something more, too. Something that sparked heat low in Gabriela’s belly. It was as though the rest of the world had fallen away, and there was only the two of them here in this moment.
“I will do everything I can for you, Gabriela,” he said, his voice low and rumbly. “Everything.”
Her watery eyes searched his as emotion tightened her throat and her lips quivered under his thumb. “Why?” she breathed as more tears spilled down her cheeks. “Why would you do this for us?”
He shifted his hand to brush away her tears with those big, surprisingly gentle fingers. “You have always been kind to me. You’re the only one who treats me like…a person. And I have wanted you since the moment I first saw you.”
Gabby’s eyes flared and she drew in a small, sharp breath, stunned into silence. He…he had?
“I have watched over you and Ana since I moved into my house,” he continued, “and I’ve done all I could to help you from afar, never knowing how to get close. But I know you are unclaimed. I want you to be mine, Gabriela. I want you for my mate, and I want Ana to be my kit. I want to care for you, to protect you, to be your male. You are so strong, but…you don’t need to carry your burdens alone. Not anymore.”
Mason again wiped the moisture from her cheeks, and when his thumb grazed her bottom lip, his eyes dipped to her mouth and remained there. That heat in his eyes intensified. “I crave you, female. And I will make you mine fully. In time.”
His violet eyes met hers, and for a brief instant, she could have sworn they glowed.
He dropped his hands from her and stepped back. “Put everything you need and want in the cart, Gabriela. I will check on Ana.”
Gabriela stood there, dumbfounded, as Mason turned and walked away from her. Her heart fluttered, and her breaths came short and quick. She could almost still feel his touch upon her face, could almost still feel those gentle, careful caresses of his fingers. It had been so, so long since she’d been touched by a man, but she’d never been touched like that. She’d never been treated as though she was the most precious, delicate thing in the world. She’d never been treated as though she were someone’s everything. But Mason looked at her as though she was.
I want you to be mine, Gabriela. I want you for my mate, and I want Ana to be my kit.
Mate? Kit? Female?
He had an unidentifiable accent, and sometimes his word choice was odd. Was he from another country originally? She barely knew anything about him. Shouldn’t that have been a sign that they were moving too fast?
But hadn’t she already wasted so many years alone? And when she was around Mason, she felt…safe. Despite virtually being strangers, she never felt threatened by him, and she trusted him around her daughter. Every time he looked at Ana, there was only patience and fatherly affection in his eyes. And when he looked at Gabriela…
She’d seen his desire. Even a year ago, when they’d first spoken, it had been there, but she’d been so oblivious to it then and every time after when they’d interacted, even though she’d felt no shortage of attraction to him. But she’d been focused on her duties as a mother, focused on her work, her schedule, on taking care of her daughter’s needs. Gabriela had brushed aside her own needs and loneliness as though they weren’t important.
Now…now her eyes were open.
She tilted her head as she watched Mason interact with her daughter. He asked Ana something, and she pointed at several items of clothing—each of which he lifted from the rack and draped over his arm. Ana’s face broke out in delight and she jumped up and down excitedly.
Gabriela pressed her palm over her heart.
Mason wanted her to be his mate. He wanted Ana to be his…kit.
The corner of her mouth quirked.
What if this—if Mason—was too good to be true? It was all so much, and everything in her life seemed to be happening so quickly lately…
But part of her said she’d be a fool not to accept this. To accept him.
Maybe it was a leap of faith, the biggest she’d ever considered taking in her life, but she was tempted to do it.
Mason turned his head and met Gabriela’s gaze. Her core clenched. He didn’t hide the hunger that burned within the depths