“Maddy, I don’t want to claim you on the basis of a hunch.”
“Are you serious?” Maddy asked.
“Uh…I…what?” I stumbled over my words, trying to come up with an answer. I wasn’t entirely sure what she meant by that. Serious about not claiming her, or that it was more than a hunch? I didn’t know what to say.
“I want you to claim me anyway, you big idiot. I already promised myself to you. I love you. That’s not going to change. I want you, and I want you completely and totally. If you still want to wait, then that’s up to you. I’ll wait, but just know that I’m ready to be yours. Completely yours.”
I thought my wolf was literally going to jump out of my chest. Hearing her lay it all out like that had sent him into a frenzy. It almost felt like he was going feral. The desperation I felt in him was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. It was all I could do to hold him off. I wanted to take her more than anything. Iwanted to pick her up and slam her onto the kitchen island. Rip her clothes off and fuck her brains out, then sink my teeth into her, claim her, and make her mine forever.
I blinked the thoughts away, I still didn’t want this to be some spontaneous thing. I wanted it to be special. To mean something.
I cupped her cheek. “A few more days, I promise. Not much longer. We’ll talk about how to get you through your first shift. Soon.”
Maddy leaned forward and kissed me. “I can wait. If that’s what’s best.”
“We’re going to make it through this, Maddy.”
She nodded. “I know. Fate didn’t bring us this far for us to fail.”
37
MADDY
We’d been back home for a week, but a part of me still felt like I was stuck in Sweden, stuck in some purgatory where I had to relive everything. Kenneth’s death, the pictures of my parents, of Abi, the running and the fear. I didn’t know what the symptoms of PTSD were, but I had a sneaking suspicion that I was close to going down that route.
I’d been on edge since returning home. It was all I could do to keep from having a full-blown meltdown. It was so hard to have faith, to trust that the royals were being honest. That they wouldn’t hurt them yet. That they were still alive. That we’d get the chance to rescue them. I had no idea if my faith was misplaced or not, but it was the only shred of hope I had, so I clung to it with a mental death grip.
Nico and I had been spending a lot of time out in the forest behind his house. We’d walk through the trees, and he had me hold my hands out, touching the leaves and branches as we went. He told me connecting with nature would help me connect with my wolf. He was mentally preparing me for my first shift. The next full moon was the expiration date. Either Nico wouldclaim me, or I’d go through another agonizing night as the moon tugged my body towards it.
Nico was still not ready to claim me. We hadn’t even had sex since we’d gotten home. Part of me wondered if the things I’d said to him the night we got back had ruined what we’d had between us. I’d apologized, but it hadn’t seemed to make a difference. He was still sleeping in his own room, leaving me in mine. I’d cried myself to sleep the night before, thinking I’d messed things up so bad that he would never want to be with me like that again. No claiming, no love-making, no nothing. He said he loved me, but I missed the closeness of our bodies. So, not only did I have guilt about my family getting kidnapped, but now I had guilt about what I’d said to the man I loved.
There was no way I could keep working at the bar. Not with Abi being held in some godforsaken basement or dungeon or something. I messaged the entire staff and said we were closing temporarily. Like before, I’d keep cutting them a check each week. They were understanding, but I knew some of them would start looking for another job. Why wouldn’t they? They could double their money by taking my checkandworking somewhere else. Then when it was time to finally reopen, most would never come back.
The thought filled me with a depressing ache. The bar had been my life. My baby. Now I was on the way there with Luis and Sebastian to pack up the money in the safe and discard anything that would expire before we reopened.
Once we were inside, I took a second to walk around, my fingers trailing across the bar’s wood counter. I really did hope I’d get to reopen. After I had my moment, I went about helping Luis and Sebastian close the place down. We disconnected the CO2 tanks to the soda machines and threw any refrigerated stuff into the dumpster or packed it up to take back home. I let Sebastian have the recipe for our chicken sliders, which madehim happier than I’d seen him since he’d heard the news of Abi being taken.
As we worked on removing the trash and doing one final clean, my thoughts went to Nico. I wish he’d been there with us. I was a little disappointed when he said he wasn’t coming. This was difficult for me, and I would have liked to have had him here for it. He’d given me a pretty lame excuse about needing to be home for a video call. Like he couldn’t take that on his cell at the bar. It made me think I’d done some irreparable damage to our relationship.
His absence from shutting down the bar made more sense when Luis pulled up to Nico’s house to drop me off. There were rose petals and candles on the walkway leading up to the front door. I glanced over at Luis and gave him a quizzical look.
He shrugged. “Don’t ask me.”
I got out of the truck and walked up the path to the door and opened it. Inside, there were even more candles and rose petals strewn along the floor. I rounded the corner and found Nico standing in the living room. He held an open bottle of champagne and two flutes. He was dressed in a tuxedo. The thing must have cost a couple thousand dollars. I’d never seen a suit that fit someone as well as fit him. He looked like he’d walked right out of some old 1920s twenties cocktail party. He looked amazing. Probably the most gorgeous I’d ever seen him, and that was saying something.
I took a few steps toward him. My face must have betrayed my confusion. He put the bottle and glasses down, then took a step toward me and grabbed my hands. “Maddy, I have a proposal for you.”
“Oh really?” I said, wincing inwardly at how dumb my response sounded.
He grinned. “I love you. Forever and always. I promise I’ll protect you and keep you as safe as possible. I want you to be mypartner for life. Shifters don’t typically do this the way humans do, but…well, here it goes,” he said and got down on a knee, still holding my hands and looking up at me. “Will you take me as your mate? Can I claim you and make you mine forever?”
I put a hand to my face as tears blurred my vision. I’d never been so happy in my life to hear something. I’d gone days thinking I’d messed things up. Instead, Nico had been planning this. He’d been getting ready to propose to me. My head was already bobbing up and down before I could speak. “Yes. Yes, Nico, yes, I will.”
He grinned and stood, pulling me into his arms and hugging me. He kissed me, and I tasted my own tears on our tongues. He pulled away and licked his lips. “Mmm, salty.”
I burst out laughing, and Nico poured us each a glass of champagne. We walked up the stairs, sipping at the champagne as we went. Once we got into his bedroom, I started undressing, looking into his eyes as I did. He stared back at me as he pulled his own clothes off. My wolf was growing impatient and pushing me toward Nico. She wanted to be claimed as much as I did. She was desperate to have what she’d wanted for so long—a mate, and to be able to come out into the world.
I slid my panties down my legs and unhooked my bra. The cool air in the room kissed my skin, and my nipples hardened. I stared across the room as Nico removed the rest of his clothing. His thick cock was already getting hard. His muscles, much like that you’d see on a marble statue in Rome, rippled. Urged on by my wolf, I made the first move, walking over to him. I looked into his eyes, wrapped my hand around his cock, and kissed him. He groaned, the rumble echoing into my mouth.
