Read To Catch His Mate (Crescent Moon Series Book 5) for Free Online Page B

she linked her fingers behind his neck. It was a good thing she hadn’t been drinking because looking into his mesmerizing gaze, she felt lightheaded as it was.
    “You look beautiful,” he murmured, his gaze never leaving hers.
    She was pretty much powerless to look away. Not that she wanted to. Being in his arms had a rightness to it, as much as it annoyed her. “Thanks. You look pretty good yourself.”
    In dark jeans and a soft, dark gray sweater, he looked delicious. Of course he looked delicious no matter what. His lips quirked up slightly. “Thanks. I’ve been thinking about you all day.”
    She blinked at the admission, unsure how to respond.
    Those wicked lips curved up again. “You want to know what I’ve been thinking about?”
    “No.” Yes. She cleared her throat, desperately needing to change the subject. “How’s your pack doing without you?”
    “They’re fine. What about yours? I know they depend on you for a lot.”
    The fact that he knew that meant a lot. “I brought my laptop with me.” She’d gotten a lot of emails—some under the guise of random questions even though she knew they’d been checking in on her for her father, but most of the stuff she did was easy enough to do online.
    “Will you go running with me tonight?”
    “Ah, no.” Because she didn’t trust herself to get naked with the male. Weak? Yep. And she had no problem admitting it. Plus she was a little nervous. The whole nude thing wasn’t a big deal to the majority of shifters and for the most part, not to her either. But she’d never slept with a male before so getting naked with a male she wanted to have sex with was a lot different than just getting naked with packmates before a run. And going running with a shifter not part of her pack implied a certain amount of trust. You were at your most vulnerable during the change from human to wolf. They weren’t there in the trust department yet. Maybe they’d never be.
    He’d totally changed everything by showing up here. Knowing that he’d been lying to Ben soothed her hurt feelings but still, he was an alpha. She needed a male to be proud of her, to want to tell everyone that yeah, this is my female. Not just make an excuse for why he was mating her.
    And that was the crux of it. His confession had pissed her wolf off way more than her human side. Wolves were very primal and he’d offended her, simple as that. She figured she’d be able to get past it, but not tonight.
    A hint of frustration edged into his expression, highlighting the hard planes of his face. “You want to.”
    She wanted to trace her fingers over those lips. It was the only soft part about him. Finding her voice, she nodded. “I do.”
    “So why not come with me?” His voice dropped an octave and was it just her imagination, or did he put extra emphasis on the word come ?
    She couldn’t very well say, “Because if I see you naked I’ll reveal myself to be weak, weak, weak—and jump your bones.” So she did the mature thing and shrugged.
    His grip on her tightened and he pulled her closer so that her breasts pressed completely against him. She was wearing a sweater dress and high-heel boots. The boots gave her a few extra inches so she fit against him perfectly. She’d had way too many fantasies about what it would feel like to be pressed against him, skin to skin. The last time they’d kissed had been in his living room and she’d been ready to find out then.
    Until he’d pulled back. She’d straddled him, had been grinding against him and he’d put the brakes on. The most insecure part of her wondered why but she’d been too afraid to ask. She’d worried she wouldn’t like the answer. “So how long are you here?”
    “As long as it takes to convince you to come back with me.”
    Shock rippled through her. “You can’t…”
    “I can’t what?”
    “Nothing.” She glanced away from him.
    “I don’t like the scent of other males on you,” he murmured, drawing her