“Most?” I said, though I already knew who he meant.
He grimaced. “I have to be honest, Eugenia has had her eyes on that spot for the last year or two.”
“Ugh, I knew there was a reason she didn’t like me. I came into Hidden Grove riding on your back,” I said, rolling my eyes in exasperation.
“Don’t worry about her,” Levi said. “These are all issues we can solve, and questions we can answer. Right now, I want to enjoy this. Enjoyus.”
His hand slipped down, brushing across my stomach, and his cock twitched against my thigh.
“Again?”I gasped with a laugh.“Already?”
Levi grinned, his hand gliding up to cup my breast.
“We can go to sleep, if you want,” he said with mock sincerity.
“Not a chance,” I said, swinging my leg over his waist and straddling him.
26
LEVIATHAN
June crept out of my cabin before the sun came to go back to her room and get ready for the day. We’d both agreed to go on as usual for the time being. I needed to talk to Rainier about it before I introduced her as my mate.
We were scheduled to meet after breakfast, but I found myself pacing around my cabin. Full of bouncing energy, I tried to calm myself, but I kept going back to the joy I’d felt the night before. The sensation that had flooded my body when the mating connection had been fully revealed had kept me awake most of the night. Every few minutes, I’d turned to look at June as she slept beside me. I hadn’t felt such happiness in a century. Not since the day Naphele had died.
When the knock finally came, I yanked the door open, nearly tearing it off its hinges. Rainier flinched back in surprise.
“Jesus, Levi,” he cursed, eyes wide as I grabbed his shirt and dragged him in, slamming the door behind us.
“We need to talk,” I said, releasing him.
“I can fucking tell,” he said, smoothing out his shirt. “What’s up?”
“Sit,” I said, pointing to the couch.
“Oh good,” Rainier said, grinning at me. “Am I here to give His Majesty a foot rub?”
Taking my seat, I let out a huff of breath. “Sorry. I have a lot on my mind, and I need to get it off my chest. We need to make a plan.”
Rainier sat and eyed me, his face a twisted mask of incomprehension. “Dude, what thehell areyou talking about? Is this about figuring out if June is Naphele? I haven’t done the other option yet. I’d planned on making a trip to town tomorrow, and once I’m there?—”
“Don’t worry about that anymore.”
“Don’t…what?”
“I already know for sure that June is Naphele’s reincarnation.”
“You do?” he looked less than convinced. “How?”
I told him about the night before, about feeling the mating connection and the way my inner wolf reacted.
“She has to be,” I explained. “She’s my fated mate, the same way Naphele was. This is not me simply wanting her. I could take anyone as just a mate. That special connection to a fated mate is different, and you know it. It’s not a forced pairing some elder has done. What I feel with June is the real deal. That seals it. I don’t need more proof.”
“What if,” he said, speaking slowly and deliberately, “she’s herself?”
“Huh?” I frowned at him.
“What if June is justJune. A new woman you’ve fallen for? It can be that simple, Levi. It doesn’t have to mean Naphele is in there somewhere.”
