Jazz plays softly in the background as I stand in Seth's kitchen and swirl coconut milk into a curry sauce. His knife taps on a cutting board. The spicy scent in my sauté pan mixes with the aroma of cinnamon and apples baking. While we prepared the pie, Seth and I ran through the usual questions about each other's childhood, and now he's moved on to more serious topics. Like children.

"I definitely want to be a mother," I say. "I guess I imagine two or three kids."

"That's all?" Seth comes behind me and sprinkles scallion rings into my sauce.

"How many are you thinking?"

"I'd love a houseful."

I laugh because he came from a family with six kids, while I only have a much older brother. Seth moves over to lean against the counter and grabs his glass of wine.

"Just think of it like a pack of dogs. You could take them to the lake and throw the ball for them to retrieve."

"Right. Like that would go over well with other parents."

"Hey." Seth takes the spoon from my hand. "We could start a trend. Let them shift into cubs, since you'll be able to talk to them in their heads."

I reach for my wine as I wonder if I really can communicate with werebear. I decide to test it on Seth. As I swallow down a sip of wine, I smile to myself. "Kiss me."

He tilts his head for a moment before he breaks into a smile. "Happily," he says before his lips meet mine.

When we break apart, I ask, "You heard me?"

"Yeah. Sort of. It's not like when my alpha talks to me, though. That's pretty much like regular conversation in my mind. You are more subtle."

I snort, and wine spits out of my mouth. I swipe my hand across my chin to wipe it up. "I don't think anyone has ever used the word subtle to describe me."

"I'm serious." Seth rubs my cheek with his thumb. "It was like you suggested I kiss you."

"Huh." I'm curious if my form of talking to animals is limited to orders, so I try something else. "Braeburn apples are going to be an interesting flavor in the pie."

"That's true. They're almost citrus-like."

"Whoa. How did you get that?"

Seth shrugs. "I just knew what you were thinking." He grins at me with a twinkle in his eyes. "Maybe I can read your mind."

"Yeah?" I chuckle at him and scan his body with my gaze as I imagine what he'd look like naked. "What am I thinking now?" I don't send him a message, but I definitely pursue a fantasy of dragging my fingers over his muscular chest.

He taps his pursed lips with his finger as his brow knits. "You're hungry and wish I'd hurry up and plate dinner."

I laugh. "Sure. Let's go with that." It hits me how incredibly huge this is. The clan medicine woman can't communicate telepathically with even one werebear unless they're soul mates. "I can probably talk to your entire clan."

"Wow. Do you have any idea how powerful that makes you?" A cabinet clicks open, and he pulls out dishes. "Only alphas can do that." He winks at me. "You're my secret weapon."

Alpha-like powers? Oh god. My stomach knots up, because it's too much. The responsibility of it alone is not something a girl like me should have. There are so many ways I could screw things up.

As Seth plates up dinner, I top off our wine glasses.

"What's going on in that head of yours, Nina?" Seth asks as we walk toward the table.

"Nothing." Nothing I want to talk about. I decide to return to my original thoughts about what I'm really hungry for, and I scoop up a mouthful of chicken curry. "You got the hungry part right earlier." I give him what I hope comes across as a flirty wink as I put the fork in my mouth. The moment the food hits my tongue, a delicious sweet and spicy flavor makes me moan in pleasure.

"Sweet Jesus," mutters Seth as he gazes at me. I realize his eyes have darkened, and I gulp, because not only do I think he's turned on, but my insides are warming up with desire too. He inhales and blows out a slow breath. "You're going to make it hard to take this slow."

Any doubt I have that Seth is attracted to me disappears, because I don't need body-language coaching to understand that the way he just shifted in his chair had to do with the sexual electricity I feel buzzing in the air. He licks his lips and stares at me as if I'm the meal he wants to devour. And suddenly, I can't think about anything other than the way Seth's skin would feel under my fingers or imagine the weight of his body on mine. One of our passionate kisses comes to mind, and now my breathing becomes shallow. I set my fork down with a clatter and slide my hand across the table to him. "Seth."

