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I was on my stomach, my arms tucked under the pillow. Cole was rubbing my sore back. The wolf in me was loving the physical touch.
“You’re too tense,” Cole chastised.
I snorted. “I can’t imagine why that would be. Between gettingseveral shifters slaughtered and handing a victory to the Moon Goddess, I should be on cloud nine.”
I didn’t have to see Cole to know he’d frowned. His hands stilled, resting on my shoulder blades. “It wasn’t your fault, little wolf.”
But wasn’t it? “I’m the one who insisted we change places. If I’d gone with Daphne and Xander, you’d have been there to protect Lewis and Adam.” The other Wind-Blood had been a cousin of Xander’s. The second family member of his I was responsible for killing. “I’m the one who brought Hector to the realm of the living. I’m the one who made a deal with Phaidros to begin with and got us into this whole mess. I’m a failure as queen. No one should listen to me—I just keep making terrible decisions that get people killed.”
Face-down on the pillow, I fought the pinpricks of tears. Even if Cole couldn’t see them, he’d be able to scent the salty aroma.
But he wouldn’t let me have the refuge of the pillow. In a single movement, he flipped me over, his legs still straddling me.
“You arenota failure as a queen. Hector would have chosen to give his life for you a thousand times over, and he only got hurt because you were rescuing me. You walked into the under-realm and walked out with another soul. I think you forget how incredible that is. As for today, yes, we lost good people. It will never not hurt. Had I stayed, would the results have been different? Maybe. It’s impossible to say. The rest of it… little wolf, that deal only hastened the inevitable. We’ve been on a collision course with this destiny for far longer than you or I can remember.”
He wiped away my tears. I leaned into the touch, but he tilted my head back to face him with his palm.
“You doubtme.”
“I doubt myself,” I admitted. “I can remember the years of ruling at your side, confident in my decisions. The years before, guiding the realm of the living. But it still feels like a different person at times. It may be my soul, and I may have finally pieced it all together, but I’m still me. Avery Ward, shifter reject, the one no one wanted.”
“The oneIwanted,” Cole countered. “My queen. My mate.”
I glanced at his exposed mark. “Yours,” I agreed.
He saw where my gaze landed, and a smirk came to his lips. He was so proud of that mark. It was the best decision I had ever made. Then again, there wasn’t exactly stiff competition around that title.
“You do make good choices, little wolf. And I know how I’m going to show you.”
He knelt back on his knees, still straddling me, so his hips lined up halfway down my thighs. We were both naked, so I felt every inch of his skin against me.
“You’re going to command me.”
I blinked at him. “Do you think your wolf will like that?”
“My wolfisme,” Cole reminded me. “And yes, I think we both will enjoy being bossed around by our mate.”
I frowned. “Are you calling me bossy?”
Cole couldn’t have pulled off an innocent look if he tried. “I think you’ve forgotten how much you like trying to boss me around. The difference is, this time, I’ll listen.”
Something in me lit with interest. It was a game… but it was also a test.
“Is that so?”
“Try me.”
I eyed him up and down. Dark hair, falling in short wavesjust above his eyes. The winding dragon tattoo curved from his shoulder to his hips. He was hungry for me, that much was obvious. But he sat back on his heels, waiting for me. Even on his knees, Cole couldn’t look anything less than utterly dominant. I liked that. It was no fun if he’d suddenly changed.
I slid my legs out from under him and lifted myself up so I was standing on my knees facing him. My fingers traced over that tattoo, barely more than a brush. Involuntarily, my husband gave a shudder.
“Stay still,” I told him.
He obeyed without protest.
My touches went further. I stroked his length. Feeling him grow harder under my touch was an aphrodisiac. Before now, every time I touched Cole, he had touched me back. Now, there was an asymmetry. It should’ve created distance, but instead I felt more connected to Cole than ever. Like I finally had all my thoughts about me and could tease him as much as I pleased. That he trusted me with his body, with his soul.
“Any other commands?” Cole said through gritted teeth when my stroking had gone on for several minutes. I’d kept the same slow, torturous pace, almost lazy even though I was anything but.
