By the time they undid their bindings for the last time at the bottom of the slope, they were both utterly exhausted. Ryan couldn’t stop looking over at the little woman who’d managed to keep up with him most of the day. She really was strong, and fun, and he wished he hadn’t been too hardheaded to see it sooner. He put an arm around her to steady her as she stood up, and when she looked up into his eyes with those perfect gray-blue ones, he felt something inside him melt a little more.

The urge to pick her up and run for a cave was almost unbearable, but he resisted. Instead, he grabbed her board and carried it along with his on his shoulder. She followed him toward the small restaurant lodge at the base of the mountain, her boots scraping along the snow in a cute way.

He hadn’t been lying when he’d said he liked rescuing her. He’d been almost embarrassed by how right it felt, like he was supposed to take care of her forever. Like that had been his purpose all along. It was embarrassing to be so wrong about oneself. But then she’d called him on it, and snowballed him, and then…

He stopped for a moment, thinking about the hot kisses they’d shared on the cold snow. He sent her a short glance as he waited for her to catch up. He tilted his head, wondering if he was right that she’d fallen on purpose that last time. He was almost afraid to hope.

She whistled lightly as they went up the stairs to the lodge. He set their boards on a rack right outside and followed her in, holding the door for her. Once inside, he got her seated at a table and got in line to order chili. Surely after dragging her all over the mountain he at least owed her sustenance.

He looked over at her where she sat, pulling off her gloves and blowing on her hands to warm them. He swallowed. He wanted to take her back to his place and warm her all over. With his body.

He desperately wanted to repeat what had happened the other day. See if it felt just as good, just as right. He knew it would, but he needed to take things slow. Needed to woo her, show her it wasn’t all about the sex. That he could be patient.

She’s our mate, his bear said. We have to be careful.

Now that he was listening to the damn thing it never seemed to shut up. It was always there in the back of his mind, reminding him that she was his. Theirs. He had a complicated relationship with his bear. He was his bear, and yet the being he was once he shifted was somehow separate from the being he was as a human. Different feelings, different memories, though they shared them all, it was like they hadn’t both been the ones to experience them.

It was an odd thing to think about, let alone try to explain.

Speaking of which, how was he going to explain it to her? He bit his lip as he paid for their chili. When it was ready, he carried the tray over to her. For some reason, he hadn’t thought about how she’d react to finding out he was a bear. He’d known about shifters since he was little, but how would it be for someone who’d grown into adulthood believing things like that didn’t exist?

He’d been so busy worrying about when to tell her, when it would be safe to, that he hadn’t considered how she would react when he did.

He continued worrying the inside of his cheek with his teeth as he set out the chili in front of her. She tore open her utensil packet and dug right in. She moaned happily as she started to eat, and he couldn’t help sitting up a little taller at that, smiling. Her happiness just seemed to light him up.

But he couldn’t shake his dark thoughts completely. What if she thought he was a freak? What if she rejected him? He hadn’t even considered that.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, setting down her spoon. “You seem upset.”

He shook his head and pulled his chili toward him. He took a large bite and burned himself, so he swore and spat it out into a napkin. When he looked up, she was giving him a nervous look. He sighed and apologized. “I’m sorry, I’m just a little out of it. Long day.” When her face fell slightly, he waved a hand. “No, a very good day, just a long one. You know, I’m still adjusting to the mountain again.”

That seemed to make sense, and she nodded and went back to enjoying her chili. And he went back to watching her, trying not to think about the fact that it was a lie that he was adjusting. Getting back on a board would always be instant for him. What he was adjusting to was the fact that he’d come to realize this woman meant everything to him, and she could find out everything about him and then decide to tell him no.

And that was a horrifying thing for a shifter who’d found the one they knew was their mate. There would never be another for him. He’d felt it from deep inside him when he’d looked down at her on his bed. Then stronger when they had come together. No, there would never be another woman, so he’d better make sure to win this one.

He’d just have to keep wooing her and looking after her. She seemed to like being “rescued” as much as he’d enjoyed “rescuing” her. He grinned remembering it. She’d given him a mild heart attack when she’d fallen the first time, and hadn’t immediately emerged from the snow. It was like his heart hadn’t remembered to beat again until he’d lifted her out and seen she was fine. And then the flood of relief when he’d freed her, when she’d smiled mischievously at him.

