“I know we are.”

She’d take every precious moment with Brand. She pushed thoughts of when she’d have to return to her pride away. They had a few years before that happened…

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Brand took a deep breath, pulling her back to the present.

Life had seemed so perfect back then until it had all come crashing down around her. She’d had to leave the man who’d won her heart and the life she’d loved. The solid arms around her were real again.

“My cousin is safe in the basement. He knows you’re here and won’t come upstairs if he hears us.” He brushed his lips over her forehead. “I want to talk. No. I want to take you to bed and make you mine. I know that’s too fast. I know you mated someone else. It pisses me off smelling him on you. It’s faint but it’s there. I want it gone.”

“I had no choice. I told you that.”

He snarled. “We could have found a way. Right now I’m so torn between rage over what you did and relief that you’re here.”

“You don’t understand.”

“Nothing could excuse what happened. I came back from my run to discover that you’d taken off.” He snarled.

Charma hated seeing his pain so much that she flinched.

“Don’t you dare,” he warned. “Don’t fear me. You know I’d never hurt you no matter how angry I am.”

“I know that.” She wasn’t afraid of Brand. “I hate that I did that to you.”

He glanced away, took a deep breath, exhaled. His gaze locked with hers. “Me too. I’ve had a lot of years to think about what I’d do if I ever found you. Bottom line is that you mean more to me than anything else. I’m going to try really damn hard to get past the pain. We were young and we both made mistakes.”

“You didn’t make any.”

“I sure did.” Emotion darkened his eyes. “I should have bent you over in front of me and bitten into you to claim you no matter what you said. You were mine. It was that simple. I should have listened to my heart instead of hearing your damn excuses. You wouldn’t have run out on me if I’d just mated you. It would have been a done deal.”

“It would have made things so much worse.”

“Nothing could have been as bad as spending year after year obsessing over a woman I had no way of being with.”

It ripped at her heart to see and hear such anguish from the man she loved. “I’m so sorry. I don’t even know why you still want me after what I did.”

“Because you’re mine.” His chin lifted slightly, showing that stubborn side of him that she remembered so well. “You’re the woman I love. Nothing is ever going to change that. We’ll work this out. I refuse to do anything less.”

His body relaxed and he lifted her suddenly and scooped her into his arms. She stared into his eyes as he carried her through the house toward an area she hadn’t explored yet. He strode down a hallway with dark, open doorways, to the lit one at the end. His scent was strong inside the bedroom, assuring her it was his.

She glimpsed a big bed, two nightstands, a chair in a corner and a large television on a dresser, before he took her inside a bathroom. He used his elbow to turn on the light. There were two sinks in a long counter that he eased her butt onto when he set her on it. He released her as he stepped back.

“Give me your hand. Your blood is driving me nuts.”

She had forgotten about the cut from the glass. She glanced at it, spotted the red stain on her palm. It wasn’t bad. Brand cradled it in his hand and shocked her a little by staring at her while he lifted it to his mouth. His hot tongue cleaned the small wound and his eyes began to shift a little. Dark hair grew out on his cheeks in a soft sprinkling. She lifted her other hand and brushed her fingertips over his jawline and the soft, sparse fur.

“You’re having a hard time holding your skin.”

He released her hand. “Yeah. I’m really a mess inside right now. Don’t worry. You know I’d kill myself before I hurt you.”

“I know that.” She believed it with her whole heart.

“Good. It would destroy me if I really frightened you. I need to calm down a little and get a handle on things before I mate you. I want it to be good for you but being in heat, I’m barely able to control myself.”

“You told me about this.” Memories surfaced of him warning her of what would happen when he hit those weeks. They’d joked about who would be hornier in heat. “We planned to take vacation time from our summer classes and lock ourselves in our cabin so I could take care of you. I just couldn’t remember exactly when it happened.”

He growled at her. “Now. My wolf is going crazy to mark you so I’m going to mate you.” His irises bled black, his wolf showing. The tone of his voice deepened. “Please don’t say no. Don’t deny me again because, to be completely honest, I’m doing it anyway.”

It stunned her that he planned to mate her right off the bat. “It’s been a long time since we were together,” she reminded him.

“You think I don’t know that?”

“We’ve both changed.”

He cocked his head, staring down at her. “The feelings are still there. You feel it too.”

She refused to deny the truth. “We’re both highly emotional right now.” His soft growl indicated that he didn’t like her words. “I just meant that seeing each other brings back a lot of memories.”

“It does,” he agreed. “But you’re here and I swore I wouldn’t let you go if I ever had you in my arms again. That I’d mate you if it ever happened.”

“Don’t you want to get to know me again before you make that kind of life-altering decision?”

“No.” The determined set of his jaw was something she remembered well.

“We might not click anymore, Brand.”

He leaned in, studying her eyes. “We’ll adjust to the changes. We were happy once and we’ll find that again.”

She wished it were that easy. “I hope that’s true but a lot has happened over the years. We’re strangers now.”

“You couldn’t have changed that much, hon.”

“You don’t know that for sure. I know nothing about your life since we parted.”