Sav had underestimated his mate. The woman could cook. Poppy would be proud. He watched the ease with which she put ingredients into pans and mixed things before the instructor had given the go ahead. She’d been too quiet, so he asked questions to get her to talk to him. No, he didn’t know what the hell she was doing, but he wanted to hear her voice.

“Why do you like cooking?”

She raised her face and looked at him with a thoughtful look.

“You know, I didn’t realize how therapeutic it was until after I started doing it. I mean, I really enjoyed putting the dishes together, seeing them at the different stages. Plating is my favorite. I love watching someone when I show them what I made,” she said, her eyes lit up as she spoke.

“You didn’t always like to cook?” He watched her move things around and multitask easily.

“No. My ex-husband was the cook in our house. He loved it. He used to spend hours thinking of what to make,” she said, the smile falling from her face. “Once we got divorced, I realized I had to learn to cook. I was living alone and couldn’t live off my mom’s cooking forever. Though knowing her, she’d happily bring me food and make me eat it.” She scrunched her nose. “I’m not into trying weird vegetarian dishes.”

The bear inside him pushed to the surface at the mention of another male. But the fact she stated he was no longer in her life calmed him down quickly. It was obvious she was hurt badly by the divorce.

Even as she mentioned it in passing, he heard the change in her voice and noticed her scent changed from happy to sad. He cupped her hand over the chopping block where she was cutting and frowned.

“I’m sorry that male hurt you, but I’m glad you’re alone or I’d have to scare him off you.”

She shook her head but a small grin flirted on her lips. “You’re insane.”

She moved farther down the station and floured the granite counter top, then started rolling dough.

“What are you making?” he finally asked.

She smiled widely and sighed. “You know, you’re supposed to be helping me. And we’re making chicken pot pie from scratch.”

He grumbled, “I prefer Shepherd’s Pie.”

“Duly noted. Doesn’t really help our current situation, though,” she told him with a laugh. “Anyway, what about you, why are you here? And if you say it’s only to be near me, I’m going to be seriously creeped out.”

“Why?”

“Because, we had sex. It was good—”

He caught her wrist and stopped her mid-roll. “It was great.” He leaned so closely so fast, she blinked startled eyes at him. His bear roared under the skin. Her scent was making him crazy. His lips were suddenly brushing hers. “It was fucking amazing. You coming on my tongue was a lot more than just good.” Her eyes widened at his bold words. Fuck, his cock grew hard as he thought about it. “Your pussy sliding up and down my dick was out of this motherfucking planet. Don’t tell me it was good. Good doesn’t even begin to cover it.”

She gulped. “Okay. Fine. Not like it’s going to happen again. It was a one-time thing.”

He flipped her so her back was now to the station, her body sandwiched between him and it. He pressed into her softness. The sweet scent of her arousal was making it difficult for him to hang on to his humanity.

He growled and watched her lids lower as he brushed his lips over hers. He kissed his way to her ear. The softness of her skin made him want to lick her all over again. “It’s going to happen again. And again.” He licked her earlobe. A soft shudder raced through her to him. “And again. I can already see your legs wide open, pussy dripping honey and my cock spreading your sweet lips and driving home. There’s no question of it.” He bit her earlobe and sucked under her ear. Another shudder rocked her. Harder this time.

He couldn’t believe she was questioning him about them. Indecision he could get. She was human. But this assertion of nothing special between them made him want to prove to her there was going to be a lot more between them than just sex. “Don’t say those words again. You’ve faced sadness in the past at the loss of your last relationship. I get that. But it’s not that way for us. Love hit me hard when I saw you, Zuri. It almost knocked me down and made me lose control of my beast. I couldn’t stop myself from running off with you. I knew you were meant for me. I’d give my life for you. What we have, I’d kill for.”

She turned her face to meet his gaze, her brows drawn in a questioning look. “What do we have?”

“I know it will take time for you to understand how shifters work, but I’m not going anywhere. I’ll prove it.”

Her features turned neutral. “What about your mate? How many of them do you get?”

“One. It’s you. Only you.”

She pursed her lips. “What about other women? Just because you’re a shifter and I’m a human, does that mean I have to sit around while you fuck everyone in town?”

He kissed her hard, needing to feel her lips soften under his assault. It was immediate. Her response so fast, he groaned and rubbed his erection into her. When he pulled back, she was flushed and her lips swollen. “There is no other woman for me. Not now, not ever, now that I’ve found you.”

She blinked and shoved at him to move back. He stepped away, hating the loss of her warmth.

“You talk a good game, Savage. Anyway, you deviated from the subject. Being here for me is not a reason for you to be taking a cooking class.”

It was to him. That’s all he needed. Her. To be near her and to make sure his mate was fine. He’d spend all day watching chick-flicks and getting a manicure and pedicure if it meant he’d be with her.

“My sister, Poppy, wants me to eat.”

Savage watched his love raise a brow and gave him a once-over that made his balls hurt. He couldn’t wait to have her alone. He’d peel that sundress off her and lick her into orgasm a few times before he finally took her.

“You don’t look like you miss any meals to me,” she said and licked her lips.

She didn’t even notice she did that, but goddamn, that made him feel sexy as fuck. His mate liked how he looked and it was a great thing. Her eyes strayed from his lips down his body and stopped at the fly of his jeans.

“I don’t miss any meals,” he agreed. “Thanks to her. She brings me food almost every day. But now I have a mate and maybe I want to learn to cook for her.”

She turned back to rolling dough. “Right. And you plan to learn with your lack of active participation and action? Please.”

She clearly didn’t know about shifter memory. “Want to bet on it? Say a date. You come to my place and I’ll cook for you. Your choice of meals.”

“You don’t want to do this, Sav.” Her eyes twinkled with challenge and humor as she glanced up at him for a second.

“I do.”

“And if you lose? What do I get?”

“Whatever you want,” he said simply. He’d give her the world anyway, she just didn’t realize that.

“Okay. Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll give you that first date with only one expectation.” She laughed and pulled a card out of her pocket. “Memorize my lasagna recipe. You have five minutes. If you can make that for our first date, I’ll agree to go on a second date with you.”

He glanced at the card, storing every bit of detail into his mind and then handed it back to her.

“Oh,” she chuckled, her hands on her apron. “This is going to be good. You had that in your hand for like ten seconds. If you lose, I guess you’ll come eat at my mother’s and have some of her tofu casserole.”

His mate might be the most beautiful woman in the world and probably the smartest in the human world, but she was so out of her depth when it came to him, it only made him smile. He was going to take advantage of her mistake. He was a savage after all.