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Mine,his bear growled.
For once, he had no desire to argue. There was no denyingwhat…whoshe was to him. From the moment she walked into his office, a force had taken control of his being, hooking his soul and pulling it, inevitably, toward hers. His world had fractured, crumbled, and resorted itself all within the seconds it took for his bear to inhale her soft, warm scent.
He opened the door to one of his favorite Italian restaurants. Everything served here was approved by the ownerGina,a bold, bossy Sicilian woman who would be damned before serving theprimibefore theantipasti.That was how it was. You ate the traditional way, or you found somewhere else to eat. Which no one did. No one could beat Gina’s sauce,and he couldn’t wait for Mila to try it.
Mila’s eyes roamed over the cozy earth tones and wooden tables. A smile played on her full, rosy lips as she studied the various landscape paintings hanging on the ornamental-trimmed walls.
A server led them to a table, and a second man appeared with a small drink menu and placed three small dishes on the table between them as soon as they were seated … one of olives, the other with cheese, and the final with a mix of nuts. Mila thanked the waiter with a warm smile, and Cyrus clenched the menu in his hand. It almost burned him alive to see her smiling at another man. He had to get a grip if he didn’t want to run her off.
They fell into an easy conversation over the antipasti and wine, smoothly flowing through the next three. Mila glowed under the cool lights, her tonal blonde locks falling loosely around her perfect heart-shaped face.
His body came alive when he was near her, his senses sharpening, allowing him to absorb every detail that made herMila. The delicate yet sure steps she took, how she tucked her hair behind her ear when she was nervous, the faint spattering of freckles on her cheeks, and his favorite, the silky sound of her voice. He could listen to her speak all day.
Mila was charming and fun. She spoke with passion about her family and her job. He could tell how much she loved adventure, and it made him want to show her all the world had to offer, everything, anything to keep her smiling.
“Mila?” he asked softly.
“Yes.” Her curiosity was piqued at the sudden shift in his playfulness.
“I have something I want to tell you.” He kept his features cool and his eyes neutral as he watched her.
He wasn’t sure what he wanted to do in the first moments of their meeting, touch her, kiss her, claim her, or get her as far away from him as possible. At least until he had finished his project. He told himself that she couldn’t work for him, that she couldn’t stay, that she was a distraction. And he was right. Sanity was a concept when she was near, leaving only his bear and his ego.
Then he thought of her leaving, and a wound started to form in his chest, and he had to fight the desire to grab her and haul her away so she couldn’t escape. He had never felt gravity quite as completely as he did then, as if the weight of what they could be had physically rooted him in place.
“You remember Gerri Wilder?” He spoke deliberately, carefully.
A brow pulled down slightly, confusion slipping through the cracks in her smile. “I doubt I could forget the woman in just a day.”
“Right.”
He cleared his throat in an effort to hide his blooming awkwardness. How was he supposed to calmly explain to a human she was his mate? His bear huffed in agitation. Cyrus understood how desperately he wanted their mate, and frankly, he was fed up with thesehuman customs. He ignored his bear. He had to do this if he had any chance of her wanting to stay.
“Do you know what she does?”
Her eyes widened a fraction. “Not really, I vaguely remember her stating something about her being a philanthropist and matchmaking, but I don’t know the specifics.” Mila’s full lips pressed together, the corner of one end tilting down. “What’s this about?”
His heart pounded in his ears, the awareness of all the ways this could go wrong thickening his tongue. She was human, and although he could sense her lust, he wasn’t sure how she would feel about being in a relationship with him.
He didn’t know how she felt abouthim. Could she feel the mate pull? Was it a mirror of his own? Did it scare her? Excite her?
He remembered the low tilt of her eyes, her flushed cheeks as they spoke, and how she seemed just as curious about him as he was about her. The warmth of the spa’s dayroom had caused her smooth, fine hairs to stick to her luminous skin. She smiled as she spoke to him. Most of all, he could see the moment the exhaustion she arrived with finally started to lift from her endless gaze. In that moment, he wanted to give her that relief every day for the rest of their lives.
She wants us,his bear said confidently.
She thinks we’re attractive … or at least fuckable. It doesn’t mean she wants us.
That is good enough for me. Once we claim her, she will want us,he huffed.
Or she’ll run. But that all depends on how well you control yourself.
He shook his head, ridding himself of his bear’s thoughts and focusing on Mila’s face. Her features gave her the appearance of someone younger and more innocent, but her eyes were sharp and curious. Right now, all that curiosity was centered on him.
“That’s right, she is a matchmaker. The best, actually, when it comes to finding a very specific kind of match.”
“What kind is that?”
“Have you ever heard of fated mates?” he said, softening his voice.
