CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

 

 

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“Would you believe that it’s a…?”

“No,” Kelly snapped back, not even waiting for him to finish.

She twisted her body to break the hold that he had on her but knew there was fat chance of that. But, being in his arms just felt so right that it had to be wrong.

“A consequence of being in the same county as you?” Mason said. He finally had the forethought to remove his face from her hair and offered her a wolfish grin.

He was in this for the long haul so he’d better get his wooing boots on. Okay, things hadn’t started well, but then they’d made progress, and then he’d sneezed in her hair, but now – he was in full wooing mode!

Kelly lifted her hand and touched her nose with a look of disgust. “You’ve got a little…” she lied, but that didn’t stop Mason from rushing to cover his nose and inadvertently clipping her chin with his hand as he let her go and went to step back.

Just then she stumbled back away from him, and he had to reach for her again. With one hand over his nose, he wrapped an arm around her waist and yanked her back towards his chest, and she planted her face into the big, hard, manly ridges of his muscles.

Whoops!

“Smooth move,” Kelly grumbled. She palmed his chest and pushed her upper body as far from his as she could get. “What do you do for an encore, jab me in the eye?”

Mason groaned. Maybe being Mr. Smooth just didn’t suit. Maybe he was too damn growly and alpha-ish to be anything but him.

“I need a mirror,” he grumbled behind his hand.

“I’m all out.” She eyed him for a long moment.

“Be right back,” Mason growled at his own stupidity. He gently released her so that she didn’t have any more mishaps, and then he turned and stomped across the room to the mirror that hung on the wall over the unit.

Nothing there! No boogers! His mate had lied – he groaned inwardly – shocker!

Mason turned to see her standing with her hands on her hips, a sweet look of victory on her kissable lips, and equal measures of fire and amusement in her eyes.

“You made me sneeze,” Mason said, finally figuring it out.

“Perish the thought,” she said, with a smirk that told him he’d been done up like a kipper many times over. So close, and yet, so far.

Mason had to wonder what he was waiting for. She was his mate. She was the mate to an alpha — she was supposed to be spirited — she was supposed to be all fire and determined. Nobody could say that she wasn’t determined — she was damn well determined not to let him woo her.

He needed to up his game.

Would he? Could he? He’d better had.

“Mine.” There was a rumble of a growl that underlined that one word, and he knew that she’d heard it because her eyes widened, her body tensed as if she was about to take a step back, and her gaze flicked around the room as if she was looking for the exit.

Not a chance.

Mine… His beast wholeheartedly embraced that sentiment.

He figured that if his wolf could talk, then it would probably say — finally!

Kelly heard the claim in his voice; it was in the rumble of a growl that rolled along with it. But, that wasn’t the bad news; the bad news was the determination that he’d said it with — and the fact that he was taking a step toward her.

He looked more than serious — he looked — hungry.

Red rag to a bull! She needed to get out of there, and fast.

The question was; which method did she use? Did she zap him? Did she use her magic to splat him? How much more furniture did she need to throw at him?

“Umm,” she paused for thought — that was a big mistake!

Mason covered the small distance between them with his long strides, and all the time her brain was … well, farting. It raced from one idea to another and never settled on anything definitive.

The closer that he got; the bigger and bigger, hungrier and hungrier, and damn it to hell — sexier and sexier, he looked.

It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t right. She hated fate!

She wanted to come up with a plan — but, when his big, strong arms wrapped around her body and he yanked her back up against his hard, muscled torso again — Meh? Who needed a plan?

Her body said; yes — her mind said … blank — blank? Maybe blank wasn’t exactly what was going through her mind, more — sexy alpha — he’s all mine — look at those muscles — puppy dog eyes — sexy-sexy — hubba-bubba – hula-hula – holy hells bells – want!

Her heart raced, excitement kicked her in the backside, and she would have wiped her sweaty palms against her thighs if she could have if he wasn’t squishing her against him in the most delightful way.

“Mine…” he growled again, and she had to wonder why that sounded so good, and then self-preservation raised its ugly head – but it was too late.

Mason was going to prove to his mate just what a damn catch an alpha was. He brought his lips down on hers and silenced any protest that she might have rallied.

He felt the power of the connection a heartbeat later. His heart kicked his ribs, missed a beat or two, and then kicked him again.

There was a tingle against his lips that rushed through his body and confirmed what he already knew. His.

Kelly was about to protest — she really was — but then something strange happened, and she had to wonder why she was fighting against fate of things.

She already knew that fate had the upper hand, and she’d helped it on its way when she’d made several wishes on her journey to finding the man of her dreams — her soul mate — would kicking him in the balls really be the way to go?

Bree, the vampire, Mason, fate, destiny, magic, and even she herself had all combined to bring her into his realm, into his arms, how could killing him be right?

His lips were soft and made her’s tingle, but not so soft that they weren’t demanding – oh, boy were they. That kiss was part sweet, and part – bring it on!

And he did. With the rumble of a growl that got lodged in his chest, he pressed to deepen the kiss, and she was more than curious – she was bewitched, spellbound, and that should never happen to a witch.

Kelly had never been a glass-half-full kind of a girl, but when he deepened that kiss; her cup runneth over.

She was reminded of the words of the great sage – Scooby Doo – oh boy, oh boy, oh boy – it seemed fitting.