Innocent eyes stared into mine with just the right amount of confusion in their depths. “What are you talking about?”
“You like me, and you want to date me. But it wouldn’t look good if you were hanging around with a married woman.” I shrugged a shoulder and took a bite of my cupcake. “That was good thinking. I’ll go on a date with you once my legs aren’t so sore. I won’t be doing much for a while.”
Wolfe stared down at me, his head cocked in suspicion.
Theron muttered, “Wolfe, you seriously have no game. I thought you’d eventually grow out of the awkward stage and learn how to talk to a woman, but you never did. I have no idea how you managed to fuck so many—”
“Not the time, Theron!” Wolfe barked over his shoulder, cutting off the king’s unthinking words. Those golden eyes returned to mine. He hedged, “So…what do you like to do for fun?”
My chin trembled so badly, my stomach pinched from trying to keep my laughter buried down in my chest. Theron was right. The wolf-man had little game. I leaned forward, and whispered, “Why don’t we discuss this when we’re not surrounded by a bunch of dead bodies?”
Wolfe’s regard took in all the chamber doors. “I could see how this could be a mood killer.”
“Not for you, huh?”
“Not at all.” His nose twitched. “It does smell awful, though. A shifter’s nose isn’t always a good thing.”
I tapped on his hand still holding the cupcake. “Put that by your nose. It’ll all be better.”
Surprisingly, he did what I said.
He never ate the damned thing.
He merely kept it up to his nose like a mask.
* * *
“Everyone, stay back,” Theron ordered, stepping away from the metal table where the seer’s body lay. “He’s waking up.”
Wolfe grabbed my hand and jerked me up to my feet. He tossed his uneaten cupcake on the chair and yanked me to the far corner where Poppy had already been pacing for the last twenty minutes. The regeneration process hadn’t taken that long. Wolfe’s strong fingers intertwined with mine, keeping me firmly by his side.
The black bag covering half of Cassander’s body twitched down by his feet. It moved again by his knees. It jerked by his hands.
Cassander’s head shot up off the table, his blinking eyes staring down at his body. It took him a moment to focus. And then his eyes shut, and his head flopped back down on the metal table.
His groan filled the air, then his flat words. “Why do they always put me in a damn bag?”
Cassander’s nose twitched, then his head turned instantly to Theron. Confusion coated his features. “Dad? Why am I in a bag in your morgue?”
Theron held perfectly still, though his eyes filled with tears. “Son, I’m going to ask you a series of questions. I want you to answer them the best you can.”
“Alright.” Cassander blinked, taking notice of us behind Theron in the far corner, not coming any closer. He stared directly at Poppy, his gunmetal eyes traveling over her person carefully. “Why do they look that way?”
“I’ll be asking the questions.” Theron brought the seer’s focus back on him with a snap of his fingers…his gun hidden behind his back in his other hand. “What is your name?”
“Cassander.”
“How long have you been alive?”
“Almost two hundred years. My birthday is coming soon.”
“Who was your brother?”
“Godric.”
“How do you feel when I say the name Joshua Striker?”
Cassander’s lips curled over his teeth. “I want to hurt him.”
“How did you break your arm when you were five years old?”
“A car hit me.”
Theron swallowed hard, and then ordered, “Pull your left hand out of the bag and light up your magic just enough to see it.”
Still utterly confused, Cassander raised his arm out of the bag and forced his power to ignite. White. White power radiated in the palm of his hand, not black like Joshua Striker’s, no darkness discernible.
Theron stifled a sob with the back of his free hand, his words muffled as he spoke. “Power your eyes for me.”
Cassander’s eyes suddenly turned white.
Completely white, no color to be found anywhere.
“Okay, shut it down, son,” Theron whispered.
Cassander let his power fade away. “Dad, you want to tell me what’s going on now?” One of his brows lifted and his nostrils flared. “And why do you have your favorite gun hidden behind your back?”
