He couldn’t breathe like that. Neither could she. But she kept licking his lips until he came back to himself. Until the steady pound of his feet slowed. Until he pressed her against the siding of someone’s home and held her there while he breathed.
And still she whispered to him. “I’m fine. Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“Alyssa.”
One last time. Spoken with a finality that told her he was calm now. Or at least more rational.
“Are you hurt?” she asked again.
“No. You?”
He was patting her down as he spoke, checking for wounds. His touch was frantic, but thorough, and she let him do it mostly because she could see how he moved, too. She watched for where he was tentative or jerky. She looked for scrapes or bruises and found a few, but none that was deep. Same for him as he touched her face. He probed gently at the swelling on her jaw and temple, but she covered his hand with hers.
“I’ve gotten worse playing basketball with Vic.”
“You’re safe now. He’s dead.”
She jerked. “Vic? Vic’s dead?”
“What? No. Vic’s fine. Joey’s dead.”
She winced at the memory that flashed through her mind. But with it came a huge wave of relief.
“I’m sorry,” he said as he stroked her cheek. “I’m sorry you had to see that. That he—”
“Don’t care about the visual,” she said. “Glad that he’s gone.” Then she stretched up to place a kiss on his mouth. “Thank you.”
“Wasn’t me. Vic grabbed the gun off the thieves. They would have noticed if I had one.”
She chuckled. Trust Simon to correct the details. “Doesn’t matter. You saved me, and I—”
He kissed her. Hard. Fast. Thoroughly. She returned it a thousand-fold and soon they were panting for another reason. But then he pulled back and she held onto his shoulders to keep herself steady.
“You’re mine now,” he said. “You know that right? You said you loved me. I saw it, and now you’re mine. Mated.Mine.”
So he had seen. She was glad. So glad that she said it again. “I love you. I always have. And I’m glad we’re mated or whatever—”
Her words were lost in another desperate kiss. It was like he was trying to imprint himself on her. Or her on him. It didn’t matter. They were together.
But then he slowed. Eventually he stopped as they separated to breathe. And in the quiet, she spoke the question that had been hovering in the back of her mind. The one she’d tried before but they’d been interrupted. But now, after what they’d just been through, she couldn’t imagine not knowing the answer.
“Do you think, Simon, that maybe…you know…” Lord, it wasn’t like her to get tongue tied, and he clearly knew it. He drew back with a frown.
“What?”
She took a deep breath and forced the words out. “Do you think you could love me, too? In time?”
He stared at her, his face expressionless. Then his eyes widened in shock as he dropped his forehead to hers. And then the most amazing sound came out. A chuckle. A low chuckle that turned into a laugh.
“Simon?”
He sobered at that, but he was still smiling as he answered. “I thought you understood. Mating is love. Think of the most amazing feeling you’ve ever had. Like, I don’t know, the first time you tasted ice cream or had a really good orgasm. That full body tingle that comes with intense pleasure.”
She frowned. Okay, so she understood that. But that wasn’t love in the way she was thinking. But before she could express that, he continued.
“Mating is like that only with need underneath. And it’s hunger, desire, and lust, too. But it’s also the kind of love that lasts for decades while kids and grandkids and great grandkids come around. That’s what finding your mate is like.”
She stared at him, shock echoing through her soul. He loved her like that? She didn’t think that was possible, not in the short time they’d been together. But she saw it in his eyes. He really felt like that. About her.
