Tessa paused. “Do you love me?”
“Of course I do.” His heart raced. “I mean, I’ll fall in love with you more as time goes past, but right now I can honestly say I love you.”
“You love me because we’re mates…”
Mark laughed. “You’re still hung up on that, aren’t you? I know it’s not a cat way. But, Tessa, I love you because you’re you. That’s why we’re mates in the first place. I wouldn’t have this draw inside toward a random stranger who wasn’t perfect for me. Who wouldn’t complement my talents, who couldn’t enjoy the things I enjoy. It’s not like a shortcut to happiness because we need to work at it, but we’re right together. That’s what being mates means.”
Enough. He stood and carried her into the bedroom. This time he dropped her—actually, he lofted her toward the bed.
Tessa twisted with a feline grace and landed on all fours, the most incredible smile beaming out. “Like I said, you listen all the time.”
This incredible mixture of sorrow and delight filled her.
She’d screwed up, badly, but he wasn’t going to hold it against her. That much she knew without the slightest doubt.
Tessa sat back on her heels. Stared at him as he waited patiently, as usual. “Remember I told you I don’t feel successful at times?”
He nodded.
“That doesn’t change the facts. I am good at what I do. I have the skills, I have the drive and the enthusiasm, and I work and make things happen.”
There was a distance between them, but hope lit his eyes—just a flutter of it crossing his face. “Feelings and reality aren’t always the same thing?”
“No.” There was so much she wasn’t certain about, only she’d been an idiot to ignore the specific truths in this situation. “Mark, you’re a wolf.”
His face twisted as he attempted to hide his laughter. “Umm, yes. You said that already.”
“I might need to say it a few more times, just to get it to sink into my thick cat skull. You’re a wolf, and you love me. We’re mates, and that’s not going to change for you.”
His dark eyes sparkled. “Nope. Well, it’ll get stronger—the being-in-love-with-you part.”
This time his assurance sent a thrill through her, and that was the final nudge she needed to move forward. Now how to say this without sounding like a diva, a freak or bitch? The last thing she wanted was to remove the happiness blooming on his face.
She squared her shoulders and went for honest. “I’m stealing your line—it’s going to get stronger for me too. The falling-in-love-with-you part.”
Mark sucked in a breath.
She hurried on before he could interrupt. “Since I’m a cat and all?—my feelings don’t work like yours. I mean, we met barely a week ago, so me being in love with you doesn’t make sense. But that doesn’t mean I can’t make the proper choice right now.”
Two shuffles put her at the edge of the bed where she caught hold of his belt buckle in one hand and dragged him toward her. His uneasy smile had grown stronger…like the love between them would grow. She was sure of it now.
“I choose to be your mate, Mark. I choose to accept all the love you’ve poured out for me, and I’m going to smarten up and start listening to the quiet, hardworking ways you say it. I’m going to let the feelings come whenever they come, but in the meantime?” She stared up and let all the admiration she had for him shine out. All the longings she had as well. “I think you’re pretty damn amazing, and I would be honoured to be your mate. I can’t wait to fall in love with you as hard as your wolf is already in love with me.”
For one terrible, horrible no-good-moment, Mark didn’t budge. Tessa considered repeating her confession, but that seemed so—
He pounced.
Tessa squealed as he bore her to the mattress, his weight pressing her down as he found her lips.
When he lifted his head far enough they could both suck for oxygen, all traces of his faint smile were gone, replaced with an enormous grin. “I had to fall in love with a cat.”
She could have sworn her cougar preened. Silly beastie.
“You’re okay with it all?”
He nodded. “You making a choice? Blows my mind. I’m going to make sure you never regret it.”
“Cats aren’t all bad, you know…” There was just enough room between them. She stripped down to nothing far quicker than even his needy wolf could ask.
His delighted growl filled the air. “Neat trick.”
Then it was past time for talking. Time for doing—for giving to the other side of them, and giving to Mark what he’d been so patiently waiting for. Tessa caught him around the neck and pulled him back against her naked body.
She tugged at his clothing as they kissed, all tongues, teeth and lips, their heavy panting echoing through the room.
Mark licked her neck, and Tessa shivered as she protested, “You have too many clothes on.”
“The only way I can make it last longer than thirty seconds.”
“We can just do it again,” she pointed out.
“We will,” he promised. “Again, and again, and again. But this first time?”
He slipped down to worship her breasts, and Tessa’s satisfaction rose at having seen the light. He didn’t have to know everything about her now. She didn’t know everything about herself—she’d assumed she couldn’t cook, but she’d managed to learn. If she was changing and growing, then they could change and grow together as mates.
He nibbled just the right way, and the tingles turned into full-body pulses. “You’re going to mark me, right?”
“Everywhere. Like you’re my own personal chew toy.” His teeth went into the side of her breast, and the ensuing shot of sexual pleasure lifted her off the bed.
Mark caught her hips in his hands and locked her in position, trailing his tongue over her stomach until he reached her belly button. Her hipbones. The ticklish crease between her leg and torso. The cold air brushed past everywhere he touched, and she got goose bumps all over her body.
“Hmm, you smell delicious.” She shuffled up on her elbows just in time to see him inhale deeply, his expression one of complete contentment.
Tessa held her breath as he slipped a finger through her curls. She bit her lip as he lowered his head. And she lost it all when he snuck out his tongue to taste her.
She collapsed back on the bed, opened her thighs as wide as she could and prepared for the explosion that was sure to come. Each graze of his tongue like a flick of a timer, the old-fashioned ones with little numbers that fell in sequence.
One stroke.
Another, this time from her core to the bundle of aching nerves she wanted him to focus on. Tessa drove her fingers into his hair and attempted to keep him in one spot, but he chuckled evilly and thrust his tongue lower, into her body, humming as he lapped at her sex.
He seemed so occupied it shocked her when another touch hit. She peered through half-lidded eyes to see what went with the amazing sensation.
He’d spread his palm over her lower belly, his thumb centered over her clit. As he continued to lick, he pressed down, the tight circle focused on her trigger button.
Tessa called out his name as she came, gasping for air as he didn’t let up but did it all over again until the pulses from her core and the lack of air from her gasping threatened to make her pass out.
Mark lifted up, just enough to strip off his shirt, and the words on his chest made her laugh out loud. “I can’t believe you let me write on you like that.”
He’d lost his pants and boxers, and crawled beside her in all his naked glory. He caught her hand and pressed it to the thick blue lines. “It’s true. I’m yours.”
Not yet, he wasn’t, but nearly. Tessa’s cat preened and fussed, happy from the orgasms, but wanting it all. She reached between them and closed her fingers around him carefully, loving the contrast of hard shaft and soft skin. “No condoms.”