He couldn’t fix it, but he wanted to make it as right as he could. Blood for blood.
Death for death.
No, it didn’t bring back the vibrant fifteen-year-old who’d smiled at him from pictures in the family’s living room.
But it had brought a small measure of satisfaction to his own soul. That the fucker wouldn’t be able to do it to any other girls.
“You did the best you could,” Moraine said. “I talked to Gillian a little while ago. Once the Muster is over, they’re going to have you stay there until they can get a new identity set up for you. No one blames you for what happened.”
“You’re wrong there,” Joaquin said. “I blame myself.”
* * * *
At least Joaquin had a good excuse for not talking during the drive over to Peyton’s. Jack and Moraine simply assumed he was in a funk over what had happened in Mexico.
Joaquin was actually running through countless scenarios, at lightning speed, of how to deal with tonight, with anything that might occur.
Including the worst-case scenario that he’d have to fess up in front of everyone and formally present Malyah to Peyton as his mate.
He didn’t want to do it like that. He wanted to be able to get with Peyton in private and do it that way. Quietly.
Without Beck wanting to rip his head off and shit down his neck in the process.
He also didn’t want to look like he was trying to upstage Beck and Dewi and their weddings, either.
On top of everything else, that was the last perception he wanted floating around. And Sadie would no doubt be here at some point this weekend. He wanted to avoid her as much as possible. That was water so far under the bridge it wasn’t even visible any longer, but it wouldn’t do any good to go rocking the boat, either.
Wow, I’m just full of fraking metaphors today.
As they approached Peyton’s house, Joaquin’s pulse raced, eager to see Malyah again. Hell, he was practically drooling.
Cool. Calm. Stay focused.
They could get through a couple of hours. He’d say he wanted to go for a run that night, alone, to clear his head. That would be the perfect excuse to cover his absence.
Then he could sneak into Malyah’s cottage, spend the night with her, and clear out before daybreak. That would give her time to get cleaned up before they went out for their brunch, and give him the cover to get back to Jack and Moraine’s.
And then he’d make himself scarce for the day. No use tempting fate.
When Jack parked in Peyton’s yard, it was all Joaquin could do not to scramble out and race into the house. Taking a deep breath and hanging back, he played it cool, slowly following Jack and Moraine as they walked up to the front door and rang the bell.
From inside, Gillian called out to them. “Come on in.”
As they entered, Joaquin’s gaze immediately swept the room, his nose twitching for any hint of his mate.
This will be more difficult than I thought.
No sign of her yet, he forced himself not to make a beeline through the house, out the back door, and to her guest cottage.
Instead, he took Gillian up on her offer for them to make themselves at home and to fix themselves drinks, if they wanted. Peyton was still in the shower because he’d gotten delayed on a pack business call, and the others were due any minute.
Joaquin made himself a bourbon on the rocks and sipped it. Normally he wasn’t a big drinker, but tonight he needed something to steady his nerves.
I don’t know her…I don’t know her…I don’t know her…
Had this been a bevy of clueless humans he wouldn’t worry about it.
But a pack of wolves? Three of them Primes, and several more of them Alphas?
That would be tricky.
Asia and Trent entered without knocking, both of them carrying casserole dishes they took into the dining room before returning to greet everyone. Joaquin downed another nervous sip of his drink. Hopefully, people would attribute his nerves to his close proximity to Beck, not because of anything else.
At least that was one good thing about everyone in the pack knowing everyone else’s business. A ready-made excuse, in this case.
Fifteen minutes later, Joaquin knew it the second he heard the back door open.
Malyah.
He felt it, a visceral rush through his veins and straight to his cock. By sheer force of will, he stayed planted right where he was, didn’t move, didn’t react, pretended to hear every word Asia and Trent were saying to Jack and Moraine.
Then he picked up the sound of Malyah’s voice and it nearly blasted away every ounce of will he had.