She was quickly becoming addictive.

When she finished her chili she looked up at him with a shy smile. It was late in the afternoon and a warm, dusky sunlight was resting over the snow at the base of the mountains. She leaned on her forearms to look out and he watched her. When she turned and caught him watching, she blinked a couple times and then stood, yawning. Then she tucked her hands in her pockets. “Should we head out?” she asked.

He nodded, standing as well. He got rid of their tray, stalling for time so he could stay with her longer. He didn’t want to drop her off. Didn’t want the night to be over just yet. “I’ll take you back,” he said, trying to hide his reluctance. He’d already gotten far more from her today than he had planned, he had to be grateful with that. He didn’t want to come across as a stalker, regardless of what his brothers might say.

The walk back to the lodge was quiet. She insisted on carrying her new board. She seemed to like it a lot, seemed to want to stay close to it. That made him happy, that something he had picked meant so much to her. He wondered if she’d ask him to sign it. But then again, they had a lifetime to figure that out, even if he did go back to snowboarding. He’d signed many snowboards in the past for people, it was funny thinking of signing one for his wife.

He stopped dead in the snow, and she walked a few steps forward before realizing he wasn’t following. But even as she waited, he found himself rooted in place.

Did he just think of her as his future wife? It made sense, but it was so foreign. It was ridiculous how fast this was going now that he’d decided she was the one. He could hardly believe he was charging in like this. Yet every step he took with her felt more and more right. He knew to follow his intuition now. At least in this case, where he’d been so resistant before. He sighed.

“Coming,” he said. “Sorry.” He’d just have to get used to the fact that words like “forever” and “wife” were going to come to mind now that he’d accepted her as his future mate. It wouldn’t be so bad, once he had her agreement and knew that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her.

But did she?

They’d had a fun day. He didn’t want it to end. He wanted to take her back to his suite and show her once again just how much she meant to him, just how perfect they were together. But all too soon, they were back at her cabin. He helped her carry her stuff in and get her boots off. Something that was difficult when one was tired, since snowboard boots tended to be very tight and stiff.

When he was done, he stood to leave, but she called him back.

“Ryan? You can stay if you want.” She looked away shyly, and he felt his groin tighten in response. What was this woman doing to him?

He thought about it. About how much he wanted to.

She fidgeted. “We could watch a movie. Or, um, you know, have a repeat of what happened yesterday?” Her eyes were hopeful, sparkling up at him, and he couldn’t believe he was so lucky that this amazing woman wanted him. He truly felt terrible for all the times he had hurt her, rejected her.

Especially since he was going to have to do it again right now, for the good of both of them. They weren’t ready for sex again. It would only complicate things. It would be hot, intense, and would validate everything he’d felt during their first time together. But she needed time to see that it wasn’t all about that between them. That it wasn’t only sex that made him want her, even if sex had helped him see the truth about it.

He shook his head. “I have to get back to the lodge. I told Riley I’d help him with something.”

“You could come over after,” she said hopefully, biting her bottom lip in a way that begged him to say yes. Everything in him didn’t want to reject her. But he knew that he had to reject this so that he could show her how much he accepted the rest of her. The rest of everything.

There was so much more to them than this, and he needed time to show her. Needed more play dates in the snow. Needed to take her out to a nice dinner. Needed to take her stargazing and just snuggle. Needed badly to do all of the things he would have done if he had known she was his mate from the start.

He just wanted to start over. But he couldn’t. All he could do was try to make things right from here on out.

“I’m sorry, Kylie. I just don’t think it’s a good idea.”

Her mouth fell open. “I don’t understand. I mean, one minute you’re trying to tell me we’re made for each other, and then the next you’re back to rejecting me?”

He scratched his head furiously, angry with himself for saying things wrong all over again. “Look, it’s not like that. It’s just that—”

“I get it,” she said, waving a hand as she pulled her socks off and removed her snow pants, leaving her in a thin pair of black leggings that exposed every curve of her luscious legs. His mouth went dry.

“You get what?” he asked, genuinely confused.

