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“Our kind have two mates – heart and match. A heart-mate is one who’s chosen by the beast. A match is one that’s what you’d probably think of as being an arranged mating – a matchmaker chooses the best mate and they join at a mating ceremony.”
“So, you don’t just meet someone and take them out on dates and fall in love naturally?”
He shook his head. “Shifters don’t date. Well, not like you’re thinking of. It’s a simple part of our nature – when we meet someone, they are either our true, heart-mate or they’re not.”
“The matchmaker only picks lions?”
“Yeah. Our pride has laws about matings.”
Her heart rate spiked suddenly. “Is what we did okay?” The thought that he could get into trouble with his pride because of her made her eyes sting with tears.
“Yes, kitten, please don’t worry. I knew when I walked across the bar to meet you what choice I was making. It was the fucking easiest thing I’ve ever done, okay? I am so fucking happy right now that nothing else matters.” As if to punctuate his words, a purr rumbled in his chest and she smiled.
“You’ll have to talk to your pride leader about me?”
“It’s my dad, so I’m not really worried, and you shouldn’t be either. There are laws I’d change if I was alpha, but I’m not. And if the worst thing that happens is that I get exiled, I still get you at the end of the day and I’m good with that. Better than good, actually – fan-fucking-tastic.”
“You just said fuck like ten times in two minutes.”
“It’s a good word. Very effective.”
She brushed her finger over his jaw, the shadow of stubble making her skin prickle. “You’re talking about losing your pride like it’s not a big deal. If I couldn’t see Mercy anymore because I was with you, at the very least, I’d be angry. I mean, not a lot, since she makes me buggy, but I wouldn’t be so cavalier.”
“One more way our kind is different, and that’s not a bad thing. Exile from the pride doesn’t mean I never get to see my family anymore, it just means I’m out of the pride. I care, and it sucks in some ways, but my cat is purring so loud in my head that all I can think about is that I get to wake up with you tomorrow. As my mom likes to say, when the heart is happy, everything else is just details.”
“Important details, though.”
He brushed his lips over hers. “I’ll talk to my parents tomorrow, and then I’ll bring them here so you can meet them. Humans aren’t allowed on the pride’s hunting grounds. The bar belongs to me and Titus, not the pride, and isn’t officially in pride territory, so the only thing that changes is that I’ll be huntingforyou and not with the pride.”
“Why would you hunt for me?” she asked.
“Because deer meat is awesome.”
“Um, no. I like to get my meat all cut up at the grocery store, thank you very much.”
His whole body shook as he laughed. “Don’t worry kitten, I won’t make you clean anything. But I will hunt for you, and I’ll show you just how tasty venison is.”
“Okay. But I’m not making any promises.”
With a purr, he kissed her, pulling her close as he rolled to his back and drew her with him. Her legs fell to either side of his body and she moaned as she straightened and looked down at his hard cock before her. Wrapping one hand around the thick length, she said, “My, my Duke. What a big, hard cock you have.”
“I’m not the big, bad wolf, sweetheart,” he said with a snarl. “But I will eat you.”
“In a minute,” she said as she rose above him and placed his cock at her entrance. She settled down on him slowly, closing her eyes at the sweet fullness that engulfed her. Duke was her mate. She didn’t entirely understand it, but she believed him when he said that they were going to be together. She’d been burned in the past, but the strange connection she felt to him grew stronger with every minute that passed. She felt closer to him than she ever had a man before, and she trusted him not to break her heart.
“You feel so good,” he said, arching under her and pressing into her a little deeper. “So fucking good.”
“You do, too.”
“Say it,” he growled.
“Sofuckinggood.”
Chapter 5
Duke woke slowly, his lion snoring happily, thanks to their new mate. Ree slept next to him, tucked safe and warm in his arms. They’d spent most of the night talking in between making love, and he could honestly say that it was nothing short oflove, because he was full-on crazy about her. She was witty and sweet. Family was important to her, which was something they shared. Although her upbringing had been entirely different than his, they found common ground and similar interests.
Glancing at his phone, he saw that it wasn’t even six a.m. yet, and considering that they’d been up until after three, he was surprised he was even coherent at all, let alone waxing poetic about his mate’s finer qualities. He wanted to stay in bed with her all day, but he knew he needed to speak to his parents as soon as possible. The sooner he talked to them and accepted the exile, the quicker he could get back to Ree and her sweet embrace. Slipping from the bed as stealthily as possible, he managed to get dressed without waking her. He went into the kitchen and found a notepad and pen, and scribbled a message.
