Mate Set (Mating Heat Book 1) Read online

  Realization hit her as she sat there. He’d started to change into a wolf when they were going at it. That’s why he’d sounded so unlike Grady at the end, and that’s why he’d fled the room.

  Mika was shaky as she forced herself to her feet. She winced as she stood up. She was going to hurt a lot more later because of how hard Grady had taken her. Even now she felt sore and tender between her thighs. As good as it had felt, he’d been rough. She swallowed and walked to the kitchen to find him.

  She wasn’t prepared to find a big black wolf lying on the floor on the rug in front of her sink.

  He was beautiful but Grady was one hell of a big wolf, almost big enough to ride. Her uncle was a lot smaller in his wolf form.

  Grady lifted his head. Black eyes stared at her and she thought she saw him flinch as she stared back. He was panting, mouth open, and his eyes were locked on her.

  Mika only froze for a moment and then walked farther into the kitchen. She let her gaze run over his furry body. He really was a beautiful animal. If she didn’t know it was Grady, she probably would have been terrified at finding a two-hundred-pound-plus black wolf in her kitchen. As it was, she just walked over and slowly sat down next to him. The cold wood floor felt good on her overheated flesh.

  “Are you all right?” She was proud that her voice didn’t quake.

  He just looked at her.

  She bit her lip and reached out slowly. He didn’t pull away so she touched his fur on the back of his neck. His coat was thick and soft. She ran her fingers into it and loved how satiny he felt. Uncle Omar had a rougher coat of fur and he didn’t feel as wonderful to the touch as Grady did.

  “Do you need some water?”

  He shut his eyes. He laid his head on her thigh. She guessed that was a no or he wouldn’t have pinned her down with his head. She hesitated and then kept touching him. She stroked his fur and used her nails to scratch him. He turned his head a little and relaxed more with his head on her lap. They sat that way for a long time.

  Mika wondered how long he’d be in wolf form. Her uncle said sometimes it could take a while to change back if the person shifting was highly emotional or if they were tired. She wondered what had triggered Grady’s change. She sat there waiting and then realized he’d fallen asleep.

  Instead of moving him, she shifted her body a little and curled around his back so his head was still on her thigh and she was lying on her side against him. The rug in front of the sink was a thick one that pillowed her head. She shut her eyes and lay there with the big black wolf. Her lover was currently sporting enough fur to make her a nice coat and he had a tail, four paws, a cold nose, and he couldn’t talk to her as he was.

  Her life was seriously strange.

  She lay there petting him as he slept. Her mind was going over how she probably needed some therapy because she didn’t seem to mind that she’d just had sex with a man who was now a wolf. She had no desire to ever make love to him when he had a tail, but she knew she should seriously be freaking out over after-sex cuddling with a wolf.

  She was living with and in love with a werewolf. Hot tears filled her eyes but she fought them back. The fact that she could never turn into a wolf would always stop him from accepting her. He’d never mate her. The entire situation hurt. She didn’t want to be with a man who couldn’t give back as much as she was willing to give. She’d gladly adjust to anything for Grady but he’d never do the same for her.

  In less than two weeks, she’d leave. He’d go find his little phone buddy and play chase-the-tail-in-the-woods with her. He’d forget about Mika. She’d just be another woman he’d fucked.

  She’d go home and never forget him. Life wasn’t fair.

  She forced herself to shove the painful thoughts away. Her fingers gripped his silky fur. He smelled like Grady, even as a wolf, and she loved how he smelled. She kept hold of his fur as she drifted to sleep.

  * * * * *

  Mika woke up when Grady lifted her into his arms. She opened her eyes and smiled as she wrapped her own around his neck. It was still light outside and Grady was fully back in his skin. He carried her out of the kitchen, her body aching and sore. She wasn’t sure if sleeping on the hard kitchen floor accounted for most of her aches and pains or if they were from the sex.

  “Are you all right?” He didn’t look at her as he carried her into her bedroom and eased her down on the bed.

  “I’m great. Were we asleep long?”

  Grady straightened and glanced at the clock. “A few hours.” His gaze wandered down her body and he flinched.

  She followed his focus and saw that she had a bruise on her hip where he’d gripped her during sex. She sat up and hid the flinch from him—she hoped—as she accidentally rubbed her tender flesh on the bedding with her movements. She was damn sore. Her sex felt swollen and slightly inflamed.

  Grady growled. “I hurt you. I’m so damn sorry, babe.”

  “I’m not complaining.”

  “You should be screaming at me after what I did.”

  Frowning, she watched him as he seemed to look at everything on the bed except her. “I’m fine. Are you all right? You didn’t mean to shift, did you?”

  His attention snapped to her and she saw his eye color go black. “Do you think I’d ever do that on purpose?” He spun and walked a few feet away, keeping his back to her as he ran his fingers through his hair. “I could have killed you, or hurt you really bad.”

  “You didn’t. I’m a little sore, I admit, but it was amazing. I came hard, if you didn’t notice. If you were hurting me, I would have been screaming in pain instead of getting off.”

  He growled low and deep—his angry growl. She bit her lip and watched his tense, naked body. Dread filled her. Was this where he called it all off? Was he going to tell her goodbye now? He’d marked her. If she understood it correctly, he needed her during mating season now that he’d done so. No one would have worried about Grady hunting her down if there was a reason he wouldn’t be able to hunt for her. If it were that simple, he would have shipped her off himself.

  He couldn’t get rid of her while he still needed her, could he?

  “I think you aren’t safe with me. I thought I could control myself but I can’t.”

  She let out the breath she’d been holding. He wasn’t telling her to go home and he wasn’t leaving. “I’m fine. We’re fine. You didn’t hurt me. I’m sore but I was before. We can do other things for a day while I heal up.”

  Grady spun and snarled. He flashed his teeth and his black eyes narrowed. “You don’t understand. I lost control. I started shifting inside you, damn it, like you were a werewolf! You aren’t. I fucked you hard, as though you were built to take it, and you aren’t. You don’t heal fast the way I do. I could have torn you up inside. I could have fully shifted and not stopped fucking you. Do you understand that? Do you have a hidden kink for bestiality, babe? How much would you hate me right now if that had happened?”

  “But it didn’t.”

  “Do you know when wolves are in mating season that we can go for hours? If you were a werewolf, I would take you, come, stay inside you, and keep taking you over and over until I collapsed. In skin and in fur. I’m very dominant as an alpha-blooded male. If you were a werewolf, then my shifting would have forced you to shift with me. We would have shifted from skin to fur together and kept right on going. I lost control, and it wasn’t until I realized you weren’t shifting with me that I snapped out of it long enough to get the hell away from you. I’d already started shifting and I couldn’t stop.”

  Swallowing, Mika kept her gaze locked with his. “It’s all right, Grady. I’m all right. You realized, you got control, and you didn’t hurt me. I’m fine, so calm down.”

  He shook his head and spun away to present her with his back again. “I can’t. I wish to God I hadn’t had to mark you. I can fuck other women if I have to but I know you’re carrying my mark. My inner beast wants you. My animal side won’t be satisfied unless it’s you I’