Page 32 of Sexual Appetites of Werewolves

A poketo the side followed by a quick kiss woke her.

“Get dressed while I start breakfast,” he said and got out of bed and dressed.

She stirred, some, not eager to leave the warmth of the bed, Tiernan’s heat and scent still lingering there and she still wishing to enjoy it.

He returned to the bed, leaning over her to give her another quick kiss. “Hurry up, we have much to discuss.”

She was eager to talk with him, though she was more eager to share a quicky with him. Where this sudden, hungry, sexual appetite came from she didn’t know, but she intended to enjoy it.

He turned when he reached the door and sent her a wicked smile. “I’ll see to that need of yours after breakfast,mo ghràdh, but first we eat and talk.”

She smiled as she stretched herself awake like a lazy cat unfurling from a satisfying sleep. It always touched her heart when he called her my love. She bolted up to sit, the blanket falling off her, leaving her bare chest to chill fast. She did not care. She was too consumed by her sudden revelation.

“He’s been courting me from the beginning,” she said as if saying it aloud somehow made it sound probable. “Courting me like a wolf would an intended mate—to a human—a wife.”

Did he want her as his wife? Or was she crazy?

They had found each other appealing from when they first met at the train station. He had even offered her his gloves, touched with wolf hair, his wolf hair, and she had accepted, letting him know she was interested, that he could approach her. And he had that first night when he entered her bedroom as Laird. He had whined as a wolf did when he approached a female wolf he was interested in mating with, and he nuzzled her face and neck often another show of affection, of love.

Could he really love her? Had he fallen as hard for her as she had for him?

A wolf would not approach a female unless she allowed him to, and he would not have sex with her unless she agreed. Once they mated that was it. They were joined for life.

Being his mate, his wife, would also explain the job position, second in command. The female wolf had almost as much authority as the alpha wolf, the pack obeying her. She wouldn’t be an employee of the preserve, but more a partner, leaving no restrictions when it came to her.

She smiled at how easily the problem of having sex with her boss was solved. But what of the werewolves’ need for an infusion of human blood? Where did that fit in? Had that come first? Or had love been the driving force for his reason to mate with her?

She needed to talk with him and settle this once and for all. She hurried to her room and dressed, leaving her hair loose, not wanting to waste time finding the clip that usually held it, and then rushed to the kitchen.

Olivia halted a few steps into the kitchen, Tiernan’s back to her. The room was filled with delicious scents, but his rugged scent dominated and set her heart to beat faster.

He turned and stared at her as he dried his hands with the towel he held, then dropped it on the counter.

“You figured it out,” he said as he walked toward her.

She held her hand up to stop him. If he got too close, she wouldn’t be able to think straight and went to speak, but he spoke first.

“I had hoped you would realize that I properly courted you as a wolf would when he found a female he wished to mate with, spend his life with, and love with all his heart before you realized there was a problem with the werewolves. I fell in love with you at first sight, if you can believe that. You stole my heart as soon as you got in my vehicle and looked at me and I could tell, sense, that I appealed to you. I started thinking then of how I would court you and offer you a position beside me as my wife, my mate. Maybe I should have been more forward, more transparent, but as alpha as I am, I think I feared you mightrefuse me, and I wasn’t sure how I would handle that since I had already lost my heart to you.”

Olivia got teary-eyed and was at a loss for words. All she could do was stare at him.

He walked toward her slowly. “I want you in my life, Olivia. I cannot bear the thought of you leaving here. I love you. I want to marry you, have children with you, and since I can feel my life strength waning, I hope to live only as long as you do so that we can spend the afterlife together.”

Tears began to roll down her cheeks.

“Please tell me those are tears of joy,” he said, reaching her and wiping her tears away with his thumb, then resting his hand on her wet cheek.

She placed her hand on his wrist and turned her face into his palm to caress it with her cheek, then looked up at him. “I believe I fell in love with you at first sight as well. Though it does sound crazy, I can’t argue with myself at how I felt when meeting you and how that feeling grew. I came here hoping you might hire me and instead I fell in love with you. Though,” she said with a tilt of her head, “I never expected the werewolf issue.”

“Will it be a problem?” he asked cautiously.

“I think it will take some adjustment, but since I love wolves, I think I can adapt.”

“I and the others will make it as easy as possible for you,” he assured her. “Fay warned me not to let you get away. She knew when first seeing us together that we had strong feelings for each other, and she insists that I have been alone too long, as does my brother, Sim.”

“I would love to meet your brother.”

“You will and others as well. There are homes throughout the preserve where many of the werewolves live and the regular wolves live peacefully among them. There is so much for you tosee and learn and I can’t wait to show it to you and to see the wealth of knowledge you bring to the preserve.”

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