Feeling like he had less control than he’d had in the throes of puberty, Calder hurried to the kitchen and away from the woman in his bathtub. He needed a moment to rein in his wolf before the animal acted on his pure, raw, and base instinct of claiming their mate. If the woman were another shifter, he would have surrendered control to the wolf in a heartbeat, but she wasn’t. She was human.

The very thought made his head spin. His whole life, he’d been led to believe his mate would be some sort of shifter, like himself, or at least in possession of some majikal abilities of her own. But no—oh no, there would be no such luck for him. The Fates appeared to have had other plans for him.

Even as he stood in the kitchen, leaning against the counter, his cock was as hard as a motherfucking rock. The second he’d caught sight of her, he knew there was no turning back, human or not. Plain and simple, she was his mate and he would claim her. She may not have any idea how the whole mating process worked, but she was about to get a crash course on the subject to get her up to speed. Something that needed to happen really fucking quick.

“So, uhh—this is pretty awkward.”

Calder had scented her approach long before she’d entered the room. “Indeed. Why don’t you start by telling me who you are and what brought you to my home?” Crossing his arms over his chest, he gave her his best stern look, needing to discern the truth from her. He replayed his last call with Gerri in his mind. The woman she was supposed to send, Daisy, wasn’t supposed to show up for another day. Could this be her?

His eyes roamed over every inch of her luscious curvy body. Her long dark hair fell to the middle of her back, and his mouth went dry as he pictured it cascading over them as she straddled him, leaned in to him, taking every inch of his cock deep inside of her. Her full breasts and luscious hips did nothing to ease the strain of his cock against his tight jeans, imagining her thick thighs wrapped tight around his body. And those bright pink toes, just like little jellybeans—oh, how he longed to suck each one of them into his mouth.

His wolf snorted. “Daisy, huh? She smells like her name.”

Calder silently agreed with his wolf. After all, it was pretty damn ironic.

Full of spunk and sass, the woman dared to mock his stance, looking as if she were ready to play hardball with a shifter who was easily a foot taller than her, and close to double her weight. She even had the nerve to lift her little chin in the air when she opened her mouth to speak. “My name is Daisy Parks. Gerri Wilder sent me to meet Calder Lorenson,” she said with an exasperated huff.

“Ahhh, so you’re the infamous Daisy Parks that Gerri’s been gushing about.” He smiled—she was indeed the one who’d been sent by Gerri. That knowledge alone helped to calm any lingering fears floating around in his mind.

Her full lush lips gaped open at his statement. “Are you Calder?”

“I am.” This time he flashed his best brilliant white smile, hoping to convey an air of charm instead of the tougher stance he had taken when she’d first walked into the kitchen.

 

***

 

 

Daisy grabbed on to the side of the table, suddenly needing support, her legs quaking underneath of her. Holy hell! she thought, knowing she was in way over her head with the hunky homeowner who was searching for his mate. Gerri had told her a few things about male shifters, but not much. First and foremost, it would have been awesome had Gerri forewarned her that Calder wasn’t just hot, he was smoking-fucking-hot, like straight up sizzling, and there she was in a pair of well-worn yoga pants and an old tank top, looking like a drowned river-rat with her long hair dripping down her back.

Every ounce of her flesh zinged to life just being in the same room with him, not to mention the fact that, when he’d yanked her out of the tub, she’d felt a jolt of awareness the second his fingers had wrapped around her wrist.

“Are you okay?”

Suddenly looking concerned for her well-being, Calder approached her slowly, his hands up in surrender.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Daisy desperately worked to regain some sort of composure. Way to go moron, her conscience shouted. She cleared her throat. “Yeah.” Great, she thought, horrified by the squeak in her voice. “Just surprised to find you here. Gerri told me I would have my own private accommodations. I assumed she meant I’d have the house to myself. I am so sorry for intruding.”

Daisy felt like a complete and utter ass, absolutely stupid. How could she have strolled into a stranger’s house and made herself at home, cooking dinner, lounging in his bathtub for hours? Fuck! She covered her face with her hands, hot tears threatening to embarrass her further.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt the heat from his hand press lightly against her shoulder.

“Hey. It’s okay. No harm, no foul. It wasn’t so bad coming home to a home-cooked meal and a sexy woman in my bathtub.”

Sexy? Ha! she thought. “I am so sorry. I feel like an idiot. I don’t know what is wrong with me. I shouldn’t have assumed. I won’t be upset if you want me to leave.”