Page 6

They came to a stop in front of an older but well-built log cabin.

Connor put the car in park and turned to look at his mate.

She was asleep, lying across the backseat.

With her eyes closed she looked like a little girl.

All the world-weary cynicism was erased and she looked peaceful.

He had gotten her to laugh before she had fallen asleep. That had to be a good sign.

“Madison, Madison, wake up. We’re here,” he called softly. She stirred and curled into a smaller ball.

She had slept through his small shopping trip at the small general store a few miles from the cabin. She must have been exhausted from traveling.

He got out of the car and opened the front door to the cabin. It was late afternoon, they would only have a couple hours of daylight left before it got dark and he wanted to make sure the cabin was sound.

He walked back to the car and opened the door behind the driver’s seat.

He pulled her legs and scooped her up into his arms. For someone so tall, she was a light thing.

He frowned, thinking that she wasn’t eating properly.

He easily carried her inside to the back bedroom and lay her down on the bed.

Unable to stand her hair pulled back a second longer, he pulled the pins free from her bun and let her long hair cascade around her shoulders, filling the room with the scent of her shampoo.

His cock hardened instantly at her scent.

He wanted to roll around on the silky waves of auburn and pull back the luxurious curtain to watch her wrap her lips around his cock.

Grabbing the crotch of his jeans, he tugged hard trying to give himself more room.

Okay. Enough ogling his unconscious mate.

He had a lot to do before sunset. He left his mate sleeping in bed and carried in their groceries.

He stocked the refrigerator, started a fire in the large fireplace, and walked the perimeter of the cabin to check the outside to make sure there weren’t any issues.

Honestly, he didn’t like leaving the safety of Arkadia’s perimeter, but she had left him with no choice.

He had to get her to see him as a person, beyond her already formed perceptions, and that meant leaving Arkadia.

He was about to head back inside when a loud scream shattered the twilight tranquility.

Madison!

He shot forward and jumped the front stairs, hitting the front door at a run. He nearly crashed into Madison, who was spinning wildly in circles down the hallway.

“Get it out! Get it out!” she screamed.

Connor skidded to a halt and looked up and down the hallway, trying to identify the threat.

“Don’t just stand there. Get. It. The. Fuck. Out of my hair!” Madison screeched.

Connor lurched forward and batted her hands down. Parting her long hair one section at a time, he looked for whatever “it” was.

Madison shifted from one foot to another in front of him. He was about to give up when he saw a fairly large spider descending from her hair, heading toward her back. He knew if that thing touched her skin, she would kill him for sure. He knocked it down and stepped on it.

“There, all gone now,” Connor said softly and turned so that she was facing him. She looked up at him, real fear in her tear-filled eyes. His heart softened before he was reeling backward from a cross punch to the jaw.

“What in the hell was that for? I got it!” Connor exclaimed, rubbing his jaw. His mate sure could throw a punch.

“This is all your fault. You brought me out here to spider-breeding lands, and you undid my hair. You’re trying to kill me! I hate you!” she yelled.

Connor took a deep breath, trying to keep his anger in check. But, it was hard when his mate kept screaming “I hate you” at the top of her lungs.

“Okay. I take responsibility for bringing you out here. Yes, there are spiders. Spiders are everywhere. Yes, I took your hair down. It looked painful pulled back like that when you were lying down. No, I am not trying to kill you. You’re my mate, I would die for you,” he said as he watched the fight leave her body.

“No fair. That was completely logical and you addressed all my issues. And I don’t want you to die for me. I think it’s the most idiotic concept used in romance. I want you to live for me.” She took a deep breath and leaned against the wall, hugging herself.

“Doesn’t make it any less true. Any man, given the choice, would rather live beside their mate, but that doesn’t change the fact that if it came down to one of us dying to keep the other safe, I will be selfish and die protecting you.

Because living without you isn’t an option.

” He saw her look up at him. He could see her battling herself to believe him.

Unable to take her looking so lost, he stepped forward and pulled her into his arms.

“There are a lot of good points to being out here,” he started.

She snorted.“Like what?” she asked.

Connor smiled and pushed her back so he could look down into her gorgeous teal-colored eyes. He grabbed her hand, grinning.