He grabs my fingers so tightly it hurts a little. "Nina. I—"

I stand up so abruptly I knock over the chair, but both of us ignore it as it clatters on the floor. When Seth stands too, I grab at his shirt and launch myself at him. Our mouths meet in a kiss I think makes sparks fly, because it's seriously hot. I grab the hem of his shirt and lift it up, desperate to touch him.

He grabs at the cotton and yanks up, but because we don't break our kiss, we get tangled up in the fabric. The two of us bat at it before Seth finally pulls hard enough to rip the shirt.

My hands move along his back, and his muscles flex under my fingers as he moves us over toward the living room. My hip bumps a small table, and a vase crashes to the floor, but it doesn't faze either of us, and when we get to the couch, I let myself fall back on it. Because I'm holding on to Seth with a death grip, he falls with me and—"Ouch!" Stars float before my eyes, because our heads just smashed together so hard tears come.

"Oh my god. Nina, I'm so sorry." Seth looks at me with concern. "Are you okay?"

I nod and try to smile through the pounding in my head. "It was my fault for pulling you off balance. I'm going to kill you if we keep this up."

Seth waggles his eyebrows at me. "What a way to die." He frowns, and I realize he's looking at my forehead.

"What?"

He opens his mouth and then snaps it shut again, so I reach up and feel a huge goose egg that is tender to the touch.

"Oh."

"Yeah." He stands up. "I'll go get some ice."

As he walks away, I let out a groan. Of course, I can't even do hot passionate sex without some awkward moment ruining it all. I fall back on the couch and then let out another groan as pain shoots through my brain. It would be just my luck to have a concussion too. But when I hold still, the headache doesn't come.

Seth returns with a bag of frozen peas. "Here."

I take it and gingerly place it on my forehead. "I'm sorry I ruined that moment."

"It was hot."

"Uh-huh," I say. He leans in and brushes his lips over mine. When he moves away again, I say, "That felt good."

"Yeah?" Seth smiles and kisses me lightly. And then he moves down to kiss my neck.

I lean my head back and let out a small noise of pleasure. It makes him let out a low rumble I realize is a growl.

"You are"—he nips at my jaw—"the sexiest"—Seth laps at the hollow of my throat, and his breath makes tiny hairs on my body stand up in excitement—"woman I've ever known."

I tug on the neck of my shirt to expose more skin for him to kiss. He dips down and slides his tongue along the edge of my bra cup. I arch up and mewl my delight as I forget my peas and reach to pull up my shirt.

"I've got it," Seth says as he removes my top. He sets it on the coffee table and takes my hand to make me hold the frozen veggies on my forehead again. He smiles. "I'm going to go slowly, Nina. And I'm not going to stop until you tell me to. Okay?"

My body is quivering in anticipation of his mouth on more delicate parts, and I nod. Seth flutters kisses along my collarbone before he slides a bra strap down. He works his way to my breast and reaches in with his hand to cup it so he can ravish my areola with his tongue. I close my eyes and let out whimpers in response to the ramping up of my desire as heat pools low in my belly.

Seth doesn't rush things, and it's not until I’m squirming beneath him that he moves farther down my body. I take my free hand and try to undo the button of my jeans.

"Are you sure?" Seth asks.

"Are you kidding?" I show him what's going through my mind telepathically.

A deep sound rumbles through him as his bear hears me, and he shoves my hand out of the way to unfasten my jeans. Denim rasps against my legs as he tugs them off. I want to die when he teases me with his tongue over my underwear. I let out a cry of frustration, which makes Seth chuckle. He lifts up and grabs my hand that is hanging over the edge of the couch as I loosely grip the peas. "You are a terrible patient." He puts the makeshift ice pack on my forehead again. "Keep this in place, and I'll give you what you need."

And boy, does he deliver. Seth does things to me with his mouth I can't describe, and I know I'm too loud when I cry out from my orgasm. As I quake in the aftermath, he kisses his way back up my body. He inspects my forehead. "That's one big bump. I'm so sorry."

"It was my fault." I reach out to place my hand on his cheek. "I'm afraid you're going to have to get used this with me. In case you haven't noticed, I'm the world's biggest klutz."

"Shhh. No more talking bad about the woman I love. Got it?"

I smile and pull him in for another kiss. And this time when I send him a message, it's to say, "I love you too."