribs in a wild tattoo.

There was a chill in the air that spoke of fall just around the corner, and I shivered.

“Ophelia.”

And that’s when I felt the warm breath along my nape after my name was spoken for a second time. I turned around and was immediately pressed against a thick oak tree, the bark scraping along the backs of my arms. I craned my neck and looked into the feral eyes of Xavier. They glowed in the darkness. His bear was right there, the scent of him about to shift into his animal form heady in the air. The smell of pure male testosterone and eager arousal was thick around him, and my body answered instantly. I warmed, grew pliant … became wet.

“Xavier?” I breathed out his name. “What are you doing?” His hands gripped my waist and slowly started to inch their way up, taking my shirt with them. I gasped as my desire for him started to increase. “Xavier?” I whispered his name again, but he didn’t respond.

His eyes were riveted to my lips and I felt his huge erection press against my belly. I could tell he was barely holding onto his human form.

“I can smell him on you,” he growled out, the words rasping against my face. He moved his face toward me so that his lips were an inch from mine. I didn’t move, didn’t even know what the hell was going on. The last I had heard Xavier and Chase had found their mate, but here was one half of the shifter duo, looking rightly pissed, acting possessive of me, and looking like he wanted to place his claim.