Carolline came awake slowly. Something heavy was draped across her midsection. Peeling her eyes open, she turned her head to the right.

Maybe it wasn’t all a dream yesterday.

Devon Andersen was most definitely lying in bed with her. His eyes were still closed. Breathing deep and relaxed. A lock of dark hair drifted down onto his forehead. Damn, he was sexy when he was asleep. And funny enough, he’s your mate!

That little nugget of information was still a bit hard to believe. Never in her wildest dreams did she think she would have a mate. Let alone one so devastatingly handsome and caring. The way he interacted with his kids had her heart melting and her panties dropping, if only metaphorically.

There had been those couple of seconds last night as she crawled across his big bed, she thought he was going to take her again. Then his mother knocked and ruined the moment. She thought it prudent to get beneath the covers and cover up. Once she was there, fatigue settled deep into her bones.

Which reminded her…she closed her eyes and ran a hand down her side. There was no pain to the touch. Letting out a deep sigh of relief, the arm draped on her stomach tightened.

“What was the sigh for?” he rumbled sleepily.

Carolline’s eyes popped open, her gaze colliding with Devon’s. The gold ring on the outer edges of his pupils gradually expanded. Jesus, it amazed her to see a man look at her with a mate’s glow. She was used to lust or disdain, but the golden-eyed hue of a man, her mate, looking at her—it sent a shiver down her spine.

“No pain,” she said softly, not wanting to break the intimate atmosphere around them. She wondered if her eyes reflected the same golden look. He’d said hers was stronger than before. What would her chances be of luring him into the bathroom and taking her from behind while she faced the mirror?

Devon rolled her onto her side, facing him before sliding his hand down the length of her body. He pulled her top leg over his hip, melding their lower halves together. “Glad to hear it,” he grunted, thrusting his hips slightly. He brushed a kiss leisurely across her lips, teasing her with the slow caress. His hands roamed like they had a mind of their own. Leg. Buttocks. Waist. He pushed her tank top up, and leaned back until he had enough room to cup her breast.

He did all of it while kissing her lips, face, and neck. He licked the soft delicate skin where his mark was, and her body reacted by arching against him. Her pussy gliding over his thick cloth-covered erection. As he sucked on her neck, she threaded her fingers through his hair, keeping him in place. Quakes of desire rolled through her chest and landed low in her belly. Her pussy flooded, and she couldn’t stop her hips from grinding against his erection even more.

Suddenly, or maybe not so much since they were headed in that direction, he pushed her shorts down. She squirmed to help him out. Pulling the leg hooked over his hip out of the restricting material. She didn’t worry about getting the shorts off completely. She only needed him to have access to her wet slit.

She shoved down his boxers enough to pull his thick penis free. Hooking her leg back over his hip, she guided him into her. His name broke free of her lips when he was seated fully inside. It didn’t take long for him to start rocking in and out of her. It was a combination of lazy and frenzied thrusting. They kissed and caressed each other. Breasts. Back. Ass. Her moans grew breathy and ragged the higher he pushed her arousal. Nearing her peak, a tingling sensation started in her gums. Her canines descended and she clamped onto his neck, marking him as she convulsed around his dick. As soon as she pulled her mouth away, he marked her. Pumping his hips in short bursts, groaning against her skin as he came.

Once he pulled away from her neck, he licked her wound, then made his way up her neck until he was feasting on her lips.

A sound from out in the hallway intruded their afterglow. Devon slipped free from her body, kissing her one last time before rolling off the bed. Carolline pulled up the sheet, which had worked its way down during their morning lovemaking.

The door to the room swung open and Devon’s youngest toddled in. Carolline scrambled to discretely pull her shorts back on, then pulled up the comforter from the bottom of the bed.

Sebastian grabbed the TV remote, climbed up on the bed, and planted himself next to Carolline. He smashed the on button and flipped through the channels quickly before finding cartoons. Snuggling into her side, he let out a sigh. Her heart melted as his little body pressed into her. She could hear his heart beat. Smell the sweetness of his baby scent. Granted, he wasn’t a baby, but to her he was still one.

Wrapping her arm around him, she snuggled down. She was pretty sure this was as close as she would come to having children of her own.

Devon came out of the bathroom with a washcloth in his hand and came to a screeching halt. He looked at Carolline, then at his son slouched down in bed. They looked like mother and son. The sight tore at him and yet filled him with joy.

Turning, he tossed the washcloth back into the bathroom, not caring where it landed. He cleared his throat and put a smile on his face. “Hey, buddy. Whatcha doing?” He joined Carolline and Seb on the bed; infinitely glad he’d had the sense to not get undressed like he’d wanted to. Luring Carolline into the shower had been the next item on his list, but something told him it would have to wait.

“Watching toons,” Sebastian answered without taking his eyes off the show.

Devon caught Carolline’s gaze. A gentle smile curved her lips; her eyes were soft and full of happiness. He couldn’t help but smile back. “I see this. You haven’t watched cartoons with me in a while.”

Sebastian shrugged his tiny shoulders. “You work lots.”

Devon’s heart immediately sank to his feet at hearing his son’s reason. Carolline reached out and stroked a hand over his bare shoulder. The depression trying to set in vanished immediately. “I have been working a lot, haven’t I?”

“Yep,” Sebastian quipped.

“So you thought I would be home today and we would watch TV together?” Devon wasn’t all too confident he was the reason Sebastian decided to venture into the room.

Sebastian looked at him then, a toothy grin on his face. “My turn. ‘Line read to Tabby. Marcus likes her.”

