by K. C. Hamby
“No, that’s fine. Really, it is.” My voice is small. I’m not an extravert by any means, but even staying to myself and having horrific social skills has never made me this shy.
“Okay, would you be comfortable if I slept in a sports bra and shorts?” Nina swallows, seemingly nervous herself. “I just hate having so much on when I sleep. It’s like I’m being strangled by my clothes.”
“No, that’s okay.” I stop her before she continues to nervous ramble. “I’m the same way.” I stare down at my hands and they’re shaking. What?
“You can take the right side of the bed. I somehow roll to the left and always end up on the left side when I wake up, so I might as well start over there. Hopefully, I won’t roll off.” She giggles at herself and I relax, joining in with my own quiet laughter as I walk to my designated side of the bed.
I sit on the edge and turn to Nina. She has her back to me and lifts off her shirt before I even have a chance to look away. Well, more like I have to drag my eyes away. I think I should feel bad about it, but I definitely don’t. My eyes drift back to her without my permission and her perfect, freckled skin is partially covered by a blue sports bra.
Again, I know I should look away, but I can’t stop staring at her. As she walks to the wall to turn off the light, I notice colorful marks going down the parts of her spine I can see. Before I can focus on what they are, Nina flicks off the light and turns back to the bed. My eyes adjust instantly to the darkness and I steal another glance at her. It’s like she has freckles everywhere! It’s the most wonderful thing I have ever seen and it makes me want to play connect the dots all over her beautiful body. She slides under the thick comforter of her bed and I try and fail to pull my eyes away from her before she notices. Heat rises up my neck and makes its home in my cheeks as Nina gives me a knowing eyebrow raise.
“Are you getting in or not?” she teases. I clear my throat and hesitate a second longer before I take off my own shirt, revealing my lack luster sports bra, rapidly slip off my joggers, and quietly wiggle under the covers before Nina can get a good look at my barely clad body. Her roaming eyes makes my throat tight.
The cool, soft sheets glide against my rough skin. I swallow the nervous lump formed in my throat and face Nina.
I have the overwhelming urge to kiss her until the sun comes up and hold her in my arms all day long after that, but I hold back. Half because it’s a little ridiculous, but mostly because I’m shaking like a junky going through a withdrawal.
“You okay?” Nina asks the question with a whisper parting her pouty lips. She pulls her hair out of its bun and grabs my hand. “Why are you shaking?”
I say nothing. Really, I don’t have anything intelligible to say that wouldn’t heat my body all over with embarrassment. What am I supposed to tell her? I’ve never been this close to someone I wasn’t trying to murder before? In any type of way?
Sigh.
“Fal?” She pulls my attention back to her and snickers at the terrified look on my face. “Have you not slept with someone before?” Can she read my damn mind?
“No.”
Her smile falters, reading my uncomfortable body language. “Wait. Have you ever been with anyone at all?” She searches my eyes when I finally have the courage to meet her gaze. She squints through the dark air, trying to find an answer.
“No. I’ve never even dated anyone, nor have I ever been interested in anyone.” The heat travels all over my face. It’s like I have a fever.
“Ah. That must be why you got so defensive when I asked you if you’ve ever been in love,” Nina ponders out loud, still watching me. I direct the conversation back to her because all this attention is making me even more uncomfortable.
“What about you? Have you ever been in love or..whatever?” I try to sound like I don’t care what her answer will be, but the thought of anyone other than me meaning anything to her bothers me a whole hell of a lot more than it rationally should. I know jealousy is a normal emotion and I’m only human.
Well, figuratively.
“Uh, I thought I was once, but it’s clear now I definitely wasn’t.” She flicks her gaze up to me, trying to make me read between the lines, but I can only focus on the fact there was someone else; someone she thought she loved. I skip over how she doesn’t really say anything about being with someone in that way. I mean, she made it clear she made a mistake with Sara…
Jealousy. Completely irrational. I didn’t even know her and she didn’t know me, but I don’t like thinking about it. My mind floods with flashes of Nina hugging someone else; someone touching her and her touching them.
A growl rumbles quietly in my chest.
