Tempting fate and hoping there would be no pain, she pointed her toes as she stretched her calves. She blew out a breath when nothing hurt at her movement. She tried her arms next, lifting them above her head and stretching. Again, no pain and her muscles loosened with every movement.
As she moved, she realized that her hair felt limp and greasy and the shirt that clung to her felt stiff and unclean. Ready for a shower, she glanced around the room and noticed details that she’d never before been able to do. But before she could investigate or find a bathroom in order to take a long shower, someone next to her took a deep breath.
She looked to her left and found Xander sleeping on his stomach, with his hands tucked underneath his head. His beautiful bronzed skin shone from the moonlight that filtered into the room. Unable to keep her hands to herself, she ran her fingers through his soft hair and listened to his sigh at her touch. He turned his head toward her and she could see the dark spots underneath his eyes as he slept soundly, his breathing deep and undisturbed. He must’ve gotten very little sleep during her transition, which, as she thought back on, seemed like weeks to her.
The thoughts of the heat that flashed over her body had her searching the room for the entrance to the bathroom. Taking care not to jostle Xander, she slid herself off the bed and wandered toward the bathroom. At the doorway, she glanced back and took a long look at her mate. Her heart beat hard in her chest at how much she loved the connection she had with Xander.
But would he want her because he believed her to be his mate? She would have never believed in immortals or believed that she was the mate of one before she met Xander, but she had seen the proof for herself. He had even managed to convince her of the truth in his words. But if he had been waiting for someone, his true mate, and he grew tired of waiting, could he have convinced himself that she was his mate because it was convenient?
She had literally brought danger to his doorstep, and even though she might not be his true mate, she could find out why her boss had hired the armed soldiers for rent and prevent him from sending another team. If he hadn’t done so already.
At that last horrifying thought, she hurried through her shower. She loved that she was surrounded by his scent as she used his shampoo and soap, and despite her warnings to herself, she could feel her body responding. Up until now, she had never felt overtly sexual, but Xander’s scent alone could send her into a tailspin of desire.
As she toweled off, she glanced in the mirror and glanced at the spot where a gunshot wound had been. She remembered that it hurt like crazy, but her skin was smooth at the spot, as though it never happened. Then she glanced down and winced.
Fuck, fate couldn’t heal the gouges on my side?
Shaking her head with disgust, she wrapped the towel tightly around her torso and quietly made her way toward Xander’s dresser, hoping that he wouldn’t mind if she borrowed some clothes. She found a pair of sweats and a tee, both making her feel like a child as they dwarfed her, but they smelled like Xander. She breathed a sigh of relief when she glanced around the bedroom and found her bra on the arm of the chair and slipped it on.
Realizing her time with Xander had come to an end, she turned to look at Xander one last time. She hoped that they would cross paths someday.
Pain that she hadn’t been expecting ripped through her chest as she neared the bedroom door. Her breath caught in her throat. But she knew that she had to draw danger away from him, and forced herself to open the door and walked through it.
The house was dark and quiet, and although she could visibly see what she couldn’t as a human, she prevented herself from snooping as she walked through the house, toward the exit. Every part of her being screamed for her to be with Xander and she hesitated right before the front door. That hesitation lasted longer than she would have liked, and she forced herself forward despite the throbbing pain that screamed she was making a mistake. But the moment she touched the doorknob, she heard a low, menacing growl behind her and it stopped her movements.
She turned to face Xander. When she noticed the fierce look on his face, she flinched back against the door.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?”
She opened her mouth to explain, but when a small squeak escaped, she felt the blood rush to her cheeks and she snapped her mouth closed. Her eyes widened as she realized he stood in front of her naked. Unable to help herself, she allowed her eyes to roam over his naked form. Her core throbbed with need, but she remembered her manners and snapped her eyes back to meet his. She barely bit back a low groan of disgust at herself.
“Sorry.” It sounded like a cross between a question and a statement and she flinched again.
“Are you apologizing for trying to leave or for looking at me naked?”
Instead of answering his question, she explained, “I have to stop my asshole of a boss from sending more mercenaries.”
Her eyes widened as Xander stepped closer to her. “You’re not leaving me, sweetheart. We will pay your boss a visit, but I want to have a chance to get to know you, and you to know me. I can’t stand the thought of you leaving now that I’ve finally found you.”
Frost knew then that his words were the truth. She was his mate that he’d been waiting years, or much longer, for and she was going to walk out on him without an explanation, knowing it would hurt him. Well…fuck.
“I’m sorry, Xander. I just wanted to protect you and the others.”
“Will you give me, us, a chance?”
“Yes. I won’t try to leave again.”
This man was important to her, and now that the panic had left her mind, she realized that the pain in her chest was because she had almost left him. Her body was trying to tell her something that her heart already knew. She couldn’t leave Xander.
She looked up at him when he cupped her cheek gently, and with a silent nod, he captured her lips and proceeded to kiss her breathless.
