“Or else?”

He snorted. “Worrywart.”

They stepped onto the elevator and took their seats. “Gabe?”

He heard a tremor in her voice and suddenly wondered if he’d done the right thing. Her hand was trembling in his. He hadn’t meant for her to be this scared. “Want to get off?” He’d ride by himself. No, he’d get off with her. He wasn’t letting her out of his sight.

She sat. She was biting her lip, but she strapped herself in, staring forward like she’d just strapped herself down in an electric chair.

That’s my girl. “Hold my hand. Trust me, it’s really not that bad.”

Five minutes later, as they hung suspended before they dropped yet again, she turned to him and calmly stated, “I hate you.”

Her screams pierced his ears as he laughed and laughed.

When they stumbled off the ride and back into the sunshine he was still laughing. “Aw, c’mon, it wasn’t that bad.” He tugged on her hand, stopping her as she tried to stomp away from him.

“Neither was being a freshman in high school but I wouldn’t want to repeat it.”

He pulled, hard, ignoring her squawk of protest when she landed in his arms. He kissed the tip of her nose as she pouted. “Okay, so I need to do penance, right?”

She glared at him. “Possibly.”

He took her mouth in a hard, fast kiss. “I know just the thing.” He wasn’t giving her the option of saying no. Not this time. He was taking her back to her room and marking her before the end of the night.

“Let’s go, Sarah.”

“No. Gabe.” She tugged on his hand. “Not yet.”

He gritted his teeth, but the panic on her face held him back. “What more do you need, Sarah?” He gripped her shoulders before running his fingers through her hair. “Tell me, baby.”

Her mouth opened but before she could reply his phone rang. He pulled it free from its holster and answered without looking. “Hello?”

“Gabe?”

He closed his eyes and tried to ignore the hurt in Sarah’s eyes. If he’d looked at the fucking caller ID he would have let it go to voice mail but it was too late now. “Yeah, Chloe?”

“Look, I know you’re probably busy with Sarah but do you think she’d mind if I borrowed you for a little while?”

He knew that tone in Chloe’s voice. Something had happened, and his friendly little vixen was feeling down. “I’m not sure. What’s the problem?” He kept his stare on Sarah, knowing she could hear everything Chloe said.

Not that it appeared to matter. The moment he asked what the problem was Sarah made a face and backed up a step. “See you later, Gabe.”

He grabbed her wrist, holding tight when she tried to pull away. “Oh no, you’re not going anywhere.”

“Gabe? Crap, she’s upset, isn’t she? Have you marked her yet?”

Sarah stopped tugging. She glared up at Gabe. “What did she just say?”

He winced. “She’s…” He took the phone away from his ear. “Look, baby, it’s complicated.”

“I’ll say. Your girlfriend just called to ask you if you’d marked your mate yet.”

He got right in her face, absurdly proud of the fact that she didn’t back away from him. And how fucked up was that? “She’s not my girlfriend, Sarah.” There went that fucking eyebrow again. “Stop that.”

“Stop what?”

“Stop doubting me, damn it.”

“Stop giving me reasons to!” She yanked her wrist free and began walking off.

He didn’t even hesitate. “Chloe? Sorry, you’re on your own.” He closed his phone and put it away, striding after Sarah as quickly as he could. “Sarah!”

She flipped him off and kept walking. From the way she was stomping he was pretty sure she was either picturing his or Chloe’s face.

“Sarah!” He finally caught up to her and grabbed her arm.

An elbow jammed him hard in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Her foot stomped on his, earning her a surprised yowl. But what really got him was when she pulled away, spun and tried to kick him in the balls. He barely got his thigh in the way in time to stop some serious pain. “Jesus Christ, Sarah!”

She got into his face and put her finger dangerously close to his mouth. “You stay away from me, Gabriel Anderson. You hear me? I never want to see you again!”

That’s it. There was only one way he was going to be able to get through to her, and Gabe knew it.

He pulled her tight, refusing to let her go, and finally, finally marked her as his. Her knees buckled, but he didn’t mind. There was no way he was letting her go. The scent of her orgasm rolled over him, soothing both him and his Puma, the knowledge that she belonged to him nearly triggering his own orgasm. He thrust a thigh between her legs, giving her something to ride as her pleasure continued to wash over her. His Puma longed to scream its triumph as his incredible mate finally relaxed in his arms.

He purred against Sarah’s neck, the urge to mount her right then and there so strong he barely resisted it.

“Get a room!”

Gabe lifted his head to see two kids, barely high school age, grinning at them. The little shits.

“Oh God.”

He turned his head to see Sarah, wide-eyed, staring at the kids. They weren’t Puma, and from their scent they weren’t from Halle, but he could understand why she was freaked out. She buried her face against his chest. “I’m going to kill you.”

He pulled his leg out from between hers, his cheeks flushing as some other kids laughed and clapped.

One smart-ass actually held up a Hollywood Studios map with the number “7.5” written on it. “I might let you.”

Chapter Eight

The door shut behind them with a final-sounding click. Sarah refused to turn around and face her mate.

“So.”

Silence.

She licked her lips nervously, knowing what was about to happen. It was sort of like worrying about the drippy faucet right after the dam had broken. “Want to watch a movie?”

“Sarah.”

She shivered at the tone of voice. Oh, boy. Her lashes lowered before she’d even had time to think. Her dominant lover was in the room, and he would brook no refusal tonight. The emotion pouring off Gabe only sent her own arousal soaring.