by Kitt Rose
“You are beautiful, I'm lucky that way, but even if you were not I have a feeling I would think you were. When I touch you, it feels like… like I'm alive for the first time. I can't wait to get to know you better, all over again. To touch you, kiss you.
“I get you have reservations, but please, I beg you, just give me a chance. I can make you happy. Just give me today, and if today is good, then tomorrow and the next day and so on.” He took my hand and brought it to his cheek, the course stubble tickling my finger pads. “Touch me and tell me you feel nothing,” he dared.
I pulled my hand off his face, flexing my fingers, hesitant. Stepping a little closer, I moved in, working up the courage. His hand tightened in my hair and I brought my other hand up, tentatively laying them both on his cheeks. He was right, I felt it. I couldn't deny it. My fingers itched to explore and I slowly traced the bones of his face, his high cheekbones, the straight nose, and the strong jawline.
Growing bolder with my exploration, I took a lock of his hair between the fingers of my right hand, stroking the silky strands. I went onto my toes and twined my fingers through the thickness. One step more and my chest brushed his. With a soft sound that seemed to rumble up from deep in his chest, his mouth descended on mine.
His lips were warm silk. Slowly, he pressed his tongue against the seam of my lips, seeking entrance. I opened for him and shifted, angling my mouth to allow him better access.
The first stroke of his tongue over mine ignited a slow burn in my belly. The heat crawled through my core, flaring hotter and brighter when Ash's arm circled my waist, lifting me off my feet and pressing me flush against his body. Automatically, my arms wound around his neck and my legs wrapped around his waist. With a growl that was more animal than human, he broke the kiss, pressing his forehead to mine, our noses touching.
His breathing was rough and his words were seductive and commanding. “Tell me you didn't feel that. Tell me you don't want me.”
I shook my head, my nose bumping his. “I felt it and yeah, I want you. But right now is different than forever. I'm not saying no, I'm saying I need time.”
He pulled back, a cocky smile quirking his mouth. “Five minutes work for you?”
I grinned, unable to stop the giggle that bubbled out of my throat. “Maybe a bit longer than that.”
The smile didn't dim. “An hour?”
My giggle turned to a full-on laugh. “Just… be patient with me.”
“Liberty, you are worth whatever wait,” he whispered.
Something wild and free, frightening in intensity, galloped through my chest, seemingly straight into my soul. This feeling, so rare and precious, was something I missed. Ash was the only one who had ever made me feel this way. I'd missed it.
I nodded.
Ash set me on my feet, took my hand, and pulled me back into motion. He led me to the river. I remembered it vaguely, sitting on the edge, dangling my feet into the cold water. It had been refreshing in the hot sun.
The water was still shallow and cold, but amazingly clear. There was a break in the tree line upstream, giving an amazing view of the orange and red sunset. “Do you mind if we sit and watch?”
It had been so long since I'd watched a sunset with the backdrop of this sort of beauty. I didn't miss the city, and its constant noise and dirt. This was where I belonged.
“Not at all.” Ash gave me an indulgent smile and hopped up onto a boulder, pulling me up after him. Instead of putting me next to him, he set me in his lap. It was starting to get chilly, so I welcomed the heat he generated and cuddled closer.
“This feels weird,” I said. “I mean, we never did this before I moved. You always had this sort of distance. Well, until that night.”
“I had to. I wanted this even then. You have no idea how often I thought about holding you, touching you. But you were too young, and you didn't know about my world. I wanted to give you time. My plan had been to wait until you turned eighteen, but fate had other ideas.”
I thought about that for a moment, then asked, “Have you ever dated a human?”
“No. It would be too hard to maintain the illusion that I was human like them. I haven't really ever dated, not like you mean. But, there were some Proteans that I…”
He faltered, but I understood. Human or not, he would have urges. I couldn't imagine a twenty-seven-year-old celibate Ash.
“I get it,” was all I said.
Then we fell silent, watching the sunset. Finally, I worked up the courage to ask, “So if we do become mates, what happens then?”
“You are my mate, regardless, it's just a matter of you accepting it and me. But what happens is you and I are for all intents and purposes married. Beyond that, we can figure it out as we go.”
I nodded, watching the sun until it was just a sliver of dusty red, nearly gone. Ash's arms tightened around me. There was something very peaceful about the moment and in the growing stillness something inside me relaxed, opened up. I felt the rightness of being in his arms, and that terrified me. But when he turned me and his mouth crushed down on mine, I wondered why I was fighting it. I wanted him, he wanted me, what would be the harm?
I had known him for most of my life, loved him for most of that. He was kind, smart, handsome, and he loved me. I couldn't deny that when I was with Daniel, when we had first started dating, Ash had been the yardstick against which he had been measured. Every guy had been. And none of them had measured up.
There had only ever been one Ash. And now here he was, wanting me. Forever.
What kind of a fool would I be if I said no?
13
Ash
Libby was quiet during the walk back to the cabin. I held her hand, fingers threaded through hers, palms tight together. Her silence felt thoughtful. All around us, the night came alive with sounds. Most of them were so soft that Libby probably missed them, but I heard.
