Page 39 of Runaway Mate
“You mean it?” she said, taking her eyes off the treacherous road to stare at him.
“I do indeed. Colby?”
“That is an inspired and brilliant suggestion. Do you think Hamish will go for it?”
“If Trudy wants to return to Mystic River, I think we might be able to avoid that whole thing where we Highlanders steal our mates willy-nilly.”
Colby chuckled. “We will make your man most welcome.”
“Make no mistake, Reynolds. If Hamish agrees, he will become your man and yours alone. He would not tolerate, nor would I ask him, to have divided loyalties.”
“Then I am most grateful. The idea that you have been singled out as the actual target, I think, merits some information gathering.”
“Agreed,” said Winter. “At this point, while we can assume, we don’t know for certain if Clyde was working for the League. We need to find that out before we can draw any conclusions about what went down here tonight.”
“I also want to get Graeme MacLean read in on what we’re doing. He could be an incredibly valuable ally, and he may also be able to get in touch with Scott and Kyra. I think it’s time they came in from the cold—literally and figuratively.”
* * *
Back at Windsong, Sean rolled from his mate’s body, wrapping his arm around her to pull her close.
“Tell me it will always be like that,” she purred.
Sean chuckled. “I can’t decide if it gets better each time, or if each time feels like the first time with you. You never cease to surprise and delight me, although I may need to apologize to Colby in the morning.”
Winter laughed. “You think?”
When they’d arrived back at Windsong, Sean had scooped her up the minute her feet hit the ground getting out of the SUV and tossed her over his shoulder, striding through the front door and carrying her up the stairs. People weren’t sure how to respond until both she and Colby were laughing—Winter from her position bent over Sean’s shoulder and Colby from the foot of the stairs.
Sean carried her through the door, closing and locking it behind him before carrying her into the attached bath, where he brought his knife out and once again cut away her clothes.
“You had better be prepared to buy me a whole new wardrobe,” she teased with mock severity.
“Why? I plan to keep you naked up in our chambers. That way I can avail myself of your charms anytime I like.”
“And I can do the same,” she stated as fact.
“Aye, lass, you can,” his brogue sounding thick even to him. “Do you love me, Winter? Nay, wait. Let me go first. I love you, Winter. I fucked everything up, and it cost us years we should have been together.” She raised her hand to cover his mouth and silence him. “No don’t. I need to say this.” She lowered her hand. “I was an arrogant bastard. I knew you were my fated mate, and I knew what that meant, but instead of trying to convince you I was right, I gave into my baser instincts and figured I’d take what I wanted and put it right later.”
Winter nodded. “Not one of your better ideas.”
Sean smiled ruefully. “No. In fact it ranks right up there with the worst of them. I am sorry for the way I treated you and I promise to try and never do that again. If I do, you have my blanket permission to punch me in the face.”
“Careful, alpha, I can punch hard.”
“I am well aware of that. But I need to know—well, I think I know; I guess I need to hear it from you—can you forgive me? Do you love me, Winter?”
He was a strong, proud alpha male, but he knew that with her she needed to know there was a softer, more vulnerable side.
“I do. I didn’t want to, and I certainly didn’t want to return to Scotland, but the sonofabitch I met there more than two years ago is not the man who just finished making love to me.”
“I’m not finished, Winter, I’m just getting started and am taking a break. Promise me that if I’m ever a jackass where you’re concerned that you won’t just leave, that you’ll punch me out, tell me off, and then give me another chance.”
The smile she gave him was just this side of beatific. “That’s an easy promise to give. We’ll be fine, Sean. I think maybe those two years apart gave us time enough to grow into what we should have always been. I think if I hadn’t left, we might have gotten to this place, but it would have taken a whole lot longer than two years.”
He leaned over her and took her mouth with his, the force of his lips making hers yield to his dominance. Rolling back on top of her, he wrapped his arms around her, letting her tongue slip into his mouth and tangle together with his in a silky dance. It seemed he’d waited a lifetime for that kiss—his lips moving along her mouth, covering her face with more delicate kisses and expressing his adoration as he moved down her jawline, down her neck, and between her breasts, sucking one distended nipple into his mouth before moving to the other one and coming back to her lips.
Sean kept one hand underneath her as his other came up to cup her head—moving and angling it so he could explore and worship her in a way that would communicate even more effectively than his words. Winter moaned into his mouth as her arms came around him and she flexed her fingers into the muscles of his back, using her nails to knead him like cats were prone to do when highly pleasured.