Theron stopped hiding the weapon, hot tears now tracking down his face. “What’s the last thing you remember? Before you woke up and found yourself in my morgue.”
Cassander turned his attention to the ceiling, staring at the square ceiling tiles. His lips frowned ever so subtly the longer he took to answer. He murmured, “Give me a moment. This is harder than normal to remember.” He lifted his hand and rubbed at his chest, right over where the wound had been. “There was some kind of fight. Maybe you and Ms. Carvene were there, too.”
I grinned in silence. It was him.
He hadn’t called her Poppy.
“What else?’’ Theron gently prodded.
“Joshua Striker was there. I can see that clearly.”
Theron grunted in agreement.
“And Wolfe’s mate was there lying on the ground.”
My head wobbled on my neck as I twisted to the side, and shouted, “What the fuck! Did you know about this?”
Wolfe swallowed hard. “We’ll talk about this later, Noelle.”
“That means you did.” I stood on tiptoe just to be an inch taller. “You better believe we’re talking about this later. You’re going to get an earful from me, and you’re going to sit there and listen to it all.”
His golden eyes ran over my features, and his shoulders started shaking, seemingly trying not to laugh. Wolfe sputtered, “All right. We’ll speak later.”
I huffed and turned back to where the seer lay. Theron and Cassander were both staring at us. I waved my free hand in the air, beyond aggravated. “Carry on. Sorry to interrupt.”
Theron peered back down to his son. “I think you may have announced that mating a little too early. Watch what you say from here on out.”
“Noted.” The seer gazed back up at the ceiling and started rubbing his chest again. “I think I was shot. And I think you were the one who shot me. Is that right?”
“It is,” Theron answered solemnly. “It was an accident. Joshua Striker shifted right when I fired, and the bullet hit you instead.”
Cassander’s head lifted again, his regard on the black bag. “It was bad. Like, deathly bad?”
“You died. My shot killed you.”
“Holy shit.” His head banged back against the table, and his eyes were ginormous on his face. “How the hell am I alive right now? I know this isn’t the After because I’m freezing. My balls are shriveling up I’m so cold.”
“You’re alive because of Poppy. She received a spell from him—”
“It’s not as easy as all that,” Poppy cut him off and marched straight toward them. Tears ran down her cheeks in torrents. “It’s not a pretty story, but I’ll tell you all about it after I get a hug.”
A hug?
The bitch belly flopped on top of him and wrapped him up tight with her arms and legs. “I missed you so much. No more dying, damn it.”
Cassander managed to get his other arm free of the bag and wrapped his own arms around her, rubbing her back in soothing circles. “I’m here now. It’s all right.”
I coughed hard and muttered, “I don’t think I need to be here for this. She’s going to be sobbing. He’s going to be shocked…and maybe shed his own tears. I’ve had enough of the emotional, sad shit today. I think I’m going to start climbing those stairs so I can make it to the top by the time the sun rises.” It probably would take me that long to get up there.
“I’ll go with you,” Wolfe spo
ke quietly, as to not disturb the other three speaking. “I’ll see him tomorrow when family time is through, and it’ll give us a chance to talk. Does that sound good to you?”
“Will you give me a piggyback ride up the stairs?” I bargained.
Wolfe bent down in front of me. “Climb on up.”
It was a struggle as sore as I was, but I made it up.
I only had to hang on all the way to the top.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Go on in.” I held the door open to my hotel room. “The sun will be up soon, so you can sleep on that extra bed if you don’t want to travel back to your house.”
Wolfe sat down on the only empty space on the bed I had indicated, my clothes scattered all over the comforter. “Go ahead and yell at me if you want. I might deserve it.”
I cocked a haughty eyebrow at him. “Why don’t you explain when you knew I was your mate.” I flopped down on my own designated bed, lying flat with my arms all akimbo. “I’m too tired to yell right now.”
“I’m the one who carried you up those stairs. You shouldn’t be that tired.”
“I never work out, and I sit behind a desk all day long.”
Wolfe grunted quietly. “You could start working out with me if you wanted to.”
