I chewed at my lower lip and stared down at my wine glass. “What doyou mean?”
“I know you got attacked by shifters, but…bringing you here to live? Twenty-four hour bodyguards? It’s a little weird for a robbery gone wrong.”
It was a lot. Most people wouldn’t believe the story, but Abi was my best friend. If I couldn’t tell her what was going on, there was no one I could tell.
I sighed and put my wine glass down. “Are you still sober enough for this?”
Abi sat her own glass down and leaned forward, eager and excited. “Spill it.”
I took a deep breath. Where to begin? My family? Did I go chronologically? Or did I start with the night of the attack? I decided it would be easier for her to understand if I started from the night the shifters walked into the bar. Tell her everything in the order I learned them. I began, and though I wasn’t a great storyteller, I did a pretty good job. Abi gasped and cursed at all the parts I thought I would have if I’d heard the story myself. I finished with the story we learned about my birth parents. By the time I was done, my mouth was so dry from talking so much that I grabbed my glass of wine and drained it.
Abi sat in stunned silence, trying to take in everything she’d heard. Finally, she shook her head and looked at me. “So…you’re like…long-lost royalty? Literally a missing princess or queen or whatever?”
“I don’t know that I’d go that far.”
Abi gasped. “Holy shit. You’re like the shifter Anastasia.”
I snorted a laugh. “Nothing that dramatic.”
Later I got Abi a cup of coffee to help her sober up before she drove home. Nico got back about ten minutes after she left, and Sebastian took off on his newly repaired motorcycle.
“You got home early,” I said. It was only seven.
Nico shrugged. “Surprisingly, the postal trucks weren’t a complete disaster. I’d assumed the worst. I’m starving. Do you want to get something to eat?”
“Sure,” I said. Any chance to get out of the house was a welcome change of pace, but it didn’t ease my worries. “Are you sure it’s okay? I mean…with Javi and his clan being out there?”
Nico nodded. “I made sure Javi understood. He got the message loud and clear. Go on. Get changed. Don’t let him worry you. I’ll be right by your side the whole time.”
Nico took me to an Italian place downtown. I’d been there before and loved it. I was a little on edge the whole night, though. Nico had given me his word that Javi would stay away, at least for a while, but it still made me nervous. After the shooting at the diner, nowhere but here felt safe. To Nico’s credit, he helped take my mind off things.
It was like a normal date. We talked about the mundane things new couples always talked about. He told me about his childhood, being the heir alpha and all that entailed. I told him about growing up with my own family. How it had been simple. Camping trips, Disney trips, beach trips—all the normal family stuff. Then the revelation that I was adopted when I’d just started high school. It had thrown me for a loop and made life difficult for a year or two.
After dinner, Nico took me for a walk through downtown, and we talked some more. It was one of the most romantic evenings of my life. I couldn’t even explain why. A small part of my mind told me it was the bond we shared. We both knew we were fated mates. That had to have played into the bliss of being with him, but I didn’t care. All I wanted was to keep walking down the sidewalk, holding his hand, and talking.
It was almost eleven by the time we got home, and I had a huge smile on my face. The night couldn’t have gone better. I was still a little buzzed from the cocktails we’d had at a classy little bar downtown. My whole body had a warm fuzzy feel to it as we strolled in the door from the garage. Nico caught my arm and spun me around. I was startled, but when he kissed me, the surprise melted away.
His hands slid down to my hips and he pulled away. “I wanted to say I really love having you around.”
“I love being around,” I murmured.
My skin was hot and the voice in my head was chattering away. I’d come to the conclusion that it was my wolf—dormant,but still very much alive. It wanted Nico. Desired him in a way I couldn’t even understand. It wanted to claim him, to mark him as mine. The alcohol was lowering my inhibitions just enough for the creature living inside me to start taking over. Carnal thoughts exploded through my mind, thoughts of what I could do to Nico, thoughts of what he could do to me. Warmth radiated from between my legs, and I was dripping wet already. The quick and powerful reaction was a little startling.
“Are you okay?” Nico asked.
I hesitated for an instant before speaking. “I…there’s a voice in my head telling me to…take you. It wants you. It’s scary because I don’t know if it’s me that’s thinking that or someotherthing.”
Nico’s eyes grew intense as I spoke. “Don’t ever turn from your instincts. The voice you hear is dormant, but the feelings are natural.” He leaned close, his lips almost touching mine. “You’re mine. I’m yours. Don’t hold back.” His hand slipped lower, cupping my ass. “Don’t ever hold back.”
The words seemed to tip a scale in my head. One moment, I was scared to give up control to the thing in my mind. The next, every barrier in my mind was torn down. All the hesitation, fear, worry, and shame drained away. It left me standing there, wanting to take him. To take control like I never had before. I wanted to have him in every way imaginable.
I pressed my lips to his, sliding my tongue into his mouth. I pressed against him, pushing him out toward the kitchen, then toward the couch. I shoved him down onto it, and the look of surprise in his eyes somehow made me even wetter.
I tore my shirt over my head and stripped my bra off. Nico saw what I was doing and started pulling his own clothes off. Excitement flooded my body, like hot lava searing through every vein. The crotch of my panties were soaked through when I peeled them off and tossed them to the side. Nico was naked bythe time I collapsed to my knees and grabbed his thick, twitching cock. I locked my eyes on his and slid the full length of him into my mouth.
“Shit,” Nico whispered, laying his head back onto the couch.
The hot, thick flesh in my mouth sent my wolf into a frenzy. It was the closest I’d ever felt to her. The being who shared my mind told me to take this man. Take him, make his eyes roll up in his head. To give him something so amazing, he’d never look at another woman, never even think of another woman.