A part of me wanted to shift, and hunt. The wolf in me wanted to chase after the animal rustling in the brush to my left. Wanted the thrill of the chase and the glory of that first bite. The gush of blood over my tongue when my teeth pierced the skin. But the man in me was only interested in a different sort of hunt right now. One that was just as primal.
I wanted Libby.
With every fiber of my being. I ached for her. In a very real and physical way. But I wasn't going to push. I couldn't. She wasn't sure yet, and Libby needed to be very sure because once it was done, there was no going back. If she left me, I would break. I'd seen it happen. Once.
A Protean had mated with a human, without telling the human what she was. The human had left her when he had learned the truth, and the woman had shattered. Stopped eating, sleeping. Just stopped caring. I'd been there, with Joshua, when the woman had died. It had been a horrible, slow death. And of course, Joshua had seen it as one more reason why Libby could not be my mate.
I couldn't say it wasn't a concern, but I had faith. I knew that Libby loved me. It would only be a matter of time before she realized we were still meant to be. That her leaving so many years ago had only delayed the inevitable.
The cabin came into view around the corner and Libby tensed.
“I hope you don't expect…” she started, trailing off. “I mean, that you don't think that I… I won't…” she stuttered, floundering.
I took mercy on her. “I don't expect anything from you tonight, Libby. We have time. Just relax.” I pushed open the cabin door and gestured toward the bathroom. “Go get cleaned up and we'll go to sleep. Tomorrow we can have a quick picnic with whatever we can scrounge up in the cabin. Maybe take a dip in the hot springs before we have to leave. It's a long drive to Grand Forks, we will need to leave late afternoon. I'll book a room for us on the drive over. How does that sound?”
Libby smiled, her brown eyes melting like chocolate. When she looked at me like that, it felt like no time had passed. I was nineteen again, climbing that damn trellis to get to her, because nothing would keep me away.
“Tha
t sounds really great.” She started toward the bathroom, then stopped, turning back toward me. “Thank you, Asher. I know that this can't be exactly how you hoped things would go. But I did miss you.” She paused, and when she spoke again, her voice was thick. “So much. Even if I'm scared, I do care about you. Just… Please be patient with me.”
She'd requested patience often enough, that I was starting to wonder if the person she was really pleading with was herself. If it was just a reminder that she needed to give it time. If she wasn't secretly thinking about running.
The thought made my heart pound hard in my chest, knocking against my ribs painfully.
“You have all the time in the world, Lib. I would never force you,” I said. Trying to quiet my own doubts as I promised her.
I wasn't one who feared much, I'd gone head to head with dragons after all. But I was very much afraid of Libby slipping through my fingers. But I hadn't lied. I would never force her. Would rather spend the rest of my life alone, unable to become what I knew I'd been born to be, than to force her.
Libby slipped into the bathroom, the door closing behind her with a near silent click. I exhaled, letting the tension leak from me. She was nervous and doubtful enough. I needed to be strong and confident enough for us both.
With that thought in mind, I lit a few candles and turned off the harsh overhead light. The atmosphere in the room softened, turning rustic and romantic instead of rundown and bare.
The shower turned on, and I heard the curtain open, then close again. Libby would be awhile so I went to the kitchen to take stock. There wasn't much. Since Sarah had been born, no one had made use of the cabin. It was a shame, but being that it had been empty and available, I couldn't complain.
I frowned, pausing with a cabinet door open, staring unseeing at the contents inside. Libby had reacted strangely to Sarah.
She had recoiled from my niece and that wasn't the Libby I remembered. She'd always wanted a family, a home filled with kids. I couldn't imagine her dreams had changed so drastically. Of course, I couldn't imagine her married to someone else either.
I reached for a box of crackers, shaking the nearly empty cardboard container. Refocusing on my task, I finished the inventory before the shower turned off.
Libby emerged, shivering, a few moments later.
“I forgot how fast the hot water goes here,” she said through chattering teeth.
I chuckled, walked over, and pulled her into my body. Her hair dripped around her shoulders and when she leaned her head against my chest, wet hair pressed into my neck. Libby shuddered and I rubbed my hands up and down on her back.
“Maybe we should just go to sleep. It's late, and I'm freezing,” she suggested.
“Sure. Go ahead, I'm just going to lock the door.”
Libby leaned back to frown at me. “Why? We've never locked the door before.”
And that was the moment I realized that Libby had been too distracted by the revelation that I wasn't human, and that she was my mate, that she hadn't caught the parts about witches and covens.
I frowned, heading to the door to flip the deadbolt. To tell her or not. There were definitely strong reasons not to tell. She had enough to worry about. But it was going to come out at some point. If the coven was expecting both of us, I would have to tell her.
“Okay, I'm going to leave this up to you,” I said, snapping the lock shut and returning to stand in front of her. “I think you have the right to choose if you want to know. I have some potentially bad news. But I don't know anything for sure yet, and if it is bad, you know I will do everything in my power to fix it.”
A deep crease appeared between Libby's brows. That temporary imperfection highlighted how flawless her skin was. Clear and smooth, she didn't wear much makeup; she didn't need it. I wondered if she was this smooth and satiny all over, then mentally shook myself. Not the time.
