Stroking down her back, he didn’t want to move. Even as his cock began to go flaccid there was nowhere else he wanted to be.

“What are you thinking about right now?” she asked.

“You. This. Us.”

“Oh.”

“Mabel, you’ve always been on my mind. It never stops.”

She looked at his chest where her hand now lay on him. “I thought about you as well. I always tried to tell myself it was because I was angry.”

“Were you?”

“Sometimes. Not all the time.”

“Did you ever want to be with me?”

She licked her lips and nodded. “And each time I did, I thought I was betraying myself.” She breathed out. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine. You and I, we don’t have the best start, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have one hell of an ending.”

“I don’t know if I’ve got what it takes to be your mate,” she said.

“You’re perfect.”

“Come on, Lucas, you don’t have to say that.” She went to get off him, but he held her still.

“I promise you from this day forward, I won’t say shit unless I mean it. We can make this work. Believe me, I don’t think I’m ready to take over from my dad, but I don’t have a choice. He’s counting on me and so are so many others. We can do this. You and me. Together.”

She didn’t say anything, but he hoped she was at least considering it.

Chapter Nine

Mabel released a scream and took off into the forest. She felt him closing in. Tomorrow was another full moon, and for the past month, they’d been enjoying each other in ways she didn’t think were possible.

Glancing back, she didn’t see him, and she kept on running. They were having a little fun before tomorrow night when they’d run together, nothing holding them back.

She rounded a tree and looked behind her.

A branch snapped and she cried out, taking off. She breathed in deeply and a fluttering began in her stomach. She went to round another tree, but she was tackled to the ground. Her arms pressed above her head.

She went to scream again, but Lucas took possession of her lips.

Any fight left her as his cock pressed between her thighs. His lips were tempting, so sexy.

She arched up, wanting to be as open as she could be for him.

He slid his tongue across her neck.

Bite me, Lucas. Take me.

The urge had been growing stronger, but she’d held back from demanding it. Even she felt the pull of making the claiming official. So far, she’d held back.

She tensed up, waiting, expecting, craving it.

He moved down, going to her breasts.