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CODY

I returned to the bar with the jealous rage of my wolf still pumping through my veins.

Finger fucking Riley in the bathroom at a bowling alley probably wasn’t what Rob had in mind when he gave me the one week deadline. The problem was, my wolf was too damn riled up– pun partially intended–to trust myself around her tonight.

Rob commanded I join her to me at the hip, ensuring she fell in love with me.

What the fuck did I know about making someone fall in love ?

I certainly never had before.

Yeah, I had a reputation in town as a good lay. It didn’t take that many stories in a small town before everyone thought I banged a different female every night. The town wasn’t that big, for fuck’s sake. Sure, when I had sex, I always made sure my partner had the time of her life.

But fall in love… and be my fated mate?

Fuck.

Not my specialty. And what did I know about being a fated mate?

What we did in the bathroom was me staking my claim. Reminding her who she belonged to. Was it caveman of me? Hell, yes. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat.

But it wasn’t enough. In fact, maybe it had been the wrong thing to do. I should go to Riley’s place tonight after my shift and show her that I wasn’t just all about sex. That I was going to be a partner to her. The guy who came home faithfully every night and got under the covers with her.

Except after seeing that asshole with his arm along the back of her seat tonight, I was afraid to be in a bed with her.

Afraid I would tear her clothes off with my teeth and fuck her until she screamed my name loudly enough to wake the entire neighborhood. I would, too.

And while there was a helluva lot of appeal to that scenario, I didn’t think it was going to move her closer to understanding what I wanted from her.

She wanted me to punch her V-card.

Fate knew I wanted to. Fate knew I was going to.

But I didn’t want her thinking this was just about sex. I didn’t want her thinking I was a player. I needed her to understand that what I wanted from her was forever. Except the little finger fuck in the bathroom was just an example of how primal I could be. Hardly loving.

So, as much as I hated it, it’d be best if I stayed away from her tonight. I needed to head out to my cabin and let my wolf out to run. Get some of this jealous aggression out of my system, so I could think again. And knowing I’d made her come and had her join her friends with wet panties and a just-finger-fucked-glow, I’d appeased, somewhat, my wolf. For now.

Still, I had to make sure she knew I wasn’t done with her. I–barely–respected her boundaries that she had friends, but I had to make sure she knew she was still mine. As if the orgasm I gave her in the bathroom wasn’t enough of a reminder .

I took out my phone and texted her.

Tomorrow you belong to me.

The three dots appeared like she was going to reply, but she didn’t.

Fuck. I texted again.

Tell me you understand.

Another long stretch of waiting for her reply. Finally, a message came through:

I work at the preschool from eight until five. After?

After. That one word was what kept my wolf from forcing me back to the bowling alley and kidnapping her again. Tying her to my bed. Keeping her away from the Pete’s of the world.

After.

Should I come to the bar?

I smiled like a fool.

Yes. Come, and I’ll take care of you.

I stared at what I wrote, then rearranged the words.

I’ll take care of you, and you’ll come.

Now all I had to do was wait until tomorrow.