~

 

Maggie had never really experienced problems in getting to sleep before, but last night she had. It wasn’t just the noises that kept coming and going from outside her bedroom window, but the thought of Roland, her mate, and everything that implied.

It didn’t help matters that she was sleeping in the man’s bed. She had all of his things around her, and even the smell of him was sending her brain haywire, and in directions that she would never have thought of.

Rayner was right, the man was sexy, and the fact that he was supposed to be her man was even more unbelievable. She thought she might just be getting used to that idea, but still, she wasn’t yet ready to take the plunge.

She’d never believed in love at first sight, although, she did like reading about it in books. So, how could she then believe in fated mates?

She’d seen it with her own eyes — Rayner and Dane — but it was still hard to comprehend it when it was her.

Finally, she had given up all pretense of getting a decent night’s sleep. A couple of times when she had nodded off, her thoughts, dreams had gone to Roland, and she couldn’t keep that man out of her dreams any more than she could stop thinking about him in her waking moments.

It didn’t help matters that she was even wearing his clothes. She’d grabbed a pair of his sweatpants out of the drawer, and turned the waistband over, and over, and over again until they sat on her hips and she wasn’t tripping over the bottom of them. The shirt that she wore was more like a dress, and she could have gotten away with just wearing that on its own like a mini-dress, but no.

She padded into the kitchen and started to pull open the cupboard doors and looking for something that she could cook for breakfast. Boxes and boxes of pop tarts lined the inner shelves. She guessed she knew what Roland liked to eat.

The sound of a gentle tap on the front door took her attention, and she panicked for just a moment, and she decided whether to hide under the bed or open the door. It could have been Rayner or Mitzi, and so she padded to the door, took her courage in hand, and pulled it open.

There he was. If it was at all possible, then he looked even sexier in the morning light.

“I have pop tarts,” Roland said.

“I saw that. I doubt the shop has any left.” Maggie couldn’t help but grin.

As opening lines went that one had sucked. He did look a little pained, on edge, and she wasn’t sure why.

“I heard you up and about and thought you would need breakfast,” Roland said, fidgeting on his feet, and resisting the urge to take a step toward her.

There was nothing that he wanted more than to feel her in his arms once more. The whole night that he’d been circling the cabin, listening to her tossing and turning, and imagining her lying in his bed — he’d wanted to be in there with her.

Damn straight he did.

Now, she was standing there wearing his clothes like they were a claim to her as his mate, and he wanted to strip her naked and bury his cock so deep inside her that they were one.

“Do you live on a diet of steak and pop tarts? Have you ever heard of salad?” she said teasing him in the hope that he’d offer her one of those smiles, the sexy ones that made her insides mushy.

“Rabbit food?” He winced at the thought of it.

“That’s right; you prefer to eat the rabbit.”

Roland craned his head on his neck and narrowed his eyes as he thought about that one. His lips moved, but he didn’t speak. He did question her with just a look though, and there it was – laughter in her eyes and a slow to boil wicked smile gracing her lips.

He was mesmerized. A low, hungry growl rolled through him.

“I can’t say I’m not partial to a rabbit…” he offered back.

“I can’t say I’m not partial to a little rabbit either.” She shrugged a shoulder. “Of course, I prefer mine in the wild, running about as nature intended.” She teased.

“Me too,” he said, and there was a big, wide grin on his face a heartbeat later that made her insides turn to mush, her resolve melt, and her attraction to him grow.

“You want me to make you pop tarts?” she asked with a small girlie chuckle.

“I’m man enough to make pop tarts for the both of us.”

 

~

~

~

 

“Whatcha doing?” Rayner asked as she jumped out on Bowie and made him jump in place. She never thought she’d be able to sneak up on the man in a month of Sundays.

Bowie gave a long hard growl of annoyance as he cut a dark glare at her, before remembering her unpredictable bear and snapping it off.

“Working,” he half told the truth.

He was getting a start on fixing up the cabin at the back end of the staggered row, but his mind was also on other things. Things he wouldn’t share with Rayner even under pain of death.

“Want a hand?”

“From a girl?” he sneered back and tossed her a look like she’d just used his shirt to blow her nose. To Bowie that might have been more acceptable.

“Wouldn’t want you to break a fingernail doing it all yourself,” she tossed back. She felt a need to kick his backside for that one, but Bowie’s crazy-bear was doing better, and she didn’t want to upset the apple cart.

Bowie grunted and snatched up a hammer that Rayner reached for.

“I’m good,” Bowie said.

“How about you let me swing that hammer, hit you on the thumb with it, and then you’ve got the right to bitch about me being a girl?”

“Don’t you have a mate to annoy?” Bowie scowled.

“Where’s the fun in only annoying one man at a time?”

Rayner wondered what Bowie’s problem was, and then she remembered that there was a stranger in his cabin, and two new females on pack land. For someone territorial like him, that could be a problem.

He grunted again but didn’t verbally respond to her teasing.

“Ok, well, if you change your mind, or want breakfast…” Rayner said, turning and starting away from him. She figured it was best not to poke the bear – literally.

“Not hungry,” he muttered back, shooting a dark glare towards his cabin. Then he pressed his lips together and started to swing the hammer. He needed to clear his mind and hitting things helped with that.