“We were having a nice moment, and I messed it up, but we can’t hide from the truth. We got married, and as nice as it is, it will probably not be enough. Not whenyourenemies sense I am not your mate. Just your wife.”
“Hey, no.” He held her closer. “There’s no such thing asjustmy wife. Not for me. This is as real as can be, and together, we’ll deal with whatever comes.”
“But I can tell you right now, after spending almost a full forty hours tending to your health, magic cannot recreate whatever it is that tips other shifters off that someone is mated.”
“It’s the scent. Smells can be recreated.” Cooper was so damn sure.
She shook her head. “No, I’m telling you. That won’t work.”
He frowned but only for a second. His whole face lightened with the hint of a smile. “You knew this.Before. You know this before we got married.”
Alice bit down on her tongue. “Yes,” she admitted. There was no point in lying.
Cooper continued to smile. “Well, a man could be flattered to learn his wifewantedto marry him.” He pushed her hair over her shoulder, and it was only then that Alice realized they had been holding each other through that entire exchange. The intimacy felt right. It felt like a warm fire after decades of frozen climates.
“Don’t get too flattered, Cooper. I haven’t decided if I’ll sleep with you yet.” They chuckled together. “But we’re married now, so your problems are mine and vice versa. We’ll figure it out.”Or, at the very least, I will.
“That’s the whole point of being married,” Cooper added. “Mated too. Someone who has your back no matter what.”
He didn’t speak of love, but Alice didn’t blame him. That would have been insane, but a lady could still dream, couldn’t she?
“I want to make this a good marriage for you, Alice,” Cooper continued with a low and serious voice. “And if we do end up ma-mating,” he stumbled on the words, endearing himself to her. “Well, I want that to be good for you too.”
Her breath caught. “I don’t see how it would bebad.” How the hell was she supposed to tell her husband she was definitely attracted to him?
“I’m not saying it would be bad. I’m saying that I want to make sure that you want this. That you won’t regret this. We can find another way. With magic, maybe? We could try to use magic to recreate the scent or whatever. You don’t think it can be done, but we can ask around. Maybe Portia knows someone. She knowseveryone, but the point is, we’re in this as a married couple. Together, I’m sure we can figure it out.”
The more Cooper talked, the harder her heart beat. Did he really care this much?
“Well, I’m not saying we’ll jump in the sack right away. But maybe …” She gulped. “Maybe we can start with a kiss.”
He frowned at her. “A kiss? Woman, what the hell do you think we’ve been doing?”
She giggled. “I know we were kissing seconds ago.”
Cooper interrupted her with a kiss. “Now,it’s been seconds.”
“As I was saying,” Alice continued through a flurry of desire. “We weren’t kissing with this in mind.”
“This being sex?”
Alice laughed. “You really need to be explicit, huh?”
“You’re my wife, Alice. I told you I will never do anything to hurt you. That means I want to be clear at all times.”
She desperately wanted to know why this desire of Cooper’s to be kind and respectful to a wife he didn’t choose seemed to come from a place of honor. That was an insane thought if she’d ever heard one before. People…even dragons…didn’t have honor.
“We’ll begin with a kiss.”
She nodded. “A kiss.” A kiss she could do. She could just keep on kissing Cooper forever.
“Okay.” He gave a resolute nod and moved away from her, dropping his hands from her waist.
“What? Wait! I thought…“
“You thought that I would kiss you?” He shook his head. “No. The moment’s not right anymore. We’re supposed to be on our honeymoon, so that’s what we’ll do. We’ll do couples’ things, and when the moment is right, we’ll kiss.”
Alice wanted to ask him what would happen if that moment never came, or…worst still…it came for her and not for him or vice versa. This was a fine mess.