Jen raised her hand.
Jacque sighed. “What, Jen?”
“Opening that door without knowing who was on the other side, naked as the day you were born, is now on my bucket list to do. At least once, maybe twice.”
“Of course, it is,” Sally said as she patted Jen’s head. “Poor Decebel.”
Jacque turned back to Bethany, who still hadn’t said anything. “The floor is yours.”
“A few months ago, Drake and I completed the Blood Rites and the mating,” Bethany began.
“It was my teaching that broke him down, wasn’t it?” Jen asked. A grin stretched across her face as she pulled her shoulders back and sat up a little straighter.
Bethany laughed softly. “Sort of,” she admitted. “He caught some of my thoughts about what you told me, and I bailed to take a shower. He broke the lock on the door and came into the bathroom looking like a wolf on the hunt. You can fill in what happened when he got a look at me naked and wet in the shower.”
“They love naked and wet. It’s two of their favorite adjectives.”
Sally turned her head slowly to look at Jen. “You know what an adjective is?”
“Dude, being a perv doesn’t make me stupid. It just makes me honest.”
Jacque shook her head. “Continue, Beth.”
“I thought, after we’d crossed that line, things would be less volatile.”
Jacque held up her hand and pointed at Jen, whose mouth was open to speak. “No more comments, questions, cheering, or booing until she’s done.”
Jen snapped her mouth shut and then stuck her tongue out at her friend.
“The second time we were intimate, things got a little more intense than the first. Drake sort of lost control and his claws came out, literally. He scratched me along my sides and hips. They were deep and bled quite a bit. He was so out of it he didn’t even realize what had happened until he surveyed the damage afterward. I’ll admit, the sheets looked like a bloodbath.”
“Wait,” Jen said, ignoring Jacque’s stare. “When did this happen?”
“I’m not sure exactly, a couple months ago, I guess.”
“I bet that happened the night before he and Decebel sparred.” Bethany looked puzzled. “Now it makes sense,” Jen said.
“What makes sense?” Sally asked.
“Decebel came in that evening frustrated and snarly because he’d been sparring with Drake for hours. Apparently, Drake would barely defend himself. He only fought back enough to keep Dec going. Decebel didn’t realize until he’d beat Drake into a mess of meat that he’d been purposely allowing himself to get bested.”
“He was punishing himself,” Jacque said.
“And he used my mate to do it.” Jen growled. “Next time your mate wants to be beaten to within an inch of his life, send him to me instead. Dec felt sick because he’d done so much damage to Drake.”
“I’m so sorry,” Bethany said softly.
“Not your fault,” Jen said. “You’re mate’s a grown man and responsible for his own actions.”
“What happened after that?” Jacque asked her.
“Well, it took me a week to catch on, but basically he took that part of our relationship off the table. He still touches me, kisses me, all but smothers me, but never lets it go further.”
All three girls snorted at the same time and said, “Fur butts.”
Bethany smiled and nodded. “I thought he’d get past it. When he didn’t, I forced him to talk to me about it. He explained that he was afraid he’d lose control again and hurt me even worse.”
“What was the tipping point?” Jen asked and pointed at Bethany’s sheet clad form. “I mean, obviously something happened to make you flip your lid.”
