“You’re cooking for me now?” Gabriel didn’t just look incredulous—he looked absolutely freaked out, and I wasn’t sure if I should take his concern as a slur against my prowess in the kitchen or not.
“Yeah. Why not?”
“It’s a lot of work. You usually bring pizza on our Fridays in.”
“I figured we could do something different this time, if that’s okay. Is it? I don’t have to if—”
“No, it’s cool. I just… I mean, I didn’t…” His brows knit in consternation.
I hadn’t expected one random act of girlfriendly kindness to reduce my eloquent boyfriend to a stuttering mess. “Didn’t what?”
He smiled sheepishly. “I forgot the word in English. How do you... No espero—”
“Expect?”
Gabriel nodded, and the rare flush I’d only ever seen once before, when he owned up to liking the way I smelled, warmed across his cheeks. “I didn’t expect you to come actually cook for me. You’ve never done it before.”
I had to have really shaken him up for Gabriel, master of three freaking languages to my two, to forget English.
Sometime later, I presented him a meal that was entirely edible and not screwed up in any way after putting every ounce of my concentration into it—and maybe a little magic too, because I was a cheater. Ama stared at me the entire time we ate. Stared hard. If I moved, she moved. Sometimes she ran her beak against the bars like an unspoken warning.
Why did she hate me so much?
Did I dare to spend a load of faerie dust to make her human and find out why? The idea tempted me, but ultimately, I wussed out, because I didn’t think I could bear to hear the words of disapproval from Gabriel’s best friend. Then there’d be no more speculation—only the truth.
“That was great, Sky.”
“Thank you.”
Since we were going to be in the living room with movies that would keep Ama awake, Gabriel put her to bed in her smaller travel cage and moved her from the area. He handled her with the care of a doting father tucking his daughter into a crib then carried the cage to a closet where he told her goodnight.
When Gabe returned and sat next to me, I sighed and glanced at the closet door. “She still doesn’t like me.”
“She’ll get used to you.”
“She likes everyone but me, dude.”
His eyes lit up with amusement. “Maybe she realizes you’re where I like spending all my free time, and she’s jealous.”
“Maybe.” I sighed then stroked over the bare patch of skin on his forearm. The hair hadn’t grown back yet, and the skin was slightly discolored—lighter than the rest of his arm. “Did your feathers grow in yet? You haven’t taken your raven form around me lately.”
He chuckled. “Most of them. Guess it was a good thing I’ve been going through one hell of a molt this time. I was due to get new secondary flight feathers. A bunch of pins started coming in last week.”
“If you want my help when it’s time to break the sheaths, let me know.”
He smiled. “I will. Should be soon.”
We both tuned in to the cool action flick he’d rented about a hitman with a dog. For a while, life seemed normal.
“Gabe?”
“Hm?” His gold eyes darted to me. He’d been distracted by the movie, but the moment we made eye contact, something shifted. Suddenly, he was hyperaware, alert, cocking his head slightly to one side. “What’s wrong?”
I licked my lips and tried to condense my thoughts into words, to crystallize a semester of worries into something that made sense. “Are you keeping something from me?”
“What makes you think that?” His entire tone changed and gained the mysterious nuance I’d always picked up from secret agents movies.
“Um, aside from the fact that you just brought out your sentinel voice like I’m the one under investigation here?”
Gabriel chuckled. “Sorry. Seriously though, what makes you think I’m hiding anything?”
“A lot of the shifters are acting weird, and it’s like most of them knew we were together before we came out. Stark and Anji outright assumed we’re having sex.”
“I didn’t say—”
“I know you didn’t say anything. Everyone says it’s what you did. On top of that, you’ve been acting weird on and off sometimes.”
His pupils narrowed into tiny pinpricks, and his shoulders tensed up.
“Gabe, you can tell me anything. What’s wrong? What’s going on with you?”
Once, twice, he opened his mouth to speak, only to growl in frustration and rake his fingers through his hair. “I don’t want to pressure you, Sky. Because if I tell you, that’s what’s going to happen.”
“I can be the judge of that.”
He held my eye contact. A few silent heartbeats passed while I waited for an answer.
Only he didn’t speak it. Hot and hungry lips met mine, the scorching heat of his kiss dissolving my concentration into dust. I struggled to remember there was a serious conversation, while a tiny—super tiny and annoying—little voice in the back of my mind told me to push him away and resume our talk.
His tongue stroked mine, and when I returned the gesture, he made a masculine sound of pleasure that rocketed through me like a sucker punch to the soul. I slid onto Gabriel’s lap and straddled him, framing his face between both hands.
It wasn’t the usual kind of kiss between us. This had a forceful, almost desperate urgency to it, like every taste of my tongue was as valuable as the air in his lungs. Something felt different, the air charged with an unfamiliar undercurrent of power that tingled across every inch of my body.
One of his large palms slid over my tummy, rising until he cupped my breast. The other squeezed my ass and hauled me in tight against him. “My Sky. God, how are you so gorgeous?”
His Sky. Desire spiraled through me, and suddenly, I realized I didn’t think I could want anyone as much as I wanted this man. Getting off him and holding off on the sex we’d never really discussed would be hard.
