“Why yes, yes I am.”

“That could come in really handy,” Bethany admitted.

“No it wouldn’t,” Drake grumbled.

Jen laughed. “Bethany, you can be my co-writer. Take notes. In fact, we can include a chapter on all that stuff you, me, and Red chitchatted about. Is your face bright red? I bet your face is bright red. Did you tell your mate that I told you all about ora—”

“Okay, thanks Jen. I totally won’t feel guilty. Be safe!” Bethany said quickly and then ended the call.

“What was she talking about?” Drake asked. “What did she tell you all about?”

“I don’t think we need to get into that right now,” Bethany said, trying not to blush furiously.

“So what do you think we do need to get into right now?” Drake asked her with a crooked smile plastered on his handsome face.

“I’m thinking I need to get into the shower.” Bethany started to climb out of the bed but stopped when Drake snagged her arm. She looked over her shoulder at him and couldn’t help but return his cheeky grin.

“Need some help?”

For a heartbeat she couldn’t speak. Flashes of what that could lead to and the things Jen and Jacque had explained to her ran through her mind before she had to time to block her thoughts. Drake sucked in a ragged breath and that was all it took to pull her from her fantasy. She couldn’t even look at him as she yanked her arm free and ran for the bathroom. She shut the door and had it locked before she heard his palm hit the wood hard enough to shake the wall.

“Bethany,” he rasped. To her surprise, beneath the desire, she could also feel his frustration and even a little bit of anger.

What could he possibly be angry about? she thought as she quickly undressed and turned on the water. The shower spray came out strong and was hot in no time, but it didn’t drown out her mate’s commands for her to open the door. Yeah, like that was going to happen.

“Bethany, we need to talk about this,” Drake called. His voice was rough with his wolf.

Oh, they most definitely did not need to talk about it. Before she’d talked to the girls, she hadn’t been embarrassed, but that was because she was too ignorant to be embarrassed. Now that she knew what went on between mates, there was no way she could talk about it with Drake and not turn the color of a tomato.

He continued to call out to her through the door but she continued to ignore him. She’d stay in the bathroom the whole day if she had to.

“I will come in there and drag you out if I have to,” he growled at her.

“Gah!” she huffed. Why couldn’t she remember to shut the bond down when she was thinking about things she didn’t want Drake to see?

“Because you should want me to see everything you think. You’re my mate. I should know everything about you.”

“Ha!” Bethany called out. “That is not going to happen. A person deserves some privacy, even from her mate.”

Drake growled at her. “So you don’t mind if there are things that I don’t tell you?”

Bethany once again thought about the things Jen told her and felt her skin heat. “Nope, I don’t mind one bit.”

Drake was fighting his wolf with everything he had. Now that he and Bethany had completed the Blood Rites, his wolf was chomping at the bit to do the mate ceremony and complete the bond in every way. He wanted their mate with a ferocity that surprised even the man, not that Drake didn’t crave her with every cell in his body as well.

The things that had run through her mind, the things Jen—he growled at the Alpha female’s name—had told his mate, made even him blush. What on earth had they talked about after he left her in the library two nights ago? He knew that she was going to ask them questions about the physical side of the relationship between true mates, but he had no clue Jen and Jacque would be so incredibly thorough.

As he stood at the bathroom door with his forehead pressed against the wood, and his hands on either side of his face, he fought the drive to remove the obstacle between him and what was his. He bit back the rising growl and frustration over not being able, once again, to touch his mate.

“Bethany,” his wolf rumbled as he pulled his head back only to thump his forehead back against the door.

He heard her sigh as she stepped under the spray of the shower. That sigh interrupted the concentration it had been taking him to hold onto control of the beast. Before he could register what he was doing, Drake twisted the doorknob and broke it as if it were nothing more than a toy. He pushed the door open with such force that it smacked against the wall and rebounded off. Drake didn’t even notice it hit his shoulder as he turned and stared at the shower curtain. He couldn’t see anything but her shadow, but it was the loveliest shadow he’d ever seen.

“Mine,” he breathed out as he took a step forward.

“Drake?” Bethany called out. She pulled the shower curtain aside just enough to poke her head out. Her eyes widened when she saw him, but he wasn’t looking at her eyes. Drake was too busy watching the droplets of water cascade down the bare shoulder that he could see. His eyes tracked the water and his mind ran with images of his tongue chasing after them.

He knew that she could feel his need and hear his thoughts through the bond since he didn’t have the control to block her. To his surprise, she didn’t take a step back but instead leaned forward, obviously intrigued by his desire.

It was too much. Her curiosity and the obvious desire in her own eyes pushed his wolf too far. Drake walked over to her and put his hand on the shower curtain. He stared up into her eyes asking for permission. But instead of granting it, she pushed the shower curtain back. His eyes stayed on her face with a herculean effort.

“We can wait,” he said, his voice hoarse. “If you want to do the human marriage thing. I’ll wait for you.”

Bethany frowned at him. “Aren’t we married, so to speak, in the eyes of the Canis lupus? I mean, we have both bitten each other, which Jen said would be completing the Blood Rites. How much more official could we get?”

Did she seriously just say that? he asked himself. Drake closed his eyes tightly, trying to get himself under control. Then, he felt her hand on his face. It was all the consent he needed. Moving with supernatural speed, he wrapped an arm around her and lifted her from the shower. Between one breath and the next they were back on the bed.