Angie’s words are sitting on top of me. My claws are still out against the dirt, and I groan because I know she’s right, and the admission tears at me.
I’ve said the exact same thing to Nicole. I huff. Then I hiss. Because why does Angie have to be right all the time? It’s unfair. It’s maddening.
I hang my head, defeat settling over me slow and cold. I think about what Amir said in the clearing, his eyes fixed on me.What you have just done could have ruined everything that Wintermoon stands for.The lioness has started wars before.That isn’t what I was doing.
I pick up my feet and walk across the yard, up the porch steps and through the open door, and I close it behind me with a soft click.
I quickly make my way up the stairs to our bedroom and find Aaron passed out on the bed.
He’s on his back on top of the covers. He’s still wearing his boots. Of course he is. I sit on the edge of the bed and work his right boot off, slow, careful not to jostle him. I move to the left one, and I set them side by side on the floor. Then I walk around to the other side of the bed and crawl in and lie down beside him on my side. My tail settles slow onto the blanket behind me, flicking once.
His breathing is heavy and even. His mouth is slightly open. There’s a smudge of dirt high on his cheek, and I resist the urge to brush it away. After a moment he moves, a small shift, and winces in his sleep, his face contorting with pain.
I start to sit up, worry rising in me. “Are you hurt?”
His arm shoots out before I can get halfway up, and drags me down hard against his chest. I gasp, the air leaving my lungs in a rush. “Mara,” he breathes into my hair. He drops his head and rests it on my chest. His hand splays wide across my back and presses. When he can feel me breathing, his grip loosens and he just holds me.
I don’t know what to do. My arms find their way around him, slowly, uncertainly. I let him hold me.
The royal cabin is two days from now, and I don’t know what I’m going to say about any of it. Aaron has been hesitant to talk about Amir’s offer the whole year we’ve been together. Every time I brought it up, he asked if we could focus on our mate bond instead. There’s no more putting it off.
Aaron nuzzles into me, and I feel my body relax against him. My tail comes up and around and strokes slow and soft against the side of his face, the gesture tender despite my frustration.
“What am I going to do with you?” I whisper, the words catching in my throat.
He nuzzles in harder, seeking my warmth even in his sleep. His arm tightens across my back like he’s afraid, even in his dreams, that he’s about to lose me. When he finally wakes up, we’ll have to talk about this. But a hiss escapes me when I think about it. Angie will be back tomorrow, and the argument we just had was enough to make me want to claw her eyes out. Why does it feel like we’ll never get along?
9
Aaron
Iwake up to her warmth, her scent, and the weight of her on my chest. That’s everything I’ve been missing for a whole goddamn week. The ache that’s been sitting inside me finally quiets.
Mara stirs in my arms, a small shift, her cheek brushing my collarbone, and I tighten my grip. Some terrified part of me is convinced I’m dreaming, that she’ll be gone if I don’t hold on tight enough. I press a lowhmminto her hair and pull her closer, breathing her in.
“Are you alright?” she murmurs.
“I am now.” The words scrape out of me.
I’m nudged between her breasts and I’m not moving. Not for anything. The world can burn. After a week of falling apart at the fucking seams I am whole again, and that’s the only fact that matters right now.
She starts to pull herself up and away from me, and that’s when my eyes snap open.
“Wha—“
The loss of her body off mine is painful. I press a kiss between her breasts, soft, then slide my head up the column of her neck and crash my mouth to hers in a kiss that has been building.
“Aaron—“
She tries to say my name and I take it from her, my tongue stuffing into her mouth, my hand moving to her breast through the thin fabric of her nightgown. I roll her nipple between my fingers and she gasps and arches up into me, andfuck, I am gone. I slide on top of her. Her tail comes around and brushes the back of my head, and her body heats up under mine.
“Aaron—“
Her legs spread under me and I grind down into her, hard, and the words spill out of me. “The shield is gone. I learned my lesson, baby.”
I kiss her cheek, her neck, my hand traveling down her chest. I have forgotten everything. All I know is that I need to be inside her, to put a cub in her right now and make sure she can never leave me. My fingers find the lace edge of her panties.
“We can start making our cubs now?—“
