Mating Seduction-epub by Bonnie Vanak Page A

enough. If I had you by my side for a lifetime, it wouldn’t equate to everything I feel for you, Lexie. Every part of me longs to make you mine and keep you by my side, to love you, grow old together, and never leave you.”
    Emotion thickened her throat. She buried her face into his muscled shoulder, not wanting him to see her reaction. No one had ever wanted her this badly before. Not even her own parents.
    Jackson was everything she wanted in a male.
    But he was loyal to his pack, and she remained loyal to hers.
    Lexie didn’t see how this could ever, in a million years, work out.
     
     

 

Chapter 11
     
     
    Making love with Jackson had turned all her senses inside out. Lexie lay beside him, her fingers curled on his chest. Soreness pulsed between her legs. She adjusted her weight and flinched.
    Jackson rubbed a calloused thumb against her cheek. “A hot bath will help with the pain,” he said softly.
    Bath. Naked. Exposing her feet. “I’m okay.”
    He gave her a long, thoughtful look. “You were okay after a nasty piece of glass stabbed your foot. You’re now okay after I took your virginity. What’s going on, Lex? Why can’t you be honest with me?”
    “I am.”
    A delicious shiver raced down her spine as he took her hand and nuzzled it against the bristles on his cheek. “All I want to do is make you happy. Level with me.”
    She snuggled up to him and rested her head against his broad chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart. “When we’re together, like this, it feels like the rest of the world vanishes. But I know the sun’ll rise tomorrow and we’ll have to face reality. Can you hold off the sunrise a little longer, Jackson?”
    He nuzzled the top of her head. “I’ll try my hardest. In the meantime, let’s shift and run. You’ll heal faster from the soreness if you shift into your wolf.”
    Panic washed through her. “Only if you let me wear my socks,” she said lightly. “My feet always get cold. Let’s wait a while, rest here a bit.”
    Jackson kissed the top of her head. “Poor baby. Did I wear you out?”
    “Not yet. But the night is still young.”
    “Tease.”
    She toyed with the hairs on his chest and yanked playfully. “You have no idea.”
    “I hope to find out.” His voice deepened. “Before this week is over, Lex, we’re going to run together as wolves. And then, I’m going to show you exactly how much joy there is in being Lupine, wild and free to explore every bit of our sexual nature.”
    The words triggered a new flood of hormones, made her tight and hot and wanting all over. But along with arousal came a deeper fear.
    Jackson wanted to mate with her in Lupine form. But what would he think when he saw her as she truly was?
     
    Leaving Lexie sleeping, Jackson slipped out of bed. Nude, he padded outside. Insects hummed in the pines. None dared to invade their tent. Jackson had warded their surroundings with special magick. He didn’t want anything disturbing Lexie.
    Inside the bathroom, he took a long, hard look into the mirror. The lines of strain etching his face for the past few weeks had vanished, replaced by a look he hadn’t seen in a long time.
    Happiness.
    Jackson rubbed a hand over his jaw, grimacing at the day beard that would only keep growing as the full moon approached. He found his shaving kit and lathered up. He scraped the bristles from his cheeks. Rinsing and cleaning out the sink, he glanced downward.
    A small streak of blood stained his upper thigh. Jackson took a washcloth and cleaned it off, worried about Lexie. He’d hurt her. Yeah, he’d tried to be as gentle as possible, but still, he’d hurt her.
    And she’d refused to admit it, which worried him more. Honesty was necessary to a long-term relationship.
    Jackson planned to make theirs very long term.
    When he slipped back into their tent, Lexie was sitting up, the sheet pulled to her breasts. With her long, tousled curls, sleepy doe eyes and languid smile, she looked sexy and