Oliver
“I should go.”
Anna’s words hang in the air, dangling like a spider from a web. I don’t say anything right away. Instead, I pull her closer to myself, selfishly trying to get another minute or two with her in my arms.
When she leaves, anything could happen, but as long as she’s right here, we’re locked in this moment together, and I don’t want to lose that. I want her to stay right here, want her to stay right with me. I want her to be right here in my arms.
I want her.
All of her.
And maybe that makes me selfish. In fact, I know it makes me selfish. I don’t know her. I don’t own her. I’m not committed to her, but something deep inside of me wants to be. I want to be connected to Anna. I want to be a part of her.
She’s your mate.
The thought rushes through my brain – or maybe my heart – and back out again, but the damage is done.
I don’t believe in mates.
The idea of mates is a fairytale, at least for me. Yeah, my friends may have found their true loves and that’s great for them. I’ve never seen Ronan and Landon quite as happy as they are when they’re with their darlings, but that doesn’t mean I’m convinced “mates” exist.
When you’re a shifter, you’re already kind of on the outside. You already have kind of a hard time. People aren’t necessarily going to like you. If you’re raised in a shifter community and are only later exposed to the human world, you’re probably going to be a little weird and have some strange quirks that set you apart from humans.
There’s also a lot of lore that comes from being raised in a shifter world. Mates are one of them. I know that wolves, in particular, place a huge emphasis on mates. They even do this thing where they bite their partner during sex.
Yeah, tigers don’t do that.
What can I say? I’m a lover, not a biter.
I don’t have any interest in physically marking the woman I choose to spend the rest of my life with. I don’t need to do that in order to know she’s mine, in order to know I’m hers. When I find that woman, I’ll know it, and I’ll do anything to protect her and take care of her.
And I don’t know why I’m looking at Anna like this because I’ve never met anyone I’ve considered marrying.
I’m old enough to have had a few long-term relationships. I won’t say “serious” because I never wanted to get married, but I’m experienced. I know how to physically take care of a woman, how to please a woman. I know full well what’s expected of me in the bedroom.
The emotional give-and-take of relationships has always confused me, though, and it’s always been something I’m not really interested in. I don’t like opening up to people. I don’t like them knowing things about me.
But as Anna snuggles against me and allows me to just hold her, I can’t help but wonder why it feels so peaceful, why it feels so right. Holding this woman, who is a stranger to me, shouldn’t make me feel complete.
It shouldn’t make me feel whole.
I take a deep breath, and then I kiss her on the forehead.
“I should go,” I say, echoing her words.
“Time to get to work?” She asks quietly, turning to look at me. She’s still covered in a thin layer of sweat. I put that there. I made love to her and now she’s sweaty. Her cheeks are flushed and her hair is messed. She looks like a woman who was taken care of.
She looks content.
And I feel content when I look at her, though I can’t really say why.
“I should get started on your case,” I tell her. “I have some time before my next appointment, so I’ll see what I can do about getting you an appointment with the judge.”
Anna nods and gets up. She starts walking around, looking for her clothes. As she finds each piece, she slowly gets dressed, and watching her is its own sort of sexiness. Stripping a woman is one thing, but watching her get redressed is enticing all on its own.
Except now I’m just thinking about how sexy she looks under all those clothes.
I’m remembering the way she looks when she comes, and I know I’m never going to be able to look at Anna Donovan in the same way again.
“Thank you for helping me out,” she says, slipping her shirt on over her head. She smiles at me. “I know you took my case on short notice.”
“It’s my pleasure.”
“It was quite a pleasure, wasn’t it?”
We look at each other for a moment and there’s a sort of tension in the air. Will Anna and I sleep together again? I want to, and judging by the way her eyes keeping sliding to my cock, she’s not opposed to the idea. Sleeping with a client is a horrible idea, which is why I never do it, but she’s different.
I feel like it’s fine to make an exception for Anna.
It’s totally fine to let my guard down just this once.
“So what happens now?” She’s slipping her boots on and I realize I should get dressed, too. Clothes. Clothes are good. I find my shirt and pull it on. Then I start looking around for my boxers.
“I’ll see what I can do about getting you an appointment with a judge. If we’re lucky, he’ll be able to see you in the next month. Then you can contest the trust. We’ll argue that the clause is outdated and was possibly slipped in without your father’s knowledge.”
“And if we’re not lucky?”
I sigh as I wiggle into my jeans. I don’t want to think about what’s going to happen to Anna if we don’t get an appointment with the judge, or if the judge won’t demand the conditions of the trust be altered. A tiger clause is ridiculous. It’s absurd. It’s a terrible thing to put into a trust and it’s awful that Anna is dealing with this.
“If we’re not lucky, then there’s only one way you’re getting your trust,” I tell her with a little growl. I’m more upset than I should be about her situation. It’s not fair to her. She’s sweet and innocent. She doesn’t deserve what’s happening.
“Getting married to a shifter,” she says with a sigh. She’s finished getting dressed and is sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for me to finish. I slip my shoes on and stand up, looking at her.
“Getting married to a shifter,” I repeat.
“Guess it’s time for me to download Turntable,” she says. “’Cause I’m pretty sure I just ran out of luck.”