“Come on,” he said and pulled her down the hallway. He grabbed a blanket off the couch and headed out the front door. Pulling her into his arms he wrapped the blanket around them both.

“Like that,” he said, looking up. Her head tilted backward and she gasped.

“There are so many! I can’t believe they are there all the time and I have never seen them.” She turned her face to him, and from the light of the open cabin door he could see a childlike exuberance dancing in her eyes.

“You can see a lot in Arkadia, but to see this many, you really have to leave everything behind,” Connor said, tightening his arms around her.

“How have you managed to top the past five dates I’ve had simply by kidnapping me, killing a spider, and showing me the stars?” she asked, turning to wrap her arms around his neck.

He knew she could feel his growing arousal begin to press against her abdomen. Her eyes began to dilate slightly and her lips parted.

“Because we’re meant to be together,” Connor said right before he captured her mouth.

He licked the seam of her lips until they parted and pulled her bottom lip between his own.

He sucked and bit both lips until her knees gave out and she sagged against him.

Feeling like he had conquered the world, he pulled back to look at her flushed cheeks and heavy-lidded eyes.

Damn, he knew she would flush prettily. Her creamy skin was made for seduction.

Slowly he watched the weary awareness creep back into her eyes and she stepped back.

“I’m hungry,” she announced and unwrapped herself from their blanket before heading back inside.

Run all you want, wildcat. I’m not letting you go.

Connor grinned, folded up the blanket, and walked back inside to the kitchen to make his mate dinner.

“Oh my god! Put it in my mouth, please.”

Connor smiled devilishly as his mate opened her mouth for him.

“Maybe I don’t want to. You haven’t been a good mate. You said you hated me, a couple times.” He ran a thumb over her lower lip and she whimpered.

“Please, I’m sorry. I’ll do anything to get that inside me.” She looked up at him, pleading. He ran a hand down her hair.

“Okay, since you asked so beautifully.” He sat back and lined up with her mouth before plunging in.

She moaned and began to chew.

“Good isn’t it,” he asked, as she nodded. She was making noises that were driving him crazy.

“Where on earth did you learn to make a chocolate pie like that?” she asked, looking at him with satisfied eyes.

“My ma.” He grinned and lined up the fork for another bite.

“That woman must be amazing,” she said, opening for another bite.

“Even though there were seven of us, she had a way of making you feel like you were her special boy. I had to join the football team in high school to stay fit. I grew up next to my ma in the kitchen. I was her taste tester and her helper. It’s why I love helping her out in the diner,” Connor said, holding up another bite.

“That’s not your job?” she asked, accepting the bite.

Connor nodded for a second and then shook his head.

“Yes and no. Yes, I work at the diner. But it’s not all I do. I listen to people when they have problems and help them as much as they will let me,” Connor said, giving her another bite.

She chewed and looked at him.

“You know you need real training to do that. Just giving out advice without the proper education can make things worse,” she said.

He nodded.

“So, you don’t care?” she asked.

Connor could tell she was getting riled, and damn if it wasn’t turning him on. “Of course I care, it’s why I do what I do.” Connor put the empty plate on the floor next to the couch where they were sitting.

Madison turned her body so that she was facing him.

“Connor,” she began and he put a finger on her lips.

“Why do you automatically assume I am uneducated?” he asked, feeling slightly hurt. He could see the surprise on her face and he removed his finger.

“You are absolutely right. All I saw was my first impression of you. This gorgeous, sexy man with a dish towel cleaning the counter of a small town diner. It never occurred to me that you had gone to school. You have a degree, I take it?” she asked.

“A couple of them.”

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly.

“Don’t worry about it. Come here,” Connor said, dragging her beneath him on the couch.

“I have to kiss you,” Connor said before claiming her lips. He delved into her mouth and nearly moaned himself as he tasted remnants of chocolate on her tongue. His eyes crossed when she raked her nails down his back. Standing, he picked her up to carry her to the bedroom.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“The bedroom. I’m not claiming my mate on the couch.”

“Who said anything about claiming?” she asked and he froze.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t mind exploring this heat between us, but I’m not ready to mate.” Connor put her on her feet and turned his back to her, to face the couch.