Page 41 of Mystic Mate

“Answer my question.”

“I’m torn between worrying about where this conversation is going and knowing what I feel.”

“What do you feel?” he pressed.

“That despite everything, after facing more danger in the past few days than I have in my entire career with the Bureau, I am happier and more at peace than I’ve ever been. I answered your question; now you answer mine. Do you believe we are fated mates?”

“Yes.”

No equivocation; no justification; no question, just a simple statement of fact.

“How long have you known?”

“Since I inhaled your scent before I ever entered the first fray with the vampires in the ghost town.”

“Why is this so easy for you? I feel like I keep getting hit from every side.”

“That is understandable. As to why it’s easier for me—it’s because I grew up with these concepts. Because I have always known humans existed. Because for me, the existence of my fated mate is the answer to my deepest and most hidden desire, one I never gave name or voice to. How about you? Do you believe we’re fated mates?”

“I don’t like the idea of you tearing a chunk out of my neck, and I have a sneaky suspicion there is more to it than that.”

He chuckled. “There is. You will go through the transition, which can be difficult, and there is no way to tell ahead of time, except that it seems to be easier for those who embrace the change.”

“Don’t think I didn’t notice your use of the presumptive term ‘will.’”

“I am alpha. If I choose to claim you…”

“Never forget, I’m a decorated member of one of the most highly respected law enforcement agencies in the world, and I am a crackerjack shot.”

“But you don’t deny that you can feel it, too. You have yet to deny you are my fated mate.”

“I think I like it better when you’re not so sure of yourself,” she said, turning to go out the door.

It never ceased to amaze her how fast he was and how powerfully and gracefully he moved.

Wrapping her ponytail around his hand, he tugged her back to him and hauled her into his body, his hard cock straining against her.

“No, you don’t. What you like is knowing you have a mate as strong, if not stronger, than you. You like knowing your mate is dominant, and while indulgent to a degree, that he will insist on your submitting to him and keeping you safe.”

He was right. Salem loved everything about him and whenever she was with him, she didn’t feel like she had to protect herself from him or anything else. All he had to do to make her pussy soft, wet, and welcoming for him was to breathe. That was it, just breathe. They belonged to each other; she knew that. If destiny had decreed that she was his fated mate, then he was equally hers.

Every time he touched her, the world faded away until they were the only two beings in the world. Each time was better than the last, and she reveled in his lovemaking, losing herself in him and becoming stronger because of it.

“Why is it that the Star Trek line about resisting the inevitable is pointless keeps reverberating in my brain?”

He chuckled, lifting her face so he could kiss her. “Because it is.”

“You need to put that thing away,” she said, rubbing her body against his cock, “and I need to go see what Jinx wants.”

“I’ll see the two of you are brought breakfast, if Lettie hasn’t already done so.”

She left him and padded down the grand staircase in her bare feet. If she was going to rule by his side, his pack had better get used to the fact that their mistress rarely wore shoes when she was inside. She met Lettie headed towards the office she now shared with Cullen, carrying a tray laden with food.

“Let me take that. You’ve got other things to do. You don’t need to wait on me hand and foot.”

“It is my pleasure to do so. The alpha has made it clear you are to be afforded every courtesy and hospitality.”

“That doesn’t surprise me, but if I’m to be a member of this pack, the rest of you are going to have to learn to quit tiptoeing around me.”

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