Wild and Free (The Three #3)(64)
“But there’s so much more to it,” she reminded him.
“Yes, there is, but none of it is more vital than sharing with him that he and his mate play a pivotal role in keeping humanity safe from enslavement, which includes the possibility one, the other, or both will die in the process.”
“Cal—”
He leaned deeper toward her and his voice was firm when he said, “I know this. I know as wolf. You told me the wolf is winning out in him so I know, Sonia, that the most important thing to him is to know the extent of danger his mate is in and how he can do something to stop it.”
She could not argue with this.
She still had a bad feeling.
“I’ll talk to him. Later,” Callum stated. His hand went back to moving up her thigh and his voice gentled but came thick when he said, “Now, baby doll, take off that f*cking nightie and get on your belly for your wolf.”
The blue in his eyes was gone and they shone with the hunger she felt gnawing through her. A hunger that had to be assuaged. An urge she could no longer deny.
So Sonia, Queen of the Werewolves, took off her nightie, slid off her panties, and moving on trembling limbs, she got on her belly for her wolf.
Chapter Eleven
Dark Day
Abel
Abel stood at the basin, the light over it the only light that lit his space, his hands curled around the edge of the sink, his eyes to the mirror.
They were meeting the vampires and wolf that morning at nine at the restaurant.
He could not, for the life of him, sense anything other than genuineness from the human bride of the vampire and the queen of the werewolves, and his senses were keen. The women were open, honest, friendly, as well as slightly guarded, but only in a way that it was clear they wished to establish trust and not do anything that might harm that mission. They also bonded with Delilah swiftly and easily.
And he knew, being who he was and now understanding part of what he was, that it was a massive statement, their mates allowing them to come to the restaurant unprotected.
He was still worried.
That day was going to be a dark one; he knew it in his gut.
He’d left Delilah asleep in bed, but he sensed her stirring.
He didn’t move. It was early and he hoped she’d go back to sleep, something he had problems doing after Leah phoned her to arrange the meeting. They’d gone back upstairs to make plans with the men as to how to handle it? then back downstairs to f*ck yet again and go to sleep.
His hopes were thwarted when she didn’t settle. After a few moments, he heard the covers thrown back, then he heard her pull on her nightshirt and panties, and finally he heard the fall of her bare feet moving across the floor his way.
When she came into view of the mirror, Abel watched her approach, her face sleepy, her eyes on him, her hair tangled and messy, the vision of her starting to make him hard.
She said nothing. Just disappeared behind his back at the same instant he felt her hands light on the sides of his waist right before he felt her lips brush the indent of his spine.
He closed his eyes to fight against the pull of how good that felt.
He’d hoped he’d have this. Just this. He’d hoped when he found her this was what they would be. What he saw with Jian-Li and Ming. What he saw with all the women who had been family to him, who had held him close to their hearts, and who he had watched with the men they eventually let in them. The casual affection. The quiet support. The catching of eyes where things were communicated perfectly with no words, things no one else would understand except the two communicating them.
But having it…
It was more than he could have imagined and he’d spent over a century imagining it, building it up, making it so beautiful that deep in his gut he’d worried the reality would never live up to it.
But it did.
And then some.
It got better when he felt Delilah press her cheek to his back and whisper, “It’s early.”
Abel opened his eyes. “Yeah.”
“You didn’t sleep well,” she noted.
He thought she’d slept well, but apparently he was wrong. She’d felt his restlessness and he could tell by her tone and actions she was concerned.
Yes, she lived up to the dream and made it better.
“No,” he confirmed.
She slid her hands around so her arms were wrapped around his stomach. He felt her shift her head so her nose and forehead were pressed to his spine. When she did that, the soft feathering of her breath drifted down his spine and he again had to fight against going hard at the same time he gave the tightness forming in his chest free rein.
After she did this, she gave him a squeeze and assured, “It’ll be okay, honey.”
“I hope so.”
Another squeeze. “It will.”
He didn’t reply, just stared into his eyes in the mirror.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Shoot,” he invited.
He got another squeeze, this one seeming automatic, before she stated, “No recriminations. I don’t know why I need to know, I just do, and it’ll be okay because you’ve been around for a long time. You had a life. I get that. But have you, um…held another woman in your lap like you did with me yesterday?”
“Absolutely not,” he replied immediately and felt her tense at his back.