I pointed this out, and the room went silent. Multiple eyes went to Nico, but no one said anything. Finally, Nico cleared his throat. “I think it’s best if you stay here, where you’ll be safe.”
It made rational sense, but it didn’t mean I had to like it. “Can’t I at least go with you, Nico? If I have to sit here waiting to get a phone call that someone I love is dead, it’ll drive me crazy.”
“You have to stay out of this. If you go out into the field, it’ll give the royals the opportunity to snatch you. You have to remember that’s what this is all about. They kidnapped your family and friends to force you to give yourself over to them. You’d be playing right into their hands if you went with us. If I had a guess, this will be chaos at best. All it would take is for you to be out of my sight for a second,” he snapped his fingers for emphasis, “and they’d have you. I couldn’t live with that.”
I’d started unconsciously biting at my nails as he spoke. Everything he said was accurate. All of it. That didn’t mean I had to like it. I pulled my hand away from my mouth. “I’m worried, Nico. I’m scared one of you won’t make it back. You, your friends or family, my parents or Abi. I’m terrified that’s going to happen, and I’m going to be sitting here on my ass, useless.”
Nico's father leaned forward and put a hand on my thigh. The warmth of his fingers sent a wave of comfort through me. There was something about a father’s touch, even when it wasn’t my father, that could ease the fears of a scared child. He looked me in the eye and nodded. “Julia and I will be here with you, as well as the rest of the pack who won’t be going on this mission. All of us. Don’t worry about Nico. My boy is smart and strong. All my boys are.”
I chewed at my lip and nodded at him. “I know. Thank you. What do we do when they retaliate though?” I asked. “If—no,when—we succeed, they’ll be pissed. There’s going to be retribution, isn’t there?”
Nico glanced around the room and nodded hesitantly. “Yeah, probably. We can’t worry about it. One crisis at a time. The number one priority is to get your family back to you. After that,we’ll deal with the counter punch the royals throw. That’s all we can do.”
“Okay,” I said. “I trust you. All of you,” I added, looking around the room at the men who were getting ready to put their lives on the line to save my parents and best friend. Tears welled in my eyes. This was the type of thing that showed what humanity really was. There were those who would say these people weren’t truly human, and maybe they weren’t, but in many ways, they were evenmorehuman than people who weren’t shifters. Bravery, sacrifice, courage, love, and force of will—those things were the best parts of the human race. After this, if I ever met a bigot who thought shifters were second-class citizens or beneath full-blooded humans, I’d probably have to be dragged off them.
The rest of the day slowly returned to normal. The three rescue teams were formed, and everyone dispersed to their own homes to pack bags and make final preparations. Plane tickets for the next morning were purchased. By the time the sun went down, only Nico and I were left in the house. We’d skipped lunch in all our planning and discussion. My appetite had disappeared, but Nico managed to get me to eat some chicken salad and crackers for dinner. Even that light meal seemed to sit in my stomach like a lead weight.
After I ate, I made my way outside to do my new favorite thing—stare at the ever-fattening moon. The milky whiteness was much brighter than usual tonight. The familiar pull was strong, tugging at my bones and muscles. The connection was so strong, I could even feel it in my hair. I imagined I could close my eyes and actually float into the air, held aloft by nothing more than the moon's gravity.
Nico came out to join me not long afterward. He sat beside me and put an arm around my shoulders. “How are you feeling? Be honest.”
“That obvious?”
He nodded and grinned. “I could feel your worry all the way inside the house. Mates share a deep bond, remember? When you’re happy, I’m happy. The same goes for bad feelings too.”
I let out a slow breath, then said, “I’m worried about you. I’m worried about everyone. I’m scared the people I love are going to die. It’s too much to handle.”
Nico pulled me closer. “Nothing in this world is going to hold me back from returning to you. I would literally cut down mountains if they were between you and me. Nothing will stop me. That’s one thing you don’t have to worry about.”
I leaned into him, grateful that he was trying to ease my fears. He’d probably never know how much it meant to me. His hand slowly drifted down my back to my tailbone, then slid back up. His fingers slipped along my back in a gentle motion, but I could hear his heart. The speed of the beating told me he was getting excited. Letting him continue to rub my back, I trailed my fingers across his knee, down his thigh, until I was right at his crotch. I could feel his bulging hard-on beneath his jeans.
Nico grunted and leaned into my ear. “Do you wanna go to bed?”
“Mmhmm,” I said and got up off the seat.
