Sara looked at him hopefully. His face had turned to shock, and Sara didn’t know why, so she quickly backpedaled, not wanting to put him out. “It’s okay if you don’t want to. I have woods behind my house I can walk in any time. It’s fine.”
“Oh, trust me, he wants to take you into the woods,” Barbara laughed. “But you two should maybe talk a little bit first. Seems I’ve dropped some information that you two hadn’t gotten along to sharing with each other yet.”
With that, Barbara moved on, talking to the next group of guests.
“What information?” Sara asked Rhett, and then Barbara’s words replayed in her mind. “Oh! That you’re a wolf.”
“And you’re a witch,” he said dryly.
“Is that a problem?”
“No,” Rhett replied. Then he looked at her curiously. “Why do you sound like you’ve known people who did think that was a problem?”
Sara winced. “I’m not around non-witches very often, and a few times, yeah, I had people ask me to not ‘be a witch’ around them because my powers made them uncomfortable.”
“I hope you told them to fuck off.”
Sara laughed. “Yeah, I more or less did. I’m not ever going to apologize for the gifts that I was born with or hide them from the people I consider friends.”
She was who the hell she was, and she wasn’t about to change for anyone. Lover, friend, or spouse.
Rhett took a breath. “I have no problem with you being a witch, though it would be easier if you were a wolf. It’s always easier for mates to connect if they both feel the pull. But that doesn’t mean it’s not possible.”
“Mates?” Sara had hardly heard any of his words after that one. “Are you … are you saying I’m your mate?”
He nodded his head gravely. “Leave it to Barbara to make sure the cat got out of the bag quickly.”
Her head began to swim, and she had to focus on taking breaths.
“Are you okay?” Rhett asked.
She nodded but suddenly needed to get away from all the other people. “Do you think you’d be up for that walk in the woods?
“Yes, of course.”
He offered his hand, and she took it gratefully, feeling herself shaking a bit as she tried to stay calm.
She was Rhett’s mate? What did that really mean?
She’d never imagined that she might be the mate of a shifter.
As they walked, he asked, “So, you’re single. That much I assumed because I didn’t figure Barbara would have invited me here to meet you if you were taken.”
“Barbara invited you here to meet me?” Sara snapped her eyes toward him, shocked at the revelation.
He looked slightly guilty as he admitted, “I believe Barbara pegged you as my mate the moment she met you. She has a gift for this kind of thing. She and Tristan made the trip out to have dinner with me a week ago, to show me your picture and tell me to get my ass out here to meet you.”
“Oh.” Sara felt in shock.
They’d crossed the tree line, and though she knew that the other wolves were somewhere in the forest, they still felt completely alone.
Rhett stopped walking to turn and face her, taking her free hand in his so he was holding both of hers. “And I’m so very grateful that she did. I hope you are, too.”
Dumbfounded, Sara nodded. “I am.”
“Good,” Rhett said, letting go of one of her hands to push back some of her wild hair. “Now, there’s something I’ve been wanting to do since the moment I saw you.”
“What’s that?” she asked in a breathy voice.
“This,” he whispered as his lips closed gently over hers.
His kiss was completely unexpected. It made her head spin. His lips were just as soft and warm as she’d thought they would be, and a small moan escaped her. He quickly took advantage of the opening and slid his tongue into her mouth. His exploration was gentle and sweet while his arms wrapped around her in a firm embrace. He pulled her closer until her body was flush against his.
Her arms wound around his neck, almost as if it were an automatic response to his closeness. She had been dying for a kiss since their first meeting, and she was finally getting it. It was more than she could have ever expected.
The heat from his body scorched every inch of hers and traveled directly to her core, igniting every primal womanly need inside of her.