Super hard, because he had one hell of a boner going on beneath me, but my uncooperative legs refused to shift me off his lap.
Every inch of my body was hot, tight, and prickling with need, my muscles tensed and my mind screaming against the rush of endorphins slamming through my veins, telling me now was the time to take a step forward with my shifter boyfriend.
His senses must have told him the same thing. Gabriel tilted his head back to break our kiss, holding eye contact with me when he unsnapped my jeans.
Oh God, oh God.
“Pink lace. Why am I not surprised?”
The moment I parted my lips to fire off a witty retort, his fingers breached those pink panties and brushed against bare skin. I moaned something unintelligible instead, rendered dumb by a single stroke.
“That okay?”
Okay?
It was fucking fantabulous. Only I couldn’t quite bring myself to say it when he made another stroke and hit the perfect sweet spot.
Gabriel’s fingers traced and gathered the wetness there before he plunged inside me, gliding in and out on a smooth rhythm that sent pleasure barreling down my spine. My pulse became a wild drumbeat between my ears, and I couldn’t think, let alone figure out what to do with my hands besides curl both over his shoulders and hold on for the ride. His hungry kiss muffled my low moan then nothing else mattered. It was just me and him and those damned talented fingers doing everything right.
And he still had one hand free. A hand he used to drag my sweater up and expose my bra. I’d known from his kisses that his mouth would be just as skilled, but the heat of his tongue against my nipple took me by surprise, tightening my body until I was close, so close, all I could do was frantically ride his fingers, because I couldn’t figure out how to get him out of his jeans without disturbing his hand. There had to be a glamour for vanishing clothes.
His teeth scraped through a thin layer of fabric. Then his index finger curled, thrusting
me over the breaking point. My orgasm didn’t just happen—it crashed into me like a freight train and carried me away to heaven. Pleasure pulsed through my body until my pants became cries of his name, over and over until the last tremor ended and all I could do was slump against him.
I was still waiting for the world to cease spinning when he cupped my chin and kissed me with the same raw, primal hunger. Then he lowered a hand to his belt.
A click and subtle buzz behind us indicated the door had been unlocked. Before I could scramble off Gabriel’s lap, Rodrigo shoved open the door and stepped inside.
“My dudes, there is like one hell of a Yule celebration going down at—uh.”
Never mind that my shirt was askew and Gabriel still had his hand down the front of my pants.
“Uh…”
No one moved.
“I’m just gonna… Yeah, I’m heading back out. See ya.”
Rodrigo rushed out as if hellhounds were on his ass. The door slammed shut behind him.
Gabriel sighed and slipped his hand out of my panties. He adjusted himself—holy cannoli, it looked like there was a lot there to adjust. Then he leaned forward and grabbed the limoncello bottle off the coffee table. A deafening silence passed while he took a long pull off it, emptying it.
Something didn’t seem right.
“Gabe? Are you okay?”
He paused, still not looking at me. “Yeah. I’m good. Just need a second.”
“I’m so—”
“No, don’t apologize. I’m not mad.”
“I didn’t say you were mad. I’m asking if you’re okay, because you clearly are not okay.”
Gabriel laughed and ran his fingers through his hair, roughing it up and making a mess in his frustration. “I need to come clean about something. And I’m kinda worried about how you’re going to take it if I tell you.”
“Is this about that whole pressuring thing you started to talk about?”
Nodding, he glanced down at both of his hands. “Something happened earlier this year. To me, I guess. Something I didn’t really expect to happen, because you’re not a shifter.”
“Okay. So, it’s a shifter thing. Care to elaborate?”
“I… laid a public claim on you at the Wild Hunt meeting.”
“Huh?”
“When Stark was talking to you, I asserted dominance and made him back off. I didn’t mean to do it. It just happened on its own.”
“You put your arm around me.” Then poor Stark had almost jumped out of his shoes. “What’s that got to do with anything? I mean, Stark and Rodrigo mentioned they knew we were together because of that little stunt, but that’s all.”
“Anyway, us shifters… we don’t do that unless it’s someone we care about. Or in my case, someone our animal half recognizes as our mate.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but no words came out. Instead, I stared at him and tried to wrap my head around what he’d just said. Mate. The word rang a bell, something I’d either heard or read about, but the full context eluded me.
“And I’ve spent all year trying to resist it, because I didn’t want to put you in a rough place.” I watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed heavily. Then he licked his lips, still not making eye contact with me. “We don’t have to act on it. I can keep it under control.”
“What does that mean exactly?”
“It means we carry on as we have, Sky. That’s all.”
“Gabe.”
“What?”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
Gabriel finally glanced at me, cocking his head to one side. “I thought it was pretty self-explanatory. It means I’m always fighting the urge to bend you over when I see you, and I want you so bad it hurts. My raven half thinks we should have a lot of little fae babies, since your genes trump mine.”
His words conjured up a vivid image in my mind. My entire body flushed, heat curling in my gut and between my thighs where only minutes ago his fingers had been. I picked up my drink for a sip to clear my dry throat. “That doesn’t sound too serious. Aside from the hurting part. And the babies I’m not ready for yet.”
