Page 39 of Run Free

It was easy to see how happy she was to be there, and I was resigned to deal with it.

I thanked her sisters, hoping they got the message and wouldn’t try to follow us inside. Clara hugged each of them and again promised to see them the next day.

I grabbed our bags and followed her to the door. She didn’t even unlock it, just opened the door and walked in.

I swore under my breath. “Angel, it’s not safe to leave the place unlocked.”

She laughed. “We’re in pack territory, Gage. No one would dare mess with my stuff.”

I groaned.

After a quick tour, I sank onto the couch in the living room. It was a nice house. It gave me a warm feeling that made me uncomfortable. This was the kind of house you settled down in. The sort of place you raised a family in, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that.

Clara went to the kitchen and returned with two cold beers. She flopped down next to me and handed me one. “You look like you could use it.”

I laughed, graciously accepting it. “That obvious, huh?”

She gave me a concerned smile. “You can just relax here until our next assignment comes in if you want. Could be days, weeks, or even months. That’s the downside of the job. You just never know what’s coming.”

“You don’t have to worry about me, angel. I’m perfectly adaptable once I let my stubborn pride pass.” I smiled and leaned over to kiss her.

I loved feeling Clara instantly relax with my gentle kisses. I pulled back and took a long swig of beer, then set it down and gave my full attention to my mate.

“I’m always going to worry about you, Gage. You know that, right?”

I smiled. It was weird having someone care about me, but as long as it was Clara, I could grow to love it. I took her beer from her under mild protest and set it on the table next to mine before pulling her onto my lap so she straddled me.

She threw her head back and laughed. “Gage, sex is not the answer to everything.”

I kissed her exposed neck, blowing my scent on the mark I’d put there. She shivered in my arms and let a soft moan escape. I grinned and kissed the spot.

“You sure?” I asked.

I could tell I was driving her crazy and she was trying desperately to regain some semblance of control.

“We should talk,” she weakly protested.

“I know,” I said, kissing my way up the column of her neck and tracing her jaw until I found her lips. She whimpered, and I knew I was going to get my way. “Later,” I said.

“Okay,” she conceded breathlessly. “Wait,” she stopped abruptly. “I’m pretty sure Thomas and Lily already ran a full background check on you.”

I kissed her again. “He wouldn’t be a very good Alpha if he didn’t, and if there were any questions about that, Lily put them to rest with the looks she was shooting me.”

“Whatever it is you don’t want to tell me, I really don’t want to find it out from them,” she said, gutting me.

“You won’t. We’ll talk,” I said, then gave her an evil grin. “But, first things first. I really feel like I need to christen this place, stake my claim on it, and all that. So. . .”

“You aren’t peeing on my house, Gage,” she said sternly as her nose scrunched up in disgust.

It was my turn to laugh. “I had other ideas to calm my wolf,” I said suggestively.

Her cheeks turned pink. “Oh,” she squeaked. “But then we talk?”

“Then we talk,” I promised.

She gave me a quick kiss on the lips then sat back and pulled her shirt over her head. She unclipped her bra and tossed it to the ground before reaching for my shirt next. I admired her confidence and how responsive she was to my touch.

She reached for my hand and led me down the hall to her bedroom, until I stopped her with a kiss and picked her up to carry her the remaining distance to the bed. Her lips were everywhere, on my lips, my cheek, my shoulder, my chest. She aggressively licked and sucked, nibbling on my skin in places she knew would elicit moans from me.

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