by Jenika Snow
She had agreed to meet him at the restaurant for lunch, and although she didn’t know how things would play out in the end, she was very happy that her mate was understanding and willing to give her time. He could have been a real asshole, demanding that it was his right to claim her, mate with her. She’d heard horror stories about that happening, but it seemed she lucked out with a genuinely good guy.
Grabbing her purse and eyes, she headed out of the house and to her car. The drive to the restaurant wasn’t very long. He’d picked a small deli in the square of town, and with it being the weekend the streets were probably busy with people shopping.
Once she was in the center of town, she parked across the street from where the restaurant was, looked at the little building, and felt her nerves rise. She hadn’t gone on a date in so long, hadn’t even been with a man in far longer.
“Now or never,” she whispered to herself, and finally climbed out of the car. She didn’t see Easton sitting in the patio section, which she kind of wished he had. The fact that she wouldn’t be closed in with walls and a roof probably would have made her feel less twitchy.
Clearing her throat, Jessie tried to calm down, and told herself this was a good thing. Getting to know Easton would help her, would make her feel more stable, right? It wasn’t like he was going anywhere, not with him being her mate. And Jessie hadn’t decided if she wanted to stay in Sweet Water and live in Brenna’s house, or if she was going to pack up and move someplace else.
But being alone wasn’t comforting, obviously, and the promise of having someone by her side, someone who was connected to her in a way no one else ever would be, had this warmth filling her.
She stepped into the restaurant, let her eyes adjust to the lighting, and then she saw him sitting in one of the far booths in the back. His big body made the table seem childlike. Easton lifted his head and their gazes locked. He stood, all that height and muscle becoming visible. Jessie swallowed past the rising arousal claiming her, and told her serval to stay back, that this wasn’t what today was about.
And even from the distance she swore she could smell the mating heat coming from him. Or maybe that was coming from her? Maybe she was fighting this too hard? Easton watched her with unrestrained desire in his eyes the closer she came, and when she was sitting down across from him, the heat and electricity all but claiming every square inch of the space, she finally took a breath.
The deli was small and quaint, and she knew many of the Sweet Water residents came here daily. It was originally owned by two sloth shifters when Jessie had been younger, but she knew there was new management since the sloths had retired. Although the interior was small, it was cozy and the atmosphere eclectic.
Their waitress, a puma shifter with a big smile and bright brown eyes, stepped up to their table. The scent of her being newly mated filled Jessie’s head, and the sight of the mark she wore on the side of her neck cemented that scent.
She took their drink and food orders, and then they were left alone. The silence descended around them, and her nerves climbed higher the longer he sat there and stared at her. All that arousal that had been strong inside of her since she opened the door and had seen Easton standing there was now gone, and in its place was her uncertainty, her fear of what she was really going to do with her life now.
“So.” The glass of water and the condensation dripping down its side seemed overly interesting all of a sudden as her nerves took control.
“You don’t have to be so nervous around me, Jessie,” Easton said in a comforting, soft, but deep voice.
She lifted her eyes so she could see him. Dammit, he looks good just sitting there, his white shirt peeking out from under his dark button up shirt. He reminded her of a lumberjack, with the day’s worth of scruff along his cheeks and jaw, of the way his dark hair was messy around his head, and now with his dark, long-sleeved shirt he had on. Even the sight of his dark work boots peeking out from under the table made the whole ax-wielding shifter come into her mind.
He had the appearance of being relaxed, and maybe he was, but he also looked like he could break someone in half with just his bare hands. And Jessie had no doubts he could actually do that with little effort.
Jessie reached deep inside, straightened her spine, and decided that being nervous in front of him wasn’t going to get her anywhere, or make her feel any better. “Okay, I can try.”
The corner of his mouth lifted in a smile, but he didn’t make a move to speak. The waitress came back with their drinks and set the glasses beside the water. Easton watching her was quite unnerving, and suddenly she was dying of thirst. She grabbed her water and downed half of it.
“I want you be relaxed around me, and not worry that I’m going to jump over the table and claim you.”
She choked on her water after he spoke, and grabbed the napkin he handed her. Jessie wiped off her mouth and neck, looked at him, and saw he grinned.
“It’s easier said than done.”
He nodded, and the scent of his empathy was strong.
“I’ll be honest, it’s hard for me to be like this around you, too.”
She continued looking at him, a little confused on what he meant. But before she could ask he was speaking again.
“I’m not used to … caring, I guess would be the right would for it.”
Jessie could understand what he was saying, and there was a part of her that knew what he meant, at least since Brenna’s passing.
“I’ve always led my life the way I wanted, and not worried about anything else. My parents are older, retried in Florida, so since they’ve gone I’ve been alone, but it’s suited me fine. I’ve been content and happy, in ways, living my life that way.” He shrugged and rested his big body back against the bench.
After he said that they stayed silent for several moments, looking at each other. Jessie didn’t know how to respond. She wanted to be honest with him, and probably would be sooner rather than later, because the truth was he deserved to know why she had shut him out. But even just spending this small amount of time with him, having him this close, was slowly breaking her wall down.
