“What about your breasts? Can I grab your breasts to see how she reacts?”
“Sure.”
“Really?” He was so shocked he didn’t even realize he was speaking out loud and not through the bond.
Sally turned just as she reached the foot of the stairs that lead to the second floor. “No, not really, you butthead.”
Costin threw back his head and laughed as he carried their bags and followed his mate up the stairs.
“I’m sure y’all are tired, Costin.”
Mrs. Morgan’s voice brought him to a halt just as he reached the top step. He turned to look down at her.
“We’re going to call it a night,” she continued. “If you two need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Morgan,” he said. “I look forward to visiting more with you and Mr. Morgan.”
She gave him a small wave and turned, heading in the opposite direction. He realized that meant the master bedroom was downstairs, while his mate’s old room was upstairs. A grin spread across his face as he turned to follow Sally’s scent down the hall.
“You can wipe that grin right off your face, Costin Miklos. There will be no hanky panky in my parents’ house.” Sally had her arms folded in front of her chest and a frown firmly in place when he entered her room.
“So let me get this straight,” he said as he set down their bags. Costin stretched his arms above his head, trying to get his tired muscles to relax. “There will be no grabbing of backsides or breasts and no hanky panky?”
“Exactly. My parents live here, Costin. They could, like, I don’t know, walk in or something.”
Costin took a step toward his irritated mate. “Sally mine, you do remember that we’re married, right?”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Of course, I remember.”
He took another step toward her. “And that means we are allowed to, neigh, we are expected to participate in lots of hanky panky. Your parents aren’t going to scold you for having a boy in your room, beautiful.” He took one final step and then cupped her face in his hands. He leaned down, his lips barely touching hers as he whispered, “Hey.”
She breathed out a laugh. All the irritation seemed to melt out of her at his touch. “Hey, yourself.”
“You okay?”
She nodded. “I just don’t want my parents knowing we’re having sex.”
“We’re married. I’m pretty sure they already know.”
“Knowing in theory and knowing because of actually hearing or seeing are two totally different things. How on earth would I be able to look my dad in the eyes if he heard something?”
Costin chuckled at the aghast look on her face. “What exactly would he hear?” His voice had dropped lower, and he felt his wolf stir as their mate reacted to them. Her scent shifted slightly, and it was a smell he could get drunk on.
“Hey, Dad.”
Costin froze. “He would hear ‘Hey, Dad?’ Sally, I know we’ve never really discussed what words turn us on, but I’m just going to throw this out there. ‘Hey, dad’ doesn’t flip my switch.”
She huffed and pinched his side. Damn that hurt.
“My dad is at the door,” she said when Costin pulled back to glare down at her.
Her words finally registered through the lust-induced fog. Costin turned and forced his wolf not to growl at the man, father or not, who’d interrupted his hunt.
“Your hunt?” Sally asked through their bond. “Do I want to know what you were hunting for?”
“As soon as your father leaves, I’ll gladly show you.”
“Sally.” Her father’s voice drew both of their attention. “I just wanted to tell you both that your mother and I are so glad you’re here.”
Costin glanced at his mate, whose eyes were looking a little wet.
“Thanks, Daddy. I’m really glad we’re here too,” Sally said and hurried across the room. She embraced her dad, and Costin’s wolf growled. He couldn’t stop it. He wasn’t used to seeing his mate show another man affection, even if it was her father.
She stepped back quickly, and they said their good nights. When the door closed and the lock clicked into place, Costin was no longer thinking about how he didn’t like seeing his mate hug another man when he so desperately wanted her to be inviting him to her bed. He wasn’t thinking about the fact that Sally had just, moments ago, expressed her desire not to be intimate in her parents’ home, and he really wasn’t thinking about the fact that maybe she had a point. All he was thinking when his glowing eyes turned on his mate was that she was entirely too clothed, and she wasn’t nearly close enough to him.
“Costin,” Sally said his name slowly, a warning.
His wolf heard a challenge and perked up even more. “Mate,” he rumbled.
“I told you no,” she said, as if she were scolding a damn puppy.
Costin smirked. He needed to remind his mate that he wasn’t some whelp for her to command. His feet were moving before he even made the decision. His lips found hers as his hands began to remove the offending clothing he’d helped her put on that morning.
“Still want to tell me no?” he whispered into her mind as she gasped. His teeth had sunk into his mark on her shoulder, and her taste flooded his senses.
“We should…” She started to speak into his mind but stopped when Costin picked her up and carried her to the small bed that was pushed against the furthest wall. He laid her down and immediately covered her body with his.
“Bite me.” He growled as he licked clean the wound he’d reopened.
“That sounds so wrong.” Sally breathed out.
Costin lifted her head and tilted his own, bearing his neck to her. “You know you want to,” he taunted. Several heartbeats passed before he finally felt her teeth sink into his flesh, and all was right with the screwed-up world.
“Mine.” He growled through their bond. He felt her love flowing into him even as his blood flowed into her mouth. He loved knowing his scent would be infused in her veins, and hers in his.
