Page 24 of Holiday Surprise

“Stay,” I found myself saying as I reached for his hand.

Sleep took me over before he could respond.

The next morning, I awoke feeling unusually overheated and heavy. It was definitely unlike any hangover I’d ever had. I tried to remember back to the night before and remembered I hadn’t been drinking. Before I even opened my eyes, I laughed out loud.

“Oh yeah, I just have a Luke Larken hangover, that’s all.” I groaned.

The weight on me shifted. “What was that?” a deep voice responded.

I shot up out of bed completely freaked out, my heart hammering in my chest.

“Luke what are you doing here?” I screeched.

“What?” he asked confused. “You asked me to stay.”

“I did?”

“Yes, you did.”

“I thought I just dreamed that.”

“I’m sorry. I thought you meant it,” he said scrambling to get out of my bed. He was shirtless, only wearing his jeans. A quick inventory told me I was still fully dressed in the clothes I’d worn yesterday.

I stared at him, unable to keep my eyes off of his bare chest. He was sculpted like a statue of a god or something and my mouth immediately began to water.

“Sydney?” he asked in a husky voice.

I gulped, entranced by the way my name rumbled through him almost reverently.

We had spent the night truly getting to know each other and, if I were honest, it was the best time I’d ever had with anyone in my entire life. I was entirely comfortable with him and I knew in that moment, staring at this gorgeous amazing man that regardless of his pack or position or anything else, I was a goner.

I waited for that moment of panic to set in, but it didn’t come. Luke Larken was my one true mate, and somewhere in the last forty-eight hours, I’d come to terms with that one simple fact.

“I need a cold shower,” I mumbled, as I started stripping off my clothes, still struggling to look away from him.

In a heavy fog, I finally found the strength to make my legs move as I walked towards the bathroom.

“Sydney?” he said again in a growly voice this time.

I turned to look over my shoulder and grinned. “Join me?”

It came out as barely a whisper, but I knew his heightened wolf ears picked up on it. He growled and stalked towards me. It was the sexiest thing I’d ever seen.

I turned and walked into the bathroom praying he wouldn’t change his mind or realize what a monumentally bad idea this could be. I looked at myself in the mirror and nodded reassuringly. I knew without a doubt that there was no turning back. I had felt the bond between us spark when I had hugged him on the couch last night. How much more had it grown already with him holding me through the night?

Taking things to a physical level was supposed to speed up the bond faster than anything. I knew what I was walking into. I had about five seconds to change my mind as I turned on the water to let it heat. One thing I knew was that when my mind was settled on something, I always followed through with it.

It wasn’t just my mind set this time though, my heart was in agreement and there was no changing the course we were on now.

I saw him in the mirror, still hesitant and approaching me with caution. I loved that he was giving me the option in this, waiting patiently. If there was any doubt that he wanted me too, it was laid to rest by the fact that he had also shed the last of his clothes, and the physical evidence of his desires was standing erect between us.

“Sydney,” he started, saying my name for the third time that morning.

I closed the gap between us and pulled his head down to mine. Our lips collided in a moment that I swore caused an earthquake throughout Collier. I kissed him like it was my last dying breath as need coursed through me.

My hands stroked the rough ridges of his chest. He pulled back breathlessly and stared at me with an intensity that made me squirm in anticipation.

“Sydney, are you sure?” he asked.

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