“You do realize that I won't be able to resist now. You'll have to tell me. Damn it, Ash. I have anxiety issues. You can't drop the hint that something might be wrong and not tell me. Jerk.” Libby's lip jutted out, her voice light but serious.
She might be joking about it, but she meant it.
“Let's climb in bed, I'll tell you everything.”
Surprisingly, she didn't fight me. But then, maybe she was still cold.
I shuffled her over to the bed and pulled back the covers, scooting her in, then climbing in behind her. I pulled her into my arms, tucking her tight to me, but making sure I could still meet her eyes.
“When I was helping you unpack, I smelled something on your things. Another Protean wolf.”
It was clear by the silence that followed that she didn't understand the significance, so I continued, “A Protean wolf would not be in Georgia in the summer. Hell, you'd have to have a damn good reason to get any one of us there any time of the year. We like the cold.”
“Okay, so maybe they were there on business or something?” she asked, confusion making her question sharp.
“In Georgia maybe, but in your apartment? Touching your things? That scent was all over your things, Lib. Your underwear, clothes, the wolf plush, everything smelled like this wolf. I think they were the ones who broke into your apartment, vandalized and robbed you.”
She stiffened in my arms, so I squeezed her a little tighter.
“It gets worse. I brought Johnny up to verify that I wasn't imagining things. And to see if he could recognize the scent.”
“You can do that?”
“Yes. If I've ever met them, I'd know their scent. The body changes with the forms, but the scent doesn't. You learn to rely on it more than appearance. And this scent was familiar, but I couldn't place it.”
“Could Johnny?” she asked.
“No. But he found something. You had a little wooden puzzle box on your shelf, and you know how Johnny likes to fidget. Well, he opened the box and a hex bag fell out.”
Libby's spine went rigid. “A hex bag?”
Her voice was drenched in fear. I cupped the back of her head. “Nothing's going to happen. Not anymore. But someone wanted something bad to happen to you. I don't know what. That's why Joshua, my Alpha, set up a meeting with the coven in Grand Forks. They might be able to tell me what the bag was meant to do. I do know it was nothing good. The bag reeked of blood and death.”
Libby trembled in my arms. “Ash,” she cried. “Someone tried to curse me? That's what a hex bag does, right?”
“Yes,” I said, trying to keep it simple. It didn't need to be complicated to be horrifying.
“Why?” she asked in a heartbroken voice.
“I have no idea.” And I honestly didn't. I dragged a hand down her spine. “But I think someone in my pack is involved, which means this might be partially because of me. There are two wolf packs in North America, and the other is in northern Canada, so it's highly doubtful they're involved. Which leaves my pack.”
Some noise eked out of her throat, half a sob, half a laugh. “How long had it been there? Could it have… Could that be why…?”
She couldn't seem to finish, but I didn't need her to. She wanted to know if this was why Justice had died.
At least I could answer that honestly. “Doubtful. Unless that box was his. Remember this was in your things. And it would make sense that it was planted when you were robbed. Otherwise, how would it have gotten there?”
She exhaled hard, breath puffing against his neck. “Thank God,” she murmured.
“So, will you go with me to Grand Forks to meet with the coven? They might have an idea of who did this, what they were attempting to accomplish, and hopefully, why.”
“I'll go. I want to know why. Seriously. Why the fuck would someone hate me that much? Haven't I lost enough, been through enough?” she said, her voice getting stronger, angrier. Her hands fisted in the cotton of my shirt and she jerked the material toward her. “Seriously, Ash. You have no idea.”
“Then tell me,” I said instantly. “Help me understand.”
Air whistled through her nose as she sucked it in fast. Her hands going slack, releasing my shirt. “Really?”
“Really. Tell me. Let me take some of that weight from you...” I rubbed a thumb over her cheekbone. “I want to share your burden, Libby. Let me be there for you. Let me help.”
Abruptly, she shifted back, her eyes finding mine in the muted candlelight, unfathomably dark. “Ash…”
There was something in her voice, in her eyes. Longing and want, and it was damn sexy. Her hands came up, dug into my hair and with a sharp jerk, yanked my mouth to hers. Her lips were cool as they caressed and teased. She breathed against my mouth, and I deepened the kiss.
Libby responded with urgency and I groaned at the way her tongue sought out mine. Her hands slid down my shoulders, found their way under my shirt faster than I knew what was happening. And then Libby's soft fingers were tracing the muscles of my stomach, drawing lines of heat that seemed to spread like wildfire under my skin.
“Yes,” she whispered into my mouth.
“Yes, what?” I asked, mind hazy with growing lust.
“Yes, I'll be your mate.”
I jerked away, shock and joy colliding in my chest. I looked into those dark eyes and saw no doubt, only the softest of emotions—something that looked very much like the love I had seen all those years ago.
“Are you sure?” I forced himself to ask, praying to Oceanus that she said yes.
14
Libby
My heart raced, my mind swimming with an emotion so strong I didn't want to acknowledge what it was. But I knew. It was impossible not to.