Chapter 10

A listair wasn't a nervous male by any stretch. He'd fought for his people, battled dangerous shifters to protect those he cared about with hardly a passing thought. But as he held Maggie's hand and walked her to the second-floor apartment in the small complex at the back of her park, he was fucking nervous.

His elephant was excited, trumpeting in his head and demanding he move faster.

But the rest of him?

Filled with nerves.

He had to remind himself that this was just sex tonight, maybe the barest edge of making love to his beautiful soulmate. But he wasn't mating her, because she didn't know the truth about him.

How could he tell her the truth when he didn't have her heart yet?

He was half in love with her after just two days.

He'd partly fallen for her at first sight, and then a little more on their date last night, and then tonight? When he'd watched her complete abandon as the carousel had swung in lazy circles?

Hell, he was even crazier about her.

But he had no idea if she felt the same way. He could tell she liked him, but she still seemed a little wary, a little distrusting of everything romance-related.

So tonight, whatever happened, only meant they were spending the night together. He couldn't claim her as his elephant wanted until she knew the truth.

He used his ID badge to unlock the apartment, then held the door for her.

Once they were inside the apartment, he shut and locked the door, dropped his badge and phone on the coffee table, and swept her into his arms.

She fit perfectly against him.

Which was how it was supposed to be with soulmates.

As he stared down at her, seeing the first bloom of love in her eyes, he was so fucking tempted to tell her everything that he had to clench his teeth together to keep from blurting out his secret.

Soon.

He'd tell her everything soon.

To give himself time to think before he opened his mouth and said something he couldn't take back, he kissed her, loving how she gripped herself even closer to him and the way the sweet scent of her arousal made his whole body light up.

He carried her to the bedroom and laid her gently on the bed, then climbed up beside her. As he stretched out next to her, she snuggled into his side and cupped his face with one hand.

"I want to tell you that I don't usually do this," she said with a low voice. "And we've only known each other for two days, so physical things seem too soon. But…" She stopped speaking, her gaze searching.

"It also feels right," he said. "Too fast or not, it feels like we were meant to meet each other yesterday."

"Yes," she said, the word stretching out into a low hiss at the end as he slid his fingers under the hem of her top and touched the soft skin of her belly.

"We don't have to do anything," he said.

"I want to, though," she said. "I need…"

He lowered his head and pushed her shirt up to expose her stomach, then kissed her navel. When she moaned his name, he glanced up at her and saw her teeth were digging into her bottom lip.

"What do you need?" He pushed her shirt up more, over her breasts to expose the lace bra he'd felt when he'd touched her earlier.

"You. Just…you."

"I'm yours," he said, his elephant in firm agreement.

If only she knew what he was really saying.

A silent pledge to be her faithful protector, her lover, her friend.

Forever.

He tugged on the center of the bra and realized it had a clasp in the front. With a twist of his finger and thumb, he opened it, spreading it apart. Her nipples pebbled into tight peaks, and he kissed his way up to them, flicking his tongue over first one and then the other before he sucked on them, alternating between them until she writhed under him, her hands twisting in his hair and the scent of her arousal deepening.

She dragged him up to her lips for a kiss that rocked his world, her tongue dancing with his as they kissed deeply.

He undid her jeans and pushed them down, kissing his way down her neck as she lifted her hips and helped him shove the jeans and panties over her bottom. He couldn't help but sink his fingers into her wet heat, sucking hard on her neck as she rocked into his hand, pressing one of her hands against his to push him deeper.

She moaned his name and gasped as her pussy clenched his fingers, and he knew she was right at the cusp of orgasm. He wanted her to come on his tongue, to know what she tasted like when she fell apart.

He slid down her body and shoved her jeans down her legs. She toed off her shoes, and he pulled her clothes free from her body, then moved between her legs and grasped her thighs with his hands. He licked her wet heat, delving his tongue into her core. She tasted so fucking sweet he could come just from getting her off.

