Free Shadow Mated (Ouachita Mountain Shifter Book 5) by P. Jameson

that part be real .
    They broke through into the small clearing behind her house, and Gash made a straight line for the back door. Releasing her hand to pull a ring of keys from the pocket of his jeans, he shuffled through until he found the one he needed and inserted it in the lock.
    “Master key,” he murmured at her crooked eyebrow. “Fits all the cabins. Magic gave it to me.”
    Pushing the door open, he led her inside and closed the door behind him, leaning back on it like he was waiting for her to say something. It was her cabin but he stood there like he owned the place.
    Bailey swallowed hard, pushing her shoulders back. “Want a drink?” she squeaked and then cleared her throat.
    “Want you.” His answer and determined look made her body quake with nerves.
    “For how long?”
    Gash cocked his head, a line forming between his brows before he pushed off from the door.
    Bailey wrung her hands, winding up the courage to ask the question she needed an answer to. “I mean. I know you’ve had others, flings. One night stands. And I know you feel this… responsibility to me, but h-how long, exactly, are you going to want me?”
    Gash’s frown deepened. “I’ve had no females since I found you. None.”
    “But… people talk. You talk. I’ve heard it from your own mouth.”
    His lips formed a grim line as he stared at her with troubled eyes. Running a frustrated hand through his hair, he said, “I was fronting, Bailey. Because I thought I needed to, for the guys. To earn their respect. I come from a clan where every ounce of dignity is earned with blood. Where you fight and fuck to prove your value.”
    “Ouachita doesn’t work that way,” she said quietly.
    “I know. And when I figured that out, I stopped pretending. But the thing is, no female could hold my attention after my eyes saw you.”
    Relieved yet wary, she whispered, “You still haven’t answered my question.”
    Gash sighed, staring at her in that intense way, eyes digging in deep. “I want you tonight…”
    Bailey’s stomach sank with disappointment and then lifted again when he continued.
    “And tomorrow night and every night after.”
    He took one measured step toward her, then another. A lion stalking his prey.
    “I want you during the day and when I’m asleep. When I’m breathing, I want you. When my heart is pumping blood I want you. When I’m weak and when I’m strong, when I’m in danger or when I’m safe.” He was so close now. If she breathed deep, they’d touch. But his eyes and the truth of his words held her still. “I want you, Bailey. For always. But right now I want you to say yes, and then I want to show you, like I did back there, how good I can love you.”
    Bailey felt the tears flood her eyelids again. Happy ones, like after they’d kissed. Because maybe she couldn’t trust her heart, she wasn’t sure, but she wanted to believe him. The truth was right there in his eyes, flowing through their growing bond.
    “Yes,” she whispered.
    And before she’d even finished the word, Gash’s mouth crashed into hers. His kiss wasn’t gentle this time, and her tiger loved it. A satisfied sound rumbled her chest and rolled up her throat as she tunneled her hands in his silky hair.
    He walked her backward through the living room. His hands seemed to be everywhere at once, rough and then gentling, then rough again. Like he was trying not to be a barbarian. It was sweet. And unnecessary. She wanted him as he was. The real Gash.
    Palms sweeping past her bottom, he gripped her thighs and lifted her effortlessly to straddle his waist. Bailey gasped and pulled her mouth away, the muscles of his shoulders bunching under her white-knuckle grip.
    “What?” Gash frowned hard. “What is it?”
    “I’m too heavy for this.”
    He started walking with her to the bedroom and a dominant growl snarled up his throat. “Don’t test me, woman. I’m strong enough to carry two of you. Now give me back your mouth. I wasn’t