Page 17 of Mitchell's Untamed Mate

He looked at her when she placed her hand on his arm.Their eyes locked.Once again, he felt invisible threads pulling him toward her.Emotion swirled in her dark brown eyes.Her lips parted and her breathing became more uneven.

“What is happening?Why do I want to kiss you?”he murmured.

“I think it’s called Laws of Attraction.I know I want to kiss you,” she said.

He didn’t move when she took the half-step needed to close the distance between them.Her hands felt warm through the fabric of his shirt.He breathed deeply, enjoying the feel of her hands moving up his arms to his shoulders.When she leaned into him, he closed the distance, capturing her lips again.

Her lips parted under the gentle pressure of his, and he deepened the kiss.Tiny lights burst behind his closed eyelids.He swore he could see shimmering lines of silver and red threads creating an intricate web, connecting them.

As her fingers played with his earlobe, his hands tightened their hold on her hips.He had never considered the earlobe as being an erogenous zone before.Her lips were warm, soft, and addictive, he decided.A shudder ran through him as the threads wrapping around him tightened and he broke their kiss.

“What is happening?”

She blinked and grinned up at him.“I think it is called kissing.”

He scowled down at her and stepped back, placing a couple of feet of space between them.Curling his fingers, he studied her flushed face.He wanted to cup her face and kiss her again.

“I know what kissing is.I felt something?—”

He briefly closed his eyes, trying to grasp what he had felt and put it into words.How did he describe the strange threads gripping and pulling him in?Or the growing need to touch her?

“We need to get moving.We have a lot of ground to cover before nightfall,” he said in a blunt tone.

Without waiting for her response, he swiftly turned and walked away.He needed some time to wrap his head around the events and gain a clear understanding of the situation.As he adjusted the backpack, he took in the surrounding sights, searching for the familiar landmarks that would lead him back to the village.While he longed for a more direct route, the well-being of his clan took precedence in his decision-making.Ensuring that no one could follow Tracy would require taking a less direct route and doubling back multiple times.

They were climbing a steep, rocky section now, and he was analyzing her physical abilities, comparing them to the scary stories of shifters and their physical superiority, their untiring ferocity.He had maintained a pretty brutal pace over the last hour, and it was only now during the climb that she was showing signs of hard exertion.Turning, he was about to offer his hand over a difficult section, but even though she was breathing hard, she was moving along the rocks as if she were accustomed to covering rough terrain.He had noticed that yesterday as well, when he was following her.The gear and backpack he had shouldered this morning looked well-used, which was yet another clue that she didn't always stay in her shifter settlement.

“How did you know where to start looking for us?”

The question had been bugging him for the past hour.She glanced up at him before focusing on finding the best climbing path along the uneven rocks.He climbed to the next section to give her room.

“I have to give the credit to Van and Peterson.They're two of my security guys.It took them a while, but they eventually found where you had taken Ty.That was where I was heading when our paths crossed,” she explained.

“We abandoned that location right after we released your brother.I feared it would be an issue,” he confessed.

“I don’t blame you.I would have too,” she said.

He glanced over his shoulder as he reached the top and waited for her.With a burst of determination, she scaled the last stretch to the top of the ridge and greeted him with a wide grin.His appreciative eyes studied her from head to toe.Her shoulder-length dark auburn hair was a mess of loose strands escaping from her ponytail.Her right cheek bore a smudge of dirt, a remnant of when she had absentmindedly brushed her hair away.Her hairline was slightly damp and her cheeks had a faint rosy tint as she placed her hands on her knees and sucked in deep, calming breaths.

“You don't climb often,” he observed.

She straightened, stretched her spine, and gave him a wavering grin as she fought to steady her breathing and nodded.

“Yeah, it’s been a while since I’ve climbed any mountains.I think the last time was in the Southern Species of America region of Chile, but that was at least a year ago,” she admitted.

“Have you traveled to many places around the world?”

She nodded again.“Pretty much every continent and region, even Antarctica.”

He motioned for her to sit on a rock.She shot him a grateful smile and walked over to it.He released the clasps on the backpack and slid it off his back.Twisting it around, he pulled out her water bottle and handed it to her.

“There are some energy bars in the front pouch,” she said.

He reached in her backpack and pulled out the bag with the energy bars.He handed her one and sat down on the rock beside her.Through the low brush that grew along the rocky surface, they could see across the massive valley they had camped in earlier.They would have many more peaks and valleys to traverse before they reached his village.

“Tell me about your… world,” he asked.

She smiled.“It’s your world as well, but I know what you mean.There are large cities scattered throughout the world along with small towns, of course.There are ten specific regions governed by elected leaders.Each region can contain numerous states or countries.I live in the United Species of North America.Our leader is Michaela Bearclaw-Kodiak.”

---