Chapter 388: What Kind of Mate?

Cora

“They think they’re being subtle,” I whispered, smiling as Sinclair closed the RV door behind him, the last to disappear from our little circle around the fire.

“I’m not complaining,” Roger murmured, slipping an arm around my shoulder.

“Are you, little mate?”

I laughed lightly at the nickname, shaking my head. “It still doesn’t work, Roger,” I said, leaning closer, though the camping chairs made it difficult to get as close as I’d like. “I’ve told you before—I’m not little.”

“Sure you are,” he replied, grinning.

“I’m not!” I said, laughing. “Ella’s the little one. I’m tall—I’m not—”

“You’re little to me,” he interrupted, moving his chair closer so he could tuck his face between my neck and shoulder, breathing deeply—savoring the way I smelled, I think. A little thrill went through me. I lowered my head and breathed in Roger’s unique scent, letting it flood my senses.

God, did he even know how good he smelled? He probably did; his sense of smell far surpassed mine.

“What do you mean? Little to you?” I asked.

He lifted his head to look into my face, only inches away. “You’re little to me, Cora,” he replied. “You’re…I don’t know…quite precious. The way I think of you…I don’t know, I don’t want you to be insulted, but I think of you as…very small.”

“What? Why?” I asked, confused.

“Because,” he said seriously, shrugging slightly, “you’d have to be very tiny to make a home out of my heart,” he said, tapping his chest lightly. “As you have done.”

A broad smile stretched across my face, and I laughed, though I was deeply touched. “Really? That’s what you think of me?” I asked.

“Mm-hmm,” he said, turning his head slightly and considering me from different angles. “My little mate, who I carry around all day in my heart. Even when you’re not physically around, I keep you in here. I talk to you, send all kinds of messages. Tell you little jokes.” I grinned. “Do I think they’re funny?”

He nodded, smiling. “Always.”

I slowly shook my head. “Then it must be a tiny imposter,” I joked, starting to laugh. “Because if it were me, she’d be telling you to get some new material—”

He laughed, growling softly and grabbing my arm, pulling me closer. “Get your ass over here, little mate,” he snarled playfully.

“No!” I laughed, resisting and eyeing the flimsy camping chair. It barely looked like it could hold his huge werewolf form, let alone both of us. “We’ll break the chair!”

“Break it,” he murmured, still pulling me closer, making me laugh. “Sinclair’s rich—he’ll buy another.”

“No,” I said, standing and pulling myself from his grasp. “I have a better idea.” Roger scowled, but he let me go, watching as I moved to the camping supplies and pulled out a couple of blankets. He continued to watch as I spread them before the fire and gestured toward them, another blanket tucked under my arm. “Better,” he conceded, standing for a moment before sitting gracefully down in the middle of the blankets, pulling me into his lap. “Much better, clever little doctor mate.”

I placed my hands on Roger’s face for a second, looking at him seriously before kissing him, sinking into the kiss, hoping—desperately—that he knew how much I loved him. Because we fought, and we teased, but God, how I loved this man. All of him—every arrogant, swaggering, adorable, sweet bit of him.

Roger’s arms tightened around me as he kissed me back, taking deep breaths as if he were finally home, as if he’d been waiting all day. I smiled, thinking that perhaps he knew, a little bit. Even if we didn’t have a mating bond we could both feel, that we could pass messages along, like Ella and Sinclair.

I broke the kiss after a few moments, resting my head against his chest as he kept his arms wrapped around me. We were quiet for a while, staring at the fire, happy to be together, happy to have this quiet moment.

“Roger,” I said quietly, thinking of Ella’s earlier conversation.

“Hmm?” he said, inviting me to ask whatever question was on my mind.

“Do you think I’m your mate?”

He laughed softly. “Um, yeah, Cora,” he said, as if it were a stupid question. “I think we’ve made that pretty clear—”

“No,” I said, looking up at him, letting him know I was serious. “Do you think I’m your…your mate mate? Like…fated mate. Instead of chosen.”

“Oh,” he said, his eyebrows raising slightly. Then he grinned and laughed. “Wait, you seriously don’t know?”

I frowned, confused. I hadn’t known there was something to know. “What are you talking about?”

“You didn’t feel it?” he said, turning his head, watching me curiously. “That day out in the forest, in the rain, outside the motel?”

My frown deepened as I grew frustrated. “Feel what?” I asked.

He laughed, a big laugh that shook his whole frame. “Cora,” he said, looking at me with a gentle smile. “You’re my mate. Truly. Fated, done deal. I’ve suspected it for a long time, even though…well, I also denied it for a long time because I didn’t think my mate could be human. But I knew for absolute sure that day when you ran like an idiot out of the motel—”

“Hey!” I protested, slapping his chest. “I was really upset!”

“I know,” he murmured, nudging me with his nose. “But you were also being really dumb. Anyway, I knew for sure because that’s when it snapped into place. You and me, Cora? We’re endgame. At least, on my side. But,” he considered me, gathering his thoughts, “it should have snapped in for you at the same moment. You didn’t feel it?”

“No,” I sighed, disappointed. “I didn’t feel…anything ‘snap.’”

“Well, then mine will have to be enough for both of us,” he said easily, drawing me close and kissing my cheek, jaw, and neck. But I was still disappointed and jealous. It just felt unfair sometimes—the rest of my family got to feel these intense emotions, and I was missing out.

“I almost laid you down and fucked you right there in the forest, Cora,” Roger growled softly in my ear, distracting me. “It was very…intense. It was a nightmare having to carry you all the way back to bed—”

“We would have drowned,” I laughed, pulling back to see his face, wrinkling my nose at him.

“I probably would have died happy and said it was worth it,” he murmured, shrugging.

“Well, that would have been disappointing,” I scolded. “Trading decades of sex for one very damp experience? I’m starting to doubt your judgment here, Roger.”

“Hmm,” he considered, tightening his arms and pulling me close, tracing my spine with one hand. “Maybe we need to experiment. Maybe the rain really was the problem, but the experience in the forest…”

I glanced around and started to laugh, seeing where he was going with this as he leaned me back, trying to lay me out before the fire.

“Roger!” I hissed, glancing toward the RV. “Seriously, they’re right in there! They’ll see!”

“Oh come on,” he growled, pulling the third blanket over us for privacy. “No one’s watching—”

“Have you met Ella!? Of course she is!”

Roger laughed, shaking his head as he lowered me to the ground and lay beside me, curving his body over my chest so his lips were close to mine.

“I’m not thinking about Ella right now,” Roger said, nudging me with his nose. And then he slid a hand under my shirt, across my stomach, moving upwards. “And I’d prefer it if you weren’t either…”

I laughed, leaning back and giving in as he kissed my neck.

“Let me show you,” he murmured, “some of the things I wanted to do that day…”

And, taking a deep breath and covering my eyes—hoping to hell that Ella, Sinclair, and Henry had gone to bed—I let him.