Jacquelyn snorted and said dryly, “Of course it is.”
Fane chuckled as he set her on her feet once they were in their bathroom. “Glad you see it my way, mate. Now, strip.”
Sally could feelhis eyes on her as she packed her suitcase. After they’d gotten Titus to bed, she decided she couldn’t put off packing any longer. She’d already gathered Titus’s things, but she dreaded packing her own because it made the reality seem so final. Even though there was no way she and Titus were staying with Costin, she had sort of been trying to convince herself that, somehow, they’d wind up staying with him.
“Maybe I should just stay and travel with you and Titus,” Costin said, breaking the long silence between them.
Sally paused and looked over at him. He was laying across their bed, shirtless, and propped up on an elbow. She frowned at him. “Vasile needs you. You’re an experienced fighter and a dominant. It wouldn’t be fair for you to stay behind while Decebel and Fane go.”
Costin shrugged. “My first priority is my mate and pup, always. They would understand, especially since you’ve only been home a few months. You don’t know how hard my wolf is fighting me on this. I’m honestly not sure if I can make him leave.”
Sally shook her head. “You can’t stay, Costin. And don’t think for one minute that it’s easy for me to say that.” Her eyes widened as he suddenly jumped off the bed, moving with the speed and grace she was accustomed to when it came to the Canis lupus.
His eyes flashed at her, glowing for an instant, but then he seemed to gain control of his wolf. He was breathing hard as he began to pace. He ran his fingers restlessly through his hair, making it stand in different directions.
“Costin,” Sally said gently, taking a step toward him. To her utter shock, her usually calm mate whipped around almost faster than she could track, picked up the lamp from the bedside table, and launched it at the wall. It hit with a crash, and Sally jolted as it shattered into a thousand pieces.
Costin roared out a growl that Sally felt in her chest. Tears gathered in her eyes as she watched her mate battle his need to protect her and Titus with his duty to help his Alpha protect the world.
“I shouldn’t have to choose.” He snarled. “There isn’t a choice. You and Titus are my priority. The last time I left you, the damned Order snatched you and it nearly destroyed me. How can you ask this of me?” His eyes were full of accusation as he stared at her. “You’ve felt what it did to me.” The fight ran out of him as he fell to his knees.
Sally rushed over to him, and he wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face in her stomach. She enfolded his head in her arms and bent herself over him. Sally felt him shudder and his shoulders shake. Her powerful mate had been brought to his knees.
“Okay,” she whispered. “Okay, baby, just stay with us. Go with us and protect us. I’m sorry. I should have considered how it would make you feel. I’m sorry.” Sally choked on a sob as she tried to hold her mate and herself together.
“I can’t handle losing you again,”he said through their bond has he continued to shake against her.“I need to be able to see with my own eyes that you’re okay.”
“Okay,” she said again. “Please don’t think I didn’t want you with me. Please tell me you know how badly it hurts me to think of being separated from you.”
Costin pulled back, and she dropped her hands to his broad shoulders. “I didn’t think that. I know you want me. I can feel your pain. But you are stronger than me. You are able to be separated from me. But I don’t even think an alpha command could force me to leave you.”
Sally cupped his face and leaned down. She pressed her lips to his, not deepening the kiss but drawing it out, just needing to be close to him. Apparently, that wasn’t enough for her mate.
Costin stood, not breaking this kiss, and then swept her up into his arms. He carried her to the bed and gently laid her on it. Their mouths were still drinking each other in. Costin followed her body, covered her with his own. His heat seeped into her through their clothes and her body raised of its own accord, needing to be closer to him.
Sally started tugging at his shirt, but Costin grabbed her wrists and pushed them above her head. His eyes were searing in their intensity as his gaze met hers. “Don’t rush this,” he rumbled, his voice deep and husky. “I’m planning to take my time with you.”
She growled at him, which only made him grin, showing her a mouth full of white teeth that weren’t quite human. Costin clutched both of her small wrists in one hand and used his free hand to tilt her head to the side, exposing her neck. She knew what was coming and tried to prepare herself for the intense emotions and pleasure his bite always brought.
As his teeth sunk into her flesh where his mark was located, Sally’s eyes slowly closed as a soft moan left her lips.
“Mine.”He groaned through the bond as he lowered his body closer to hers.
“Yours,”Sally responded. She cupped the back of his head, holding him to her, afraid to lose the intimacy it brought. “I love you, Costin.”
“I love you, Sally-mine.”
Decebel ranhis fingers through his mate’s long, blonde locks as she laid sprawled across his bare chest. She was relaxed and sated after he’d spent an hour loving her beautiful body. He, of course, enjoyed their lovemaking immensely, but there was something incredibly precious about the time afterward. Both of them were a little raw and vulnerable from being so free in sharing their emotions and the intensity of their passion. He loved that she trusted him so much to allow him to see not just her nakedness, but also her heart.
“You’re thinking awfully hard, B,” she said. “What’s up?”
His fingers trailed down her spine, back up her side, across her shoulders, and down her spine again. “Your skin is like silk,” he said. He knew it wasn’t what she wanted to hear, but it was the first thing he’d thought after her question.
“It takes that much thought to figure out what my skin feels like?”
Her sarcastic tone made him smile, though he did smack her naked backside for her mouthy-ness. She squealed and tried to push away from him but Decebel wasn’t done with her, so he just pressed her closer. She was no match for his strength.
“I’ll bite you, Decebel. You know I will,” she said.
