“And I you,” he said, but the way he was smiling at her made her believe he’d known how she felt all along.

“My parents won’t be home for a while longer so we can’t have a wedding—a very simple wedding—until then, but in the meantime…”

He smiled a little, waiting, expectant, eager.

“I…see no reason to wait—for a mating. If this is what you truly want.”

“Hell, yeah, Calla. Haven’t I been hinting at that for some time now?”

Chapter 17

Calla’s warm breath against Guthrie’s ear made his whole body heat with interest. And the way her silky hair felt threaded through his fingers, and the way she was so lovingly pressed against his body.

He smiled at her, suspecting his expression was wolfishly hungry looking, the way he felt. Weddings weren’t exactly necessary for lupus garous. Once they had consummated sex, they were mated for life, just like their wolf cousins. But because of titles or transfers of properties down family lines for wolves that didn’t have a pack, some were having human weddings. Once they mated, they were happily committed forever.

“Would it be clichéd to say that you’ve made me the happiest wolf in the world?” he asked.

“I love you,” she said with sincerity and a smile.

He suspected Baird would want to kill him if he knew how quickly Guthrie and Calla had found compatibility and the need and want to mate. No holding back for a yearlong wait. They were perfect for each other. Oh, aye, they would have issues as all couples did, but he knew they were right for one another.

She kissed Guthrie on the mouth and he was so ready for this. She was just too appealing. His hand slipped under her hair, and he leaned down and kissed her deeply, passionately, no holding back.

She broke free from the kiss, her heart beating a million miles a minute, her breath ragged. “We’ll wait to tell anyone we’re mated, aye?”

He doubted they could put on a charade for very long in front of his people without them suspecting as much. Hell, if he couldn’t hide how he’d felt when his last girlfriend left him, he certainly couldn’t hide how he felt about mating Calla.

“For how long, Calla?”

“Until we resolve the financial situation? I…I don’t want the pack to think this is all about money and our mating isn’t really about what we wanted,” she said, looking worried again.

“As close as we’ve been to each other? No one would think that.”

“Aye, but…”

“Calla…” As much as Guthrie wanted to tell everyone that they were finally mated, he didn’t want Calla to have any reservations about it. “It’s fine with me if we wait to let everyone know until we’ve cleared up the financial dilemma. Though I have to warn you that when I go skipping into the great hall for breakfast tomorrow, the clan will know something is up.”

She laughed and began kissing him all over again—with passion, craving, and lustful need. That fed into his just as quickly. He hadn’t realized how much this would change him. The concern over her financial position melted away, when normally he would have been chomping at the bit to get the problem resolved as quickly as possible.

But Calla—she made all the difference in the world to him. He knew then without a doubt that the she-wolf was the right one for him. Someone who could make him step away from his fascination with the world of numbers and enjoy something a million times more pleasurable. Someone he could love and cherish, protect and play with. Next time they got into a snowball fight? He was taking her down. Forget snowballs. He was tackling her in front of everyone.

He wanted the closeness, the way her belly was pressed against his groin, making him crave her all the more. Their touching heated his blood, sizzling, luring. Her heart raced with rabid expectation. And the beat of his heart kept pace with hers. His breathing was just as uncontrolled as he licked her soft mouth and sank his tongue between her parted lips, deepening the kiss.

Then he realized she was frantically trying to reach the buttons on his shirt and unfasten them. That had him pulling away and removing her boots and then his. He slipped her sweater over her head and tossed it aside. He grappled for the button and zipper on her pants, managed to unfasten them, and finally slid them down her legs, but only while he kissed down her thigh and up the other.

“Why did we wait this long?” she said, her voice hushed as she combed her fingers through his hair. He jerked off his shirt and they melded back together, his hands caressing her back until he reached the fastener on her bra and began to unhook it. “Why couldn’t we have done this a year ago?” she groaned, rubbing her sexy body against his.

He was having a terrible time unhooking her bra with the way her hot little body was stoking his fire.

“Because we needed to make the other mistakes to learn that what we have here is truly special.” The bra came undone. He pulled the straps from her shoulders and tossed it aside. He marveled at her breasts that he had so enjoyed already.

He kissed them each reverently and then, with purpose, devoured the rosy bud on one, caressing the other with his hand. She was so hot, and she was his. She dazzled him. Made him feel like a warrior who had found a maiden to cherish, to love. He growled with a wolf’s primal need, then cupped her buttocks and pulled her tighter, her nails raking down his back like a wolf in ecstasy.

He lifted her until her legs were around his hips and then carried her to the bed. She wouldn’t let go, and that was fine with him. They ended up on the bed, her legs still wrapped around his hips. His mouth on hers, he kissed, licked, and tasted the wine on her lips, the only thing she had managed to drink.

She hadn’t eaten enough at dinner, he remembered. He had every intention of taking her downstairs to raid the kitchen later after everyone had gone to bed.

“You still have your pants on,” she complained, tugging at him to take them off.

He was aroused to the nth degree, wanting to be inside her, to slake her need and his as well. He hurried to stand and remove his pants. He swore it had never taken him this long, even when he was in a rush to strip and shift in a moment of danger. She had so thoroughly turned him inside out. As soon as he removed his pants and briefs, he was ready.

She smiled at him.

“And you, lass,” he said, his voice unsteady as he ran his hands down her waist, snagged her panties, and pulled them off.