Page 34 of Into the Shadows

“I like that you’re a bit of a grumpy bear.” She grins down at me.

I frown at her. “I’m not a bear.”

“Fine, you’re a wolf, constantly grumbling and growling at me.”

My jaw drops. “You insolent little…”

Lottie starts belly laughing, and I can’t help but smile at her. She shines when she laughs, lighting up every dark crevice inside me.

I flip us over, making her gasp. “I should punish you for that.”

Lottie looks entirely too pleased at that.

I raise an eyebrow. “I think you might enjoy that too much.”

She blushes at my observation, so I kiss her nose and land back on my side next to her. She snuggles into my chest as if she wants to be as close to me as possible. I wish I knew what she sees in me.

I have nothing to give her, nothing to bring into this relationship that would be enticing enough for her to stay.

But I’m entirely too selfish to let her go.

She let me have her body tonight, and if I have my way, I’m going to possess every part of her until she has no choice but to stay by my side.

Chapter 21

Lottie

Teddy’s weight presses against my back. A self-satisfied smile stretches across my face. He stayed the night. Even though he said he would, a tiny part of me worried he’d sneak out after I fell asleep.

There’s a reason I’m still a virgin at twenty-six. It’s not just because I’ve been picky about the guys I’ve dated. It always felt like an all-or-nothing situation. If I didn’t have sex with them, they didn’t want anything to do with me.

Maybe I was putting those feelings onto the guys I dated, but there were enough who made it clear that if I didn’t sleep with them, then there was no reason to keep talking. The experience gave me the confidence to be a decent judge of character.

“Good morning.” Teddy nuzzles into the back of my head, his voice raspy from sleep.

I roll over in his arms to see his face. “Hi.” He doesn’t have a line between his eyebrows this morning, and whether it’s because of me or not, I’m totally taking credit.

He presses his lips against my forehead. “How did you sleep?”

“Great. What about you?”

“Better than I have in a while. Normally, I have some pretty intense dreams.”

I frown. “Like nightmares?”

“Sometimes. Usually, it’ll be about a mission going FUBAR that went smoothly in real life.”

“That sounds stressful.”

“It is. I feel good this morning, though.”

A smug smile tilts the corners of my mouth. “I think that means you should stay here more often.”

Teddy barks out a rusty laugh. It only makes me more smug. “You might be onto something.” He leans in to kiss me, a soft press of his lips against mine. It’s a slow, lazy kiss perfect for Sunday mornings when you have nowhere else to be. Unfortunately, I do have somewhere to be today.

“I need to get ready. I’m meeting with an investigative journalist today about the Mansgrove case.”

“I thought you were already putting out episodes for that case.”

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