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He broke the seal. I smashed my lips against his, the taste of his mouth the taste of me. He had consumed me as I consumed him, our alpha energy uniting, flowing around us and through us until the last seismic wave shuddered through his cock to leave us undone and satisfied, my body cradled in his arms as we drifted to sleep.
CHAPTER39
EPILOGUE TWO - JUSTINE
Visible through theopen door to my home office, a stack of the claw's paperwork waited for me. Accounting, land trusts, corporate trusts, payroll—the pile never really diminished, just fluctuated with a never ending exchange of work finished and work started, like the snake forever devouring its tail but never changing size.
The process wasn't new to me. I had been preparing such documents for the leap my entire adult life. The only thing that had changed now that I was the claw's leader was the signature at the bottom.
Justine Acevedo James…
But tonight's stack on the desk was tomorrow's work. It was closing in on nine in the evening and the laptop resting across my thighs was open to a word processing program and a more personal project. Across the screen, a parade of letters danced with swirling, evasive steps. Some felt like a hot knife to the chest, others stoked fires elsewhere in my body.
The shower in the hall bathroom shut off. I hurried to finish the paragraph I was drafting.
"…with the most bone-shattering climax she'd ever experienced over, Jessa peeled her eyes open to find two-hundred-plus pounds of pure sex appeal staring down at her. That mesmerizing green glow was back in his eyes, and stubble that hadn't been there when Mitch showed up less than an hour ago now lined his cheek, making her—"
"Making her what?" Mallory asked with a sexy rumble in his voice at the same time I sensed his presence and stopped typing. "And who the hell is this Mitch guy?"
I clutched the laptop before I could drop it, my heart stuttering in my chest, partially from the surprise but more so from the fact that Mallory only had a towel around his hips, water still glistening on the exposed skin. How had the words so absorbed me that I didn't hear my mate leaving the bathroom or feel him sneaking up to me close enough he could read over my shoulder?
"No answer?" Mallory teased. "What's this all about, other than sex?"
Feeling my cheeks heat, I hoped my dark skin hid the blush. It never did, not when it was Mallory looking at me.
"I'm writing about the pack wars, about the end of them, mostly."
For the first time in a long time, my mate frowned at me.
"You know we’re not allowed to make records of such things, to document our existence in any way."
I arched a brow at him as I tried to nail down what he was saying. "Are you telling me I can't?"
"Never," he answered.
I stared at him for a few long seconds to make sure he wasn't just telling me what I wanted to hear. Satisfied, I still offered a huff.
“Good, also it’s not a history-history, it’s a tawdry factionalized romance.”
"Factionalized?" he asked.
I nodded enthusiastically. "Is the meaning clear?"
Mallory smiled and nodded, his dark gaze turning the overhead light into a mischievous twinkle that reminded me of our early days. His humor and troublemaking personality had been the first thing to truly hook me. Even in his youth, he was a crazy man. He was a wild man, too, especially when it came to our more intimate moments
"Clear enough," he hedged, his finger tracing the neckline of the nightgown I had put on while he showered. "Right now, I’m more interested in the tawdry bits."
I choked on a laugh.
"You’re always more interested in the tawdry bits.” I tried to keep my tone light, but other emotions overtook me.
"What is it, love?" Mallory asked, his expression flashing over to serious as he moved to take the laptop. "You are very sad all of a sudden."
The back of his fingers stroked my cheek. I stopped his hand before he could mesmerize me into forgetting the truth I needed him to know…needed him to see.
"There's something I want to show you."
Waking the computer, I navigated to a hidden file buried deep in my terminal folder, a file I had recently found on Henric's private server but had first seen decades ago in my father’s office.
