I didn’t bother to deny that since I wasn’t embarrassed by it. Fated mates tended to be possessive by nature, and I assumed that Trinity wouldn’t appreciate the idea of another woman flirting with me. “I’m open to suggestions.”
“How about we ditch the fishing poles and let our animals out?” She wagged her brows. “My tiger would love to spend some time with your wolf.”
Fur brushed the inside of my skin. “I fucking love that idea.”
I moved to the back of the boat and started up the motor, cranking it as fast as we could go. We’d already spent several hours on the water, which was longer than I’d expected Trinity to last. “You seemed to enjoy fishing even though we barely caught anything.”
“It was more fun than I thought it would be,” she admitted with a smile. “Just you and me without any interruptions except for a nibble from a fish every once in a while.”
I refrained from pointing out that with the hectic pace of her life in New York City, there were bound to be plenty of roadblocks in the way of us getting one-on-one time together. I didn’t want to pressure her about the possibility of staying in Timber Ridge, especially not when she was being such a good sport about me showing her around. But I was curious about one thing. “What do you do when your tiger needs to run? I can’t imagine New York has many places where it’s safe to shift.”
“The city, no. But the state, yes.” She tossed a line onto the dock when I pulled the boat alongside the wood structure. “My family has some property Upstate that we use for monthly runs.”
Timber Ridge offered shifters a fuck ton more freedom than that. We didn’t have to wait for pack runs if we wanted to shift. As long as we stayed on pack land—which we had in abundance—we could go for a run pretty much whenever we wanted. I had a difficult time picturing a world where I only let my wolf out once a month. “Is that the only opportunity you get to shift?”
“No, I go up there by myself sometimes when my tiger is antsy.” As we loaded our stuff in my truck, she described her family’s property. By the time she was done, I was looking forward to seeing the land for myself. At least if we ended up living in the big city, I’d have somewhere to escape to when we were able to get away.
I scanned our surroundings to confirm nobody was nearby before asking, “Is your tiger ready to come out and play now?”
“Heck yes!” Her smile was blinding as she kicked off her shoes and tossed them onto the passenger seat. I moved around to her side of the truck, standing behind her so she was blocked from sight by my body and the door. Even though I was certain that nobody was around, I was still driven to protect my gorgeous mate. Plus, sticking close meant I was able to trail my finger down her spine when she whipped her shirt over her head. My gaze dropped to her tits when she turned to face me. “Hey, you were the one who said we couldn’t have sex out here. Get out of those clothes and shift before you start something you’re not willing to finish.”
“Trust me, I sure as fuck am going to finish this.” I claimed her mouth in a deep kiss before forcing myself to step back. “Just not until we’re back home.”
“Then we better hurry up and shift because I’m looking forward to letting our human sides play after our animals have had their fun.” It didn’t take long for her to strip out of the rest of her clothes, but I went slower with mine because I wanted to have a little time with her tiger before I shifted.
I was down to my jeans and T-shirt when she called her tiger forward. Cracking and popping sounds filled the air as her human form retreated, and her animal dropped to her paws in front of me. Her tail swished as she circled around me, rubbing her fur against my legs. “So fucking gorgeous.”
When she let out a little purr, my wolf pushed to be let out. He was impatient to have some time with his mate. I gave her a quick rub behind her ears before stripping down and shifting. Once I was in my wolf form, she bumped into my side and took off. I chased after her, my tail wagging as we took turns pouncing on each other before darting away. We spent more than an hour playing in the woods before we shifted back again, got dressed, and headed back home. After I pulled into my driveway, I grabbed most of the fishing gear out of the truck bed and followed Trinity up the steps to the front door. When she unexpectedly stopped, I almost bumped into her.
“What’s that?” she asked, pointing at a big box on the porch.
I set everything I was carrying in the corner and rubbed my hands together with a grin. “That is a coffee maker that can make lattes.”
“Really?” Her eyes widened in surprise.
“Yup.” I nodded before bending down to pick up the box. “I know how much you miss being able to go to your favorite coffee shop each morning, so I thought I’d help you get your caffeine fix the way you like it while you’re here.”
Her plump lips formed a perfect O, reminding me of what they looked like when they were wrapped around my dick. But all thoughts of sex fled my brain when a tear spilled down her cheek. Setting the box back down again, I pulled her into my arms. “I’m sorry, kitten. I thought this would make you happy, not sad.”
She sniffled and flashed me a watery grin. “Oh, it did. These are tears of happiness because buying a brand new coffee maker just so I could have a latte in the morning is so sweet. I’m so lucky fate gave me such a thoughtful mate.”
“I’ll always find a way to give you what you need.” Even if it meant leaving my hometown and pack behind.
8
Trinity
On what was supposed to have been my last day in Timber Ridge, Damon and I were mobbed by my nieces and nephew as soon as we walked through the door of my brother’s house. “Aunt Trinity! Where have you been?”
Damon and Tane pulled the two oldest children off my legs and tossed them in the air. They giggled and squealed while I gave the youngest ones hugs and kissed their cheeks. It took a moment for everyone to settle down enough for me to answer. “I’ve been getting to know my mate.”
“I’m so excited that Uncle Damon is your mate.” Kyla did a little dance and punched her fist into the air. She was the second oldest and tended to be the most outspoken of the bunch. “We didn’t get to see you much this trip, but pretty soon, you’ll be living just down the street, and we can hang out with you whenever we want.”
There was an awkward silence as Damon and I looked at each other. We’d done an excellent job of avoiding the subject of what came next, but we were just about out of time for that conversation. When I’d called Riggs to let him know I wasn’t going to be back in town on Monday as I’d originally planned, he hadn’t been happy about the delay. But he’d agreed it was necessary when I’d explained that I’d found my mate in Timber Ridge. His patience had a limit, though. If I wanted to keep my job, I needed to be back in New York City next week. While I figured Damon would understand if I decided to go back—and would insist on coming with me because he’d never agree to us being apart for more than a day—I wasn’t sure that my mate could ever be truly happy living in a big city.