Free Mates Since Birth (Half-breed Shifter Series) by Miranda Stowe Page A

pulled tight, a voice startled her from behind.
    “You plan to stay then? I thought you’d go with your mother.”
    She whirled around. “You’re still masking your scent around me.” Her voice filled with irritated accusation.
    Dane shrugged and scoped out her bedroom, his gaze flickering over her bed and decorated walls as if purposely avoiding direct eye contact. “Seems wise.”
    With bitter laugh, Ari shook her head. “How can you think about what’s wise right now? We could all be dead in the morning.”
    Gaze veering to her, his blue eyes held her riveted. “So…what? We should just spend the entire night fucking until the extremists get here?”
    He released his scent then. It felt like he opened a floodgate; his arousal swamped her, oozing into her pores until she thought she might climax from simply scenting him.
    Her pussy swelled and nipples tightened to rock -hard nubs. In response, a purr of approval rattled from his throat. Unable to stop herself, she started toward him, probably to rip his clothes off his delectable body.
    Just as quickly as he’d freed his scent, he bottled it back up, slamming a metaphorical door in her face and snatching away one of the most thrilling aromas to ever please her nose.
    “If coming here was only about satisfying my cock, I would’ve done it as soon as I walked into your yard. Hell, I probably would’ve left you suspended from that tree and shoved up your skirt, then taken you dirty and hard before even introducing myself. I know you want me inside you, Ari. We could throw down right now, but it wouldn’t solve shit. I will save you from the purebloods. Believe that. And then I’ll free you from our bond.”
    Ashamed by her own weakened resistance to temptation, Ari bowed her head. Her voice was hoarse as she asked, “So then why did you come here? To my house. You knew I’d return to my parents’ soon. That’s where everyone is to meet in another two hours. Why bother tempting us further?”
    When he didn’t immediately answer, she looked up. Agony filled his gaze. “I needed to see…” You .
    He didn’t finish the sentence, which only titillated her more.
    His attention dropped to his hands. He cleared his throat. “I wanted to see…see if you needed any help packing.”
    She shook her head and very nearly called him a liar. “As you can tell, I’m not leaving. I don’t need to pack.”
    “You should. You should go with your mother.” He lifted his face. “Ari, it will be dangerous and bloody. I don’t…I won’t let you to risk your life like this.”
    “And why’s that?” A warm smiled spread across her lips. She sauntered toward him, pausing only when they were inches apart.
    He wouldn’t answer, but the look in his eyes told her all she needed to know. And the heavy thud of his heartbeat echoing through her pulse emphasized how close he was to his arousal’s breaking point.
    Changing tactics, she reached out and idly ran her hand down the outside of his bare arm, skimming his elbow, then forearm and wrist. When he shivered, she hummed deep in her throat. Focused on the warm flesh she caressed, she said, “When you were organizing forces with Dad, Mom told me you used to talk to me before I was born. Sometimes you’d answer a question as if I had asked you something.”
    His throat worked as he swallowed. With a barely discernible dip of the head, he nodded.
    She crinkled her brow. “So you could really communicate with me inside her womb?”
    Another head bob. “Yes. I actually thought we were destined to be together because of it.” He barked out a harsh, self-demeaning sound. “What a colossal fuckup I was.”
    She blinked, confused. “Why would that make you a fuckup? I would fully believe I was destined to someone if I could hear them even before they were born.” Maybe it did mean they were destined to be together.
    “No.” He snorted, but when he looked at her, his throat worked, swallowing whatever he was going to