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“Yep. No time like the present and we’re in the woods so if my wolf panics there’s room to run.” She turned away and reached for the door handle to hide the fact that what she really meant was that if he panicked she would be outside in the woods and he could climb back into the truck and lock the doors. “Come on, loverboy. Let’s do this.”
Maya jumped out of the vehicle, leaving the keys in it, that way if Zander got scared and wanted to run, he had an easy way out.
Chapter Fourteen
Zander followed Maya out of the truck, more surprised than nervous about what would come next. He hadn’t truly believed she would agree. He had hoped she would but even in his head, when she agreed it had come with restrictions about when and where and how. Instead, she had leaped out of the Bronco on the side of the road and started walking into the woods that surrounded them. He hurried to catch up to her, not sure where she was going but unwilling to risk her changing her mind if he asked questions.
Not that Maya was the kind of woman to change her mind. She wasn’t. Once she decided something, hell and high water wouldn’t change it. He’d learned that about her along with a million other things over the last few days.
Since the night he had confronted her about the bond, they had spent almost all of their time together. They’d both opened up about their pasts. They’d talked about everything from those worst days of their lives to their favorite color and the food they hated. They had talked a lot and he was glad. He knew it meant she was letting him in more and more and he loved that he was learning what all of her little sounds and facial expressions meant.
But he was ready for more than talking. So. Much. More.
He would have seriously considered Rafe’s advice to keep Maya drunk on orgasms if he’d thought it was possible. The problem with that idea was that she hadn’t let him give her another since that night in the alley. Not even one.
They kissed. Oh hell, did they kiss. They spent hours kissing once they got started. They kissed and licked and nipped at one another. They ran their hands over each other’s bodies and stroked warm, not quite naked skin. They rubbed themselves together, mimicking the act they were both so clearly in desperate need of… but every single time they got to the point of removing clothes and going further, Maya shut him down.
She pulled away. She put her walls back up. She shut him out and no matter how much he wanted to demand she give in to the bond between them he always ended up falling asleep with a bad case of blue balls.
So no, he didn’t think Maya was the kind of woman that would change her mind. She had decided at the start that they weren’t going to rush into this mate bond and she’d stuck to her decision. For three long days and nights she had denied them what they both wanted out of pure force of will, but something had changed in the Bronco.
She had softened. He hadn’t expected her to agree when he’d asked to meet her wolf. Not really. She had given in on this one thing so he knew it was foolish to hope that it meant he was getting closer to her accepting their bond, but showing him her wolf was a big thing and he knew that.
This. This was progress. This was exactly what he needed to know that she was willing to meet him halfway. That maybe, just maybe, she was starting to fall for him too.
Because he hadn’t for one second believed it was only the mating heat making him want her. He was attracted to her. He liked her. And the more he got to know her, the more time they spent together, the more he’d known that falling in love with her was inevitable.
She didn’t make it easy. Not with all of her rules and walls and defensiveness. But maybe that was what he loved about her most. She was tough as hell and she protected herself and the people she loved. He only hoped that someday soon he would be counted amongst them.
Maya stopped walking so suddenly he nearly stumbled into her. He caught himself as she turned to face him and he glanced around, realizing she’d led them to a small clearing in the trees. Despite the heat of the summer sun overhead, it was cooler in the shade of the large trees that canopied high above their head. The little patch of grass they stood on was lush and green and he swore he could hear the river running nearby even though he’d have sworn they weren’t that close to it out here.
“Did you pay attention to how we got here?” Maya’s lips were pursed and he frowned, not understanding the question.
“Uh, yeah? Straight line back that way.” He pointed back over his shoulder, “Why?”
“Because when I shift, if the wolf does anything that scares you or worries you, I want you to make a beeline back to the Bronco, get in and leave.”
“What?” He laughed.
“I’m serious.” Her expression matched her words and he sighed, his laughter trailing off.
“Maya, I’m not going to leave you stranded out here.”
“My wolf knows these woods inside and out. We’ll find our way home. But if she scares you…”
“She won’t.” He cut her off, stepping into her personal space and cupping her face between his hands. “You don’t scare me and neither does she.”
“But…”
He kissed her just to shut her up. It was a quick kiss, soft and sweet, but it made his point. Maya kissed him back but this time he was the one to pull away, smiling softly against her lips.
“Stop stalling and shift for me, Maya. I want to see the other half of you. I want to know all of you.”
Maya hummed, brushing their lips together one last time before stepping back, out of his reach, and he let her go. He stepped back too, giving her room. He wasn’t the least bit scared of meeting Maya’s wolf but when she toed off her shoes and then began to unbutton her shorts, he started to sweat.
He hadn’t forgotten a single second of what Zoey had shown him when she introduced him to this world. He wished he could wipe the memory of seeing his sister’s naked body out of his mind forever but though he’d tried hard to repress that particular moment, he’d remembered that nakedness went hand in hand with shifting. When he’d told Maya about Zoey shifting for him she had only laughed and assured him that in their world naked bodies were simply part of life, a hazard of the change that overtook them. She’d assured him he would eventually get used to it but now, with the gorgeous woman he wanted more than he wanted air to breathe, pulling her shirt over her head, he wasn’t certain he would ever get used to it, or that he wanted to.
His breath caught as Maya unhooked her bra and dropped it to the ground. He’d had his head between her legs. He had tasted her sensual honey. But he hadn’t seen her naked, not like this, and his cock went instantaneously hard, which wasn’t difficult to do since his erection seemed to be a perpetual state of being when he was with this woman.