He also heard other voices, Dewi and Ken, Nami and Beck, Malyah’s brother, and two others he suspected were the other sister and brother-in-law.
And Badger.
Fuck.
Dewi appeared slightly distracted. Badger, however, was more like a bloodhound instead of a wolf. If the man suspected something was off, he wasn’t likely to let it drop until he was satisfied.
Joaquin timed it so he was standing with Trent and Peyton and staring at a wall of old family pictures of Dewi’s parents, his back to the doorway, when the others walked into the room.
When he turned, however, he couldn’t help the way his gaze immediately locked with Malyah’s. And he knew her pulse thudded the way his was.
He could hear it.
Hell, he was surprised no one else could.
Blinking, he forced himself to focus on Lu’ana and Reggie, who held little Bebe in his arms. Dewi introduced them to Jack and Moraine first, because they stood closer.
Lucky for Joaquin, Lu’ana was a hugger. He forced himself not to look Beck’s way, who’d come up behind the rest of them, as Lu’ana pulled him in for a hug after Reggie had reached out and shook with his free hand, his other arm holding Bebe on his hip.
So Joaquin opted to be a hugger, too, hugging Da’von, and then holding his breath as he hugged Malyah and forced himself to let her go after a reasonably short interval.
Very hard to do when, through their mate bond, he could hear her sigh of relief to be in his arms again.
And he forced himself not to make eye contact with her. If he did, he’d want to drape his arm around her shoulders, pull her close, and spill the beans right then just to not be separated from her.
Through a cruel irony, Gillian seated Joaquin between Malyah and Badger at dinner. They were no sooner seated than Malyah had slipped her foot out of her sandal and hooked it around his ankle.
No, he couldn’t bear to pull away, either.
Somehow, he managed to keep up a reasonable facsimile of a conversation during dinner. Well aware they had clueless humans present—of whom Malyah was supposed to be one—he apologized in advance if he seemed out of it and blamed it on a long and tiring trip back from Mexico.
Not quite a lie, either. Not totally.
He finally found an opportunity to excuse himself after dessert was served, telling Jack and Moraine that he’d walk home and to not wait up for him. Clearly meant to be code for an all-night run to the wolves in attendance.
After bidding everyone goodnight, he headed out the back door and had intended to jog across the yard when he heard the kitchen door almost immediately open again and a throat clear behind him.
Badger.
The sound pulled him up short as he mentally swore.
He turned. “Yes?”
The man stood there, his one blue eye glaring in the moonlight, his thick arms crossed over his chest. “Yer in a right hurry to leave.”
Joaquin took a calculated risk. He walked back to Badger and dropped his voice. “I need to clear my head,” he said. “I need a run.”
Badger stared at him. So far, he didn’t feel the wolf using his Prime power on him.
“I don’t want to stress Beck out,” Joaquin added. “And I’m…It was bad in Mexico, okay? It’s finally all hitting me, now that I have time to process it.”
That was the truth. He felt a little
bad about dredging that up, but it wasn’t a lie. He felt like shit over what had happened.
Badger’s expression softened. “No one blames, ye, lad. Ye did what ye could.”
“I blame me.”
That absolutely was the truth.
The old wolf sighed. “Yer a good one, ye are. Know that ye have Peyton, Trent, and Dewi’s respect. And even Beck’s, believe it or not.”
“Well, I want to steer clear of him.”
Badger nodded. “Lunch tomorrow, lad. I’ll pick ye up from Jack and Moraine’s. That’s why I followed ye out. Peyton wants things cleared up between ye and Beck once and fer all.”
Crap. “I’m good. Really.”
“Not optional. It’s Beck he wants to make sure is okay.”
Damn. “Okay. I’ll be ready.”
Badger gave him a curt nod. “Have a good night.”
“Thanks. You, too.”
Malyah had left her back door unlocked for him. He slipped inside and was waiting there for her when she returned twenty minutes later.
