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body, his scent.
    “We have all the time we need. We take it slow, right?” Although his eyes were devouring her, and she was going to find it hard to resist him for any length of time.
    Still, she agreed with him. “Yes. All the time in the world. Here’s my apartment.”
    “I know. I came by here first.”
    “Of course, I should have figured—you had my home address, not where I worked.”
    “Right. When I knocked on your apartment door an old lady opposite came out and said you were at work and would be home later. Told me that you often brought her some brownies from work. Didn’t take much for her to tell me you make the best chocolate brownies in town and exactly where I could go and buy some.”
    “Resourceful. I like that.” They walked up the stairs. Her apartment was on the second floor, and with each step the air seemed heavier, the rise steeper, or was it just being so close to him that made her feel this way? “This is me.”
    “You want me to wait here?” he asked again, making sure he wasn’t imposing on her.
    “No. Come in.” She opened the door, thankful she had left the place tidy, no dirty laundry on the floor. Even her bed was made, despite the early hour she had left it this morning.
    “Thanks. Nice place,” he said.
    “It’s OK. Where do you live? What do you do, for that matter?”
    “I live in a house on the outskirts of Wolf Valley. Me and my brothers and sister inherited it from our dad. It needs work, but it will be a nice place once I’ve finished it.”
    He sounded as though he was promoting himself; funny, because she would live with him anywhere if he asked her to. Creature comforts died away when compared to being with your mate. But a house would be preferable to some damp, smelly cave in the mountains.
    “And you know Kira?”
    “Yes, my brother is mated to her. She is the sheriff and he is the deputy of Wolf Valley.”
    “I’m glad she’s taken over from her dad. I heard the old sheriff was bad news.” A passing comment from a customer in the bakery had let her know Kira’s father was dead and a new sheriff had taken over.
    “He was. But things are looking up. Now if they could just get a new alpha, the town would be back to being a great place to live.”
    Was that why he was here? Why he was so desperate to find her? Kira must have told him everything. She tried to work out if it made a difference to how she felt about him. Needing some time alone to think things through, she excused herself and went to shower.
    “Don’t be long. I’ll wait right here, if that’s OK.”
    “Sure, or make some coffee. I will be real quick.”
    “I hope so, because every minute we’re apart is an eternity.” He grinned at his own corny line, but there was a truth masked there.
    “I’ll be fast,” she said and dived out of the room before she asked him to join her. His motives aside, they were mated and she was fighting herself not to jump on him and mate with him right there. Maybe she needed to turn the water down to ice cold so she could get a grip on her arousal.
     

Chapter Nine - Riley
    He went into her kitchen, taking in how neat and orderly it all was. The opposite of his house, especially now Bliss had moved out. Between doing the work at Fara’s place, and looking after Sol, it had all gotten a little out of hand. He made a mental note to get home and tidy up before he invited Natalie back to his place.
    The state of his home had never bothered him before. Brought up with his father’s need for vengeance a constant companion, he was used to living on the outside and not conforming. With his brothers and sister fed the same poisonous thoughts, they had all behaved the same, and had no pride in themselves or their belongings.
    His self-confidence wavered; here he was in his mate’s apartment, wanting to be a good man, hell, even thinking he might be the alpha of Wolf Valley, but was he worthy of any of it, was he even capable?
    “Coffee ready yet?” She