Scorch: A Paranormal Shape Shifter Romance (The Tribe Series) Read Online Free PDF

I didn’t know what she expected. Fuck, I didn’t know what to expect. But we almost ruined everything. Everything.
    I picked up my jeans from the floor and stepped into them.
    “What are you doing? What did I do?”
    “Nothing, darlin’.” I kissed the top of her head. “But all of a sudden, a lot of things make a lot of sense.”
    She quickly wrapped a sheet around her naked body. “I’m glad it makes sense to you, because I feel like I’m completely in the dark. What is this mate stuff?”
    I would have dressed her, but I had discarded her clothes somewhere near the front door.
    “We need to talk.”
    “You think?” Her eyes blazed.
    “Yeah, but I can’t talk to you like this.” I pointed to her shoulder as the sheet fell, exposing her skin. Skin I had tasted and licked. God, she was everything I wanted her to be, and I had to get out of her bed and talk. I had to walk out of her bedroom and talk to her about our duty. About our responsibilities.
    She looked embarrassed and angry. “None of this makes sense,” she growled. “Don’t walk out of this room.”
    I stopped in the doorway. “I have to.” I couldn’t look at her again. If I did, I would pounce and I wouldn’t stop. And that couldn’t happen. There was an order to this. There were laws and we almost broke them.
    “Drew,” she pleaded.
    “I’ll meet you in the living room. I promise I’ll explain everything.” I shuffled down the hall in my bare feet and picked up my T-shirt off the couch. I pulled it over my head, remembering how she had torn it off of me. God, she was incredible. Sexy as hell. Unpredictable. Everything I wanted in a mate, and now I had to wait.
    Francesca appeared a few minutes later. I could see where she had tried to dry tears on her cheeks.
    “Hey, don’t be upset.” I wanted to pull her into my arms, but I wasn’t sure she’d let me.
    “Don’t be upset? We were about to do something I’ve dreamed of doing. Something I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since last night. Something you’ve seduced me into since I let you in my car, and you don’t want me to be upset? It doesn’t make sense.”
    “Sit,” I ordered.
    She glared at me before taking a seat.
    “You are my mate, damn it.” I hadn’t meant to start off harsh. “I’ve been looking for you for weeks. But you were hard to find, especially when your parents lied about you.”
    “They did?” She looked devastated again. “You saw my parents?”
    “Yes,” I admitted. I looked at the floor, remembering what she had revealed about her childhood. “It only made my hunt last longer.”
    “Hunt? I’m not a wild animal.”
    “Aren’t you?”
    “No,” she snarled.
    “Doesn’t matter. The council betrothed us from birth. The king sent me to find you before your birthday. Now that we’ve found each other, we can start the ceremony. Get married, bond, the whole thing.”
    “Married?”
    I nodded. I had the ring somewhere, but I wasn’t expecting things to play out like this. I wasn’t supposed to meet my mate while my head was between her legs. The plan was fucked.
    “We’re supposed to get married?”
    “Yeah, that’s how it works. You become a Maddox. We add to the Maddox line and our families are joined.”
    “But I don’t have a family.”
    “You do, Francesca. And now that I know who you are, I can help you figure that part out.”
    “Oh.” She looked blankly at the coffee table. “But married?”
    “You seem hung up on that part.”
    “And you’re not? We barely know each other.”
    “You were getting ready to have sex with me.”
    She glared. “Sex is not marriage.”
    “Depends on how you do it.” He winked. “And when we do it, it will be both.”
    “Oh God.” She doubled over. “I can’t listen to any more of this.”
    I rushed to her side. “Breathe, darlin’, breathe.”
    “I can’t. This can’t be happening. We’re supposed to get married and bond? What is bond code for?” She searched