She burst through the front door, barely taking time to close and lock it behind her, before she ran into his arms in the darkened living room and planted a kiss on him that made his cock ache and his heart sing.
“God, I didn’t nearly make it through dinner,” she whispered. “All I wanted to do was curl up in your arms.”
He helped her shed her shirt and bra as she started tugging at his clothes, until a few minutes later they were both naked in her bedroom. She shoved him back down onto the bed and climbed between his legs, her fingers encircling the base of his cock.
He propped his head on his arms so he could watch her. She looked up at him as the head of his cock slowly began disappearing between her gorgeous lips, drawing a low moan from him.
“That’s it, baby,” he hoarsely whispered. “Just like that.”
What he wanted to do was fuck her, put her on her hands and knees, take her from behind, and fill her with him, but he could wait to do that. This early in their mating, his cock would probably be raw before he’d not be able to get it up for her.
* * * *
There was something so raw, so hot, so needy in his tone. But the good kind of needy, the kind of tone that told her without a doubt how desperate he was for her and that he would have her or move heaven and earth in his attempts to get her.
She slowly swallowed his shaft, emboldened by his satisfied noises and the fiery hunger in his eyes as he watched her go down on him.
This. That. The hunger.
His hunger for her.
That nearly made her come right there.
He reached down with one hand and stroked her cheek as she worshipped his cock. “When we can finally give up our secret,” he said, “I plan on spending at least a week in bed with you, uninterrupted except to eat, sleep, and have shower sex. I’m going to explore every square inch of your body with my lips and tongue, so I know what you taste like all over. And I’m going to fuck you and fill you, baby. That gorgeous mouth, that sweet pussy, and even your beautiful ass. I’m going to brand you inside and out as mine.”
She let out a soft whine around him.
“That’s right,” he said. “The last and only man you’ll ever have. Just like you’re the last and only woman I’ll ever have. And I swear to you, I’ll keep you happy.”
Nothing had ever felt like this before. As if her whole life she’d been waiting for something.
For him.
With his scent filling her lungs, his taste embedded in her very soul, she licked, sucked, stroked him, until she sensed his body tensing.
“Yes!” he gasped, arching his hips, thrusting as she went deeper and held still, swallowing every drop from him, until he finally started going soft in her mouth.
She rested her cheek against his thigh, reluctant to move and break this spell. He finally reached down and caught her hand, gently tugging her up into his arms, sprawling across his chest.
He kissed her, devouring her, his tongue sweeping against hers. In her ears roared her pulse and his. There in his embrace, she knew no matter what the initial fallout over this, he was her future, her only one, the one she was meant to be with.
Twenty-four hours ago, she would have gotten angry if anyone had told her she’d be feeling like this now, so ready and eager, even, to completely give herself over.
His fingers brushed her cheek again as his brown eyes stared into hers. “All I want to do is make you happy,” he whispered. “Not control you. If you want to work, you can. Or if you want to stay home, I can provide for us. You are my life. I live to make you happy.”
She laced fingers with him, her dark brown skin a beautiful stark contrast to his. “What are your folks gonna say about this?”
He shrugged. “They’ll be fine with it. They’re wolves. They understand. Some wolves never feel a mating bond and settle with someone they fall in love with. And then there are those of us lucky to feel that mating bond. My parents have a bond. They’ll love you because they know I love you.”
Chapter Thirteen
Nami knocked on Malyah’s door a little after eight Sunday morning. It was hard to outgrow the habit of just walking in after knocking like she did when her siblings were kids.
But they were all adults now. Malyah and Da’von were, as Beck and Dewi had predicted, doing well living on their own in the apartment. Beck had plans to buy Malyah and Da’von a house to live in together, but Nami had begged him to hold off on that and keep the plan a secret from them for now.
The “mom” in her wanted to be sure they really were going to be okay on their own. So far, they were paying rent and taking care of the place without her there.
Something that engendered both pride and a sad kind of longing inside her. No, they didn’t “need” her to raise them anymore. She’d done her job. And, apparently, she’d done it rather well.