“I get it. I mean, you’re allowed to chase me, but I’m not allowed to chase you. You want me to like you, but you don’t want me to make a move. You want to be the hero, make all the moves, while I just sit and wait for the next rejection.”

He crossed the room in two strides and took her in his arms. He wrapped his arms around her and placed a gentle kiss to the top of her head. “Let’s not forget that you were the hero first. You saved me.”

Her hand rested on his, first trying to pull it down, then relaxing when she realized he wasn’t going to let her go. “Then why are you rejecting me?” she asked.

“I’m not,” he said.

“Um, you said no. That’s basically the definition of rejection.”

“No,” he said. “I’m delaying you. I want you to give me time to show you it’s more than the sex. I want time to woo you.”

“Woo me?” she scoffed. “Well I never.”

“You don’t want me to?” he asked. “I’ve never wooed a woman, so I suspect I’ll be bad at it, but—”

She turned to face him and took his face in her hands. “On the contrary. You’re too good at it. You made today wonderful. Made me forget my reservations. It’s just that, well, it’s hard to be rejected by you. You know, because of what happened before.”

He stroked over her soft cheek with one thumb. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she was looking at him again, he spoke. “I’m never going to reject you like that again. In a way, I’m glad I had that time to get to know you. To be part of your circle, even if things weren’t working right. I feel like I know you on a deeper level after all that time, and I think it makes what we have that much more special.”

“If you edit out the bad memories,” she grumbled.

“And what about the good ones?” he asked. “I think one day we’ll laugh at the shenanigans, like when you pulled me into a broom closet at the wedding.”

She folded her arms and tried to pull away. “I was drunk!”

He pulled her back in and wrapped his arms around her, loving how she felt. “I’m glad you were. Look, I know that time was painful for you, but I’m going to make it up to you. And I’m not going to make love to you until I have.”

“That’s not fair,” she whined. “You’re going to deny me because of your own sins?”

He pressed another kiss to the top of her head. “I guess you’ll just have to hurry up and forgive me then.”

She opened her mouth as if to say something and then snapped it closed. “Fine. We’ll see. Charmer.”

He ruffled her hair and then stepped back. “I can be. I can also be a complete ass, according to my family.”

“Don’t I know it,” she said, stepping back to study him as if she wanted to memorize the look of him before he left.

“I can be a hero too, though,” he said, folding his arms and staring right back. He was much taller, and had to look down at her, but he hoped it didn’t come across as intimidating. After all, he would never hurt her. He’d ram himself through a brick wall first. But he did like being big.

It meant he could keep the world away from her. Keep her safe. “I want to be your hero, Kylie.”

She walked up to him and stroked his arm, then reached up on her toes to whisper in his ear. “Well, I don’t really need a hero. Except in bed.” She stepped back, biting her lip, and he let out a mock gasp of shock.

“You minx!” he said playfully, taking a step back, hands over his chest. “As you would say, well I never.” He gave her a wry grin. “Now I’m going to go tell my brothers you only want to use me for my body.”

“Ha!” she retorted. “They’d probably say you were lucky.”

“You know what? They probably would,” he agreed, loving the banter between them and not wanting to leave. But it was time. It’d be getting dark soon outside, and as much as he wanted to stay, the longer they were in the same room together, the more chance this thing between them had of combusting. And he wasn’t going to allow that. So he took her hand, raised it to his lips, and watched her blush as he kissed it.

“Thank you for the day, Kylie. It was one of the best I’ve had.”

“Even including the day you won a gold medal?”

He closed his eyes to think and then laughed. “Every kiss is a gold medal with you.”

Her face went a deeper shade of red and she threw a sock at him as he laughed and walked toward the door. “Where do you even come up with this stuff?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know sweetheart, I guess you just inspire me.”

She humphed, but a small smile was curving the corners of her lips as she watched him go.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then?” he asked. “Same time? Well, actually a little earlier, so we can get some runs in before the pow is gone.”

“All right,” she said. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

He tore his gaze off of her and walked through the door, shutting it behind him. Everything in him wanted to go back to her, but he knew he couldn’t. So instead, he headed out into the snow, hands in his pockets, thinking over what he would do the next day to win over his mate.