“You’ve always been happy to be alone?” she asked, figuring having a “safe” conversation that kept moving along would be best, maybe even crack the ice a little more. As it was she felt more relaxed around him, and felt that as time passed that would increase until she didn’t feel this tightness of her own worries filling her.
He nodded, but didn’t verbally respond right away.
Jessie took in his big body, the way he seemed relaxed, but she knew he really wasn’t, not completely. It also seemed like Easton was processing her question, maybe thinking of how to answer it. He ran a hand over his jaw, the sound of his palm moving over his scruff on his cheeks and chin a turn-on, yet she couldn’t understand why it would be. She squirmed on the seat minutely, hoping he was too lost in his own thoughts to take notice.
“I’ve always been content to just be by myself. If I needed company I found it, but it was short-lived.”
It was refreshing that he was so honest, but what she didn’t care for was the spike of jealousy she felt, of the way her serval got a little pissy, at the thought of Easton with another woman. That was life, she told herself. She wasn’t a virgin, and a man that looked like Easton, that was primed and all alpha, had needs as well. Jessie watched the way he inhaled, the way his nostrils flared a little, and she heard the deep sound that came from him. Yeah, he’d picked up on the scent of her jealousy, and she hated it. But it wasn’t something she could control, not with her mate and the filthy images of him and another woman filling her head.
Jessie had never been a jealous person, or, at least, she’d never cared enough about anyone to be jealous. The two guys she’d been with had been “safe”. They’d been the farthest thing from an alpha she could have found, but they’d also left her comfort zone intact. This moose shifter, her mate, was throwing all of that out the window. He made her feel twitchy, had the wall sh
e’d erected around herself slowly crumbling just by being in his presence, and she’d never met a male that was as alpha as he was.
“Can I say that the scent of your jealousy is like the aroma of when it’s about to rain?” he said in a deeply husky, sexy voice. He leaned lightly forward and braced his forearms on the table. “It tingles the nose, and has my animal pushing up against my human, wanting to show you how much he likes the smell.”
She’d gotten soaked between her thighs instantly at the way he spoke, at the fact his dark eyes were trained right on her. This whole mating thing was taking her for a loop. Jessie felt like she wasn’t even herself, but honestly, right now, she kind of liked that, and wanted more.
Chapter Nine
After lunch Easton had wanted to spend more time with her, and he’d been surprised she’d agreed to go for a ride with him. He didn’t have any plans on where to go, but once in the vehicle he’d just driven until the familiar back road up the mountain came in view.
He drove up a steep incline before making another right, the interior of the vehicle quiet since neither was talking. He was keeping his animal back, making sure his moose didn’t give off any scents of wanting his mate. He didn’t want to make her any more uncomfortable than she might be. They had time for mating, for claiming. But it was hard to keep his hands off of her.
Only minutes later the Sweet Water Lake came into view. Pulling to a stop and cutting the engine, he didn’t make a move to get out right away. “I come up here a lot when I just want to get away from everything and everyone.” He looked over at her, and saw she already had her gaze locked on his.
“You come up here a lot then? You seem like you like your space.” The way she said it wasn’t an accusation.
He nodded. “Yeah, I do, and I’ve gotten the reputation in town as being a frigid asshole.”
She chuckled softly. “I don’t think they’ve really seen the real you.” Her cheeks turned pink after she spoke, as if she didn’t mean to say that. She cleared her throat. “I feel the same way at times, like I just need to get away.” She faced forward.
The sound of the wind blowing right outside of the vehicle could be heard, especially clear because he was a shifter. He didn’t want his mate to feel uncomfortable with him, and Easton would do everything in his power to make sure she never felt like that.
He climbed out of the truck, and stood there, seeing if she wanted to come out with him. She glanced at him, and when she smiled everything in him roared out at the pleasure he got from that one gesture. Easton shut the door and walked over to the passenger side, opened the door, and held his hand out for her to take. He’d much prefer to grab her around the waist and help her out, but he could be a gentleman toward his mate.
He stood there a moment, just holding her hand, feeling that connection move through him. She was the one to take her hand from his, but she smiled up at him. Easton cleared his throat and headed toward the ledge of the mountain. The lake could be seen, as well as part of Sweet Water.
Jessie moved up beside him a moment later, and together they just stood there, neither speaking. The smells of the wilderness around them, of the stillness, had a calming effect.
The scenery was breathtaking, and although he’d been to this spot many times over, having his mate beside him, experiencing this, had a whole different feeling moving inside of him.
Moving a little closer to the cliff, she kept a few feet between them, despite the fact he wanted her close to him, holding her, inhaling her scent. The emotions that came from her were calm, but also slightly tremulous, and even though he didn’t really know much about her because they hadn’t gotten that deep into conversation at the restaurant, he still felt like he knew his mate in what mattered.
“I’d like to apologize for running out the way I did when we first met.”
He looked at her, but she had her focus on the lake.
