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After pulling on clothes as quickly as he could, he popped his head back inside the bathroom doorway, catching Helen rinsing her hair with a smile on her face. A hot shower, food, water, the feel of fresh air, shifting into the skin of her bear… All of it had been stolen from his mate when she’d been captured.
“Food is on the bedside table. I’ve got to go check on something, but I’ll be back as soon as I can,” he called, letting his gaze run over her from head to toe then back up again. His bear pressed against his skin. They were both eager to claim their mate.
“Would you ask if any of the women have lotion?” she asked. “My skin could really use it.”
“Anything you need,” he promised.
He’d send Milo back into town to get anything and everything she might need. He should have thought of it sooner, but his focus had been split between worrying about her and helping to rescue any others they could. They’d found a wide fissure the hunters had tossed bodies into whenever one of their captives hadn’t survived whatever hell they’d been put through. Now, he knew part of that had been the fight to the death many had been forced to wage.
Shaking his head, he focused on Helen again. His mate. Letting his need rule, he pushed open the shower door and leaned inside, wrapping a hand around her neck and tugging her closer until their lips met. He slipped his tongue inside when she gasped and tasted her until she gave in with a moan. She slipped one hand into his hair and turned toward him, deepening the kiss.
It was his turn to moan as he pulled back. His gaze slid down her body, catching on the turgid points of her nipples, and his mouth watered.
“You’re so damn beautiful.”
Her laugh was a husky sound that skittered across his skin, leaving heat in its wake.
“I’ve always heard beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” she teased.
“You’re beautiful,” he murmured again. “You take my breath away. I’ll show you how much when I get back.”
“Promise?”
He growled as he eased his hand toward her, and when she didn’t back away, he traced a finger around her nipple, watching raptly as it tightened further. Her moan wrapped around his shaft and had him saluting her. Yet, despite the strength she conveyed, he saw the fragility in her. In her healing body. Every mar on her skin proclaimed her resilience, but it was a strength forged in pain. She’d been strong for so long. Her back alone proclaimed what she’d suffered and survived. She needed time and a place where she didn’t have to be so strong.
He leaned in until his lips brushed along her jaw.
“I’ll worship every inch of you.”
He resisted the urge to replace his fingers with his lips, curling them around her nipple instead. He would, but not yet. Instead, he kissed her softly.
“Finish your shower. Eat. I’ll be back soon with lotion. Then I’ll put it on you.”
She blinked several times then reached out and tightened her grip on his hair, tugging his head close again until their mouths almost touched. Their lips brushed several times before she pulled away.
“Is this real?” she murmured, and he wasn’t sure if she was asking him or herself. “Are you real?”
“Yes, baby.”
When she wrapped around him, everything else disappeared. Replaced by the all-consuming need for his mate. Both man and beast were all in, and when she moaned and uttered a whispered plea, there was no way he was leaving. He reached around her to shut off the water, cupping her buttocks and urging her body into his. She took the kiss deeper, hopping up to wrap her legs around his waist.
“Worship me now,” she urged, rubbing against the bulge in his jeans while her lips traced his jawline up to his ear. “Show me this isn’t a dream. I don’t want to wake up back there.”
“Never,” he vowed, carrying her back toward the bed. “I’m real. This is real. You’ll never wake up in that prison again. I swear I’ll keep you safe. I’ll—”
She pressed her finger to his lip, and his legs almost went out from underneath him at her next words.
“Will you protect me?”
“Yes.”
She was saying the vows, taking him as her mate. He’d wanted this the moment he’d first scented her, but he hadn’t expected it this soon. He crossed the room quickly, easing her onto the bed and holding her waist as she went to her knees on the mattress.
“Will you care for me? Make sure all my needs are met?”
“Yes,” he agreed. “Every day for the rest of our lives.”
“Will you allow me to stay at your side? Go where you go?”
