Free Seducing Their Wayfaring Souls [3xtasy Lake 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) by Corinne Davies Page B

apology.” He lifted her hand and pressed another kiss to the back of it. He brushed against her skin with the lightest of touches, but his eyes never left hers.
    “You don’t owe me anything, Cris.”
    “I wish I had never left you for even a moment.”
    She felt the heat creep up into her cheeks at his words and glanced around to see if anyone heard them. Even though Lars was playing a game with Zack, he had to have heard. She didn’t want to know what he thought of her now. “It wouldn’t have changed anything. We would’ve had an uncomfortable morning not knowing what to say and then we would’ve parted ways. Nothing would be different.” She doubted either of them would be interested in her. Cris might be because of Zack, but Lars must’ve heard the truth of the situation by now.

Chapter Six
     
    Cris knew Tara didn’t understand what he meant. She was his Mate and if she’d been raised a shifter then their lives would’ve turned out completely differently. That night had changed his entire existence. He’d lost her once, and he wasn’t going to let it happen again. He glanced down at her teacup.
    “But, Fate brought you to me…to us yesterday.” It dawned on him then. If he hadn’t lost her that night, he never would’ve found his way here to Ecstasy Lake. Glancing up at Lars, he wondered what would’ve happened to his friend then. Would they have met under different circumstances? Would they have had the opportunity of building a family, the four of them, or would Lars have been left to wander the world?
    There would be a time to contemplate all the lives that had to cross for them to finally reach this point. That was something best saved for one night this winter when they were snowed in and could sit in front of a roaring fire and contemplate. Better yet, they could be in bed with Tara snuggled between them, lazy from lovemaking, then think about it.
    “It wasn’t Fate, Cris. It was a drunk driver who smashed into the back of my car for whatever reason he gave the police. By coincidence it happened outside of the town you live in.”
    “Moments before Lars and I came down the road?” It was a good thing he hadn’t known Tara and his son were in that car. He would’ve ripped the drunk to shreds for almost killing his Mate and child. The coywolf inside of him threatened to spring forward even thinking about it. Thankfully the police had arrested the man and he had been taken out of Cris’s reach before he could go back and seek revenge. The hunger to hurt him still glittered at the edges of his conscious thought.
    Tara peeked past him to where Lars and Zack continued to play the string game. Jelani had told him about Zack’s developmental delay. He couldn’t blame the doctor who diagnosed Zack so incorrectly. He blamed himself. But he was blessed with a Mate who didn’t turn away from a surprise pregnancy, nor was she disappointed when her child wasn’t perfect.
    “Zack’s lucky to have you for a mom. He’s a great kid and that has to be your influence.”
    Tara looked down and played with the edge of the napkin next to her saucer. “He’s an amazing kid.”
    “You said you had a hard time after he was born. You know a lot of people would’ve given up. I’m sorry your family didn’t see what a gift he is.”
    “I’ve asked myself a hundred times over the years if I made the right decision. Maybe he would be better off with a real family who loved him and could give him more. I felt so selfish for keeping him myself.”
    “Tara, I can’t tell you how glad I am, but I would’ve understood if you’d made a different decision.” He covered her hand with his own because what he really wanted to do was pull her into his lap and he knew she would fight him. “My family…we don’t have a lot of kids. It’s a genetic thing so I never imagined you would get pregnant that night.”
    Of course he’d planned on keeping her forever so an unplanned pregnancy had never occurred to