Shifted Plans (10 page)

She walked away, through the living room and an open doorway into what he assumed
would be her bedroom.
Fuck, her bed
. He groaned softly at the vision playing. She would be next to her bed. The place
she slept each and every night, filled with her scent. Would it be big enough for
the both of them? Would she let him claim a piece of it as he claimed her? Damn, he
wanted to tumble her onto it and discover all of her soft, feminine places meant only
for him. All of the places he barely got a glimpse of before.

Tearing his gaze away from the entryway she had disappeared into, he adjusted the
tight fit of his jeans.

A quick stroll through her place would curb the need to follow her. He could do a
little recon and get a look into her life. To his left a short hallway lead to a bathroom
and some closets. At the end tucked into a small alcove sat a cushioned window seat,
perfect for lounging in human or lion form. To his right, the direction Avery had
walked, were the living room and bedroom area.

Declan stepped into her small kitchen directly in front of the stairs. On the left
side were a skinny but tall fridge, cabinets and a workspace. On the left, a stove
and oven combo, a sink, and bar with two stools. All in all, it was perfect. Not too
small and it had all of the essentials

Cool, neutral colors throughout—a comfy-looking couch and chair surrounding a quaint
coffee table, which all faced a flat-screen television.

It would be perfect for the two of them, at least for a little while.

The seconds ticked by as he waited for her to emerge from the bedroom. His lion paced
within, unhappy to be separated even though she stood not ten feet away. He needed
something to occupy his mind, which had begun to spin out of control.

Need. Claim. Mine
. The mantra repeated again and again. Opening the fridge, he stuck his head inside,
hoping to cool it and him down.

There was so much he wanted to say, so much he wanted to reassure her about. He knew
he’d blown it the first time he met her. Ignoring every instinct to claim and make
her bend to his will, then glaring at her for an hour might have been one of the worst
first impressions a guy could make. No, that honor would go to vomiting on her shoes.
A buddy of his did it to his mate the first time he met her. That was way worse than
anything Declan had done, in his opinion.

Now that he had come to grips with his ten-year plan changing, he felt ready for everything.
Moving in together. Finishing up school together. Setting up a home. Sharing a bed.
The first time they would make love, not fuck. Start the mating process in earnest,
imprinting her with his scent. Just thinking about exploring— He forced himself to
stop his train of thought. All it did was torture his already-on-edge lion and him,
making it damn uncomfortable in his jeans—again.

He stared into the near-empty fridge, letting the cool air wash over his face. It
began to work when a sound behind him pulled him to the present. He slammed the fridge
door and turned toward the noise.

Avery wore tiny shorts and a tight tank top. He wiped his mouth, hoping like hell
he wasn’t drooling. Fuck, his mate stole his breath. Everything he liked about a woman
she embodied—subtle, feminine curves, which gave him a hard-on that wouldn’t quit,
honesty in words and actions, and intelligence reflecting in her eyes when she flashed
a knowing smile.

He guessed she figured she needed to be comfortable for what she thought would be
an uncomfortable conversation. It wouldn’t be nearly as bad as it would be for him
to try and sit right now.

Her lavender scent with the subtle hint of vanilla wrapped around him and went straight
to his dick, making him harder than stone. The remembered sensation of her heated
skin and the way it singed him on a deeper level, pushed him to the edge. He held
on by a thread, an inch closer to not being able to control his lion.

He needed to break the silence growing between them
and
get his mind off all the things he wanted to do to her. Still, his gaze trailed down
her body, snagging on four angry marks on her right leg. “What the hell happened?”

He rushed toward her, picked her up and carried her to the couch to sit down with
her thighs draped over his legs.

One-by-one, he traced the marks, swearing he would kill the bastard who put them there.

Avery blushed and pushed his hand away, covering the blemishes with her own. “It’s
nothing, my fault actually.”

“What? Why would you willingly claw at your leg?” He studied her, allowing his police
training to kick in. He didn’t think she would lie to him, but he couldn’t imagine
her marring her skin. Her honey-brown hair was down around her shoulders, free and
ready for his fingers to tangle in it. Her brown eyes twinkled as the edges glowed,
and she nibbled on that damn lush bottom lip.