Devon’s jaw dropped in shock, but he quickly laughed. “What about your good old dad?”

“You watch too.” With that he turned his attention back to the show.

Devon scooted closer to Sebastian. They watched two thirty minute shows before his mother called them all down. Seb jumped off the end of the bed like he was a superhero. “Food,” he said before racing out of the room.

Devon and Carolline got out of bed. A smile lit up her face. “I haven’t watched cartoons in ages. It was fun,” she said as she grabbed her suitcase. While Carolline rooted through it, Devon tossed on a pair of sweat pants he hadn’t seen in ages and pulled on a comfortable T-shirt. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d worn anything but work clothes. Down time was never really down time. He acted as if he were constantly on-call, dressed and ready to go, waiting for the phone to ring to drag him back to work.

At first, after Sasha died, he’d spent every waking hour with his kids. As time went on, he went back to work. An extra hour turned into two, which later turned into evenings, then weekends. He saw it as working his ass off in order to provide for his family. But Sasha hadn’t worked while they were married, so in the grand scheme of things, nothing had changed. Not financially anyway.

It was a stunning revelation. Devon plunked back down on the bed. His head swimming with the implications of what happened. His kids had lost their mother in a horrible accident, and eventually lost their father to his work along the way. In an attempt to do everything for his kids, he’d neglected the most vital thing. Time with them.

He planned to rectify the situation as soon as possible. As soon as they figured out what was going on.

Carolline stepped into his line of sight. She’d tugged on grey yoga pants and a soft yellow T-shirt. Her feet were bare and pink toenails peeked out from beneath the hem of her pants. “Ready to go downstairs?” she held out her hand in a silent offering.

He studied her delicate, slim fingers. Saw the way her hand shook minutely. The sweet scent of nervousness drifted toward him. Barely distinguishable from her own natural scent. She appeared that way after a decent night’s sleep, and she was diving into this mating headfirst. Accepting him and the kids, his entire family without batting an eye. Well, apart from her initial objections to being his mate. She’d put herself in harm’s way before knowing they were mates. She suffered alone in her hospital room because he was too stubborn to reach out and take what was in front of him. And yet, here she stood, offering her hand and showing a solidarity he’d yet to achieve.

Slowly, her hand dropped back to her side. “I guess I’ll see you downstairs,” she said, her voice quiet and filled with confusion.

Bolting from the bed, he snagged her around the waist as she made her way to the open door. He turned her to face him. Unable to stop himself, he claimed her mouth. He swept his tongue across her bottom lip, licking and teasing before thrusting inside. It tangled with hers. The sweet taste of myrrh pulling a groan from his chest. His tiger prowled, pushing him to take her back to bed, claiming her once more. He broke off the kiss, panting heavily. Once he caught his breath, he looked into her soft, golden eyes. “I’m sorry. I was in my head a bit too much.”

Her hands fisted on his chest like she was restraining herself from touching him more. Part of him wished she wouldn’t stop from exploring his body. He was fascinated with her touch. The other part knew they needed to talk at some point. “I can understand. This is all new for both of us.”

“Yes, it is. I didn’t think I would ever feel the mating pull. As far as I was concerned, I had a mate in Sasha. Once she died, I never expected to feel anything ever again.”

She frowned. Her brow dipping and nose crinkling slightly. It was damn cute on her. “I see. To be honest, I didn’t think I would have a mate—ever.”

The statement took him by surprise. She was a beautiful woman. Tall, lithe with gently rounded curves. She had a gorgeous, easy smile that lit her face up. He knew she was in the top of her field, and a well-regarded authority on hybrids and development. The fact that she was a hybrid shouldn’t make a difference. “Why do you say that?”

“My biggest reason was my age. I’m twenty-nine. I’m at the upper limit most experts say a shifter will find a mate.” She sounded so damn logical when she said it, but if that were the case…

“What about me then? I’m thirty-two. Going off your logic, I shouldn’t feel anything. I can tell you for a fact, I feel far from nothing.”

Carolline dropped her hands from his chest. She pursed her lips in contemplation. “It isn’t that you shouldn’t feel anything. I think finding a mate after thirty gets overlooked. The statistics for it aren’t there to compare. We’re all raised on the same old theory you must find a mate before a certain age. If you don’t, your life is incomplete and you’ve failed.” She held out a hand to him. He didn’t waste any time threading their fingers together. They left the bedroom and made their way to the kitchen as she talked. “The one thing stressed above all others is that the ability to procreate goes dormant after age thirty. Or so they say. They aren’t clear in the teachings about whether it is the man or woman or both. Of course, all their information is based on purebred shifters. I’ve been talking with a colleague back East about doing a similar study using hybrids. There are so many variables we could use, which is why we haven’t started yet.”

Devon didn’t hear much after Carolline pointed out the flaw in the shifter-procreation-after-thirty theory, and his realization that she hadn’t even reached the magical age. He glanced down at her flat stomach. If it was based on the woman’s age, then there was a good chance she was already carrying his child.

The thought brought him up short as they entered the kitchen. He stopped moving, and she came to a halt when he didn’t come with her. Arm stretched out between them, she looked back at him, silent question on her face. He shook his head and plastered on a smile. Murmuring it was nothing as he joined her at the table and sat down with his family.

What the hell would he do if she were pregnant? He’d thought that part of his life was over. He already had three kids to raise, and never entertained the idea of having more. But then, he didn’t know he had a mate out in the world, so why would it occur to him? There was so much to consider. So much to talk about. For now, though, he was going to enjoy breakfast with his family.