Chapter Three
Xander
Xander broke the kiss and held Frost close. His heart nearly beat out of his chest when he realized how close he was to having her walk out of his life. He could feel his body shaking because of it. The next time he saw Reaper, he was going to hug the man.
The transition had been just as harrowing as Reaper described, but what Xander dismissed was the pure helplessness he would feel at not being able to help your mate through the most painful experience of their life. And like Ara’s transition, Frost was taken by surprise when she had begun her transition, without him having released his venom into her bloodstream or knowing that transitioning was a possibility.
It had been pure torture to watch Frost writhe in pain, especially considering her gunshot wound hadn’t healed until the transition had been completed. And he watched her like a hawk for three days and three nights, trying to lessen the pain and prevent her from tearing the wound in her shoulder, as he tried to get her to sleep comfortably. Reaper’s trick worked, setting the alarm for every half an hour to replace the wet towels he had surrounding her body. The first time he removed the towels, he had cursed at the heat that radiated from her skin, before making quick work of switching out the towels.
And because he refused to sleep during this, he had stupidly fallen asleep when he had been too exhausted to keep going, a few hours before she woke. When he had caught her scent mixed with his soap, he had shot up in bed and looked around for her. Panic set in when he couldn’t spot her, but he heard her speaking softly to herself as she made her way downstairs, and shot out of bed to go after her.
When she turned to face him, his breath caught in his throat as he spotted the minor changes that the transition to shifter had made in her appearance. She was as beautiful as when he first spotted her in the clearing, and the transition had only enhanced her features. She stood straighter and looked stronger, with more defined muscles, as if she were ready to pounce at any moment. She was his mate and he’d finally found her after all this time.
He found that he
couldn’t stay away from her. When she tilted her head, he devoured her lips and lost himself in her touch for several long minutes. But a rash thought came to mind and he pulled away from the kiss.
“Have you shifted yet?”
She blinked once, and then again, before the question had sunk in and confusion became etched on her face. “No. I felt the need for a shower and all these thoughts bombarded me, but the only one I could pick out was finding my boss and kicking the little fucker in the balls. Why should I be able to shift now, when I wasn’t able to before?”
“The only thing I can think of is that you transitioned with just a touch from your mate, so it could be that your ability to shift is repressed. Liv and the rest of the immortals don’t really know the ins and outs of becoming an immortal. Why we are in a stasis and we are unable to age, or why some of us can shift quickly while others can’t. There is so much unknown about us, and Liv had come to a standstill in her research before she tested your blood. All I know is that unless an immortal is trained to mind link with another immortal, which takes years to learn even if you’ve done it successfully before, an immortal can mind link with their mate if one of them accepts their connection. I knew the first time I heard your thoughts that you were my mate.”
He watched as Frost’s nose scrunched at his last statement. But before he could question it, she asked him a question.
“My shoulder wound healed because I transitioned?”
He nodded but he couldn’t help but glance down at her side. He watched as her face twisted in horror.
“You…you saw?”
Xander was confused by her panic and pulled her closer. “It doesn’t matter what it looks like. It shows everyone how strong you are and what you’ve gone through in your life. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, sweetheart. I felt guilty when I saw it because you were shot due to my inability to protect you. I added to your pain. I know I should have protected you, gotten you to safety before the mercenary had a chance to take the shot, but my ego wouldn’t allow me to walk away from the fight. You had to get hurt for me to realize how impulsive and stupid I was.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
He shook his head and held onto her tighter. “I don’t think you’ll ever win that argument with me.”
She scoffed but relaxed in his arms.
“You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. I’m a lucky man.”
“Yeah, right. The wound healed in a way that makes it look grotesque and even then, the rest of me isn’t anything to look at either.”
His lips slammed into hers and he growled as she opened for him. He slid his tongue inside, tasting her sweetness and loving the moans that he drew from her. He knew without a doubt that he was falling for this woman. “Never doubt my need and desire for you. You are gorgeous and you fit perfectly against me, and I will always want you. And I know that you were hoping that your old injury would heal because of the transition, but Liv and I think that transitions only heals fresh wounds.”
He paused and her blue-green eyes were wide as she looked at him for an explanation.
“When Liv met Kai, her life had been in danger because she found out the company she worked for had created a deadly virus that killed immortals, which is next to impossible. She asked Kai for help, and he took her in and protected her. He knew long before he’d actually spoken to her that she was his mate, but he was in denial. So while she worked on the antidote, they got to know each other and fell in love. But Liv was kidnapped and beaten within an inch of her life—several broken bones, a head injury, and a stab wound to her side. Kai’s venom healed her from her newly-inflicted wounds.
“Liv believes that your body had awhile to adapt to the old injury, and became part of you just as much as the color of your hair and eyes. This is just a theory on why your wound didn’t heal during your transition. But, at this point, it’s all a guessing game. Before you, it was unheard to transition without having venom in your system.”
Xander had watched her as he explained and noticed that tears had welled in her eyes, and he pulled her close.
