Secretly Mated(26)

“I can get home myself,” she offered.

Owyn shook his head. “No. If our date has to be interrupted, I’m at least going to pretend I’m a gentleman and walk you to your door.”

Doc choked out a laugh, but she was still stuck on the word date. Is that what this was? A date.

Dinner. Check.

Moonlight walk. Check.

Hand holding. Double check.

Wow. This… was a date.

Butterflies went crazy in Doc’s middle as they walked silently down the path. This meant… this meant…

What he’d been saying at Renner’s…

Owyn wanted more with her.

Doc’s knees felt wobbly as she climbed the steps to her cabin and unlocked the door. She turned back to Owyn, suddenly feeling shy. It was absurd since he knew her inside and out. He’d seen everything she hid from others, but somehow, standing here with him now, with all their potential laid out in front of them like a glorious banquet, she was nervous.

“Thanks for dinner,” she mumbled, toying with her key ring.

“Doc, look at me.”

She obeyed, bringing her gaze to his. But what she saw there drew a gasp from her lips.

She’d never seen him so open, never was able to read his feelings on his face, until now. Adoration. Like she was an angel and he, her saint. Like she was responsible for the sun rising and setting. It twisted her up inside until she could barely breathe.

“I need to tell you something.”

His eyes searched her face, so powerful they were like a spotlight. They’d see everything, maybe things she hadn’t been willing to admit before.

“What is it?” she breathed.

She watched as he licked his lips, looking so much like a panther on the prowl. But he never said whatever he wanted to say.

Like a blink, his hands were on her face, curving gently around her cheeks as his mouth came down on hers. Careful at first, but quickly turning more desperate. This kiss was different than the others they’d shared in the heat of passion. This kiss was trying to tell her something. It was a promise, another one Owyn would keep, she knew.

With a helpless sound, she wrapped her arms around his neck, dragging him closer and surrendering to him for these few seconds before he had to go. In this moment, she was utterly his. She couldn’t belong to herself anymore. Not when he looked at her like she was the reason he breathed. Not when he kissed her like he wanted to give her the world.

Mine, her cat purred. Forever mine.

Never taking his hands away, he backed her into the wall, invading every inch of her space. He was the moon orbiting her heart while she waited to see if she’d survive the tornado of emotion she was experiencing.

Heartbeats later, he broke away, tilting her head to one side so he could inhale from her neck. He dragged her scent into his lungs like he survived on it instead of oxygen. His soft growl registered in her ear past the roaring of her pulse.

Pulling back, he murmured, “Goodnight, Christina.”

And then he was walking down the steps, turning to watch her go inside. Somehow, she got the door closed even though she was ninety seven percent numb all over. The good kind of numb.

Doc pressed her palm to her pounding chest, where the cat lived inside. Mine, the cougar insisted.

“I hope so, kitty,” Doc huffed. “God, I hope so.”

***

It was hell, leaving Doc with just a kiss. Owyn wanted to make love to her. Not sex. Not like they’d already shared. But love. He wanted to show her with his body how he felt about her and their future.

But this had been his plan all along. No sex while wooing her. He didn’t want her confused about his intentions. When he finally told her what he wanted for them, it needed to be received with a trusting heart.

Doc had to trust him. Because he trusted her.

Owyn caught up with Gash in the woods near Bailey’s cabin. The male was propped against another tree, staring at the road between hers and Mason’s.

“I see you haven’t moved far,” Owyn smirked.

Gash’s gaze didn’t shift. “Waiting on you.”

“Okay. Well, I’m here.”

“I know.”

Still, Gash remained staring between the two cabins.

Owyn kicked a rock out of the way, curious if it’d get the cat’s attention. But no, his eyes were like laser beams targeting one thing and one thing only.

“Wanna tell me why Bailey’s cabin is under surveillance?”

Gash sighed, still never breaking his focus. “Because I’m a goddamn bastard, that’s why,” he muttered.

“I guess I don’t follow that logic.”

“She’s my mate,” he blurted. “Nobody else knows, and I don’t know why I’m telling you this, but… she’s mine. And I can’t have her. I’m too fucked up. The shit I’ve done, the people I ran with, it’s all coming back to bite me square in the ass. All I can hope to do is keep her safe.”