“Maybe.” I closed my eyes and yawned. “So when did you know?”
“I’m actually still not certain that you are. We haven’t had sex. That’s the only way for a shifter to be certain.”
I snorted. “Unless a seer comes back to life and just blurts it out. It would have been nice to learn on our time.”
“I thought you were my mate when I first met you. Specifically, when you passed out in my arms. Your scent wafted over me right at the end when I took a breath. You smell like pine needles and sweet dreams. That’s why I thought you were.”
“What does some wacky smell have to do with anything?”
Wolfe’s chuckle was so soft I barely heard it. “No one else smells like that. Humans smell like humans, nothing fancy about it. And your scent is two things I love. Pine needles from a forest after rainfall and when I actually manage to have sweet dreams.”
My eyes were still closed, and my body relaxed down into the mattress. “Do you have a lot of nightmares?”
“The worst. My mother stars in most of them.”
“She’s one of the mates that has darkness, right?”
“She is. And she’s a fucking mess.”
“Do you want to talk about it?” I asked honestly.
I would listen if he wanted to get it off his chest.
“My mother is not a topic I like to speak about,” he answered bluntly. “One day she will die, and I won’t miss her. It is that simple and that complicated.”
I shook my head on the bed, rubbing the back of my head against the plush comforter. It was soothing in an extremely odd way. “Sounds like my dad.”
Wolfe grunted, and then queried, “You’re not upset with me for not telling you immediately?”
“It sounds like you weren’t completely certain, so I understand your caution. I’m not offended or upset. Cassander just surprised the hell out of me by saying that.”
It was quiet for so long I almost fell asleep.
“Would you like to see my wolf?” he asked hesitantly.
“If you’d like to show me.” I rolled onto my side and opened my eyes. The wolf-man had communication issues, but I was beginning to understand when a topic was deep in his heart, not only in his mind. “Is your fur soft or coarse?”
“I’ve been told it’s soft.” His smile was full of pride, his features dazzling to the eye. “But tell me if you think it’s not.”
“All right. I promise.”
He stood and walked on silent feet to the bathroom.
A minute later a magnificent gray wolf walked back into the room, shaking his body, and making his fur fluff up around his muscular frame. Gray on the top, white on the bottom. And golden eyes full of mischief. I ignored the sharp teeth that could tear flesh from bone.
Wolfe stopped directly in front of my face.
He dipped his head down and touched the tip of his black nose to mine. A quick lick followed that.
“Oh, my goodness,” I breathed in absolute awe. I raised my right hand and placed it on the side of his furry head. “You are beautiful.”
He flashed his teeth for a half a second.
“All right,” I said what he wanted to hear. I drew out each word for the full effect, “You are frightening.”
Wolfe nodded his head once in agreement.
I sat up and tossed my tired legs over the side of the bed, one on each side of his body. I ran my fingers through his fur, testing the texture and gloss. And there was so much of it. It was stunning.
“It is soft,” I answered the silent question his eyes. “It feels like spun silk. And it’s so shiny! It’s like you put conditioner in it or something.”
He chuffed.
“Wait, you don’t pay people to wash your fur, do you?”
I swear, he rolled his eyes.
“Okay, okay. Stupid question.” I scooted back on the bed and crossed my legs. “Shift back, please.”
He shook his coat of fur out again and then started trotting through the room toward the bathroom.
“Clothing is optional, Wolfe.” I smirked when the wolf froze and peered back over his shoulder. My body ached, but I knew Wolfe could make me ache in a whole better way. “I think I was wrong earlier. I don’t just want a kiss. I’d like a fuck.”
The wolf turned around and sniffed the air.
Not even a beat later, a cosmos of white sparkles burst.
Wolfe crouched on the balls of his feet and pads of his hands, all his glorious flesh on display just for me. He rose slowly to his feet, allowing me the time to look my fill. Dips and valleys carved his flesh in a particular code I’d love to put into action. His toes curled into the carpet and his muscles tensed in his thighs, ready to pounce on me.