Still, it was hard to let go, to admit it was now time for her to live her life, with Beck, and let her two youngest siblings live their lives, flying or falling on their own. She didn’t want them to think of her as a safety net, even though she always would be. She wanted them to work for a living, to earn their own ways.
Da’von, because he was in school, she cut him some slack in terms of a job. His job for now was going to school, and keeping up with the chores at the apartment, as well as babysitting for Lu’ana and Reggie when needed. Malyah and Lu’ana reported him doing well in all those areas.
Nami knocked again. Beck was spending the morning with Trent, Badger, Peyton, and Joaquin, handling pack stuff. Badger had volunteered to babysit Bebe, who adored him.
Ken, Reggie, and Da’von had already headed into town with Asia’s brother. He was going to show them around and take them out to breakfast, and then go to an art show being held in another town about twenty miles away. In his free time Reggie was an art nerd, something Nami deeply loved about her brother-in-law. When Ken had learned about the art show, featuring local artists from the region, he’d suggested it to the men as an alternative to the cover story of the “boring family business meetings” Beck and the others were conducting.
One of the reasons Nami had approved of Lu’ana marrying Reggie in the first place—after she graduated college, of course—was because he had layers to him many people didn’t even know about. It was nice that Reggie and Ken could do things together with Da’von and model a different side of “manhood” to her little brother. Something besides the stereotype of jocks or gang bangers for him to aspire to. Intelligent, sensitive men who’d obviously had no problem landing gorgeous women as their partners.
She could only hope the sweet boy she’d raised would continue on to become a good-hearted man once he found a woman of his own.
If Da’von ended up remotely resembling their biological father in manner or personality, she’d be tempted to strangle the breath out of him with her own damn hands rather than witness him putting a woman through that kind of personal destruction.
/> “Hold on!” Malyah called out from inside, almost sounding out of breath before she finally opened the cottage door for Nami. “Hey, sis.”
Nami cocked her head as a wave of rosemary rolled out of the cottage. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah. Let me grab my purse.”
There was something decidedly different about her little sister this morning, but Nami couldn’t put her finger on it. “You sleep okay?”
Malyah emerged from the cottage and locked the door. “Absolutely,” she said with a wide grin. “Best night’s sleep of my life.”
Nami reached out and touched her sister’s arm when she tried to walk away. “What’s going on? You’re awfully bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for a woman who usually needs three cups of coffee in the morning to even be halfway human.”
Malyah rolled her eyes in an all too familiar gesture. “For starters, I’ve been awake for a while and had coffee. I’m still on Florida time, remember? And it’s your wedding week, duh. And Dewi’s. I’m looking forward to spending more time with Asia and Gillian and Dewi and Lu’ana.”
“Okay.” Still, Malyah’s explanation didn’t feel totally right to Nami. Her eyes looked brighter, her expression lighter, hell, she almost looked like a new woman in some ways.
The women gathered in Gillian’s house. They would all fit in Asia’s minivan, so they took that.
Nami felt slightly vindicated when Dewi cocked her head just before Malyah climbed into the van and headed straight for a seat in the very back.
“Are you all right, Malyah?” Dewi asked, a curious expression on her face.
“Why?” Malyah replied, her voice almost sounding a little too tight and high to Nami’s well-trained ears. “Just enjoying this week of vacation.”
Dewi frowned. Then she turned and caught Nami’s gaze. Dewi arched an eyebrow at her and Nami arched one in return, nodding. Then she shrugged, and so did Dewi, before they both climbed in.
“We have a reservation,” Gillian said. “Just wait until you taste their food.”
“I’m sure it’ll be wonderful,” Nami said, shoving Malyah’s slight weirdness out of her mind. It was an odd week, and then there was the stress of meeting all of Beck and Dewi’s family. Maybe they were all just a little high-strung.
A Bleacke Wind (Bleacke Shifters Book 3) Page 12
