Free Abandoned by Becca Jameson Page B

as though Allison were sucking all of it out of the air and leaving him none.
    She finally eased up to him and sat cross-legged at his side, facing him. At that proximity with her legs spread open, he could smell every nuance of her. She was aroused. Not that he wasn’t. His dick had started aching the moment he’d found her outside the barn.
    But it was different for Allie. She was wet. And the smell of her sex permeated the clearing.
    He tried to breathe shallower to no avail. He reached for her face and tucked a lock of hair behind one ear. “May I call you Allie?”
    Allison smiled. “Just you. No one else calls me that. But I like it coming from you.”
    He melted a little more. Seconds ticked by while he stared into the depths of her sky blue eyes. They were such a clear color he thought he could see into her soul. And it poured out of her gaze in any case. Is this how it is for all mates?
    She opened her mouth to speak , and when she finally broke the awkward barrier between them, she spilled a litany of words into the space separating them. “I’m conflicted. There are so many thoughts racing through my mind, I can’t grab one long enough to ponder it.
    “On the one hand, I’m so attracted to you, I can’t see straight.” She glanced down at her lap and fiddled with the bottom edge of her shirt.
    Daniel held still, letting her get it all out.
    “Everything they say about mates is true. My heart is threatening to beat out of my chest. My hands are sweaty. My brain is fuddled. You smell fantastic, like clean straw and whatever soap you used.” She flushed as she spoke, not looking at him directly most of the time.
    “I want to do things I’ve never wanted so bad in my life.” Now she fisted her hands in her lap. “But…”
    Ah, the gauntlet. Daniel stiffened.
    “I can’t picture where we end up after the frenzy. I mean it’s so beautiful here and it’s your home. But it’s not my home. I need noise and traffic and crazy people fighting in the street. I’ve never spent this much time in such silence. It’s…disconcerting.” She lifted her gaze to his. “You belong here like the Mona Lisa belongs in the center of Leonardo da Vinci’s canvas. This is your home. You wouldn’t be you if you left.” She bit her lower lip again , and he wanted to kiss it, stroke it with his tongue until she relaxed.
    Daniel watched her shoulders ease marginally as she finished, like a small piece of the weight of the world had been lifted by spilling all her thoughts into the air.
    He cleared his throat. “You haven’t said anything that hasn’t gone through my mind. Believe me. And I don’t have all the answers. And I know you’ve been through a lot. Hell, I don’t even know the entire story of where you’ve been and what happened to you. But I have spoken to my brother Drake , and I do know that trying to avoid the Call will get us nowhere fast.
    “It isn’t something we can ignore. So all those questions we have, we’re just going to have to sort through them together one at a time and find the answers.”
    “Do you have to be so damn practical?” She grinned.
    He chuckled. “If by practical you mean, please let me claim you before I explode and we’ll deal with the rest of the questions later, then yes.”
    She sucked in a breath but didn’t shy away. In fact, she lifted her small hand to his cheek and pressed her palm into the side of his face. “I can’t believe I would say this, but yes. I don’t see any way to avoid the claiming. I haven’t slept well since I met you , and that was only for a brief few minutes. Now that I’ve touched you, spoken to you, I don’t think walking away is an option.”
    “Good.” He put his hand over hers and twisted his mouth to kiss her palm. “When was the last time you shifted?”
    She lowered her gaze. “Over a year, before…The Gathering.” She carefully avoided stating the obvious. “I’m guessing the drugs he used on me didn’t really leave