Page 12 of Fur-Ever Home

Connor sighed. "Yeah. I tried to ignore it, but he really is."

I clapped my hands. "Okay, let's get Shen some food so we can hit the road, er, air."

Shen grinned. "Where did you find this little firecracker?"

"New York." Connor returned his smiling gaze to me, and I felt like I was under a microscope. "He's my mate."

I frowned. "You keep saying that."

"Mate?" Shen clapped Connor on the back so hard he grimaced. "Congratulations! I think I've got some cigars in the cockpit."

"That's for babies," I said, "not …" I hoped he didn't mean mate like married. I'd sworn off marriage since I was a child, but that hadn't stopped my parents from inviting random alphas to our family dinner every Sunday.

"Already pregnant, too?" Shen slapped me on the back, and I careened into an empty table, catching myself with both hands. "We'll smoke two cigars!"

Shen stepped up to the counter, and Connor turned to me with an apologetic grin.

"I'll explain once we're in the air," he said.

"Does this have to do with you being a wolf?"

He nodded and handed me a wet wipe. "For your hands. That table doesn't look very clean."

It was covered with crumbs. I thanked him and used the wet wipe on my hands before wiping the table surface free of debris.

Connor tucked the little container of wipes back into his fanny pack before handing the cashier his credit card to cover Shen's meal. Then, we returned to our table and Shen pulled up a chair.

The big guy and I ate in silence while Connor continued to stare at me like I was a pinup model and he was memorizingevery detail of my body. I was grateful the table wasn't see-through, but then I wondered if it mattered. If he was a wolf, did he have their senses, too?

Shen scarfed down his sandwich and chips faster than I'd ever seen anyone eat, and I had three alpha siblings. In less than five minutes flat, he'd tossed his wrappers in the trash and stood by the table, waiting for me. I tucked my remaining half-sandwich into the front pouch of my suitcase and followed Shen and Connor out into the airport.

Shen led us outside, and then to what I recognized as short-term parking. "Where are we going?" I asked, already shivering. My coat was meant to withstand California cold snaps, not full-blown winter storms.

"The jet's parked at Centennial. It's about forty minutes away. Sit tight and we'll get you home tonight."

It was already almost midnight and would be morning by the time I got home, but I didn't want to argue semantics with our pilot.

I slipped into the back seat, leaving Connor up front with his friend. The airport had been warm enough, if you didn't walk too close to the windows, but the back seat of Shen's Jeep Cherokee felt like a solid brick of ice beneath me. It felt even colder when I flopped over on my side and tried to sleep.

I couldn't have been asleep for more than five minutes when I woke in Connor's arms. I blinked up at the brightly lit rounded ceiling of a white metal pole building. I should have panicked. I hated being carried around, but Connor felt so different from other alphas, especially my careless brothers who banged my head into everything when they carried me like this. Connor cradled my head to his broad chest.

Now that I was awake, I wrapped an arm around his neck and pulled myself up.

He laughed when I sniffed behind his ear. "That tickles."

He smelled divine, like salted caramel. I wanted to lick him to see if the smell translated to taste.

Instead, I twisted in his arms, gripping his neck and sliding down the front of his body until I could drop to the floor.

"I would have let you down," he said. "All you had to do was ask."

I rubbed up against him again, feeling the slight bulge all that front-to-front contact had given him. "Next time, ask me if you can pick me up," I huffed. "I don't remember being awake enough to give consent."

"You weren't." He looked chagrined. "I didn't want you to get cold outside, so I brought you with me."

I was going soft for this guy. I wanted to find fault with his logic, but I couldn't. "Thank you. But ask next time."

He nodded. "Anything for you, Ben."

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