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She narrowed her eyes at him. “And how in the hell am I supposed to think when you’re always around?”
He chuckled softly. “I want you to thinkaboutme,” he admitted. “How can I make sure you’re thinking about me and all of my shining qualities if I’m not around you all the time?”
“You think highly of yourself.”
“Nah. I just know we’re perfect for each other.”
She tried not to smile, failed, and then glared at Nero again when he reached out to touch the curve of her lips. She held back the desire to nip at his fingers. “Why are you here?”
He dropped his hand from her face to her shoulder. “If you think I’m going to let my mate walk around these woods alone when there’s a vamp out there looking for a bride, you’re nuts.”
She turned to glare at him. Again. For the third time in a minute. Surely, that meant they weren’treallyperfect for each other. “I’m Half-Blood. I can defend myself. I’ve already killed a vampire,” she added, as if either one of them needed the reminder that she’d almost died.
“And you’re still really torn up about it because you’re a sweet and tender heart, love. I don’t want you in any danger or situation where I could lose you.”
“But it’s not up to you,” she continued to walk. “You already have a perimeter duty.”
“Yeah, and I’ll do that one too.”
“You need to sleep, Nero. You can’t justalwaysbe roaming the woods.”
“Sure I can,” he assured her. “If that’s where you are, it’s where I’ll be.”
She rolled her eyes and refused to speak. She didn’t trust herself. If she opened her mouth, she might find herself saying that she was grateful for the company. That she was happy to see him. That he smelled good … like the forest and cologne and something so uniquelyNero.
She couldn’t admit … not out loud and not to Nero … that she was sad he hadn’t tried to kiss her again.
You asked for time, and he is giving it to you. You’re getting what you asked for, so you have zero to complain about. Of course, that was easier said than done when the man was always around her.
Did she want him because she needed to be closer to him, to make him smile, to hold his hand, to eat his surprisingly good spag bowl? Or did she want him because he was around, always checking in on her, pointing out tree limbs so she didn’t fall flat on her face?
There was a lot to like about Nero.
Forever as his mate was a lot more, though. Even her conversation with Celestine hadn’t exactly gone to plan that morning.
“Nero let it slip that you’re his mate,” her elder sister had said when they were alone in the kitchen. All the wolves had been outside, making sure there was no easy access point to the cabin. Valentine didn’t want to respond for fear Nero could overhear. Celestine tapped her head like she did when they were kids. It drove Val nuts. “Come on, Valentine. What’s going on?”
“I killed a vampire and brought the apocalypse to town.”
Celestine frowned. “That’s a bit of an exaggeration. Besides, the wolves wouldn’t let a thing happen to us because …”
“Don’t say it!” Val warned.
Her sister ignored her and didn’t miss a beat. “… we are their mates.”
“Would you shut up?”
“Why should I? You need to talk about it.”
“Nope.”
“Ineeded to talk about it when I found out.”
Val glared at her. “You immediately fell into bed with Reece and let him mate you.”
“Well, not exactly, no. There were a few hours in between.” Celestine’s eyes glazed over with a happy memory. “It’s an intense thing to be loved by an alpha wolf. Very hard to resist.”
“I’m doing my best.”