“Who would want to hurt Liv?”
“The scientist wanted to become an immortal and take over Dark Company, but Liv ruined that chance when she discovered his experiment and put a stop to it. He was also bat-shit crazy. Liv used the same bio-weapon he created against him, but in humans they just disintegrate until there’s nothing left. But now Liv is happy, in love and married to her mate, and she keeps researching in case someone else develops a plan to come after us.”
For a long moment, they were silent as Frost processed this new information. But he came to the sudden realization that he was still naked when he could feel the heat and smell the arousal coming from Frost. He reined in his desire and allowed himself a small kiss.
“You must be famished after not eating for close to four days. I’ll go get dressed and cook us breakfast.”
She nodded and he indicated where she could find the kitchen as he rushed upstairs and threw on a pair of baggy sweats and a tee.
When he arrived in the kitchen, Frost was glaring at the coffee maker, trying to figure out how it worked, and he brushed by her, placing a kiss on her head as he chuckled. Her hand shot out and she slugged him in the chest, before she stepped back and watched as Xander taught her how to use the machine.
As the first cup of coffee started to brew, he snagged a kiss, smiling against her mouth when she leaned into him. Not wanting to push her into anything until she was ready, he reluctantly stepped back and ended the kiss. He turned to hide his obvious reaction to her nearness by digging in the fridge and made quick work of cooking breakfast.
“How old are you?”
“Technically, I’m a hundred twenty-two, but physically, I look exactly as I did when I turned twenty-two and stopped aging.”
“Did your mate turn you?”
“No, sweetheart, you’re my mate. I was on a hunting trip with my father and older brothers, making sure that we had enough food to get through the winter, when I was separated from my family and attacked. As soon as I felt teeth pierce my shoulder, I passed out and woke up as a shifter.”
“So, you don’t remember anything about your transition? Not the heat or the pain?”
Xander couldn’t help it; he flinched at the thought of Frost in pain. “No, I have no memories of that. I remember blood, but that could have been the pain or a false memory, but I don’t remember anything until I awoke on the hard, snow-covered ground, alone.”
“What happened to your family?”
Xander swallowed as he pulled up the horrific memories of what he found after he’d become a shifter. “I found my two older brothers dead from the same shifter attack. Dad made it home but when he spotted me, he wouldn’t let me anywhere near the house, thinking that I had been the one who attacked my brothers. Instead of arguing, I let my parents be and left.”
“How did you become an assassin?” She had finished her breakfast and thanked him. She sipped her coffee, looking at him with concern.
He laughed at the memory. “I ran into Kai one day while I was wandering around the mountains. I thought he was a threat, being a vampire and all, and I attacked him without thinking it through. We fought for close to an hour, and while I suspected then and now that he could easily kill me, he pulled his punches and kept his teeth retracted. Shifter venom is deadly to vampires, and vice versa. What I learned later was that Kai was almost a century older than me and had been working as an assassin, training all day every day for decades, so of course I ran out of steam and lost the fight. I expected him to kill me, but Kai had offered me a hand, lifted me off the ground, and took me to see Ghost for a job.”
“You…mentioned that I’m your mate and you’ve been waiting for me. How do you know I’m the one for you?” Frost pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth and he groaned as lust surged through him.
“I had an inkling when I could hear your thoughts, but the moment I spotted you, ever
y cell in my body screamed for me to protect you. To be honest, before I heard you, I thought I was destined to be alone. Kai found Liv close to four years ago, Reaper found Ara soon after, and even Seth, the kid, found his vampire mate, Aubrey, last year. She turned him in November and they married soon after. Out of everyone, I was the only one who had believed that mates were real and I desired to find you, but I lost hope until I heard your voice.”
There was a pause as she absorbed all the information that he’d thrown at her, but he had to ask.
“How do you feel about becoming a shifter and finding out that you’re my mate?”
“To be honest, the idea has settled into place with ease. I’d always felt out of place, preferring to be alone. Before I heard you, my thoughts were always so loud, rioting in my head, but they calmed the moment you spoke to me. I feel safe and comfortable with you, and I’m willing to accept the relationship, but I do have one question.”
Choked by her easy acceptance, he nodded.
“Are you attracted to me or do you want to be with me because I’m your mate?”
“No, sweetheart. Everything about you attracts me—from the sound of your voice to the way your mouth quirks on one side when you’re being sarcastic. How your eyes light up that particular shade of green when you’re happy, or hungry, or thinking. You’re beautiful on the outside as much as you radiate beauty on the inside. Even if my instincts, well, every part of my being didn’t scream for you to be mine, I would still know that I belong to you.”
Her hand cupped her throat with each word he spoke, and by the end, he reached toward her cheek and wiped a tear from her face. “Mates don’t ever cheat, lie, or hurt each other. I would never do anything to make you stop believing that I want you every moment of every day.”
Xander (A Dark Assassins Novel Book Three) Page 3