Page 14 of Cherished By Her Guardian

She hummed and looked toward the fireplace, with the faux flames flickering against the glass.

“What do you want to do, Declan?” She turned and faced him, resting her head on the pillows and giving him a curious look.

The easier question would be to ask what hedidn’twant to do. Because hewantedto do everything with her, for her, to her.

He scrubbed a hand over his face and said, “Honestly? I want to take you to bed right now and make you my mate in truth. ButI said we’d talk, and I meant it. So I want to know who you are and tell you who I am, and then I want to see where the day takes us.”

“Okay, that was awesome,” she said. “But I meant, do you want to stay here in Northernmost or go back to your pack after the holidays? We can’t go to my skulk, only foxes are allowed as members.” She leaned forward and cupped his face. “But wecantalk about all that other stuff.”

Her words whispered across his lips and his wolf snarled in his head. Before he knew what he was doing, he’d hauled her into his lap and kissed her like he was starving and she was an all-you-can-eat buffet.

So much for talking.

They could talk later.

Much later.

Okay, so the male could kiss.

Likereallykiss. And she wouldn’t have wanted to stop even if the world was ending.

He pulled gently from the kiss, sucking on her bottom lip for a moment before kissing across her jaw and then hugging her close with his face buried in her neck.

“Holy shit,” he said with a rough voice.

She hugged him, feeling the muscles as they flexed and released in his back, and the shiver of tension that made him shudder a little as she touched him.

“So that’s what you meant when you said you wanted to talk?”

He laughed and kissed her neck. Then he eased back and smiled at her, looking like the sexiest male on the planet.

How’d she get so lucky?

His eyes were pine green, and his hair was light brown and so soft she didn’t think she’d ever get tired of touching it. The day’s worth of stubble on his cheeks was just rough enough to give her a shiver as he rubbed against her skin.

It would probably feel amazing when he was between her thighs.

Her toes curled as heat flooded through her.

His nostrils flared and his eyes darkened. “What sexy things are you thinking about, sweet Winterlyn?”

“Just you.”

His eyes drifted to half-mast, and he let out a low growl. “I want to be a gentleman to you, so you know that I want you for you, and I’m not chasing a one-nighter. You’re my mate, Winterlyn. I want you to be mine.”

“Is that a question?”

He snorted. “No, sorry. My wolf is making all kinds of demands in my head. Let’s try again: Winterlyn, will you be my mate?”

“Yes.” She bit her bottom lip as worry made her heart ache.

“What is it?”

“Are you sure you don’t mind that I can’t shift? I don’t even know if it would affect our kids.”

“I promise I’ll prove to you in time that it doesn’t matter to me if you can’t shift. It only matters that you’re mine. Our kids will be fine. All ten of them.”

Her brows lifted in surprise. “Ten?”

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