AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I know you’re tired,” he said as they headed into the kitchen. “I am, too, but I don’t think there’s any way I can sleep right now. Not with all of this swirling in my head.”
“I know.” She followed him into the living room, her eyes sweeping over the place as they went.
She looked like an animal that’d just escaped from a zoo and didn’t quite understand she was free. It hurt him all over again. “There’s nothing to worry about. I told Rex we were leaving, and Glenwood wolves are on alert all over this neighborhood. If anyone so much as looks at this house funny, they’ll get taken down. I don’t think he’s going to do anything, though.”
“You don’t know him that well.” Sarah sank slowly onto the couch. “He’s relentless, and he’s not going to just let this go. He told me countless times how much I’d tarnished his honor, and I think he’d be happy to get his revenge.”
His guts twisted and rebelled. Max leaned against the mantel as his mind went to war with itself. He wanted to ignore her requests to leave the Greystones alone and go take care of this problem. He’d burn their whole damn packhouse down to the ground. Another part of him wanted only to hold her and do everything she asked, anything that would give her even the slightest sense of comfort. She deserved that. He beat himself up for allowing this to happen, yet he knew it wasn’t his fault. “If he’s so dangerous, how did you manage to get away?” He hadn’t wanted to press her when she’d first shown up, knowing all this was more than anyone should be expected to handle. He had to know, though.
One side of her mouth quirked up slightly as she met his eyes. “Ava.”
“Really?” Even though he’d never known his daughter until now, pride bloomed inside him. “What did she do?”
“Your eyes aren’t the only thing she inherited from your side. She’s like Dawn and your mother.” A hint of energy returned to Sarah’s face.
“You mean…” He hadn’t even had the chance to consider it. It shouldn’t really be that much of a surprise, considering the witch bloodline was so prominent among the women in his family. Still, knowing that something so remarkable had sparked in such a horrible place had more magic to it than any spell.
Sarah was smiling fully now. “I may have helped with some of the logistics, but it was really all her.” She went on to explain how Ava’s skills had made all the difference in finally breaking them free from the Greystones’ clutches.
“That’s incredible. I grew up with witches all around me, but I never thought magic would make such a difference in my life.” Max ran a hand through his hair, incredulous.
“I knew she had some powers,” Sarah admitted. “She’d discovered a few things she could do when she was small, but I didn’t think it would ever turn into anything major. Not without help from someone who understood it, anyway. I guess growing up the way she did, she learned how to keep things a secret, even from me. I only just found out how much she could do.”
“Wow.” He pushed himself away from the fireplace and came to stand closer to her. “I want to ask you so many things, and that was why we came here, but I feel like I could talk to you for a year straight and still not get it all out.”
“I want to tell you everything, but it’s hard to know where to begin. As I said, it’s not something I can put into simple terms. Not any of it.” Her eyes were roving the room again. “I like your place.”
“Thanks.” Could he tell her how good it felt to have her there with him? This had been his home for years, a place he’d chosen because it had a big backyard for Hunter to grow up in, and it wasn’t too far from the packhouse.
She pointed to the green glass swag light hanging in the corner. “That surprises me, though. You never liked that old stuff.”
“It came with the place.” The answer was honest, but it didn’t tell her everything. He’d walked through the house with the real estate agent, knowing he was buying it for himself, but he wanted to think Sarah would’ve approved of it. Moving out on his own was something he’d done because he’d felt he should, but he’d dragged himself through the process. Nothing had excited him then, not when he’d just lost his mate.
That swag light, though, had felt like a beacon from Sarah from beyond the grave. “I left it because I remembered going to all those flea markets and tag sales with you. It was the same sort of junk you would’ve brought home.”
“It’s not junk!” She laughed as she crossed the living room to get a better look at it. “They don’t make things like they used to.”
“With bad wiring, you mean?” He’d moved up behind her, and when she turned to argue with him, he caught her in his arms. Her curves fit in his embrace just as they always had, sending thrills through his body and driving his wolf into a frenzy all over again. “Sarah, I think the pain of knowing you were alive this whole time is even worse than the pain of thinking you were dead. I can’t tell you how sorry I am.”
“You don’t have anything to be sorry for.” Her eyes were liquid and sweet as they looked up at his, soft and alluring. She traced her fingertips over his shirt sleeve, slowly touching, exploring.
“I do. I’m going to protect you this time. I’ll promise I’ll never let you go again.” He bent his head and pressed his lips against hers. It should’ve felt strange or awkward after all these years, but it was like coming home. A contentment he’d been missing for so long washed over him as she lifted herself toward him.
His hands swerved along the curve of her hips and around to her back, lowering slightly as he pulled her closer. A vibration of pleasure escaped from his throat as she parted her lips. He dipped the tip of his tongue into her depths, finding the silky warmth of her tongue waiting for him. A part of him had died when he thought she had, but it was coming back to life.
Sarah’s hands moved up his biceps to his shoulders, tracing the broad planes there. As her touch moved up the back of his neck, she bent her fingers and grazed her nails gently through his short hair. Her body pressed against his, her breasts compressing softly against his chest.
Anticipation built inside him as he remembered just how good her skin had felt against his. He worked his fingers between the hem of her shirt and the waistband of her jeans, digging his fingers into the softness of her backside, and he knew he was done for. He didn’t just need her or want her. They were meant to be. The universe had dictated it a long time ago, and no one could keep them apart this time.
She stretched herself up toward him, leaning her weight into him as her caresses fluttered around his neck and the graying stubble along his jawline. Sarah touched him, taking him all in, delighting in him. Her palms drifted down his firm chest and stomach until she was twisting her hands in the hem of his shirt.
The beast inside him took over. His longing for her buzzed in his ears and drowned out the rest of the world as he scooped her off her feet. Her weight was easy in his arms, natural, as though it had always belonged there, and he carried her into his bedroom.
Sarah clung to him as they moved, her arms desperate for him. She trusted him; he could feel it in the ease with which they’d come together.
Max laid her down on the bed, eager to satiate his craving for her. He stripped her of her shirt, dragging his lips down her neck and into the hollow between her breasts. As he slid her jeans down over her hips, he delighted in the softness of her thighs. She had changed, yes, but she was still the same luscious woman he’d fallen for so long ago.
The floodgates of his desire opened as Sarah’s hands eagerly pulled at his shirt, belt, and jeans, her fingers running alongside his spine. Her legs moved against his, skimming, touching, inviting.
