"Then what's bothering you?" She set the bread on plates and began heaping them with meat, cheese, and veggies.

"I just thought of something." He slid his hand into the pockets of his leather pants as he faced her.

"What were you doing in Albrecht's suite?"

"He left a message on my machine, demanding my presence. I thought I would see what his problem was before I left."

"Why did you come back?" He was frowning curiously.

Grace waggled her brows. "My bikini. I forgot it. It was new, and I wanted to wear it while I was on vacation. I love swimming in the lake."

The frown eased away, as his whiskey eyes lit with arousal.

Grace snickered at the look, as she picked up the plates and moved them to the kitchen table, before grabbing two bottles of water from the fridge.

"A bikini, huh?" he asked, taking his seat across from her. "What kind of bikini?"

"A little black bikini." She clenched her thighs, the burning in her clit was becoming a bit irksome. Surely to God she could get through a meal without attacking him?

"I'd like to see it," he murmured, picking up his sandwich and biting into it with strong, white teeth. Teeth that had bitten her. She could feel the mark at her shoulder throbbing and irrationally wished he would lick it again.

She ate her sandwich with more determination than actual hunger now. After they finished, she quickly cleaned the dishes. And Matthias was still quiet.

He had moved from the kitchen to the living room, where he stood in front of the wide picture window, staring out at the lake.

He looked almost regretful.

Maybe Breeds didn't like women with a weakness , she thought morosely, remembering how her breathing had seized up. It was a stress reaction, it wasn't like she was terminally ill or anything. To be honest, her climaxes had terrified her. She had never come so hard, never felt such pleasure ripping through her. It was no wonder she had panicked a little, especially when his cock had thickened,

spreading her further and sending her into another, sharper series of orgasms.

"The panic attacks aren't a big deal," she finally said as she stepped into the living room. "They go away eventually."

He turned to stare at her, his eyes narrowing, flicking to her breasts. Her nipples were poking against the soft material of her dark blue shirt, and her pussy was clenching in need. Violent need.

It didn't make sense. Before, she hadn't ached like this, not to the point that it was physically painful.

"I'm not worried about the panic attacks. If you were ill, I'd detect the scent of it." Okay. That told her.

She pushed her fingers through her hair and glared at him.

"Then why are you moping around like it's the end of the world? Did I do something wrong?" Maybe she hadn't pleased him sexually. A man could get a little out of sorts when a woman failed to pick up on something he was wanting but was too stupid to ask for it. His jaw clenched as he inhaled roughly. "You didn't do anything wrong." She nodded sharply. "You know, I understand that being a Breed could make you more testosterone-impaired than most men tend to be. But I can't read your thoughts any more than I can read other men's. If something is wrong, I'd prefer you just get it out in the open rather than making me miserable by pulling the silent treatment. Trust me, I have several brothers, I can handle your delicate sensibilities."

His brow lifted, as amusement glittered briefly in his eyes. Amusement, arousal, and something undefined. Anger, perhaps.

"My male sensibilities are functioning fine," he assured her, the corner of his lips tilting wryly. Grace crossed her arms over her breasts, almost gasping at the feel of the material of her shirt raking over her hard nipples.

"Then what's your problem?"

"You're in pain," he said softly. "Aren't you?" Grace shifted uncomfortably. "Not really."

"I wanted to hide from you exactly what the mating would do to you," he finally sighed. "There's still so much we don't know about it, or its effects. I should have waited."

"Now, you're starting to frighten me, Matthias."

"Do you know that only two of our wolf mates have produced children? In one of those, the wolf's

genetics were so recessed that the scientists theorize that it made conception easier for his mate. The other was so brutally experimented on that she still has nightmares." Grace flinched at the thought of such pain. "The Felines seem to have no problem."

"More than you know," he sighed. "It's true, the original pride initially had success in conception, but after that, the heat continued during the females' ovulation periods, and no other babies were conceived. It's been ten years. Scheme Tallant, the mate to the felines' head of public relations, is now carrying twins. One child has been born to Merinus and Callan, one to Veronica Andrews, and one to Kane Tyler's mate, Sherra. There is one child born to Dash Sinclair and his mate, and to Aiden's mate, Charity. For the Wolves, conception has proved extremely difficult, and the heat extremely severe." His voice was heavy, his expression dark, remorseful.

"I tried to be honest with you, Grace." He shook his head, his lips tightening with what she now knew was self-anger. "But I hungered for you." A frown creased his brow, as he stared back at her as though that hunger still confused him. "Even now, my control is less than it should be." His frown deepened. "I tried to tell myself it would be different between us, but I knew better." Her sex clenched as slick juices spilled between her thighs.

"Do you think explaining it any further to me would have made a difference?" she asked "I'm not a child, and I'm not completely ignorant. Once you told me what you had, I remembered the tabloid stories, I knew I could be looking at more than you were telling me. Evidently, I didn't care." His head tilted as he watched her with confusion. "How could you not care, Grace? It will change your life forever. Place you in danger. It will restrict your life and will turn you into a target for the scientists out there, who are determined to destroy us."

