Maybe Dante was right and the bond would help stabilize her wolf. Maybe he wasn’t.

Although her wolf recognized him as hers, she was constantly watchful and wary, perhaps recognizing that he was the biggest threat because he was the only one who could truly hurt them.

There was a chance that in time her wolf would come to recognize that Dante, despite the power he had over her emotions, was, in fact, a safety net. Of course there was a chance that she wouldn’t. But there was no chance at all as long as Jaime held back, was there? So maybe it was time to take that risk and stop hurting her mate.

Jaime turned to the fretting male beside her who obviously wanted to ease his mate’s pain and was frustrated that he had no idea how. “I think we should give them a minute alone.” Trey merely spared Jaime a tiny glance. Well, there was another way to get him moving. “Who has Kye?” Instantly he stiffened as his parental overprotectiveness took over and he had a need to know exactly where his son was.

“Go make sure he hasn’t woken yet,” Taryn told him. “He’ll be hungry soon.” Eventually he nodded and left the room. Taryn mouthed “thank you” to Jaime just before she, too, left the two best friends alone. There was someone that Jaime needed time alone with right now.

He wasn’t in the living area, which meant that he could only be in his office. As she swung the door open, an offensive scent hit her nose and she halted. Her wolf growled and flexed her claws.

“…I know, but like I said, you’ll have to come back when Jaime’s…Oh, there you are, baby.” The curved smile he gave her from his chair behind his desk was warm and had a hint of relief to it.

“O-oh, h-hi,” stammered Bitch Face nervously. It was wise of her to be nervous. Having heard Dante’s words, it wasn’t difficult to guess that Bitch Face had obviously hoped to get him alone.

Jaime loved him all the more for the fact that he’d been telling her to leave until—

Wait, she loved him. When the hell did that happen? Okay, it could be said that if they were mates, then it was only natural. But even between mates, love was something that grew over time. It wasn’t automatic. She was surprised that Dante hadn’t sensed it yet. God, she hoped he hadn’t. What greater power could a guy have over a woman than to know she loved him with everything she had when he didn’t love her back?

Or, at least, she was assuming that he didn’t love her back. If she wanted to know for sure, all she had to do was tap into their bond. But she didn’t. That would be the ultimate invasion of his privacy. Okay, fine, she didn’t look because she was a goddamn coward; she was scared to look and then find that he didn’t love her back. It was better to live in a delusional land where love didn’t enter the equation on either end.

Right now, Jaime really wasn’t emotionally equipped to deal with the female in front of her who, for whatever strange reason, wanted to come between her and Dante—which was so not going to happen. “Get out.” When Bitch Face went to speak, Jaime held up her hand. “I don’t want to hear it, I really don’t. Out.”

The female looked at Dante, clearly expecting him to intervene on her behalf, though he had no idea why. When he didn’t, she marched out of the room and slammed the door behind her. He felt his smile deepen as his gorgeous mate approached the desk, hands on her hips. Jaime in full-on Beta female mode was unbelievably hot.

“And the reason you were in your office alone with your ex-half-mate was what, exactly?”

“She came in here to talk about Greta. Apparently, the old woman is giving her a hard time, and she wanted to know if I’d deal with it.”

“That was just an excuse to talk to you. If you hadn’t been trying to make her leave, you’d be in deep shit for being alone with her.”

As much as he disliked that she was hurting with the jealousy he could feel running through her, he couldn’t deny that it turned him on. He leaned forward, resting his arms on his desk. “Come here.”

Jaime almost jumped. He hadn’t raised his voice or snapped at her, but his tone had made that subtle change from normal to deep and dominant.

“Come here.”

There it was again. It sent a bolt of electricity through her, making her clit tingle. But she simply arched a challenging brow at him.

“I want your taste in my mouth.”

Now that sounded interesting. Slowly she walked around his desk, as alert and aroused as her wolf. When she neared him, he reversed his chair slightly and gestured for her to stand between him and the desk. Then he shoved some of his files aside, causing some to fall to the floor. If he expected her to clean up that mess afterward, he was so wrong.

“Lie back.” When she didn’t, Dante wrapped his fist in her hair and yanked her face to his, taking her mouth with a force that made her instantly wet. Then he got rid of her T-shirt and bra, gripped her by the hips, and lifted her onto the desk. “I said, lie back. I want your taste in my mouth.” Finally she did as he’d asked. He removed her boots and peeled off her jeans and thong—all of which joined the rest of her clothes on the floor. He took a moment to drink in that amazing body that belonged to him and only him. He really was a lucky son of a bitch.

Curling his broad body over hers, Dante kissed her hard again, growling when she sucked his tongue into her mouth. He relished the moans she made as he kissed, licked, and nibbled his way down her body, pausing briefly to suck and bite each nipple. When he returned to his chair, he brought it closer to the desk. “Spread your legs for me.” Without a hint of defiance, she did.

At the sight of her pu**y, a low, territorial growl rumbled out of him. He wanted it. Needed it.

It was his. It belonged only to him. He wanted to lick it, suck on it, drink from it, sink his tongue into it, bite it, f**k it…He was seriously at risk of becoming obsessed with it, if he wasn’t already. Her incredible, sinful scent assaulted him and was like a narcotic to both him and his wolf.

“Are you just going to stare all day or—” She broke off and gasped in outrage at the hard slap to her clit. “Oh you did not just spank—”

“Of course I did. I can do whatever I want to this pu**y, baby. You’ll let me have it whenever I want, however I want. And if I want to spank it, I will.” Ignoring the curses that she spat at him, he slid his hands beneath her to cup her ass, then leaned down and lightly fluttered his tongue through her folds. Her intoxicating taste zinged through him, inciting and inflaming him. He needed it on his tongue, needed it in his mouth, needed it burned into his system.