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He must read all of this in my expression because he lifts my hands and presses them flat on his chest, pressing a kiss to my cheek.

“Don’t worry, Lottie, I very much want to strip you bare and have you in every position. But there’s something you should know first that I don’t think my sister told you about.”

Waiting patiently, I look up at him. I know we can’t solidify the mate bond this way, I made sure to confirm that with Ginger. We have to be under a full moon, and he has to bite me. Just having sex won’t do anything other than give us both great pleasure.

“Male shifters have a slight deviation in our anatomy from humans, even in our human form.”

I frown, my gaze wandering over his body, trying to figure out what could possibly be different. I saw him completely naked in the forest when I first shifted in front of me, and I don’t recall seeing anything different. Everything was where it was supposed to be. Albeit, he was larger than any man I’ve ever been with.

The thought has my mouth watering wanting to see it again, feel it. In my hands, in my pussy.

“Stop looking at me like you want to eat me, little bird, or I won’t be able to explain properly.”

Dutifully, I focus my eyes back on his and roll my lips between my teeth to try and still my movements. Once he repositions his hands on my backside, locking me in the embrace of his arms, he continues.

“Male shifters, on our cock, we have what’s called a knot. It’s a thickening swell at the base that locks inside our partner during sex. Helps to . . . keep everything inside, to promote fertilization and pregnancy. Not to mention it feels fucking fantastic. We think it stems from our beastly wolf nature since we’re the only non-humans to possess it.”

My mind is whirling with this new information. I’ve heard of such things from books, mainly fictional. Perhaps those books aren’t so fictional after all. The image of him pressing inside me and filling me so fully, locking us together, has me rubbing my thighs together.

He may think these things will scare me off or make me second guess being with him. They won’t. If anything, he’s bolstering his chances.

I bite my lip, letting my hands roam back down toward his pants.

“I’m okay with that. Sounds fun.”

Hunter’s growling groan echoes through the dark cabin, his eyes never straying from mine. His chest rises and falls with heavy breaths, and I swear I can see his canines elongate under his parted lips.

“It will be, but not tonight.”

“What?” I stop my southward venturing, again confused by his words.

“Are we or are we not having sex tonight?” I ask, completely surprising myself with the stubborn pout in my tone.

Hunter only laughs and grips my ass tighter, pressing me harder against his still impressive erection.

“Oh, we’re having sex, little bird. I’m just not going to knot you tonight.”

My brow furrows, pulling severely between my eyes.

“But you just said—”

“I know what I said,” he interrupts. “But it’s not going to happen tonight. I just wanted to warn you before you saw it.”

Leaning down, he brings his lips close to my ear and slips his fingers down my backside and between my thighs, rubbing at my pussy through my jumpsuit.

“When I knot you, it will be when we solidify our mate bond. After I chase you naked through the forest and pin you to theground, bent over under a full moon. Your perfect ass on display, and your pussy dripping with need for me. Then and only then will I give you my knot and my teeth, sinking both inside you. Because if I were to knot you now, I would never let you go. Until then, having the rest of me will have to suffice.”

A shiver rushes through my body at his words. Being a musician, I greatly appreciate words. Thoughts and feelings being made vocal for a partner to hear, to understand, and to feel. Spoken in his deep, gravely timber only makes them that much more effective. The visual of his description plays out in my mind like a flip book.

I know that if he were to chase me and catch me, I would let him do anything to me because I know I would like it. I would want it. I already want it.

“From the feel of it, you are more than sufficient.”

I emphasize my point by gripping him hard through his jeans. He straightens and glares down at me with hungry eyes, a blue so piercing I can almost feel them penetrate my chest, straight into my heart.

Without words, he says everything he needs to. Pulling down the straps of my jumpsuit and I slide it off till it sits in a pile on the floor at my feet. Leaving me in nothing but my underwear. I do the same, finally able to unzip his pants and let them fall down his hips to join my clothes on the floor.

Hunter lifts me by the backs of my thighs, and I wrap them around his waist as he carries me to the bedroom. Our lips locking in our need for each other.