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Though Luka’s hypnosis worked on him well enough to drop the charges against Axil, Officer Burton remains suspicious of me and my brothers, and would love nothing more than to see one or all of us behind bars. We must be extremely careful in his presence.
“Was that Officer Dickmop?” Samantha asks, her small hand wrapping around my bicep.
I cannot help but flex beneath her touch. “Yes, it seems he was trying to find a reason to put an abrupt end to this event.”
“Sneaky fucker,” she hisses.
“Axil saw him and left with Vanessa right away.”
She lets out a pleased sigh. “That’s good.” Then turns to face me. “Hey, can I speak to you privately for a sec?”
I nod and lead her toward the storage closet on the main floor where we keep the damaged books. It’s a meager-sized closet, the shelves packed with books that have missing pages, dented spines, and water damage from the leak in the roof that destroyed dozens of books a few years ago. A mere inch stands between Samantha and me once the door is closed. “What is it?” I worry she is on the verge of ending our arrangement, our “sex friendship” as she calls it. But my worry fades the moment she opens her mouth.
“I need you to come to a wedding with me and pretend to be my boyfriend,” she says hurriedly in a single breath.
Inside, I am beaming. Outside, I remain as still as a rock. I want her to say more because she needs something from me and that something is more of my company. It is a delightful feeling to be needed by her.
“Look, I know this is a huge ask,” she continues, nervously fidgeting with the silver cuff bracelet on her wrist. “It’s just…it’s my ex-husband’s wedding, and I haven’t seen him in a while, and his family is terrible. His mother, in particular, is a huge cu–”
I stop listening to her chaotic babble. She is uncomfortable and there is a hint of fear in her scent and there’s nothing I want more than to make it go away. Wrapping my hand around the nape of her neck, I bend down and cover her lips with mine. Samantha moans as she sags against me, her perfect, ample flesh beneath my hands. She is right where she belongs.
Yesss,my draxilio cheers.Mate. Our mate.
Startled that my thoughts would even remotely align with his desires, I jerk back. Samantha’s magnificent mouth is swollen from my kiss, and her brown eyes swirl with heat as they slowly blink open.
“Um,” I begin, trying to settle myself, “I would be delighted to be your pretend boyfriend.” Then I gesture to the door. “We should get back out there before someone notices we’re gone.”
She follows me out, saying “Uh, thank you” from behind me.
Charlie meets us at the front desk and tells us the last of the guests have left. Samantha helps the frazzled sub shop server with her catering cleanup while Charlie and I collect the empty cups and whiteboards and return the folded chairs to the book closet.
Samantha gets a text from Vanessa telling us to meet her, Axil, and Zev at Tipsy’s Bar. I invite Charlie to join us, but she declines, saying she needs to get home. Samantha and I lock up, setting the alarm as we go, and find ourselves alone in a dark, quiet parking lot. She looks me up and down and says, “Is that what you’re wearing to the bar?”
I had not considered going anywhere but home after trivia ended. “I don’t have other clothes, so yes.”
She glances at a swath of pine trees that blocks the Sudbury Animal Hospital from view. “Could we…fly to Tipsy’s?” she asks shyly.
It is not an unreasonable question, I suppose. During the chilly days of winter, I have commuted to work via my draxilio on more than one occasion. But I have certainly never flown with anyone, and I’m not sure I should start now. It is one thing for Sam to know of our true forms, and for me to unmask in front of her when we have sex. It is quite another to shift into my draxilio in her presence and offer her a ride in my claws.
Being in this form, my flightless form, I am in control. The way I behave around Samantha is measured, controlled, and with the ever-present goal of a male who seeks to pleasure and be pleasured in return. If I allow my draxilio to take charge, especially in the vicinity of Samantha, I’m not sure what he’ll do. He sees her as his mate. What if he decides this is his only chance to claim her and he flies off, taking her several states away?
“Please?” she begs. She actually begs with her palms pressed together and her eyes wide, vulnerable, and needy. The seam of her hands is nestled between her breasts, and I notice the cool night air has caused her nipples to harden beneath her dress. My tongue runs along the edge of my teeth as I envision taking her nipple between my lips and sucking on it until she writhes beneath me.
“Of course,” I reply instantly, unable to shake the image and the power it has over me. I just hope my draxilio minds his manners on this flight.
CHAPTER 8
MYLO
“Just…do me a kindness, yes?” I say as I lead her into a small clearing between the trees. It is dense enough here to hide even the massive, winged beast I become when I shift, and once my feet leave the ground, the invisibility cloak every draxilio has activates and will protect us from anyone who happens to be gazing at the stars tonight. Getting caught in my other form is not what worries me.
“Sure,” Samantha says, eager to return the favor I have just granted.
“If my draxilio does anything,” I begin, struggling to find the right way to phrase this, “if he behaves in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable or unsafe, I want you to hit him as hard as you can.”
She blinks several times before laughter bursts from her. This continues for far longer than I think appropriate for a warning so serious before she notices I’m not laughing with her. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No, I am not kidding.”
