Page 25 of Harvest Magic

“You know. Share meals. Go for hikes. Watch movies together. Go to whatever festival the town is holding in any given month.”

“Of course,” I said immediately. “I know the mate thing makes things awkward, and no doubt everyone has been telling you that I’ll be too overcome with the mating instincts to control myself, but I spent years in the military learning to control not only my body and mind, but also my bear. I won’t push you for anything physical before you’re ready.”

“We already had something physical,” she reminded me, a faint blush traveling up her cheeks.

“I remember.”

Damn I remembered. I’d masturbated at least once a day to the memory of her coming apart beneath me. I’d spent more time with my hand in the last couple of weeks than I had in the last several years put together.

“I wouldn’t mind doing that again,” she whispered to the table. “If you would.”

My cock twitched before her words registered in my brain. My mate was feeling bashful about desiring intimacy? That wouldn’t do. I squeezed her hand and waited for her to look up at me.

“Was that a rhetorical question? Because I’d gladly bend you over this table and take you again right here, right now.”

She burst out laughing. “Okay big guy, exhibitionism isn’t my thing, but maybe we can go back to your place later.”

I was half hard now, and I could smell the sweet scent of Nora’s arousal in the air, letting me know that she was as impacted by this discussion as I was. But as much as I wanted to toss her over my shoulder and run back to my den, I didn’t want to freak her out. We’d have a nice lunch and figure out our next steps.

“Hi Ollie, how’s it going up there on the mountain?”

I glanced up to see Sheriff Jonah Davis approaching our table, walking hand in hand with his mate, Susan Grey. I’d never met the younger wolf before, but I’d heard the stories about the fiery courtship that began when Jonah arrested Susan and pegged her as his fated mate.

“It’s nice to see you in town more now,” he continued.

No doubt he’d noticed that I’d been in town more times since meeting Nora than I’d been the entire time since I moved back. The guy noticed everything.

“Hi Sheriff. Everything is going well. Have you met my… Nora?”

Jonah let go of Susan’s hand to shake hands with my mate and I had to smother a growl. My bear did not like another man touching our mate, even if that man was happily mated to someone else.

“Nice to meet you Nora.” Jonah sent me an amused look that told me he’d heard my bear’s distress at his nearness. “Ollie, Nora, this is my mate Susan.”

We made small talk for a few minutes before the other couple moved away to a table on the other side of the bar, but not without extracting a promise that we’d come to dinner with them some time soon.

“I hate the way everyone in town looks at my neck when I meet them,” Nora said. “It’s really weird.”

“It’s because they don’t scent the mate bond and they’re making sure they didn’t miss it,” I explained.

“When you… I mean if you mark me it’s going to smell?” she asked, squishing up her nose in a gesture of disgust.

“No, it’s more that both of our scents will change when the bond activates, like a blending of our scents. We’ll still smell like we do now, but there will be another layer there. Kind of like when you use one scent of shampoo and another scent of lotion, you can isolate the smells or take them in as a whole.”

She shook her head. “This really is a whole new world here.”

I laughed. “You have no idea.”

We finished our lunch, then I convinced Nora to walk around town with me. To be honest, I was half afraid that once she went back to Rosewater Manor she’d change her mind about seeing me again. We wandered all the way to the end of Main Street then made our way through the park where the town had its frequent festivals, settling on a bench where we could do some people watching.

The wind kicked up and Nora leaned closer to me. I put my arm around her, pulling her into my side.

“Mm, you’re so warm,” she said. “You’re like a big furnace.”

We take good care of our mate, my bear told me. But we need to mark her as ours.

He wasn’t happy when I explained we’d need to wait a little longer.

Suddenly Nora moved away from me, opening her coat and fanning her face.