Page 54 of Fake It ’Til You Mate It

The confession lodges somewhere between my ribs. “You’re scared,” I say softly.

The big, bad wolf is terrified.

“Of hurting you,” he admits. “A predator doesn’t know his own strength sometimes. And you’re fierce, Killer. You can be feisty. You’re still smaller than I am. In your fur…” He looks my naked body up and down, the heat in his expression burning me up more effectively than the shower spray. “... and in your skin.”

I slide my palm up his damp skin, curving my fingers around the side of his throat. “You’d never hurt me. I’ve known that for a while.”

He lets out a rough breath that sounds like a laugh. “You’re not afraid of me at all, are you?”

“Of course I am,” I admit. “You’re a wolf, Max. I’m an opossum. We’re not supposed to fit, but Fate says we do. I always knew it. I just… when you didn’t, I thought it was because your instincts wanted to keep you from recognizing that I was prey.”

“My instincts are idiots.” His thumb strokes across my knuckles. “It took me long enough. You had your reasons. I can blame the charm all I want for being blind, but I see you now. You’re mine, Honey.”

My lips quirk into an honest smell. “That’s all I’ve wanted to hear.”

He goes still. “You mean it? You want this? You want me?”

“I do. I always have. I just thought you wouldn’t want me.”

He inches closer, closing the last space between us. “I’ve wanted you every damn day since you rolled into town. I just didn’t understand why it felt like it hurt me to stay away.”

The words steal my breath.

“Then stop staying away,” I whisper.

That’s all the permission he needs.

Max is an Alpha. I’ve never been able to forget that. His dominance is a big part of who he is, and his type of wolf gives him abilities that I don’t have. One of them? Speed.

He moves so quickly, so decisively, changing our positions so that my back is to the tiled wall, the shower spray falling between us. His body completely consumes mine. He has one paw on my hip, the other is braced by my head, trapping me beneath him. All I breathe in is Max. His scent. His aura. His everything. The length of his erection digs into the side of my belly. His chest is heaving, or maybe that’s mine. There’s barely two inches separating us.

He bows his head, forcing me to make eye contact. The only challenge going on here is Max daring me to deny him, to deny that I feel this bond thrumming between us, this aching need… the mate dance coming two months too late because of magic and who knows what else… it’s late, but it’s here, and the only thing that can come between us now is one word.

No.

I could say it. Max could say it.

Neither of us do.

He tilts his forehead down, leaning it against mine, both of us suddenly trembling in a combination of anticipation and desire. “I’ll go slow,” he murmurs. “If you change your mind⁠—”

“I won’t.” My voice is steady now. “I want you. Not gentle, not careful… I know who my mate is. I want everything you have to offer.”

For a heartbeat, everything stills. Then he kisses me, slowly at first, like he’s memorizing the shape of my ‘yes’, before the urgency takes over and he’s just about devouring me.

The bond hums beneath our skin, some higher power urging us to accept what Fate has given us.

Pulling away, he uses the tip of his claws to trail along the column of my throat. His wolf is making an appearance, and that actually makes me feel better. My opossum has been on Team Mate Max since the beginning; it was my human brain that got all mixed up. I want Max and his wolf to choose me. It looks like he might.

He sucks in a soft breath. “I’ve never done this before.”

A nervous lump lodges in my throat. I swallow it roughly. “Does it make me sound like a jealous shrew if I tell you that I’m glad? Because the idea of another female getting to touch you like this… having you touch them… it makes me want to claw their imaginary eyes out.”

“I’d do worse to your previous lovers, Killer. So, do me a favor… don’t tell me about them?”

That’s easy. “That’s okay. I don’t have any. I’ve never done this before, either.”

He growls. “You’re a virgin?”