She told the truth.

He needed to find out why, but her lips riveted him. “You really need to stop doing
that.”

Her head tilted to the side, brows knitted in confusion. “Stop what?”

“Your bottom lip. Nibbling on it. You do it when you’re nervous or thinking pretty
damn hard about something.”

“Oh.” She let go, licking the offended spot.

“Yeah,
oh
,” he breathed out. He brushed his thumb along her lower lip, the silky smooth texture
gliding beneath the rough pad. Keeping his eyes locked on hers, he slowly leaned in,
giving her time to say no, to push him away. He brushed his lips lightly against hers.
Enough pressure to get a feel of the connection, to see if she felt the kinship and
the tug as much as he did. Her eyes closed the second their lips made contact, a breathy
sigh escaping her. When he pulled away, she followed.

Hell, yeah!
Declan quit his retreat and, instead, charged forward again, capturing her lips.
He ran his tongue along the seam, coaxing her to play. She whimpered and opened her
mouth to his impending assault.

He could do nothing less than devour her. Plunge his tongue in and out. Letting it
tangle with hers when she joined in. Her arms wound around his neck, fingers digging
into his scalp. The bite of pain when her nails dug in, aroused him even more. He
pulled her across his lap to straddle his thighs, grinding his erection against her
heated core.

Something snapped and crackled in the air surrounding them. He pulled back expecting
to see a darkened sky and lightning. The sun shone through the front windows of the
townhouse, confusing the hell out of him. “What the hell just happened?”

“Mates,” she murmured.

He gazed down into her dilated and glazed eyes. “What?” He had never heard of electricity
crackling when mates kissed.

Avery pulled from his embrace, moving off his lap against his wishes.

“It means we’re mates,” she stated blandly. She searched his face for who knew what.
A tinge of sadness reflected back at him. “Don’t you know the signs?”

“Of course, I do,” he couldn’t help biting out.

She raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Shaking her head, she stood up and walked away,
taking a seat on the chair, leaving him to sit by himself on the couch.

Guess we won’t be kissing again anytime soon.

“I’m not a complete idiot. I know the signs of a mate. I’ve just never heard of”—he
waved his hands in the air—“that happening.”

“Could have fooled me.” Avery’s face sobered. “Do you not want me?”

They were back to that, then. Guess they were getting right down to the nitty-gritty.
No wading in the shallow end for them, testing to see if they wanted to dive in. “I
think I already proved I do. I want you more than my next breath.” He couldn’t help
looking her over. Kiss-swollen lips, flushed cheeks. Damn, she was beautiful. He cleared
his throat. “We need, no
I
need to straighten a few things out. I never meant to hurt you, but I know I did.
I’m sorry. I’ve had this…plan, and I am so close to completing it. The night I saw
you at Chugs, I kind of freaked out. There were things I wanted to accomplish. Things
I wanted to do before I thought I would be ready to find my mate.”

Her hand came up in a stopping motion. “Wait. You saw me at Chugs? When?”

“A couple Saturdays ago. I saw you at the bar and was instantly enthralled. I never
scented you, but I heard your laugh. It was a Siren’s call to me. I started to go
over to you when my partner, Mark, pointed out my glowing eyes. To say I handled finding
my mate poorly would be an understatement.”

Declan waited her for get up and start ranting at him. In his experience, women would
call what he did a missed opportunity, take it as a personal insult. Instead, Avery
sat there, lips pursed in contemplation. She drew one foot up on her chair, wrapping
her arms around her bent knee, chin on top. Torn between her pretty pink lips and
the prettiest pink painted toenails perched on the edge of the chair, he forced himself
to look her in the eyes.

Get your head in the game, Weller, and off getting her in bed.

“I thought I scented my mate in the bar the same night, but I wasn’t sure. There were
so many people there, and then I lost the scent altogether. I gave up pretty easily
and went to the bar to order food.”

So, they were both to blame for not getting together the first night. It was a relief
to know in a way. In his head, it put them on equal footing. No harm, no foul.