He gripped her thighs and tongued her core, growling softly into her flesh as he licked and sucked at her, finding her clit with his tongue and playing with the tight bud. She clutched at the bedding, her hips flexing as he drove her to the height of pleasure.

She cried out his name as she came, and he licked her sweet honey as she chanted his name in a mindless whisper, a deep satisfaction blooming within him.

"I need you inside me," she whispered, gripping his shoulder, her nails digging into his skin.

He slipped from the bed to strip, then opened the side table drawer and pulled out a condom.

When he climbed back between her spread thighs, her pretty pink pussy wet and beckoning, he ripped the packet and held her gaze as he slipped it over his aching length.

He wanted to come inside her, to mark her with his come and know what the pure pleasure of being within her would be like, but he didn't want to betray her trust. He fit the head of his cock against her opening and leaned down for a kiss. She curled her legs around his hips and tilted her pelvis, moaning in a soft and needy way.

"You're so beautiful," he murmured against her lips.

She smiled at him and nipped at his jaw, her hands flexing on his back.

Before she could say anything, he pushed into her, sliding slowly, feeling every inch of her heat surround him until he was deep inside, their bodies wed tightly together. Her head kicked back and she dug her nails into his back.

"Alistair, oh, ohhhh…" She let her voice drop into just a wordless moan.

He slipped from her pussy and plunged back in, his control hanging on by a thread. He wanted her to come again, he wanted to feel her pulse around his dick, but she felt too damn good he wasn't sure he would last.

Grinding his teeth together, he slid a hand under her hips and lifted her, his knees digging into the mattress for balance as he deepened the angle with each thrust.

Swiveling his hips, he kept moving until she gasped and locked her gaze to his, and he knew he'd hit the right spot. Every thrust brought his body in touch with her clit, the sensitive bud getting just the right friction to send her over the edge again.

He fucked her hard and fast, knowing he was bruising her with his tight hold, knowing that he was moments from coming.

Sweat beaded on his skin as he kept hold of his control, not daring to come until she'd come once more.

He wanted her pleasure more than his next breath.

Craved it on a cellular level.

He couldn't stop the growl of need that welled up inside him.

Her eyes darkened and her skin flushed, and then she came, her pussy gripping him like a fist and drawing his orgasm to the front.

With a hard thrust, he pressed against her, catching himself on the bed and lowering his head as his whole body shuddered as pleasure soared within him. His veins felt like they were filled with fire, his skin tingled, and his ears buzzed.

He wanted to fall next to her and cuddle her close, but a small part of his brain knew he needed to take care of the condom.

Gripping the base of his cock, he pulled gently from her pussy and leaned over for a kiss.

"I nearly passed out from that," she whispered, cupping his face to kiss him a second time.

"Me too," he promised.

Slipping from the bed, he hurried to the bathroom and dropped the condom into the trash, then returned to the bed and her side.

He pulled her against him and rolled so she was lying on top of him like a warm blanket. He cuddled her close and stroked her back.

"Meeting you was the best moment of my life," he said. "But this topped that by a million."

She let out a low chuckle and nuzzled his chest. "It's never been like this for me. I've never been so taken care of, so cherished. You're amazing."

"I'm in good company, sweetheart." He kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her.

It was tempting, once more, to tell her everything.

How close was he to having her heart?

But it was too soon and he knew it.

So instead of telling her he was a shifter and swearing her to secrecy, he said, "Do you believe in fate?"

"You mean romantically?"

"Yes."

She hummed softly, then said, "I guess I didn't, really, but I do now because of you. I think we were meant to meet when we did because I can't explain why I feel so connected to you when we've only known each other since yesterday."

He smiled. Even though she was human, she could feel their connection. It was the first step to winning her heart.

"I feel the same way."

He couldn't wait for the moment that she held his heart, that they were both in love and he could tell her everything. Lying to her, no matter how noble and important it was, made him feel dirty. And that was no way to feel after such an amazing night together. They drifted off to sleep a little bit later after talking in that soft, sleepy way about what the future might bring.

Love.

And soon, he hoped, the truth. So he could tell her everything and bring her to his real home and share his life with her.