He took my hand and led me inside and up the stairs. Both of us knew what the other wanted—needed. There was no need for preamble. I wanted him, and he wanted me. A part of my consciousness told me this might very well be the last night we would have together. If things went wrong, I would never get to hold him in my arms again. If that were true, I wanted this night to be a night I could always bring back up in my memory—one perfect night of passion and happiness.
Nico pulled his clothes off, and I took in every movement. The way his abs flexed as he took off his shirt, the contraction of the muscles of his arms and forearms as he slid his pants andshoes off. He moved with such fluid grace that I was already wet before he was halfway done. There was something about a man who was so confident in his motions that made me hot. He tugged his underwear off, and his cock sprang free. The thick, muscular appendage bounced twice before going fully rigid.
My own undressing went similarly. I stood at the far side of the room, stripping off layers, all while Nico drank in my body. It was almost like he was making love to me with his eyes as I got undressed. The cool air made goose flesh rise up all over my body once I was naked. Not waiting for him to make the first move, I stepped forward, crossing the room in three quick steps. Once I was close, I pressed my body to his. His hardness slipped up my belly. The warmth of his chest on my breasts sent another pulse of lust between my legs.
Nico kissed me, cupping the back of my head and pulling me close. The desperate desire in that kiss alone almost sent me over the edge. I’d never felt so wanted, soneeded. I moaned into his lips as heat pooled between my legs. His free hand slid across my stomach until it found my breast. Sighing, I pulled my lips from his, looking down to watch him play with my nipple. A pleasant electrical tingle ran from my chest to my clit, and I could feel it engorge, pulsing in time to the beat of my heart.
Nico lowered himself to his knees, peppering kisses over my chest and stomach. He paused long enough to flick his tongue over my right nipple, eliciting a gasp from me as he moved lower. He turned me and pressed me against the wall before lifting my left leg over his shoulder. I was pinned against the wall as he pressed his face against my pussy.
I groaned with pleasure as his tongue slipped deep into me and threw my head back until I was staring at the ceiling, reveling in the feeling of him licking me. He slid in and out of me, fucking me with his tongue. His right thumb moved up to rub at my clit, the left pressing gently against my anus. My headspun as the orgasm built quickly. The rhythm of his thumb and his tongue had me arching my back, pressing my crotch into his face, desperate for more.
I dug my fingernails into the wall, trying to find purchase. My body was about to explode. Then it happened—the building wave, the growing mountain of pleasure. It seeped out from my pussy to my inner thighs, then sent waves of heat up my stomach and lower back. My world seemed to snap like a twig. I groaned through gritted teeth as I came, hard and unyielding, but Nico didn’t pull away. If anything, the pace of his tongue and finger increased. My breath hissed in and out of my nose and mouth as wave after wave rose and crashed over me.
Trembling, I dragged myself away from his mouth. I wanted him inside me, more than anything I’d ever wanted. Tugging at his shoulders, I made him stand, then pushed him onto the bed. His cock stood straight, rock hard, and waiting for me. Without hesitation, I wrapped my lips around the head and then enveloped all of it. The hot, thick flesh slid across the roof of my mouth, and my tongue pressed and flicked the underside of his cock until I felt it at the back of my throat. When I raised my head, I glanced up and saw a look of ecstasy on Nico’s face. I kept eye contact as my head bobbed up and down again and again. Every time I came back up, I sucked hard at the head and ran my tongue teasingly over it.
“Jesus, Maddy, I’m not going to last if you keep that up,” Nico whispered, his voice husky with desire.
I let him slide out of my mouth and grinned at him. “Well, we don’t want that.”
His cock quivered as I stroked him three more times. I sat up and crawled onto him, positioning my hips right over him. Slowly, I lowered myself. As the lips of my pussy spread apart, allowing him to enter, I watched his face. The look of pure bliss I saw there brought a smile to my face, and I started to ride him.
I tilted my hips so my clit rubbed against him with each movement. Nico took hold of my breasts, massaging and clutching, as he grew ever closer to coming. I had my hands splayed on his chest to keep my balance. Through my fingers, I could almost feel his heart trying to break through his rib cage as his hips rose and fell in time with mine.
My nails dug into the flesh of his chest as another orgasm reached its crescendo. Nico grabbed my hips, slamming me down onto his cock. I gave myself over to him as I rode out the wave of my orgasm. This time it was a sharper, more focused orgasm, as though it was concentrated directly on my clit. I lay my head on his chest until I felt the throbbing pulse of him deep inside me. Nico let out a long, slow groan as his thrusting slowed until he finally stilled.
We lay together like that, catching our breath for a long time as the sweat cooled on our skin. While we recovered, I sent up another prayer, pleading with God to make sure everyone came home safe. I didn’t know how I would survive losing anyone, especially not Nico.
