He walked forward slowly, dropping into a crouch beside the bed. His long fingers carefully stroked back a strand of hair from her forehead and his touch sent a shiver through her.
“Pam. You want me to prove we’re mates, then here’s the first demonstration. I think getting into bed with you right now would be a mistake. You’re still in shock and while there’s this incredible physical pull between us because we are mates, if anything happens sexually you’re going to regret it.
“Still, I can feel how much you need to be comforted right now, and so here’s the best I can do.”
He kissed her forehead tenderly then walked to the opposite side of the bed. He turned his back and stripped off his shirt, tossing it on a nearby chair. The pale light from the dying fire leaked in through the open doorway, brushing delicate highlights along the solid ridges of his body. Pam sucked for air. He was simply gorgeous. The way he moved made her hot and bothered, even when he wasn’t turning sexual attention on her.
There was a huge grin on his face as he pivoted and sank to his knees. “The way you’re looking at me is giving me a thrill. I’ll shift back when you need me in the morning.”
Though she watched as carefully as possible, she couldn’t figure out how he did it. One minute he was a human, stooping low to the ground, the next a beautiful wolf leapt onto the bed beside her. He batted her with his head, blowing warm air from his nostrils as he nuzzled her neck.
Something simply amazing—followed by something normal. It was so TJ. “Goof.”
He licked her cheek from jawbone to temple, a long slow drag that made her giggle. As one they settled, her arms wrapped around him, her fingers tangled in his fur to hold him close.
A tight ball of fear she’d been denying slipped out from inside her belly and unraveled.
How had he known? She’d needed to take charge and make this work. And yeah, she had the major hots for him. But this? She stroked his fur and he let loose a rumble, soft and low, in his throat. He radiated calmness, cautiously rolling to avoid bumping her too hard.
Closing her eyes, she was surrounded by a strong sensation of peace. His rhythmic heartbeat felt perfect under her hands as she fell asleep stroking him.
TJ was still in wolf form when they woke, and his enthusiastic good-morning kisses made her laugh until her stomach hurt. Her heart ached a little since that’s how Damon used to greet her—with a wet tongue-lashing that had her scrambling for cover as he chased her around the tangled bed sheets.
Damn it, her new boyfriend reminded her of her dog. This couldn’t be good.
She pushed him back enough she could sit up. He rested his chin on her thigh, big beautiful eyes staring up unblinking. She’d slept like a rock, his warm furry body pressed against her side, comforting and reassuring.
“Good morning, TJ.”
He tilted his head to the side, his eyes sparkling at her. One ear wiggled and she swore he sighed with contentment. Damn, he was cute. “Dibs on the shower, then you can tell me what you’ve got planned for today.”
TJ jumped off the bed and headed out the open door, leaving her alone in the room. She stripped off her sleep shirt and grabbed her things.
Mates. Werewolves. The calm, contented feeling she’d woken to dissipated a little. How come she hadn’t screamed and run away after waking up with a wolf in her bed?
Because it felt right?
The shower wasn’t hot enough to wash away the rest of her unease, no matter how long she stayed in. Still, she’d offered TJ time to prove his point. Not that she had much choice about getting out of the wilderness without his help. When her fingers and toes grew wrinkled, she abandoned the water to face what the day would hold.
She rubbed a towel over her hair as she joined him at the kitchen table.
The toasted bagels were only slightly burnt. A fully human TJ poured her a cup of coffee and passed her the sugar container, his damp hair sticking up in spikes.
“Where did you shower?”
He pointed out the window. “In the lake.”
Pam shivered. “You’re kidding. The water is freezing.”
“It’s too cold for me in my human form, but my wolf doesn’t mind a bit.”
She took a long pull at her coffee, letting the heat of it wash over her. It may be a handy solution—having two forms like that—but she was grateful it had been him in the lake and not her.
He handed her a note pad. “We’ve all got in the habit of carrying paper around for those times we need to talk with Robyn and our sign language isn’t adequate. While you were showering, I jotted down a few notes to distract me.”
“Distract you?”
His gaze rolled down one side of her and up the other, and suddenly the room grew a whole lot warmer. “You were naked in the shower. Imagining you in there…”