His beautiful mate didn’t put up any more of a fight as he gave what was hers and took what was his. Her fingers were like tiny flames dancing across his skin, and the soft sounds she made nearly drove him mad with desire. He should probably have been worried that her parents would hear her, but he was too busy making sure his female was taken care of in every way possible. When all of their clothing was finally gone and they were skin against skin, Costin’s wolf howled inside.
“I love you, Sally,” he whispered into her ear as he made love to her. Words of love poured out of him as he marveled at what an incredible gift she was.
“I love you back, dimple boy.” She sighed an hour or more later. Loved and satisfied, Costin pulled her close and listened to her heart beat as she slipped off to sleep.
Half an hour later, he was just starting to fall asleep when he felt something dark growing inside of him. His wolf began to feel agitated and restless as he shifted in the bed, trying to get comfortable. The uneasiness continued to grow, and, within minutes, his chest was tight, and he felt as though he was suffocating.
Costin felt Sally shift next to him and then felt her fingernails dig into his arm where she had a death grip on him.
“Sally?” he whispered as he turned to look at her. Her eyes were closed, and she was still sound asleep. He pushed past her sleep-idled mind, using their bond to allow him to see what was going on in her sleep that was causing her to leave scratches in his flesh. He was immediately surrounded with darkness and filled with despair.
“Sally, mine,” he called to her, but she didn’t respond. There was another groan, and then he saw the dream, or nightmare rather, in which her mind was immersed. Sally was standing in a dark room staring at a bed. It wasn’t empty. In the bed were two bodies. One was the male wolf that Costin had ripped apart, and the other was his mate.
He growled, and Sally turned to look at him. Her eyes grew wide as they filled with sheer horror.
??
?Costin? You can’t be here! You have to go. Wake up,” she pleaded with him. Her head was swiveling back and forth between him and the couple on the bed. She looked like a cornered animal ready to strike at anything that moved.
“Sally, come here,” he said gently, trying to ignore the sounds coming from the bed. He would like to just tell himself it was just a dream, but he knew that, more than likely, it was a memory.
“You have to go!” She roared at him. “You can’t see this. Please, please, I don’t want you to see this.”
Chapter Six
“I just want to fix it. I just want to make all your pain and fear go away. Tell me how, love, and I will.” ~ Costin
Sally prayed to the Great Luna that what she was seeing wasn’t real. Surely Costin’s presence in her dream was simply just part of the nightmare. Surely, her mate wasn’t using the bond to see into her mind. She felt her dream-self hit the floor and squeeze her eyes shut. She didn’t want to see anything. She didn’t want to hear anything or know anything. She didn’t even want to exist. Not like this.
How many times can a heart break before it’s completely destroyed? She wasn’t sure her heart could take any more. She was tired. Things had been so good since she’d woken up and Costin had taken the lead on dragging her back from the depths of her mind’s despair, but she should have known that the battle wouldn’t be won that easily. No battle was. Winning a battle meant blood, sweat, and tears. It meant lives lost and wounds endured. In the end, one could only hope the victory would be worth all the sacrifice it required. Would this victory be worth it, if she could win? If it meant having Costin and Titus in her life, then yes, it would be. She just didn’t know how to fight back. There was no sword that could destroy the memories living in her mind. There was no shield that could block their blows. She felt like a deer in an open field. There was no cover and the frightened animal was surrounded by hunters, their guns pointing right at her. Any move could be lethal. But remaining still would definitely be fatal.
“Sally, open your eyes.”
She shook her head at Costin’s request. She didn’t want to stand in a room—even if everything was happening in a freaking nightmare—where she was in bed with another man while Costin stood by and watched. Just thinking about it made her want to vomit.
“Wake up and open your eyes,” he commanded again. “Don’t make me fling water on your face. I’ll do it, especially since it would mean wet sheets on your very naked body. Now wake up Sally, mine.”
Sally’s eyes snapped open and—praise holy bacon babies—she wasn’t in a dark room filled with noises that made her want to puke. She was in a dark room, but it was a room that brought her comfort, not fear and confusion. She turned her head to look at her mate who was staring down at her. He was propped up on an elbow, and his brow was drawn down into a V. She reached up and smoothed the worried look away.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “In a minute, I’ll address the fact that you will never throw water on me in bed for any reason, at any time. But first I need to address the nightmare.”
Costin pressed a finger to her lips. “You don’t need to address it, beautiful. It was a nightmare. We all have things in our lives that give us nightmares. I have my own fair share. I am sorry I invaded your thoughts, but you were scared, and I just needed to fix it. Guess I didn’t.”
“I’m awake,” she pointed out.
“You’re still terrified that I will leave you, that I won’t want you if I know too much. Until you no longer believe that, then I haven’t helped you.”
“Costin, I don’t need you to fix this,” Sally said after several minutes of just staring at him. She was trying hard to arrange the words in her mind into some sort of order so they’d make sense. “I just need you to be with me in the midst of it. Does that make sense?”
He ran his finger along her cheek and gave her a small, crooked smile. “It does, but that doesn’t make me want to fix it any less.”
