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“Is this your home?”

“No.” He took a slow step but nothing more. “We’ve been traveling for some time,min pärla.”

“My name is Grace.”

“Grace,” he amended.

She flinched, her hand rushing to her chest as her heart quickened at the sound of her name on his tongue.

“You are safe with me, Grace.” He spoke slowly, placing a heavily accented R in her name that rolled seductively into the soft hissing C.

The fire crackled in the stone hearth where clothes draped over a chair. She gasped and covered her body, dressed only in her underclothes.

“You removed my clothes!” She bunched the thin chemise, pulling it away from her defined curves as she crossed an arm over her chest like a shield. Her cheeks burned as she considered his audacity. Had he acted honorably while she’d slept? She didn’t know him well enough to trust his words.

“There was rain. I had limited supplies to cover you. As soon as I found shelter, I wanted to get you warm. Your clothing was drenched.”

The musty trace of rain on her skin confirmed his story. He possibly told the truth. “If not your home, what is this place?”

“It’s a rental.” When she looked confused, he said, “An Air BnB.”

Her frown deepened. “Air BnB?”

He laughed at her ignorance. “It’s ours for the night—or longer if we need. I live quite far from here.” He took a step closer and her back pressed firmly into the wall. “You needn’t be shy with me, Grace. Now that you’re rested and we haveprivacy, we should … get to know one another. Before we return to the others.”

“The others?”

“My pack brothers. They’re very eager to meet you.”

He was a family man. That comforted her. Family was important.

“My family will also want to meet you.” She needed to get a letter off to her sister. The Bishop would inform Larissa and the rest of her family, but Grace wanted to prepare them for the unexpected details of her calling.

Her stare drifted to the rumpled bed, then darted to the floor. Aside from a small wooden table, a few simple chairs, and the hearth, the bed dominated the room.

Her chest tightened as her mediocre understanding of matings formed a deformed picture in her mind. Flashes of hidden secrets she’d unintentionally lifted from others flickered rapidly through her memory.

Mouths, moans, flesh, lips, teeth, legs… The erotic onslaught of all she knew collided into a knot of unknowns that choked the air from her lungs. “What will happen here?”

He took another step and her ribs cinched tighter making it near impossible to breathe. “We’ll talk. Get to know one another.”

Her gaze skated to the bed and back to him. He traced her path with his own eyes.

“You needn’t be afraid. I won’t hurt you, Grace.”

It wasn’t supposed to be like this. There was supposed to be time for her to consult with her mother and sister. Conversations had been put off because she’d had no symptoms. No warning.

“Perhaps if you tell me what you’re thinking, I can help you make sense of things.”

He couldn’t read her. How was that possible?

She reached for his mind and found utter silence. Another unexpected outcome, though a peaceful one. She let down her guard and the steady tension that always left her neck in knots loosened.

She knew what happened between mates. Her extrasensory gifts cursed her with an extremely sensitive telepathic mind. She’d suffered countless unwanted images whenever in the presence of newly mated couples. They were always the most distracted and obsessive in their carnal ruminations. Whenever they failed to properly block their minds, Gracie got an unwanted show of things she’d prefer to never see.

But he was not like them. When she looked into his mind, she saw nothing but grey silence. “Our mates can read each other. They share emotions such as pleasure and pain.”

“Things will be different for us, but that is not to say those privileges will not develop with time.”