SavingAttractions by Rebecca Airies Page B

for somewhere to run. “No, no, no.”
    He stood, thankful that she hadn’t actually run. He didn’t
want to have to run after her. The Zarain inside him already wanted to grab and
prove his hold on her. He didn’t want to scare her, and a snarling man chasing
after her would. If she wasn’t scared then, she would probably be startled at
the least when he caught her and started kissing her. He wouldn’t be able to stop
himself from at least a kiss.
    “The mark on your shoulder says differently.” He kept his
voice calm and even, but he watched her.
    She looked down to the shoulder where he’d bitten her. “But
shifters bite.”
    His mark was covered by her shirt. He’d rather have it in
the open where everyone could see it, but their clothing options were limited.
The shifter males knew though. They could smell his scent on her.
    “We only bite that way, puncturing the skin, during sex with
our mates. Our canine teeth lengthen, a sort of partial shift to make the
claiming mark.” He relaxed a little as he saw red rush up her cheeks and her
body stiffened with anger.
    She wasn’t going to run now. An argument or fight was more
likely with her current mood. Judging by the way her fingers clenched, it would
be the latter. Jagger smiled. He loved a woman with a temper.
    “You think this is funny? I didn’t agree to anything. You
didn’t even ask me. What happens when you get tired of me? Am I supposed to go
back to Central Command Space and try to start some kind of life there?” She
glared at him and paced a little away before whipping around and coming back.
    “Mating isn’t a choice. It’s biological. You are my mate.
I’ve seen a lot of Zarain couples, and I’ve never come across one where either of
the two has walked away for any reason. They don’t get tired of each other.
Yes, there’s work, because life sometimes isn’t easy. As long as no one gives
up, it works.” He lifted his hand and tried to brush the hair away from her
face.
    She jerked back. “No. It’s my choice. I can’t do that.”
    He smelled the fear but also heard it in her words. He knew
she wasn’t afraid of him. She wouldn’t have gone for a walk with him if he
scared her. The only thing he could think of was that she was scared of the
commitment.
    “You’re in Shifter-Protected Space now, Ada. We don’t let
mates walk away. Why are you scared of it? I know you’re angry, probably
because this isn’t what you planned, but you’re scared too.” He took her hand
and held on to it even when she tried to pull back from him.
    “I’m not scared.” She straightened and her eyes narrowed to
brown slits. “I don’t want a man, not as a permanent attachment.”
    “You’re scared. I can smell it as surely as I can smell your
arousal. We’re mates and it’s not going to change simply because you fear it.”
He again lifted his hand, this time to touch her shoulder.
    She batted his hand away. “I don’t care what you can smell.
I can’t do this.”
    He had to nudge her out of the fear that was beginning to
override her emotions and he thought that anger might do the trick. Anger he
could deal with, but fear made him want to rip apart whatever as causing it.
Since he was fairly sure that he was at least behind part of the fear, stopping
the source of it was going to be a little hard to accomplish. He’d have to show
her his understanding later.
    “You can, you have and you will. You’re my mate and you’ll
be staying with me when the Vigilant arrives.” He raised an eyebrow and
waited to see how she’d react to that challenge.
    She drew in a sharp breath and blinked at him for a moment
as if she couldn’t believe that he’d said that. “I won’t. You can’t make me.”
    He laughed a little and shook his head. “You were found in
Shifter-Protected Space and you’re my mate. It’s the law here. Anyone who comes
near our space knows that if a woman is found to be a mate, then she’ll be kept
with that