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“We’re a family now. Whether it’s two of us or three of us is fine by me.”
CHAPTER 36
MAYA
“She’s still not talking?”
Nathan leans back on the large, plush sofa, one tanned arm stretched along the back and the other holding his phone to his ear as he speaks quietly into it, trying not to disturb me. I take a moment to admire him . The waves of his chestnut brown hair are messy, and he’s dressed only in a rumpled t-shirt and boxers. A dark shadow of stubble dusts his strong jaw after days in bed with no time or inclination to shave. He looks good enough to eat, with his long legs stretched out in front of him, his solid thighs made for climbing on top of.
The last three days have been a blur of sweaty bodies, fucking and moaning, broken only by brief sex-induced comas and room service. Taking a deep breath, I’m overjoyed to detect his scent still covering me from head to toe. Not only because it’s incredible to have my sense of smell back, but because I like the scent of sex and cum all over my body. I never thought I’d love that so much, but it’s like he’s marked me in two ways, by burying his teeth in my neck and spreading his seed between my thighs.
He hears me and tips his head back. He’s looking at me upside down, and smiling brightly before righting himself and extending an arm to me, gesturing for me to come close. I smile at him, a warm feeling blossoming in my chest as his fingers wrap around the back of my leg and he pulls me closer until I’m standing between his knees. As Cooper’s voice travels down the line, Nathan’s fingers wander up and down my sensitive skin absentmindedly. My heat must be passing. If he touched me like this just yesterday, I would have thrown him down and had my wicked way. Now I'm content to enjoy the moment.
“We think her plan was to leave Ethan, you, and Maya together to fight it out as some kind of parting shot instead of killing you, or giving you those pills and taking you, which was probably what she was told to do. Toby filled her head full of bullshit about how he’d look after her, that we didn't appreciate her, blah, blah, blah.” Cooper sighs down the line. Nathan frowns.
“It seems likely she was going to meet up with Beth or Leon, but she won’t say where and she’s not giving us any info about what happened to Carla, either. If she even knows or cares. She might not.”
An uncomfortable silence hangs in the air.
I can tell they all feel guilty for not being able to find her. Without knowing whether Carla was involved, they didn’t know where to look, but now it appears her sister and Kim framed her. Hopefully, that's all they've done to her. I hope she’s unhurt, wherever she is.
Nathan’s fingers tickle the back of my knee and tingles spread up my legs to my core. Maybe I'm not back to normal yet. Hayley still hasn’t had the baby. Her hospital dash turned out to be a false alarm, but they’ve kept her in for observation, probably at Cooper’s insistence.
Who's going to say no to a frantic alpha with the next heir to the pack in his mate's belly?
It’s a mess. They're fighting fires and stretching themselves thin. Cooper sounds exhausted, and Nathan looks worried.
MAYA: Tell him we’ll be home tonight.
NATHAN: We don’t need to do that. You need to rest.
MAYA: I can sleep when we get to Grey Ridge. You need to get back and help them out.
Nathan tries to argue again, but I shake my head at him. I won’t be the reason he’s not there to help his family. They’re still under a potential threat, and there are two babies on the way. I can help Rex with the day-to-day running of the pack. It’s what I’ve done since I was a teenager. From my brief stint helping Nathan in his office, I know it won't be anything I can't handle.
Judging by the frequent text messages and voicemails Dean has been leaving, he’ll be at the pack house about five minutes after we arrive. That’s if he’s not already there. If I stay away any longer, he'll come here to see with his own eyes that I'm fine.
“We’re coming home,” Nathan says decisively to Cooper, and I nod. “I’ll re-arrange the meetings here and come back out next week if I have to, after we’ve re-grouped and decided what we’re doing.”
Cooper doesn’t even try to put up a fight, just signs off with a grateful “see you later”, and Nathan sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. It would be nice to stay here, locked away in our little sex bubble, and pretend none of this happened, but my heat has passed and, realistically, if someone is still after the Jones family, we’re more vulnerable on our own. The wolves in their pack must be anxious. They need to see the Joneses are in control and rallying around to get things back on track, or they’ll lose faith in their leadership.
I crawl into Nathan’s lap, straddling him, one leg on either side of his hips, and run my fingers through the hair at his temples, dragging my nails along his scalp and massaging his tight shoulders.
“You smell so good,” he says, eyes closed, enjoying my touch. I can feel him relaxing as I rub the knots in his sore muscles. I’ve given him a serious workout over the last few days. I know I’ve got aches and pains in muscles I didn’t even know I had.
“That’s because I smell like you.”
He grins but doesn’t deny it. There’s no hiding the swell of pride that flows down the bond to me and he grips my waist possessively, stroking up and down my back in firm motions, rocking me forward against his body. The poor guy must be dehydrated, keeping me satisfied time and time again while the heat was at its peak. The intensity has ebbed, and all that’s left is a steady thrum of contentment that makes me want to be close to him.
“We don’t have to stay in Grey Ridge. You know that, right? I don’t want you to feel unsafe. I meant it when I said I would go to your pack until this gets resolved.”
Trailing his fingers along my neck, he lovingly traces over the mark before pressing a gentle kiss on the raised skin and moving on to my neck. I gasp and tilt my head to the side, letting him continue to lavish attention on my sensitive skin.
“I want to. The pack needs a display of solidarity to give them confidence. So that’s what you’ll give them.”
“Hmm. My fierce little mate. But we're getting our own place. I don't want to stay in the packhouse.”
That sounds perfect. It makes going back to reality a bit more bearable. Pulling back reluctantly, I press my forehead to his with a sigh.