"And that's what bothers you the most," she said softly. "That danger. Admit it, Matthias. You're frightened."

His lips tightened. "I will protect you."

"No matter the cost," she guessed. "You're afraid that your attempts to protect me will cause me to hate you."

He growled. That sound sent rapid little bursts of near-ecstasy to explode through her vagina, as it tightened her clit further.

"That isn't all," he admitted. "They want our mates." He stared back at her, tortured, desperate. "The mating causes a decrease in aging. The couples who have mated are aging only one year per every five to ten years. You will live far longer than you ever imagined, and it's because of this that the rogue scientists are so desperate to get their hands on mated pairs."

Okay, now that was shocking. Grace stared back at him, her lips parting in disbelief.

"How much longer?" she asked.

He swallowed tightly. "We aren't certain, but there's rumors that the first Lion Breed created more than a century ago still lives, and that he and his mate are still in their prime."

"Whoa!" She breathed out, moving to the chair beside her and sitting down heavily. "That's definitely a decrease in aging." Her hand pressed against her lower stomach. "Does it stop after conception?" He shook his head sharply. "Not that we've seen. Conception is so difficult that our doctors and scientists believe this is nature's way of ensuring the species. Until the babes have grown and we see how this aging affects them, we can't be certain of anything."

"Well, this definitely throws a little kink into things," she breathed out roughly. "You said Merinus and Callan have only one child? The reports state three. I remember that." He shook his head. "There are three pride children. The press mistakenly reported the children as all belonging to the pride leader and his mate, and they didn't bother to correct it. They keep their mates closely guarded while they're pregnant, and out of the public eye. It's the only way to ensure their safety."

"And the wolf mates?"

His jaw flexed, a muscle ticking violently just under the flesh.

"No one knows where Dash Sinclair hides his family. Aiden and Charity stay on the Wolf Breed compound in Colorado and never leave it. Their child will be born under as much restriction as we were created in."

"And if I conceive?" she whispered.

"We'll have no choice but to return to Colorado. If it happens." CHAPTER TWELVE

Grace rubbed at her bare arms as she stared back at Matthias, the irritating pinpoints of sensation racing over her flesh were driving her insane. She needed him to touch her, not stand there trying to explain things neither of them could change at this point.

"So, you're regretting not telling me all this before?" She leaned back in the chair and licked her lips, watching as his eyes darkened, his dark cheeks flushing a brick red, as his lips became fuller, his expression darker with lust.

"I should have told you." His nostrils flared as she lifted her hand and stroked it over her collarbone. Every inch of her body was tingling now, begging for him.

"Consider me told," she stated.

"What?" He was staring at her, almost dazed now, his hands slowly pulling from the pockets of his black leather pants. Pants that did nothing to hide the straining length of his arousal beneath them. He was thick and hard. She was wet and wild, and she needed him now.

"Look, this is all very interesting, and I'm sure I'm going to have questions eventually. You know, once the ramifications of the whole mating thing hits me? Sometime after you get your wolfie ass over here and fuck me."

His eyes narrowed, as his hands went to the black shirt he wore, his fingers sliding buttons from their holes, and his gaze gleaming now with pure lust.

"My wolfie ass?" He asked her softly, his voice dark, rough. Grace slid her shorts from her body, leaving only the silk panties she wore, as his shirt was tossed to the floor. Her own shirt came off easily, as he sat down and pulled his boots and socks off. She rose to her feet, and before he could rise from the wide, padded stool he had sat on, she was in front of him.

"You're slow." She knelt before him, pushing him back against the chair behind the stool, her fingers moving for the metal closures on his pants.

"So I am," he growled, his tight abs flexing as she parted the edges of the pants and revealed the straining length of his cock.

The piercing gleamed against the dark flesh.

"Why the piercing?" She asked, lowering her head to let her tongue worry the little ball at one end of the bar.

His hands slid into her hair, a tight groan leaving his throat.

"A reminder," he panted.

"What does it remind you of?" She held the hard shaft, turned her head, and sucked the upper side of the crest between her lips to allow her tongue to stroke around the jewelry with flickering movements.

"Freedom," he bit out. "It reminds me of freedom."

"Why?"

He tightened further as her teeth gripped the bar.

"We weren't allowed piercings or tattoos in the labs. Nothing that would identify us. Nothing that would make us individuals. It reminds me. I'm free."

Her heart clenched, and her soul bled for the pain that resonated in his voice. His freedom came down to his choice to be pierced and marked. His ability to be an individual. She sank her mouth over the engorged head of his erection and sucked him in deep. She wanted the memory of that place wiped from his mind. She wanted it replaced with need, with hunger. For her. He belonged to her.

He growled her name as he leaned back against the chair, sprawling across the stool and the chair cushion behind him. Her fingers stroked the thick shaft as his hands clenched in her hair, guiding her movements, showing her how to please him best.