“That wasn’t right, but I was going through a lot of things, and I guess my emotions were pretty hectic.” She looked at him then, her face a mask of sadness, but also … hope.
“You don’t have anything to apologize for. I ran out, as well, when I first saw you at the diner. I didn’t know how to grasp the whole mating thing. I’ve been a recluse my whole life, and knowing I had someone who was just for me, a mate that I was responsible for, had confusion taking control.”
She smiled at him, and he felt a little lighter for telling her that. He didn’t know if he’d ever be a good mate, but he’d sure as hell try to make this female so damn happy she’d never worry or question if being with him was the right thing to do.
“When my mom died I was really young. My dad skipped out on us well before that, and I don’t remember him much.”
He didn’t say anything, just let her open up to him. Easton was glad she was able to be honest with him, because that’s what he wanted right now, and knew that’s what she could give him.
“After my mom died I moved in with my Aunt Brenna. She was the only good thing in my life, and was the only supportive one I ever really had after my mom died. She used to say it was us against everyone else.”
He saw her smile softly, and knew she was thinking about her aunt, about maybe the happy memories she had. It was clear Brenna was gone, if not from the scent of Jessie’s sadness, then by the way she was talking about her.
“It was Brenna who told me to leave Sweet Water and go to college, to make something of myself and never regret anything.” Jessie sounded sad, but there was also the fresh, clean scent of her resolve, of her strength.
“And then my aunt passed away, and that’s why I came back here.”
Easton wanted to pull her in so damn badly, but he refrained.
“That’s why I wasn’t ready for this whole mate thing, why I just ran. I have a lot of shit on my plate, and my emotions are just running wild.”
He stared into her eyes, and as the wind blew a stray piece of hair across her face, he reached out and pushed it away. He meant to pull his hand away after that, but he lingered, brushing his finger along her cheek, reveling in the smoothness in her flesh, the fact he got this jolt in his body at that small touch.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and when he went to move his hand away she reached up and took it, keeping it on her cheek. His heart pounded, his whole body ready for her, primed to claim her.
“It’s okay. Your touch makes me feel … grounded.”
Yeah, he knew what she meant, how that felt.
“I never wanted a mate, if I’m being truthful,” he said, not ashamed to admit anything to this female.
“I didn’t think I’d ever want one either, and as much as I fight this, which is a losing battle, I like the idea of you being around, of us being a team.”
“I like that, too, Jessie.” He saw the way her pulse jumped below her ear, saw the way her lips parted the longer they looked at each other, and smelled her blossoming arousal for him. It was like they were locked in this trance, neither able to move, to speak, and the attraction, the mating pulling them closer together.
“Thank you for being understanding, for giving me space when I wasn’t forthcoming on what my problem with this was.”
“I’d do anything for you,” he said, meaning every word. He hadn’t even realized how much he’d mean that until she came along. He saw her bone-searing need reflected back at him, and knew she wouldn’t stop what he was about to do. Jessie needed this as much as he did. He reached out, gripped the nape of her neck in a gentle hold, and pulled her closer. She rested her hands on his chest, her mouth still parted, her breathing coming in short pants.
“If I’m being honest, I don’t want to fight this as much as I say. With each passing day it gets harder.”
He still cupped her cheek, smoothing his thumb over her skin. “I know, Jessie. It’s the same for me.” He tilted her head back, not able to drag his gaze away from her mouth. Her lips were red, lush, and the gloss she wore on them smelled of strawberry.
His an
imal rose up as he took in the long, graceful arch of her neck. He wanted to mark her, to let everyone know, shifter and human alike, that this was his female. He moved closer, running the tip of his nose up her throat, inhaling deeply. His mark would look really good on her, would have it cemented that she was truly his. He inhaled again, and again, and knew he’d never get enough. She smelled sweet and clean, and all fucking his.
“Mine.” The word came from him on its own, as if his animal didn’t give a fuck that he was buried deep, and that Easton was human right now. “You’re mine, Jessie.” But she purred, fucking purred, for him, and that had this low, deep sound of need leaving him.
He tightened his hold on her, not wanting to hurt her, but also wanting her to know she was his. His animal was right there, telling him, demanding that he make Jessie theirs. “Do you want that, Jessie, want to be mine?” he asked, his voice distorted as his animal rose, as the need to shift was starting to break through his human side.
She gasped, and said, “This is so crazy, but yes, Easton, I want to be yours.”
He made another low sound in his throat. “You’re fucking mine.” He ran his teeth over her flesh, loved that she reached out and held onto his biceps, as if she needed stability. He pulled her closer, knew he could feel his erection prod her belly. He couldn’t help it, couldn’t help he was hard as fuck for her. Since seeing her in that diner he’d had this raging hard-on for Jessie, and knew she’d be the only one that could give him release.
“You feel how hard I am for you?”
She nodded, and he fucking loved that she closed her eyes, and breathed out roughly.
“You’re so hard.”
He growled low. “You see what you do to me?”
She nodded again.