“What does that mean, Aleksei?”
“What part?”
“The end.”
“Ty moya princhina?”
I nod.
He smirks, his eyes filling with dare and heat. “You tell me what you think it means, only using our bond.”
I take a slow breath, exhaling even slower, but that’s mainly to blow his scent away. I can barely remember my own namewhen all I can breathe is him. And it’s better and worse, because in the air is Kade’s scent and Santiago’s still, and when the three of them mix together, I’m in my own version of the world’s most divine perfume.
I feel a lot of things, but it’s hard to discern through the events of the evening, particularly because they’re still littered around us.
I can feel a well of energy, but that’s it.
He kisses my hand but doesn’t give me crap about not being able to read too much into the sensations. “See, that’s how I know ‘we’ are real. And we will be stronger together. You tried because you wanted to make me happy. You are my reason. That’s what it means. My reason is that I want to become a better person and give you whatever your heart desires.”
I don’t need to try to read our bond to know he wants to keep talking, but he also has to go.
“Nalla is ready to go in the car,” I tell him. “I’ll need to sew her wound and dress it properly.”
Aleksei flicks his eyebrows up. “You can read our bond! I am taking you two somewhere safe. No one knows about it. You’ll be able to help her there.”
He scoops her up into his arms, then stands up. Like straight up. He benches presses a hundred-pound dog like she’s light as a feather.
Santiago pushes the kitchen door open, and given the way Santiago looks Aleksei up and down, I think he’s going to help Aleksei, but he doesn’t. He chuckles, dropping the keys to the car on the table before smiling like he won the lottery.
“Perfect. You take the dog, and I get our girl.”
Either Aleksei doesn’t get the slight sarcasm, or he doesn’t care; he just heads out the kitchen doors with Nalla.
I go to hold the door open so Roshka can follow them, but he stays with me.
“He’s so fucking cocky. Quinn, this is coming from a good place, but are you one-hundred-percent sure about him?”
I don’t mean to, but I laugh at the absurdity of Santiago’s question. Although, I also know I’d respond the same if Aleksei asked. I get it, though; we’re an odd bunch, but with each passing second, I see more and more that they’re my odd bunch.
“If I say I’m as sure about him as I am about you, does it put it into context?”
Santiago pulls a face and uses his hands, gesturing a very cheeky and conceited “maybe.”
“Now who’s being cocky.” I growl, earning a big cloud of his scent to come barreling my way.
His sensual, warm, and very sweet amber scent is the only thing I can breathe, while his smug grin gets bigger and bigger as he comes closer. “You have no idea how cocky I can be, bebe.”
I take a step away. I can’t let these Alphas walk all over me, no matter how good it sounds. I can have fun, though. “Hmmm, I disagree.”
Santiago’s eyes darken. He probably remembers exactly what I’m talking about. Back at the hotel, I discovered firsthand how cocky he can be. I got to spend an afternoon being completely owned by him. I can’t say I didn’t like it, which he also knows.
I stare him down, making his smile grow and his Alpha side become even more pronounced until he stalks forward, like a leopard on the hunt, and I’m trapped by him.
“Amante, don’t speak like that,” he growls, leaning down to run his nose against my jawline. And him calling meloverdoes lots of things to the inside of my panties. My scent is laced with lust.
He takes a deep breath before talking again. “As easy as I can worship, I can leave you begging too.”
Santiago looks so serious, and the thought of him denying me anything is the opposite of what I know is true. Santiago isa giver. And he’s exceptionally good at it too. Still, we’re in the middle of today’s drama and have hours left to go, by the sounds of it, so if he needs to be more dominant, who am I not to encourage him or shock him?
