Free Cougar Wants [Cougarlicious] (Siren Publishing Classic) by Cooper McKenzie Page A

months and he would have the money he needed to quit working all the time and go back to school.
    He only hoped that Kimber would understand. Most women he dated in the past were impressed with his goal until they didn’t hear from him for weeks at a time. At least with his mate , he could hold her while he slept , even if nothing else happened.
    Entering the house, he took off his shoes and left them near the front door. Turning off the lamp still burning, he walked down the hall to his bedroom. Flipping on the light, he blinked and frowned at the bed. It was neatly made, but empty. He took a moment to pull the covers back. Stripping off his clothes, he tossed them in the full basket and headed to the bathroom.
    After a quick shower, he dried off before pulling out clothes for the morning and putting them on the dresser. Turning off the light, he went down the hall to Kimber’s room. She had closed her door, but when he turned the knob, it moved easily. He pushed the door open and saw his mate lying curled in a ball in the center of her bed, sound asleep.
    Though tempted to crawl in beside her and crash, Tate knew her bed was too small for the two of them. Pulling the covers back, he smiled when he saw she was wearing a T-shirt. Leaning over, he easily lifted his mate. She murmured a protest but snuggled into his chest as he carried her back to his room.
    He laid her on his bed then climbed in to curl up behind her. After pulling the covers up over them both, he kissed the side of her neck and breathed in her delicious scent.
    “Good night, mate,” he whispered before kissing her again. “Have sweet dreams of me.”
    After setting the alarm on his watch, he wrapped his arm around her middle. He snuggled closer behind her until the only thing that separated them was her T-shirt. Laying his head on his pillow, he was asleep in minutes.
     
    * * * *
     
    Kimber woke with a jerk as something started beeping. She did not recognize it a s her phone or computer or microwave. Opening her eyes, she found herself face to chest with a naked man’s chest. She frowned but remembered going to bed. In her own bed. Alone.
    Lifting her eyes, she met Tate’s worn - denim eyes smiling sleepily down at her. “Good morning, mate,” he said before reaching around her back and silencing the alarm.
    “Morning. How did I get in here?” she asked, lifting her head and looking around what was now his room.
    “We both won’t fit in your bed, so I carried you in here.”
    “Why?” s he asked as he sat up and stretched.
    “Because we’re mates , and mates sleep together . ” H e leaned down and brushed a kiss across her lips. At the same time, his hand cupped her breast and massaged it as his thigh moved against her clit, sending fire through her. She brushed her fingers down the front of his body to find his cock hard and thick.
    When she wrapped her hand around it and began to slowly stroke, he shifted his hips back. A moment later , he pulled away and rolled out of bed with a sigh.
    She frowned and fought the urge to drool as his kissable ass and broad, naked back crossed the room , and he grabbed a stack of clothes off the top of his dresser and head ed toward the hall. “Where are you going?”
    “I promised Mike I’d be there by seven , so we could finish framing in the room and maybe get the roof on,” Tate said just before she heard the bathroom door click closed.
    “Well damn,” she muttered as she climbed out of bed and headed for the kitchen.
    Turning on the coffeemaker, she looked down at herself and grinned, deciding not to pull on pants quite yet. Let Tate regret putting work over their mutual need. By the time he entered the kitchen, the coffeepot was half-full. She was leaning against the counter sipping her first mug of the day and slowly waking up. A second mug sat on the counter beside her.
    “Oh, now that’s a sight worth waking up for,” he said with a grin as his eyes scanned down her body then back up