Was she happy? Did they make her smile? Did they hurt her? The growl changes into a snarl at the last thought.
Nina caresses the right side of my face and rubs her thumb over my scar. It brings me back to the present and her thumb is cool on the parts of my scarred flesh I can feel.
“I’m here. I’m with you.” She coos and calm lies over me like a blanket, making me warm and safe. I lean into her hand. Must be my wolf enjoying the petting.
She traces her fingers down the length of my scar and shivers roll down my spine. Because of the damaged nerves, I can feel her gentle touch in some places and not others.
“How did this happen?”
I sigh deeply. “I got in a fight with someone and he caught me in the face with a sickle blade.” My muscles clench with the fury filling my chest at the mere thought of Damien. Bastard.
“Oh, my god. I’m so sorry. That’s terrible.”
“Don’t be.” I snort at her apology. “It’s my job to get rid of people like that. I got cocky and let my guard down. I deserved it.” I roll my eyes, remembering my prideful idiocy. My eyes widen, realizing a just old her I ‘get rid of people.’ I suck in a deep breath and wait for the inevitable.
“Wait? You what? Get rid of people like that?” A cold sweat breaks out over my skin at her shocked expression. “You don’t mean like….kill them, do you?”
“Uh,” brilliantly falls out of my mouth. “I mean.” Shit. I might as well tell her because she’s going to have to find out eventually. Goddammit. Me and my big mouth. “Yeah, I mean like kill them.” A terrified squeak comes from her lips and she wiggles more to her side of the bed, not touching me anymore.
The action stings.
Nina stays quiet for a long time while I wait in agonizing silence, wondering what could be going through that mind of hers. Her eyes shift everywhere around the room except to me and I retreat inwardly. Will she kick me out and tell me she never wants to see my face ever again? Will she pull a gun out of her nightstand and shoot me? Who knows? I sure as hell don’t.
She sighs and moves closer to me. I dare not move for fear of scaring her off. “I guess it’s one of those things you’ll have to tell me about in more detail after you talk to your brother, right?” I nod my head.
She shakes her head at me, relenting for now, and some of her hair falls over her shoulder. Before I realize what I’m doing, I grab the rogue locks and rub them between my fingers. Her hair is so soft and smells of sweet lavender. I gently push it back over her freckled shoulder—before I decide to do something creepy like put her hair to my nose and sniff it—but instead of putting my hand politely back to where it came from, I find myself running my fingers down Nina’s arm. Her skin may be softer than her hair. It’s so smooth and makes my hand glide all the way down to the curve of her bare waist where it stops suddenly.
She’s warm and here with me. I’m touching her. I’ve had dreams and nightmares about this and now I’m here, actually touching her dotted skin.
The small ember in my chest slowly turns into a large, wild flame as I look up from Nina’s waist and lock my eyes with hers. A pleased rumble manifests in my chest when the same fire is burning bright in her beautiful, wide eyes.
Pure instinct takes over and I tighten my grip on her small waist and easily pull her closer. She wraps her leg over mine and the
soft skin of her legs rub against the scarred roughness of my own. With every inch of my skin touching her, the fire inside of me burns brighter.
Nina reaches up and tangles her fingers in my hair, giving a small tug. A new feeling blooms in my chest—among other, lower areas—and sends shivers all over my body. Desire?
Desire.
I soak in every bit of the stormy seas floating in her irises. The fire is suffocating me and I can’t take it anymore. I need her.
I crash my lips into hers and kiss her so fiercely, the flame inside of me may engulf both of us. I can’t get enough of her. I need her closer. I slide my hand across the bottom of her leg locked around me like a vice and she tugs gently on my hair. A small moan escapes my mouth through our incessant kissing. I pull back from Nina’s lips at the insistence of her hair tugging and she moves to my neck where she breathes more oxygen into the flames of my fire and causes it to grow. She traces the muscles of my neck and bones of my jaw with her kisses and, occasionally, her tongue. Ice runs down my spine in spite of the flames that seem to be charring my whole body as Nina lightly bites the nape of my neck. Another moan falls from my lips and I tighten my grip on her leg. She surrenders her attack and moves to kiss my mouth again, but I evade her and target her collarbone. My lips caress up and down the velvety skin begging to be touched and Nina lets out a moan of her own which may cause my world to explode. I want her. I want her more than anything. My body is screaming for her to be mine.