He sighed and laid down on his back. She felt cold without him hovering over her, even though the thought of that made her sound like a wilting violet. She leaned over the side of the bed and snatched up his shirt and slipped it on. She felt too vulnerable already, and being unclothed didn’t help. For some reason, Costin’s shirt felt like armor to her, which was silly since armor was hard and actually protected, and clothes were soft and might not even save you from a scrape on concrete. She pinched the bridge of her nose as she laid back down. And now she’s thinking about the protective qualities of garments. “WTH, Sally.” She growled to herself.
Costin chuckled. “I like it when you talk to yourself. It’s adorbs.”
“Did you just say adorbs?”
He shrugged. “If I did?”
“Then you’re a hot werewolf-bartender with a sexy dimple that talks like a dork.” Sally laughed when he pretended to be offended. “Costin?”
“Yes, Sally mine?”
“Thank you for … well … for staying.” Her words were halting, and she wasn’t sure if they even made sense once they’d made it out of her mouth. Sometimes things that seemed clear in her head came out as clear as mud.
“You don’t have to thank me for the honor of being your true mate.” He rolled until he was hovering over her again. His broad, bare shoulders blocked out the rest of the room, and his inhumanly handsome face was inches from hers. He captivated her as he had always done. “Do you think you can go back to sleep?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down until his head was resting just over her heart. His arms came around her, and the weight of him settling on her should have felt stifling, but instead she felt cocooned and safe. “If you will hold me like this, then yes, I think I can.”
“I’m not too heavy?” he asked but didn’t make a move to release her.
“Right now, you’re all that’s holding me together. So, no, Costin, you are definitely not too heavy.”
He lifted his head, pressed his lips to her neck, and then settled back down on her. Sally closed her eyes and let out a slow breath. As she exhaled, she felt the tightness in her chest begin to dissipate, and the panic there slowly receded. This time when she fell asleep, there were no dreams.
Chris frowned at his wife. “You’re sure?”
Cindy nodded.
“How do you know?”
“They contacted me four days ago.”
His eyes narrowed. “Why are you just now telling me?”
“Because I didn’t know she was going to come home. I didn’t want to speak anything out loud, giving power to possibilities, unless it was absolutely necessary. But now she’s here, and there’s something definitely not okay with her.” Cindy began to pace as she spoke. “She looks haunted, Chris. Our sweet, gentle Sally has eyes like a wraith. There’s a blackness inside of them. Something dark has touched her.”
“Then she’s come to the right place. Jen was right to send her home,” he said.
“She was, but then Jen doesn’t know what I am. She sent her home because she knew Sally needed her family.” She sighed and stopped pacing. “I’m just thankful that she came. If she hadn’t…” Cindy stopped before she spoke anything out loud she wouldn’t be able to take back. Chris had always admired that about his wife. She understood how powerful words were and she was careful how she used them and to what end.
“She’ll be getting up soon.” Chris glanced at his watch. “Do you want to tell them together, or do you want some mother/daughter time?”
“I think this needs to be something we talk about alone. She can speak to her mate about it after she’s processed it. Then she can proceed in whatever way she feels is best.”
He stood up and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “She’s going to be alright.”
Cindy nodded. “She is. I’m owning that. Sally, my amazing daughter, is going to be better than alright.”
Cindy finished getting dressed after Chris left the room to go start preparing breakfast. She was tired and hadn’t sle
pt well. She was restless, and she knew it was because of Sally and the magic in the necklace her daughter wore.
Cindy took a deep breath and pushed out all the negative energy that had gathered inside of her. Sally needed her. Whatever the girl had gone through, or was still going through, was bad enough that she’d left a host of powerful, magical beings to come home to her family, who she believed to be human. It was time for Sally to know the truth. Cindy owed it to her daughter. The woman squared her shoulders and gave herself a mental shove as she left her bedroom.
Everyone was gathered around the table eating the breakfast Chris had made for them when Cindy finally gathered her nerves. “Sally, I was wondering if we might have a girls’ day.”
Sally nodded. “That would be great.” She turned to Costin and narrowed her eyes on him. “A girls’ day means you stay here.”
Costin smiled innocently. “I wouldn’t dare invade on girls’ day.”
Cindy chuckled. “For some reason, I don’t believe him.”
Sally pointed her fork at her. “First rule of thumb when dealing with Costin, err on the side of caution when it comes to taking his words at face value.”
“Ouch, beautiful,” Costin said, putting his hand to his heart. “Give it a final twist and just finish me off.”
“I don’t want you finished off, just weak enough that you can’t boss me around,” Sally retorted.
Chris was shaking his head at them. “I can tell Jennifer has been rubbing off on you.”
Sally smiled. “She helped me fine my inner Jen.”
“Of course, she did.” Chris grumbled.
Cindy stood and began gathering the empty plates. “We’ll leave in ten minutes, Sally,” She called out over her shoulder. She was growing more and more anxious. It was past time she cleared the air, and Cindy was ready to have the burden of her secrets removed.
After washing the dishes and wiping down the already clean counters, she rubbed her hands together and forced herself to quit stalling. “Let’s do this.”