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Jake’s gaze softens, and he reaches for my hand. Despite the fact that he’s lying naked on a cold slab of stone, his rough fingers are warm around my cold ones. His other hand plays with the bracelet. “You mean when you kissed me and I pushed you away?”

His voice is so low it’s barely a whisper.

“Yeah.” My cheeks are hot, and I have the sudden urge to pull away. I feel stupid for even bringing it up. “Like I said, it was a really long time ago.”

“I think about that night all the time,” he admits, looking at the ground.

“What?”

Jake nods.

“Why?”

His throat bobs as he swallows. He’s silent for such a long time that I think he might try to avoid answering the question. But then he looks back at me, squints, and breaks into a rueful grin. “Because it was the best night of my life — and also the worst.”

I suck in a breath.

“The kiss was the best part,” he adds in a hurry. “Just in case that wasn’t clear.”

My heart gives an erratic thump. For a long moment, neither of us moves or breathes. Each second feels as though it could hold a lifetime. “And the worst?” I whisper.

“Pushing you away,” he says, his grin morphing into a scowl. “It . . . wasn’t easy.”

“Then why did you?” I ask, my voice low and breathless. It might be ancient history, but I need to know. That sad girl inside meneedsto know.

Jake’s brows knit together. “Lena, you were sixteen. I was twenty-one. It wouldn’t have been right.” His expression grows thoughtful. “Besides . . . you were Raf’s little sister. If I’d had a sister your age and Raf went after her, I’d fucking kill him.”

“But you . . .wantedto kiss me,” I say slowly. For some reason, it feels important to clarify that part.

Jake makes an aggravated noise in his throat and tugs his hand out of mine. He looks away, and for a second, I think I’ve made him angry. A muscle works in his jaw as he gnaws on the inside of his lip.

“I wanted to kiss you that day and every day since,” he whispers. Then he drags in a strangled breath and turns to me with a pained look in his eyes. “It’s always been you, Lena. You’re my fated mate.”

My heart skips a beat at those words, then revs into overdrive. I’ve heard of fated mates from Carmen and other shifters who ran in our circle, but the way Jake says it makes my entire body come alive. I somehow forgo the need to breathe.

Jake reaches for my hand again, twining his fingers through mine. “Lena, I never want you to think . . .” His eyes are swimming with concern when he meets my gaze, and I feel the weight of his shame. “You should know that my feelings weren’t romantic until that night. For years, I just felt protective of you. I thought it was because you were Raf’s little sister. Even after you kissed me, I never let myself think of you that way. It felt wrong, but . . .” He shakes his head. “It wasneverwrong, Lena. I know that now. The love I felt for you then . . . what I feel for you now . . . there’s nothing purer than that.”

Hearing those words, my heart is so full that it feels as though it might burst. Jakelovedme — mightstilllove me. And he thinks I’m his fated mate?

In this moment, there are no words. Everything I’ve carried for Jake all these years comes rushing to the surface. I forget all about Raf and Derek and Carmen’s wedding as I lean forward and crush my lips to his.

For a full heartbeat, Jake just freezes, and a thousandbolts of horror stab through me. But then his rough hands tangle in my hair, and a low groan rumbles up his chest.

His kiss isn’t soft or tentative the way mine was. He devours my mouth like a man who’s been starving and pulls me to him so fast that I lose my balance. I gasp as I catch myself on Jake’s bare chest, and his arm locks possessively around my waist.

I realize then why Jake didn’t kiss me back all those years ago. My chaste peck on the lips was no match for him or his insatiable need.

His kiss is rough and demanding. Hungry. Possessive.

I kiss him back with equal fervor, six years of pent-up angst and frustration rushing forward in a heady mix. My hands claw at his hair. Teeth clash. Our tongues tangle as we destroy one another, his hands gripping the sides of my face with a bruising pressure.

When I pause to catch my breath, Jake captures my bottom lip between his teeth and sucks it into his mouth. One of his hands trails down to cup my breast, his fingers light and gentle.

But when he squeezes and begins to caress me through the fabric of my dress, I let out a moan that turns his touch from tentative to rough.

Wetness pools between my thighs as Jake massages my nipple, and I tilt my head back to give him better access to my neck. His lips plant a trail of teasing kisses along my jaw before brushing over my pulse point and the tendons of my neck.

I pull him closer, egging him on, but I can’t get close enough. I want Jake inside me. I want to consume him. I want every inch of this man.