After hot, burning kisses and skin that tingles with every touch, Nina rolls on top of me, pinning me to the bed and making me breathless with desire. I stare at her with animalistic hunger. She’s breathing hard. We both are.
“We need to stop. I’m having an extremely hard time being good right now. I want you in so many ways, Fal.” The confession is pushed through hard breaths. My face burns. I don’t even know what those ways entail, but I know I want them. Especially with her sitting on top of me, but I nod my head anyway, not trusting my mouth to speak.
Nina gently lifts her body off me and lies on her side of the bed. She nuzzles into me and I wrap my arm around her. She breathes in deeply and lets out a long sigh.
“So, girlfriend, huh?” she whispers. The fire explodes in my cheeks as I remember what I said to the pizza guy earlier.
“Uh, I….” I stammer and try to finesse together some witty thing for me to say. I swallow the nervous lump in my throat and take a leap. “I mean, I certainly wouldn’t mind.” Silence fills the air as I wait for her reply. I peek down and watch a slow smile manifest on her lips.
“I mean,” she says, obviously mimicking me, “neither would I. On one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“You tell me everything I need to know about you. Then, and only then, will we be FBO.” She giggles.
“FBO? What’s that?”
“Fal. It means Facebook official.” She rolls her eyes at my lack of modern knowledge. I guess I need to pretend I’m social enough to actually have a Facebook.
“Oh. Right. Soon, I promise.” I kiss her forehead, making her nuzzle closer. A noise of contentment comes from her lips and sleep wraps its arms around me, coaxing me into an embrace like it’s a long-lost lover.
With Nina’s deep breathing and heartbeat in the air around me, I fall into a peaceful, dreamless sleep.
***
Consciousness gently pulls at my dreams and I wake feeling more rested than I ever have in my entire life. The bed tries to pull me back into sleep, but I notice something is pushed against my back, my senses making me alert and awake.
I hear Nina’s heartbeat after remembering where I am. Her slow breaths on my back warm my skin. I smile and become aware of something else pressed against my stomach. I cut my eyes downward to find Luna cuddled against me, snoring softly.
I could stay like this forever and be perfectly content.
Nina stirs, pulling me out of blissful silence. She stretches and a strange, loud sound comes out of her mouth, waking Luna up in the process. The little pup glares at Nina and I swear the dog gives her the ‘eat shit’ look. I chuckle. Luna, obviously annoyed with my stomach moving from laughter, jumps off the bed and pads away with a huff.
I turn around to find Nina smiling sweetly at me.
“Good morning, Sunshine.” Awkwardness seeps into my veins as I realize I just slept with Nina.
I mean, it’s not like I slept slept with her, but I’ve never been so intimate with anyone. I’m suddenly nervous and shy, not knowing what I’m supposed to do or feel at the moment.
Anxiety is my least favorite emotion.
“Good morning,” Nina breathes sleepily. I blow out a laugh through my nose, the anxiety fading away with her smile.
Intrusive thoughts break into my mind. Has she done this before and if so, was it awkward in the morning? My wolf doesn’t like the thought very much. Trying to calm her, I sit up and stretch, letting the burn of my muscles distract my inner possessive dog. I lace my fingers together, extending my arms over my head and arch my back. My bones crack pleasantly and a slow burn eases across my muscles. Before I can relax, I glance over to find Nina staring at me. I peer down at myself and realize I’m still in my sports bra and boxer briefs. My cheeks tingle with heat as I raise my eyebrow at her. Her face flushes bright red.
“What?” She’s defensive. I smirk and remain silent, letting her blush deepen. I slide out of the bed and retrieve my shirt and joggers from yesterday off the floor. I slip them on and turn around to find Nina doing the same. She pops her head out of the collar of her shirt and her hair sticks up wildly in waves laced with static. I can’t stop the laugh bursting from my mouth.