He questioned sharply, “Are you on birth control?
“Yes.”
He demanded, “Get naked.”
Chuckling softly, I murmured, “I’ll hurry.”
I wiggled and worked my way out of my shoes and pants and underwear. With my blouse, pulling it over my head, I froze. The blouse dropped in a flutter over the bed. At mattress level, my gaze raked over the shifter now on his knees at the end of my bed before me, utterly naked and totally erect, his body a sculpture of fierce masculinity, all hard lines and curving muscles. His fists clenched by his lean hips, his golden eyes peeking out at me through his dangling hair.
“Lie back,” he ordered, his wolf riding his tone as his gaze raked over my own naked flesh, his dark and seductive charm whispering over my body. I hurried to remove my bra and threw it aside. He grabbed one of the pillows while I lay back slowly, my eyes glued to him as my lower gut turned into a raging fire of pure need and want, all for him. His nostrils flared, his eyes blazing with more heat. “I’m hungry, Noelle. Spread your legs and raise your hips.”
My breath coming in pants, I instantly did as he said. He slid the pillow under my hips and lay flat on the bed between my legs. Wolfe stated in a husky tone, “I may fail over and over again trying to communicate with you, and that will be my fault. I will continue to try to be better. But in this, in pleasuring your body? I will excel.”
I instantly reached down, grabbing onto fistfuls of his hair as he pressed his mouth to my core and slid his heated tongue through my folds, gliding over me like satin. My lips parted on a silent scream, my hips pressing back against his mouth, his hands on my hips gripping me tighter, holding me steady.
Groaning quietly, he found my clit, sucking hard and rubbing against my wet, tender flesh, making me shake in sharp jerks as shots of pleasure swam behind my closed eyelids
His wolf growled, and then he rumbled, “Fuck, you’re going to go fast.”
He yanked one of his hands away from my hips, then two of his fingers thrus
t deeply into my core, my channel dripping wet, and squeezing him before releasing, undulating my hips with the freedom.
“Noelle, you’re so goddamn beautiful.” His tongue repeatedly rubbed over my clit, his fingers pistoning, brushing the spot deep inside. “I’ve wanted to do this since the night you called and woke me up. Even your voice turned me on. Your pussy tastes just as fucking good as it feels. Go, Noelle. Just let go.”
Holding his mouth tight against me, I thrust my hips against his fingers brutally one last time. He was definitely taking me quickly as my mind exploded in sensual, hazed warmth. My mouth opened as I screamed, “Wolfe!”
His fingers worked even faster inside me, shoving harder as my channel gripped onto him, until he buried them deep inside me, crooking them, tickling me gently. My entire body wracked in harsh shivers as he lifted over me on one arm, his other fingers still inside.
My gaze flicked open slowly.
He grinned, licking over his bottom lip.
“Are your breasts tender?” he whispered softly, bending, his muscles bulging in his biceps as his lips latched onto one of my puckered nipples . . . and sucked hard.
I screamed, arching off the bed, my hands still curled in his hair, hanging on. He started pumping his fingers again deep inside my core, harder and more fiercely. He suckled ferociously on my swollen, sensitive breasts, and like a bolt of lightning when he bit it with his blunt teeth, my mind shot straight to the stratosphere. My body shook brutally as I ground my core against his hand, his mouth quickly alternating to my other breast, sucking greedily.
My whimper was loud as I quivered for him.
Wolfe lifted his head, his lips brushing mine in a tender caress.
I lay trembling under him, my gaze quiet on his fierce eyes as he took his finger from my core.
He grabbed his cock to position himself at my opening, my hips elevated on the pillow still, cushioning my lower back. His gaze on mine, his lips softly brushed my lips once more. Holding my eyes a moment longer, he rose in a fluid motion to his knees, wrapping his arms under my legs, holding onto my hips firmly. Golden, fathomless eyes never left mine as he pressed his hips forward, pushing into me.
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