Free Primal Call by Susan Sizemore

last of conversation for now.
     
     
    ###
     
    “It’s not the unbridled passion I mind,” Thena said. “I like that part. A lot.”
    “Happy to hear it.”
    She lay on her side, her head propped up on her arm, watching the man lying on his back beside her.
    James turned his head to look at her. “What is bothering you?” he asked in that lovely Irish lilt.
    “That the unbridled passion has been unprotected.” She ran a finger down his chest. “I am a cautious woman, generally. But I just now noticed our lack of sense and safe sex.”
    He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “Trust me, you aren’t going to catch anything from me.”
    “What if I get pregnant?” she asked.
    He rolled onto his side, and put a hand on her hip. He looked absolutely serious when he asked, “Would you like a girl or a boy first? Me, I’d like a girl, but my family tends toward boys.”
    She regretted bringing the subject up. She rolled off her side of the bed and grabbed a robe. “Are you hungry? Would you like some breakfast?”
    James was on his feet in an instant, surprising her at how fast he moved. “Starving,” he said. “Protein. You have no idea how badly I need some protein.”
    He strode out of the room. She watched him go with great appreciation of his naked form, let out a deep, long sigh, then hurried to catch up with him. She found him in the living room pulling on his pants.
    He picked up his tattered shirt and held it up for her to look at. “You’re as violent as your camel. All I was trying to do was get around that great bloody thing parked in the yard to get to you and this camel leans over the fence and—”
    “Llama. She usually only spits at humans. She guards the sheep from—”
    “Ah, she knows a predator when she sees one.” He tossed the shirt onto the couch. “I suppose I’ll have to walk around shirtless and you’ll be helpless to do anything but have your way with me. Oh, it’s going to be a long, hard day. I know it.”
    While James continued raving, Thena went to the closet in the guest bedroom and brought back a black polo shirt. “This should fit.”
    James took the shirt, and gave her a look of pure jealousy. “Who does this belong to?”
    His tone was downright daunting, not that Thena had any intention of being daunted.
    “It’s my cousin Ted’s shirt—the one in Delta Force. He came to visit in the spring but got a deployment notice so fast he left his stuff and went. I haven’t heard from him and I’m a bit worried.” She pointed sternly at James. “So no nonsense from you about my seeing other men.”
    And why was she saying things like that? Because he looked and sounded like he really was jealous. He’s an actor, she reminded herself.
    She went into the kitchen, discovered the electricity was back on, and set about cooking eggs and bacon and toast, along with coffee for herself and a pot of tea for James. She knew from their many conversations that he preferred tea.
    How domestic.
    How ridiculous of her.
     
    ###
     
    Her mental shields were snapping back up!
    Damn it, why did the woman have to be so psychically strong? And so scared of sharing the life in the spotlight James Wilde lived? Why was she afraid he would walk away from her? That she was some sort of aberration? A celebrity’s fling?
    Actually, he thought she’d prefer it if he only wanted a fling. Commitment-phobic, that’s what she was. As much as this frustrated him, it also pleased him. He thought he knew why she was wary of settling down with a man.
    It was because she’d subconsciously waited for her bondmate, only she didn’t know it.
    And being a mortal, she didn’t know how to recognize a bonding when it started happening. That was why she’d put up mental barriers in the first place. Those walls had started to fade yesterday, but the girl was stubborn. She was rebuilding walls she didn’t know existed, and he had to do something about it quickly.
    He followed her to the kitchen.