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asked.
    “Sweetheart? You just made that woman fall even more in love with you.”
    Dmitry shrugged. “I can’t help it if I’m desirable.”
    Dastan chuckled.
    “Doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be nice.”
    “Our little shy butterfly is coming back,” Dastan said as he picked up his knife and began to cut his rare steak.
    Sarah sat down in her chair and made a face of disgust. “How can you eat that?” she asked.
    “Same way you can eat that,” Dmitry said with amusement as he pointed at her salad with grilled chicken.
    Sarah adjusted her napkin across her lap. “This is good for you.”
    “So’s this,” Dastan said with a grin as he placed a bite into his mouth.
    Sarah’s gaze went from Dastan to Dmitry, who also began to cut into his steak. Meat this rare didn’t appeal to most people, but then he and Dastan weren’t most people.
    “That is just…” Sarah shivered. “That’s just gross.”
    Dmitry chuckled and didn’t say anything about how she kept looking over at his plate and Dastan’s. It wasn’t revulsion he saw in her eyes but a subtle fascination. Shifters enjoyed their meat rare. Was she fascinated because deep down she desired it? Granted that didn’t necessarily mean anything. Lots of humans liked their meat rare. It still intrigued him that she would keep staring at the reddish meat as though interested, though.
    “Would you like to try a bite, Sarah?” Dmitry asked. He held the fork out to her, and it looked as though for a brief second she might take a bite. Then she shook her head and returned her attention to her salad. He looked to Dastan and noticed that his friend had seen her reaction as well. Dmitry was beginning to believe there was something odd and mysterious about Sarah. Something he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
    * * * *
    Dastan returned from his run no better off than when he’d left. Energy still coursed through his veins, making him feel edgy and, even worse, horny. He needed to have sex. Sarah was who he wanted, but she was also the last person he really should to be touching. Although some shifters had mated outside their species, Dastan had no desire to. Until Sarah.
    There was something about her that set his blood on fire. A sensation he thought would only happen if he ever met his mate. And his mate should be a wolf, not a witch.
    With a sigh, he strolled up the stairs to the deck. The cool night air blew across his exposed flesh, and he wished it was Sarah’s touch that feathered over his skin. Just thinking about her made his cock thicken, and he growled in frustration.
    At the top of the deck, he turned to stare at the moonlit ranch. The full moon was high in the sky, lighting the fields in a ghostly white glow. It was so beautiful here.
    He wrapped his fingers around his cock, trying to ease some of the pressure building in his balls as he imagined the three of them staying here forever. It felt right, despite her not being a shifter, and it was something he couldn’t quite understand.
    He just always imagined his mate would be a shifter like him. It was something he expected and insisted upon, especially after seeing some of the mixed marriages fall apart over the years. So why could he not stop thinking about Sarah, seeing himself beside her, inside her, protecting her?
    The inside-her part really had him hot. He stroked his palm along his shaft and moaned softly at the night sky. Yeah, he could definitely imagine himself inside her, buried deep, her legs around his waist, her sighs of pleasure ringing in his ears.
    This is what he truly needed. Not a run, not a cold shower. He needed Sarah and her warm, willing body to accept his.
     
    NIGHTTIME WAS THE worst. Sometimes she felt as though she could hardly breathe. Sarah had no idea what was wrong. Why did she have this restlessness that often overpowered her to the point of paranoia? Every noise made her jump. Every burst of wind made her squeal.
    Then there were the dreams.
    Or nightmares.
    Sarah