DAVE
Marked Territory
Morning arrives with the weight of new awareness—Kat's presence in my mind like warm honey, her body pressed against mine in sleep that's anything but innocent. The mate bond pulses between us, raw and new, letting me feel her dreams like echoes of sensation. My hand traces the mark on her neck, the one that matches the throb on my own throat, and she stirs with a sound that goes straight to parts of me that apparently didn't get the memo about exhaustion.
"Mmm. Again?" Her voice carries sleep-rough amusement. "Someone's making up for lost time."
"Twenty-nine years of lost time." I press my mouth to her shoulder, tasting salt and satisfaction. "Going to take a while to catch up."
"We have interviews in an hour."
"Then we have fifty-nine minutes."
Her laugh tran
