an hour—yeah, you seem pretty perfect to me.”
“What do you want to know about me? I’m not the best at sharing stuff with people, but I’m an open book for you,” he offered.
I figured the whole getting to know each other thing would work best if it was a give and take thing. He’d mentioned having a niece, so I assumed talking about siblings was an easy place to start. “I’m an only child, but I didn’t feel lonely growing up because I had my best friends. How many brothers or sisters do you have?”
“Just one brother,” he answered as he bent over to pull some more bath stuff out of the cabinet under the tub. “He found his mate almost a decade ago when he was only eighteen. He was one of the lucky ones. I spent years being jealous of him and worrying I’d never find you.”
My heart raced at how grateful he sounded. I’d always known my parents loved me, but I’d never experienced romantic attention like he was giving me. “Does that happen often?”
“Before I met you, I would’ve said it wasn’t too bad because most of us find our mates. But now that I’ve experienced what meeting you feels like, I understand that even one shifter never being mated is too many.”
It was impossible to resist Zeke when he kept saying things that made me want to cry in the best way possible.
7
Allegra
Zeke poured body gel onto the washcloth and stretched his arm out, his hand hovering in the air for a moment before he offered it to me. I had a feeling he’d intended to wash me himself and then decided I wasn’t quite ready for that. And I really shouldn’t have been, considering we’d just met, but I had the whole fated mate thing to blame for it when I leaned forward so he could reach my back instead of taking the washcloth. Goose bumps broke out along my spine in the wake of his touch.
I rested my chin on top of my knees while he cleaned my back and arms. It felt so good to have him pamper me. And incredibly sexy. I watched the flexing of the muscles in his arms and breathed in his scent as he leaned down to reach into the water and lift one of my feet higher. The bubbles were still thick, but he still ate me up with his eyes. When his nostril flared, I wondered if it was possible that he could smell the proof of my desire. His fingers grazed my skin, and my need for him intensified.
“The water’s getting a little cold,” I whispered, blaming my shiver on the temperature instead of the desire burning through my veins as the washcloth moved up my calf.
My need turned into an inferno when his fingers drifted above my knee and he suggested, “Maybe there’s something I can do to help you stay warm.”
My legs parted a little, giving him more room as his hand continued up my thigh. “How would you do that?”
“It depends on what you want.” The washcloth continued up my thigh, almost to the crease near my core.
My legs parted slightly more, and I breathed, “I’m not sure what I want.”
“I bet an orgasm would make you feel better,” he suggested as he dropped the washcloth into the water. “Tell me yes, and I’ll give you one.”
Even with all the fated mate stuff—or maybe because of it—I probably should have thought twice before I answered, but I didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
“Thank fuck,” he growled, his green eyes riveted on my face as his fingers slid up to my pussy.
My gaze dropped to watch his hand move between my legs, my breath catching in my throat as his finger brushed against my clit before dipping down to slide through my wetness. “Oh, wow.”
“Feel good?” he rasped.
“Uh-huh,” I breathed, moving my knees as far apart as I could get them in the tub.
He increased the pressure of his touch and asked, “How about this?”
“Even better,” I gasped as he inched one of his fingers inside me. Then he twisted his wrist to circle my clit with his thumb, and my orgasm came out of nowhere, crashing over my body as I gripped his arm to keep his hand in place. He kept stroking me through it and pressed a kiss to my forehead when my shudders finally subsided.
When he lifted me out of the tub and covered me with a fluffy white towel, the