“I can understand freaking out about it at the bar. I kind of had the same reaction.
But what happened in class? You looked so angry with me. I thought you blamed me for
something or found fault in me.”

“Another case of it being me and not you. I gave my card to Nik and told him to give
me your name if he felt comfortable with it. I wanted to know who you were. When he
called the Thursday before class and gave me your name, he told me not to fuck up
and, if I did, he would pound me into the ground. I didn’t take that lightly. He meant
what he said. I told you earlier I looked you up. In the case of full disclosure,
I did a background check while at work.”

Avery’s mouth dropped open. “You what? A background check! That’s more than looking
someone up, and a hell of a lot more intrusive.”

“It could be construed that way.” Declan tried his damndest not to step in it—too
much. “Out of curiosity, what did you think I had done?”

Her bottom lip ended up between her teeth as she looked everywhere but at him. She
fidgeted in her seat and, finally, after a few more seconds, looked at him. “Asked
Nik about me. Not that he would know much. He only dated my best friend, Reese. So,
he’s pretty much attuned to her and not me. I guess maybe try to find me online through
social media or something.”

“Social media wouldn’t give me the facts, and Nik didn’t give me any info on you other
than your name. Can I remind you he did some checking into me? Called my superior
to ask if I was a decent guy. And no, he didn’t have to say anything nice about me.
I’m not even sure he likes me.”

“Noted, but Nik was looking out for me. I think. We’ve known each other for about
six years. Friends look out for friends. I don’t understand why you felt the need
to do a background check. Did you not trust me to tell you the truth? Are you suspicious
of women? Did some woman jerk you around by playing games and break your heart?” Avery’s
teeth clenched, and she all but growled the last question. Nice to know his mate felt
some jealousy and protective instincts when it came to him. Now, if he could jump
the hurdle of the background check without breaking his neck, things would be good.

Declan shifted closer, reaching out to caress her arm. When she didn’t pull away,
he saw that as a sign of progress. “I’m not suspicious of women, no one broke my heart,
and I would have believed you. None of those things had anything to do with it. I
wanted to know as much about you as I could before we met. Everything I saw said you
were just as goal oriented as me, and I made a judgment call—a poor one—but a judgment
call nonetheless. I figured you would want to finish school and move home before finding
your mate, too. I decided I could wait until I got settled in Mischief before looking
you up.”

Avery’s mouth hung open. Declan wondered if he should close it for her but thought
better of it.

“I don’t know what to question first: you making decisions about
our
life together or you settling down in Mischief.”

“I’ll answer them both, first about Mischief. I have a job waiting for me with the
sheriff’s department. I’ve had it in the works for the past six months and finally
got the acceptance about a month ago. I only need to finish this ethics class before
I transfer over.”

Avery nodded. “Okay, that makes sense. Dad mentioned they were hiring. He’s on the
town council, so he probably had a hand in your hiring. Strange how things work out,
but okay. You didn’t know about me. I didn’t know about you. One thing had nothing
to do with the other, so that’ll be taken off the he’s-a-creepy-stalker list.”

Declan grinned and breathed a sigh of relief. They would have met eventually once
they were both living in Mischief even if they hadn’t met now. Why the Fates decided
to throw this wrench into his plans, he didn’t have a clue, but he would go with it—now.

Avery dropped her foot to the floor. “Don’t get too cocky and comfortable over there.
You still haven’t explained the background check and how it played into your poor
decision-making skills. I’m not sure I want a mate
or
a man who can’t be a normal guy meeting his mate for the first time.”

“I’m a cop, Avery. I investigate everyone and make decisions based on what I discover.”

“I counter your point by saying, repeating actually, you could have asked me out.
Would it have been so bad?”

She had a point, but he wasn’t ready to admit defeat. “It’s too easy to look someone
up at work. It happened to be where I was when Nik called. I pulled a double, all
quiet on the home front, and I looked you up. Mark told me not to do it, but then,
he hasn’t found his mate and doesn’t understand what it’s like to not know what to
do.”