Cooper forced himself to remain calm. “Need and want aren’t the same thing, baby. Why do youneedto leave?”
Nate plopped down on the small leather sofa opposite Cooper and set his elbows on his knees, twisting his hands together.
Cooper moved from his sofa, so he was next to Nate. He brushed his lips along Nate’s temple, a lover’s caress, and, heart thundering, asked the important question. “Is this because you’re feeling things you think you shouldn’t feel?” he murmured low in his ear. “Getting too attached?”
Nate stiffened, and Cooper waited, until—
“Yes!” Nate burst out. “Fuckingyes,okay? I can’t stop thinking about you, and it’s like you’re under my fuckingskin, and it’s stupid, because we’ve known each othertwodays, but I like you too much. Fuck, I think I might even love you, and I don’t know what I’ll do once this is over!” He turned to Cooper, eyes welling with tears, and his voice was hoarse. “I—I don’t think Icanstay any longer. I have to go while I can, because otherwise—otherwise, it just might break me when you leave.”
His eyes widened, and he slapped his hands over his mouth like he wanted to take the words back, expression horrified.
“Oh, baby,” Cooper said, voice hoarse, his heart clenching in sympathy for the confusion Nate had suffered, all because he’d been too chickenshit to tell him the truth. “Iloveyou. I’m never leaving you.”
Nate stared at him for a second, then comprehension dawned and he breathed out, “Oh, thankfuck,” and surged forward. Cooper met him in the middle, unable to hold himself back. Somehow Nate was sprawled across the couch on his back and Cooper was kissing the fuck out of his mate. Nate kissed him back, hands tangling in Cooper’s hair, his scent transforming from bitter to honey-sweet as the kiss went on. When Cooper pulled back, Nate’s smile threatened to split his face in half. “Is this real?” he asked, breathless, caressing the nape of Cooper’s neck.
“It’s real,” Cooper assured him, even though he wasn’t quite convinced himself. His heart raced—part relief, part adrenaline and part lust. “You’re mine, baby.”
Nate’s eyes were alight with wonder. “Is it… Am I your… Are we mates?”
Cooper sat up, because this wasn’t a conversation he should have with Nate pinned under him, as tempting as it was to keep him there. “You know about mates?”
Nate sat up and straddled Cooper’s lap, pressing their foreheads together. “A little bit. I know they’re real.” He let out a soft sigh. “I’ve been so fucking confused, Coop. I wanted you like air, and I didn’t know why.”
Cooper cupped Nate’s jaw and tilted his head so he could look him in the eye. “I’m so, so sorry, baby. I planned to tell you, I swear, but it happened so fast, and I didn’t want to just drop it on you. If I’d known you were feeling the bond too, I would have said something.”
He smoothed a palm down Nate’s spine, and Nate relaxed under his touch. “So, how long have you known?” Nate asked.
“I realised yesterday. The pendant was the start of my courting you.”
Nate grinned. “Courting me, huh? Is that just a fancy term for being my boyfriend?”
Cooper huffed out a laugh. Nate was taking this far better than he’d hoped. “I guess it is. Although with mates, it’s more intense—as you’ve already discovered.”
“Oh yeah, you’re it for me, Coop, no question. It’s like the ring. There was no doubt that it was meant to be yours. Just like I am.”
Cooper caught his breath. “Is that a yes to being my mate?”
“Was it even a question?” Nate said with a raised eyebrow. “Mates are mates are mates, it feels like. I don’t think Icouldsay no. And I don’t want to, because damn, Coop. You’re sexy as fuck, smart as hell and I like you. I mean, I think I love you, but Ilikeyou as well, which is a separate thing. So yes, I’ll be your mate.”
Cooper’s chest bloomed with warmth. While he was still revelling in the sensation, Nate kissed him and rolled his hips, the combination of his plush mouth and firm body making Cooper’s cock twitch.
It took all his willpower to pull back, but Cooper knew that he needed to tell Nate everything, be sure he knew what he was signing up for before they went any further. He took a deep breath. “Nate, there’s something else. It’s my job.”
Nate stilled, and a frisson of nervousness entered his scent. “Is it…illegal?”
Cooper furrowed his brow. “No?”
Nate relaxed. “Then does it matter? Like, if you’re not an underworld boss or a drug runner or a hired killer, I’m good.” He placed a series of delicate kisses down the curve of Cooper’s jaw, teeth scraping the skin in a way that made Cooper want to throw him down on his back and fuck him right there, talking be damned. But he’d come too close to losing Nate to risk any more misunderstandings.
He guided Nate’s head away from his throat with a gentle hand, ignoring the way his wolf whined at the delay in claiming him, and said, “It’s important. I’m the CEO of Shiftercorp.”
“The CEO of Shiftercorp. Huh.” Nate gazed at Cooper, eyes dark, and traced his tongue over his bottom lip. “Yay for you, I guess?” Then he went back to kissing down Cooper’s jawline.
Cooper swallowed when Nate mouthed down his throat, and it took everything in him to pull him away again with a hand on the back of his neck. “No, Nate. You need to know something. I saw you, and I needed you. So I made it happen.”
“And?"
“It wasn’t right, and I don’t want any more secrets between us.”