He grunted. “It’s worse than that. The biggest problem is that when a shifter’s claim is accepted, it’s deeper than marriage. It’s a magical bonding of the soul, and it’s pretty fucking rare, because there has to be a connection. Like a real connection.”
Marriage. How could one little word be so terrifying? My heart raced, warming my body one second and then chilling it the next. For a moment, it seemed like there wasn’t enough air in the room.
When we agreed to date, marriage had never crossed my mind, let alone a soul bonding. Despite the limoncello I’d brought over to share, I wasn’t even legal to drink yet. Kids were the furthest thing from my mind.
“Did I freak you out?”
His expression was so earnest, so concerned, I considered lying. But I liked having an honest relationship with him. “A little,” I admitted, taking his hand and squeezing it. “I wasn’t expecting anything this heavy when I asked, but I’m glad you finally told me.”
“Like I said, I didn’t want to put any pressure on you. I don’t know if you fae have anything similar, but that’s how it is for most shifters.
I shook my head. “Mom said she knew the moment she saw Dad that he was the guy for her, but she never said anything about special mating bonds.” Somehow, thinking about my parents and their deep love calmed my rising panic. They’d been young, and they’d made it work, holding off on marriage until after they both graduated. “What happens now?”
“I walk you back to your place. Then I go beat Rodrigo’s ass for coming back two days early without calling.”
24
The Hardest Lesson
I awakened the next afternoon to an invitation from Anji, her text inviting us fae out with her and Ben on a trip into the city. She wanted to buy a birthday gift for a friend’s baby, and Ben had received a brand-new car for Christmas that I totally envied.
Sai came along for Lia’s protection, so the burden of being a sentinel wouldn’t land squarely on Anji’s shoulders. The three of us squeezed into the rear seat while Ben played chauffeur. As an added bonus, we gave Sai a quick tour of the sights and stopped to have dinner at an upscale bistro. Then we loaded up in the car again and headed out to see Anji’s friend in Country Club Hills.
“So the baby has a fifty-fifty chance of being a mage or a werewolf. Rachel isn’t sure yet if Sammy is going to take after her or Trevor, and they probably won’t know for another year at the most. That’s usually when we start to emulate our parents and try to change,” Anji explained.
“Trevor…” My lips pursed. “Why does that name ring a bell?”
“You’ve probably heard his name once or twice, since he’s Mrs. Hansford’s spoiled asshole nephew,” Ben said.
Anji snorted. “The campus fuckboy.”
“Oh yeah! That’s right. My former mentor’s cheating boyfriend. Man, does he really get around as much as everyone says?”
Ben laughed. “Oh yeah.”
Lia shook her head. “I don’t understand what would make women fight over a guy like that. Unless he has a golden dick, there’s nothing special about him to warrant so much angst, and even then, I’d be skeptical.”
I stared at Lia.
“Nor do I,” Sai said, chiming into the conversation for the first time. “The school administration approves of this behavior?”
“The provost doesn’t interfere in personal matters unless they affect academics,” I explained. “Having a harem of girls isn’t against the rules or the school honor code, because it isn’t like he’s compelled them with any kind of magic spell. They chose to be stupid.”
“I see. Shangri-La operates differently in that respect. The faculty encourages a positive atmosphere and student unity. Such behavior would be discouraged and nipped before it could poison the community.”
“I’m seriously considering going up there for a
semester,” Ben said. “Sounds tranquil.”
Anji scrunched up her nose. “Sounds kinda boring. No offense, Sai.”
“None taken. It isn’t for everyone. I understand why others like Gabriel would prefer PNRU. Your people enjoy a certain level of freedom we are denied in Shangri-La.” He paused and glanced down at his jeans, the edge of a cell phone poking from the pocket. “And I enjoy having a phone again. Living without technology is a hardship in itself.”
“See?” Anji said, “Ben, you’d make it one week then plead to return.”
He grumbled at her. “Anyway, get back to the gossip.”
“Okay, okay. From what I understand, Trevor actually dated Rachel first. Then he started seeing Monica. Sometime after that, he started seeing, um, crap, I never recall her name. Some fae. By then, Rachel had already laid a claim to him and wouldn’t back down.”
“I guess I better learn more about shifters and your mating habits. It has to suck to be a total slave to what your body tells you.” I frowned, wondering how much Gabriel struggled to control his physical urges when around me. “Hey, um… Anji, what can you tell me about shifter claims?”
Anji became very still. “Um…”
“It’s okay, Gabriel told me last night that he laid a claim on me, but we didn’t get a chance to discuss it in depth. I know the basics of what it means.”
“Finally!” Anji twisted around and grinned. “I’m so glad you guys actually talked about what’s going on. It was totally killing me to keep that in.”
“Yeah, well, I still don’t quite understand it fully.”
“I promise to fill you in later. We’re here. Just pull into the drive behind that white Camry, Ben.”
We parked and spilled out of the car. Anji led the way up a pretty hedge-lined path to the front door of a modest two-story home.
Carrying a bag full of adorable toddler clothes for the birthday boy, Anji tapped the door knocker with her free hand and called, “We’re here!”
The Scary Godmother Page 25