Mating Fever by Susan Hayes
Doyle
The only thing keeping him on his feet by the end was sheer stubbornness and his innate healing abilities. Doyle knew he was suffering from hypothermia and possibly the first stages of frostbite on his feet, but none of that mattered right now. He had to see to Tessa. She needed him. His brave, beautiful mate had stayed awake until they’d reached the van, but as Seth had helped them both inside her body had gone limp and heavy in his arms. For a second his heart had simply stopped beating. It wasn’t until Doyle reached through their link and confirmed that she was still alive that he started breathing again.
Fucking hell. They’d only been mated a matter of hours and she was already the center of his entire world. What would it be like in a week? In a year? He didn’t want to think about it.
The twins had gotten things ready inside the van. Blankets and jackets had been put down to create a makeshift bed for the two of them, and the second the doors were closed Seth draped another over Doyle’s bare shoulders. Sean had them on the road and heading out of town the moment they were settled, and Doyle finally started to relax.
He reached for the first aid kit, but his hands were shaking from the cold and his fingers wouldn’t work right. Seth took the kit from him and opened it, laying out everything they might need while Doyle carefully settled Tessa across his lap. It was probably best she was unconscious for this next bit anyway. Having glass shards pulled out of your body wasn’t a memory anyone would cherish.
When it was done, Tessa settled into a deeper sleep, shifting to her human form without ever waking. Doyle curled himself around her naked body and drew the last of the blankets over them both. Seth had found her hotel key card in the bag, along with the painting they’d been sent to recover. They’d pick up her stuff on the way to the airport. Doyle had been impressed by the way the twins had handled the details, reorganizing the plan on the fly, and it gave him enough confidence to finally give in to his body’s demands for sleep.
“Wake me up when we get to the plane. Hopefully by then, we’ll both be healed up enough to make it to the jet without looking like we just escaped from a war zone.”
After an hour or so he woke again, sufficiently healed enough that other, more urgent needs were making themselves known. Doyle spent the rest of the journey with a raging hard on and an irritable tiger pacing within the confines of his mind. His tiger didn’t care that there were others present, or that Tessa needed to rest and heal. All it wanted was to lay claim to her again, deepening their bond and slaking the mating fever that built inside him. Every bump in the road rubbed his naked body against the lush curves of his mate’s body, and he had to grit his teeth and hang on.
It was the longest trip of his goddamned life.
They’d driven up to where the jet was waiting, and then the twins had made themselves scarce. It was probably the smartest thing they’d done all day.
“Tessa, love. It’s time to wake up.” She screwed up her face into an adorable pout at his words, and Doyle gave in to the temptation to kiss her. The feather-light touch of his lips triggered something in his mate, who woke with a feral growl that made his cock grow even harder. Her lips parted beneath his and her tongue flicked out to taste his lips. “Mate,” she said, the words buried in another growl of need.
“Yes, love. I’m here.”
“Need you … Doyle?” Her lashes fluttered open to reveal the green and gold of her eyes, staring up at him with slowly fading confusion.
“Hello, beautiful.” He grinned at her.
“Oh, shit. You weren’t a dream.” She glanced down at their naked bodies and then met his gaze again. “Why are we naked?”
“You had glass in your shoulder and couldn’t shift. I carried you through the snow to the van and we got you fixed up. You shifted afterward.”
“And that still doesn’t answer my question. Why are we naked.”
“Because, lover. I wasn’t letting go of you for something as mundane as getting dressed, and I didn’t think you’d want to wake up with a few hundred pounds of tiger hogging what little space there was back here.” He nuzzled her neck, happy to see the spark back in her eyes.
She gave him a half-smile that made his heart beat a little faster. “That’s actually a reasonable answer.”
“Glad you approve. How are you feeling? You up to getting dressed and heading over to the jet? I’ve been told that there’s a meal waiting for us.” Her stomach rumbled at the mention of food, and she nodded, lifting herself up onto one shoulder to glance around the crowded van.
“Where are the others? You said you had a team, and I vaguely remember one of them coming out to help us. He smelled like wet dog.” She wrinkled her nose at the recollection, and Doyle burst out laughing.
“Wet wolf, actually. Seth and Sean have gone off to give us a minute of privacy. I think they know I’d tear their heads off if I caught them looking at you while you got dressed.”
“Seriously? I don’t know much about shifters, but I do know that they aren’t much for worrying about nudity.” She glanced down at him as if making a point, but he couldn’t help but see the flash of emerald fire as she responded to the sight of his body. Fuck. At this rate he was going to skip eating and move straight to devouring her, here and now.
“No one sees you naked but me. Not now. Not ever.” He leaned in and slanted a hard kiss to her sweet mouth. “You’re mine, Tessa. And I don’t share. At all.”
