Right, he thought she was dead.
Elise waggled her fingers at him at a loss for anything else to do. This man had hated her from the first, and that wasn't going to change when he found out who she truly was.Whatshe truly was.
Javi plated spaghetti and put it in front of her.
"Cole said I could stay," she said before she took a bite. It was good.
"Cole must be out of his damn mind," Reece declared, his voice straining with just a hint of a growl underneath. His wolf was coming out to play.
Javi took a step closer to her, and she realized that he was ready to protect her in case Reece did something stupid. Elise couldn't waste time being afraid of Reece right now, not when Cole was still in there with Nico and he might be doing terrible things to her boyfriend. She'd been mostly joking about the frog thing, but she would figure out how to make it happen if she had to.
A few minutes and a few bites of spaghetti later, Nico came out. He looked a bit pale but otherwise okay, and she hoped he had just gotten yelled at, which was its own kind of torture, but one he could survive.
"I'm never going to be able to understand how you could date a witch," Reece said, shaking his head in disgust.
Ah, so he did know. That information was probably making it through the pack at light speed, but at least they wouldn't have to explain it to everyone.
Nico growled and took a step towards Reece, but Elise wasn't going to let that happen. Not right now. She scooted off her stool and got in front of Nico and then grinned at Reece.
"You should try it sometime," she said. "Maybe you'll like it."
Chapter
Thirty-Two
Hot water cascadedover Nico as he washed the memory of the day away.
All things being said, it could have gone worse. Elise was waiting for him in his bedroom, no longer a prisoner but a somewhat welcome guest, even if there was a check-out date on that invitation. Cole hadn't kicked him out of the pack, even though the dressing down he had received would have made a lesser wolf run away with his tail between his legs.
Right now, there was a possibility for a future between them.
The wolf in Nico wanted to permanently move Elise into his quarters right this second, claim her as his mate and keep her forever. It wasn't possible at the moment, and the man in him needed to remind the wolf that they had been dating for less than a day. And maybe he needed to get himself under a little bit of control.
But what a day it had been.
Now Elise was the first acknowledged witch on pack grounds. The pack knew they were together, and already they'd received a few scowls, but they'd get past that. He knew she was disappointed from her coven sisters' reaction, but if his pack wasanything to go by, eventually they'd be able to find a way through this. He was determined, and he was confident she felt the same.
The door to the bathroom cracked open, and Elise stepped inside—a naked Elise.
Her blonde hair hung down past her shoulders, ending just before those supple breasts that he could spend several hours, if not days, getting lost in. But he let his gaze travel farther down, farther past the curve of her hip and the juncture of her thighs, all the way down to her bare toes that were curling against the bath mat. His cock stirred immediately, blood rushing south as his eyes raked over her.
"The shower's occupied." Nico's voice came out rough.
Elise grinned and stepped closer, opening the glass door and letting herself inside. "I think there's room for two."
Heat that had nothing to do with the water flooded through him as she moved into the small space, bringing her scent with her.
"Did you miss me already?"
"It's such a big bed." She reached out to trace one finger down the center of his back, following the path of water over his spine. "I was getting lonely."
Elise wrapped her arms around him and pressed herself close, both of them standing under the waterfall showerhead and letting the warm water rush over them. The softness of her breasts flattened against his shoulder blades, her nipples already tight points that he could feel, and her thighs bracketed his hips as she molded herself to him.
Nico had almost been finished, but he was glad to extend this shower if Elise wanted to join him. She placed gentle kisses along his shoulders, the press of her lips melding with the feel of water flowing down his back. Each kiss was a brand on his skin, her mouth hot and soft.
But then she pulled away. "Is this my shampoo?" She picked up a bottle with purple flowers on it that was sitting on the ledge.
Nico cheeks blazed, and he felt like he had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
