Page 23 of Rescued

“It’s like that for us,” I add, forcing the words out. “Sometimes—a very rare sometimes—a shifter will find someone who…who they can link minds with.”

Gabe tilts his head, studying me with those sharp green eyes that seem to pierce right through me. It’s like he’s peeling back every layer, reading things I’m not even sure I understand about myself.

“So why us, Mika?” he asks after a moment. “What don’t you want to tell me?”

I suck in a breath, the calm patience in his voice cutting through my defenses. My fingers still their nervous fidgeting as I meet his gaze.

“It’s us because we’re right together,” I say, my voice thick with emotion. “We fit. It’s—”

“It’s part of the whole shapeshifter thing, then, right?” he interrupts, his tone sharp but not cruel.

The abruptness makes me flinch, and when he glances away, doubt and fear claw their way back to the surface. I can feel them, pulling at me like an undertow.

“Yes,” I say quietly. “It’s complicated.”

And isn’t that the understatement of the year?

Gabe doesn’t answer right away. He trails his fingers over the arm of the chair, tracing slow, deliberate patterns against the leather. My gaze fixes on his hand, on the way it moves with such careless grace.

It’s distracting.

More than distracting—it’s maddening.

All I can think about is how those fingers would feel on my skin, on my cock, tracing soft, teasing patterns like he’s doing now.

Heat floods my throat, and before I realize it, I’m lost in the fantasy, my body aching with the need to close the distance between us.

When Gabe finally calls my name, his voice low and raw, it takes me a moment to register it. My name falling from his lips pulls me back into the room, into the reality where I’m still sitting here, my nerves fraying as I struggle to hold it together.

I lift my eyes to his, and for a split second, I swear I see something flicker in his gaze—something just as desperate as the need burning through me.

Gabe’s words hit me like a punch to the chest.

“Mika, I think maybe we should wait after all. For the explanations. I, uhm, need some time to digest this…whole shapeshifter thing, you know? And I think you need some time to deal with whatever is happening between us, too. We both do.”

Fear surges inside me, clawing at my ribs. It’s a living thing, vicious and relentless, battering against my heart.

“What do you mean by needing time? And dealing with what’s happening between us? Do you…?” I swallow hard, pulse hammering and choke out the next words. “Are you saying you want me to leave?”

Please, no.

The urge to run, to protect myself from the pain of rejection, is smothered under the weight of a greater need—the need to stay, to convince Gabe we belong together.But what if he really does ask me to leave? Can I do anything other than grant his request?

The thought alone threatens to tear me apart.

Before I can spiral further, Gabe rises from his chair and kneels before me. His hands cup my face, warm and gentle, anchoring me in the moment. His lips press softly against mine, a kiss filled with reassurance and quiet strength.

“It’s okay,” he says, his voice steady, his green eyes glittering with compassion. “Whatever this is, it’s okay.”

The tension inside me starts to ease, unraveling thread by thread as he continues.

“I just meant that right now, this constant need I feel with you, for you, explains enough. I want to know the why’s and everything being with you entails, but I want to know you, too. All the answers in theworld won’t help me do that like just being with you will. Those answers might muddy my thinking instead, distract me when all I really want, for now, is to focus on us.”

His words settle over me, soothing my fears.

I can be patient—for him, for both of us.

“Are you expecting someone?” I ask, the sound of an approaching car pulling me out of the moment.

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