Nina pats down her hair, holds her nose up unnecessarily high, and walks off to the bathroom with a ‘humph’. I chuckle softly to myself.
Nina grabs me an unopened toothbrush from under the bathroom sink and we get to work on getting ready for the day to the best of our abilities.
I almost fall over when I finally get a good look at myself in the mirror. My skin is back to a healthy tan. There aren’t any black circles under my eyes—or well, eye—and my hair is as thick and shiny as ever. I look healthier than I ever did before being without Nina made me sick.
“Holy shit,” Nina whispers as she stares at herself in the mirror. The same goes for her. Yesterday, she was so sickly and frail; still beautiful, but she lacked her Nina-esque glow. Now, she has the glow back and more. Her hair is messy, but it shines in the light of the bathroom and her sapphire eyes threaten to pierce a hole through her own reflection because they are so stark in contrast with her light skin. Her freckles dot across her body like stars in a clear night sky. I want so badly to count them all and find all the constellations that make Nina who she is.
Her eyes meet mine in the mirror and I’m instantly drowning in the pools of blue, but I don’t care if I ever come up for air. My chest aches in a slow burn type of way and it makes me want to hold her in my arms and protect her forever.
Nina blushes, clears her throat, and leaves me to get myself together with a quick “I’ll leave you to it, then.” I shake myself out of whatever spell came over me and get to work untangling the mess of hair I have attached to my head and doing whatever else I have to do to look—and smell—decent.
After the hard work of making myself look relatively normal, I come out to the kitchen area and find some fruit cut up neatly on a plate for me. My stomach rumbles embarrassingly loud at the strawberries, bananas, and mango and I hide the heat creeping up my face behind a wall of raven hair. The messy waves seem to do its job.
I sit and stuff my face when Nina asks, “What are your plans for today?”
She giggles when I hold up a finger, telling her to wait a second while I swallow my mouthful of food. “I have to train with Nathan when he gets out of class and then I’m going to talk to my brother, Ash.” Nina quirks her head at me curiously.
“Who is Nathan?” she asks, trying to come off nonchalant, but I
detect a hint of jealousy in her scent. It’s sharp and flows around me in a protective embrace. I smile at her possessiveness.
“Nathan is this awesome nine-year-old I’m mentoring.” I pause and huff at my sudden realization. “Well, he may be mentoring me. He’s the one who convinced me to stop being an ass and come find you. He’s like my little brother.”
“Awwww, Fal. That’s so sweet!”
“Yeah, he gets bullied in class, so the teachers aren’t patient with him like they should be and he has a hard time learning what he should.” I pause and laugh. “Well, he used to get bullied.” I smirk to myself, knowing I scared those little demon kids straight. I steal a glance at Nina and she raises her brows accusingly at me. I just shrug like I’m totally innocent. She rolls her eyes and lets it go.
“Do you have plans other than that?” The boldness that creeped into my chest yesterday rises to the surface.
“I suppose I do now.” I wink at her. It’s weird that flirting is natural with her. I’m pretty sure before I met her if I tried to wink I would probably look like I have a tree stuck in my eye or something.
“Come over after you talk to Nash,” she says and I giggle.
“Ash.”
“Ass?”
I laugh so hard, tears fall from my eyes. “Yeah actually. That’s what I like to call him.” I wipe the tears from my cheeks. “But of course, I will. Where is your phone?”
“It’s on the nightstand by the bed. Why?”
“So I can put my number in it, silly,” I tease as I make my way over to her phone. I pick it up and press the home button. “Holy shit.”
“What’s wrong?” I hear her footsteps echo behind me. I hand her the phone over my shoulder. She has seventeen text messages, six missed calls, and three voicemails from Sara. Remembering that pixie cut, handsy, punk poser makes my blood boil. A growl aches to get out of my throat, but I push it back down.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Nina exclaims. Her anger silences the Lupi in me. I forgot she has such a sailor’s mouth when she’s angry. Or, I guess I could call it Fal mouth (like fowl mouth. Puns are great) since I drop swear words into my everyday life as if they are as casual as breathing.
