Perfect Mate (A Werewolf BBW Shifter Romance #2)(21)

He sounded so young, and Damien could hear the pain in his voice.

“I’ll do anything to make it right. And if you tell me to go, I’ll go. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Jordan stood silently and began to gather the rest of his medical equipment. That was what good friends did; they talked when you needed it, and stayed out of the way when you needed it. Damien lay quietly, thinking. On a gut level, he’d wanted to throw Kyle out of the pack the instant he read the letter. The kid was right. He had betrayed the pack. And when Damien thought of what might have happened to Julia, his blood ran cold through his body.

And yet…he sensed that Kyle had matured after seeing Julia and the pack being threatened. There was no longer the brash certainty that he’d come with when Damien had first met him. While it was certain he had a long way to go, Damien thought that he could be trusted. At the very least, given another chance. Damien hated to think of the kid out on his own, with no pack to look after him.

“You can stay in the pack,” Damien said flatly. “But if you ever lie to me again, you’re gone.”

Kyle swallowed hard.

“Thank you. I can’t—I…Thank you so much.”

“Can you tell Julia we’re almost done here?” Damien said.

“Yes! Yes, yes, I’ll go find her right away.” Kyle nearly tripped on his way out of the room.

“You’re going soft in your old age,” Jordan said.

“Yeah, well, what could I do? The kid saved my life and Dee’s.”

“Is she coming into the pack, too?” Jordan asked.

“Why? You don’t think she’ll want to join?”

“Join?” Jordan laughed. “I think she’ll challenge you for alpha status.”

Julia came into the room, her perfume wafting through the air ahead of her. Damien inhaled her scent, calming down as she came to sit next to him.

“How’s he doing, doctor?” she asked.

“I’m afraid I have bad news,” Jordan said. “I was able to fix the cracked rib, but he’s still blind.”

Julia’s worry vanished into good humor.

“Oh, no!” She squeezed Damien’s arm in mock horror.

“Don’t worry,” Damien said. “The rest of me is in perfect health. And I do mean perfect.” He slid his hand around Julia’s waist, and she leaned over to kiss him.

“Well, I’ll just take my leave then,” Jordan said.

“Thank you,” Julia said, a smile in her voice.

“Just doing my duty,” Jordan said, clicking his heels together and closing the door behind him.

Damien kissed Julia again, pulling her in more closely.

“Thank you for letting Kyle stay,” Julia said, her breath warm on his cheek. “He and Katherine are off celebrating. They’re adorable together.”

“Good. I was worried what you would think. He did sell you into slavery, after all.”

“And then rescued me.”

“I would think you’d be more upset.”

Damien felt a mix of emotions flowing from Julia. He caressed her cheek and she kissed his hand softly.

“Truth be told,” she said, “I’m happy that I learned about my past.”

“Well of course you are. You didn’t crack any ribs.” Damien grinned.

“I’ll crack another one if you keep sassing me,” Julia said.

Damien pressed his hand on hers, turning serious. “What did your grandmother tell you? About, you know…”

“About shifting? She says she doesn’t know if I’ll ever be able to shift again,” Julia said. “It didn’t work, you know, when I tried it during the fight. Dee says it’s the procedure they did.”

“She doesn’t know how to reverse the process?”

“No,” Julia said. “But she thinks we will be able to have children. Shifter children.”

“Children? Isn’t that a little presumptuous?” Damien teased, arching his eyebrow.

“Hey, I said no sass!”

“What if I want you to break another one of my ribs?” Damien said, pulling Julia completely down onto the bed next to him.

She laughed and ran one hand down his chest.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “I can be gentle.”

Damien breathed in as Julia’s hand moved down to unzip his pants. Her fingers slid under the fabric of his underwear and wrapped around his already growing member.

“Julia—”

“Shh,” she whispered, moving herself down to where his pants were bulging. His heart beat faster as she pulled down his pants and exposed him. Her breath felt deliciously hot against his head, and he twitched in anticipation. Softly at first, her tongue darted out and licked the tip of his head. Immediately he became entirely stiff.

He could feel her so well now that she was touching him. He could sense every emotion that flickered through her mind, and what he found there made him breathless.

Love, and so much there that he wanted to take her in his arms and hold her and tell her that yes, he loved her too, he would always love her. But more than that now, was the pulsing, insistent desire. She wanted him, she wanted to make him happy, wanted to be with him in every conceivable way. And again, now, he heard words floating through the ether and into his thoughts, like a whisper on the wind that he could barely make out.