As much as she wanted to tell herself it’d been casual sex and nothing more, she knew that was a lie. She’dwantedDrakkal to stay, and he’d clearly wanted to stay, too. He’d made it clear what she was to him. Shay was the one holding him at arm’s length. Drakkal would gladly shelter her in his arms all night long, every night, and she…longed for that, too. She longed formore, but it scared the hell out of her. What if she allowed herself to care about him only to lose him? She couldn’t open herself up for that kind of hurt.
I already have.
Shay’s eyes stung. She grasped the edge of the counter and pressed her lips together, willing the sensation away.
I can take care of myself.
Yeah, Shay, you can. Nobody’s questioning that, you’ve got nothing to prove. But why make yourself and your baby struggle just to say you did it alone when there’s someone who gives a damn about you and the baby, someone who’s more than willing to help? Why be so damn stubborn when he wants you, and you know you want him, too?
Drakkal wasnothinglike her ex, Anthony. Drakkal wouldn’t betray her, wouldn’t abandon her; only death could keep him away, though she had the impression that even death would be leery to test its strength against Drakkal’s willpower. The Shay of a month ago would’ve called her a stupid, naïve little girl for believing in anyone so thoroughly. But Drakkal wanted herandher baby.
“Am I really considering this?” she asked herself. “Am I really going to take an azhera as my…boyfriend?”
The wordboyfriendsounded so damn absurd, and she knew it wasn’t the right word.
Mate. He’d be her mate.
Shay let out a long, slow exhalation, and, unable to stand the pressure any longer, finally waddled to the toilet to relieve herself. Once she was finished, she stepped into the shower and washed, scrubbing her hair and body clean. When she probed her sex, she almost moaned at its tenderness—it was a pleasurable tenderness. She smirked.
Damn, he loved megood.
Once she finished and used the convenientglowing panels on the floor and ceiling to dry herself, she carefully squatted to retrieve the blanket from the floor and wrapping it around her body again. As she reached up to touch the door panel, her hand stilled.
What if I fuck this up? I’ve done so much stupid shit, hurt the only person left who loved me…
But she’d learned from those mistakes, hadn’t she? She’d grown since then, and she was determined to make this new life with her baby one worth living—one worthy of the parents she’d lost too soon. And of all the people she’d met, who better to try and build that life with than Drakkal? He was the sort of man who Shay’s dad, Captain Ryan Collins, would’ve liked—and that went a long way with her.
It helped that she really liked Drakkal, too.
Before she allowed doubt to rear its ugly head again, she pressed the control button, and the door whooshed open. She stepped back into the room. Drakkal was sitting on the edge of the bed, hunched forward with arms resting on his thighs. He met her gaze and lifted his brows in question.
“Last night was supposed to be no strings attached,” she said, moving closer. “You agreed.”
He sat up straight, bracing his hands on his knees. “No, I didn’t.”
Shay’s eyes dropped to his lap, where his cock—its deep red making it hard to miss against his tan and brown fur—protruded from his sheath, growing harder the longer she stared. She jerked her gaze back to his only to find the corners of his mouth curled upward in a knowing smirk; he’d already caught her looking.
“You did,” she said. “I told you what this would be when you came in, and you?—”
Shay snapped her mouth shut as she reviewed her memory of their brief conversation, fighting through thehaze of lust and pleasure that entirely overshadowed her recollection of yesterday.
No. He hadn’t agreed at all.
She narrowed her eyes but couldn’t stop the grin that spread across her lips. “Oh, you sneaky, sneaky kitty. You played me good.”
“Didn’t play you, terran. I just chose not to agree…and you didn’t stop me.” His eyes dipped, and though she was wrapped in the blanket, Shay felt his gaze penetrating the fabric, producing a trail of heat on her skin as it moved. He slowly smoothed his hands along his thighs, toward his pelvis.
“So you want this, then?” she asked, forcing her eyes up to his again—it was much harder this time. “You want me? As a…a mate?”
Drakkal nodded. Fire sparked in his emerald gaze, intensifying as his pupils expanded. “Fuck yes.”
“And this baby? Even though it’s not yours?”
“Youare mine,” he said with unwavering surety, “so your cub is mine, also.”
Shay’s heart clenched, and her throat constricted around the sudden, heavy emotion flooding her. She tightened her grip on the blanket and dropped a hand to her belly.
Hear that, Baby? He wants you. He wantsus.