Page 120 of The Beta's Blind Date

“Because it’s Winter Wonderland Day,” I reply.

And because I need her out of the guest suite while hospitality sets up everything for the rest of our day.

“But it’s a snowstorm.”

“Oh, come on, Cadet. It’s not that bad right now!” I say, looking around at the heavy snowfall.

Okay, so it may be coming down a little harder than a regular snow day, even for us as shifters. Especially for someone who came from Southern California and is used to beaches and temperate weather. But my little warrior looks so cute with her grumpy face and puffy jacket and with snowflakes dusting the lengths of her braids.

She stares at me, then turns on her heel and starts towards the house. But I grab her hand and snap her back against me, wrapping my body around hers and holding her in place.

“Don’t worry,” I murmur, squeezing her tighter. “I’ll keep you warm.”

She looks over her shoulder at me, her hand reaching to stroke my cheek, a smile playing on her lips. “Yes, I know. You did a pretty decent job of warming me up earlier.”

“We can always do more of that later,” I promise, kissing her cheek. “We can do more of that whenever you want.”

I move my hand down her side and caress her thigh, our lips meeting in a gentle kiss. She pulls away, but I dart forward and capture her lips a second time, my hand moving to the back of her head to prevent her from pulling away again. She sighs into my mouth and twists her body to face me, her arms winding around my neck as our mouths move in unison.

“Goddess, I love kissing you,” I say against her lips.

She chuckles. “Rule breaker.”

“Only for you.”

Yep. It’s official. I’m now as cheesy as Wesley.

But it’s the truth. I love kissing her, and holding her, and touching her, and…

And if we keep this up, I’ll end up stripping her down and taking her right here in the snow. In the middle of the pack grounds. Where everyone can see us.

We both break away, short of breath, my hands snapping to her waist from where they’d been squeezing her cute ass.

“Sorry,” I mumble. “Got a little carried away.”

“It’s the bond. It’s designed to pull us together. And you’ve been fighting the pull for a while.”

I shake my head and press my forehead to hers. “It’s not just that, Taryn. It’s you and everything about you. But I want to show you how important you are to me with more than just physical intimacy.”

“I know. So we can do whatever it is you have planned right now,”—she slides her hands to my chest and winks at me—“and then you can… show me… again later.”

Oh, I will show you every night for the rest of our lives. Once you trust me. Once you realize there is nothing that can scare me away from you.

“I’ll hold you to that,” I say out loud. “Now come on.”

“Where are we going?” she asks, following me along the path some unlucky soul had to shovel, the path that already has a layer of snow covering it again.

“To the forest.”

“Why?”

“To see if I can coax your wolf out so you can shift.”

“Oh,” she says.

I glance at her as we reach the tree line, and she has her lips pinched together, her eyes unfocused as a million thoughts flit through her mind. An emotion I can’t quite identify flickers through the bond, but it’s gone before I can attempt to figure it out. Gone or hidden. I’m not sure which.

“What’s wrong?”

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