Chapter 19 - Vera

“I can’t believe you made me do this on two legs when we could’ve made this trip in half the time on four. I’m sweating , Rami. Sweating. I could be panting, but no, here we are, at the top of a mountain for the fun of it, and I had to do it as a human.” Vera bent over to catch her breath, hands on her knees.

To be fair, the view was spectacular. Spring had painted the landscape a brilliant wash of green, dotted with wildflowers in hues of lilac and yellow. Puffy white clouds strolled lazily by.

Rami poured her a steaming mug of dark, hot coffee from the thermos he was carrying and passed it over to her. “Maybe this will help make up for it. I brewed it triple strength to how I normally make it.”

“So it’s about half as strong as I normally make it,” she quipped, taking a sip from the tiny tin mug. It was so hot she had to pass the cup from hand to hand to keep it from burning her skin. “Wow, I guess you’re learning something. It’s nearly there. A few more scoops, and you’ll have coffee fit to drink.”

She drank it anyway, never one to snub a cup of coffee so long as it didn’t have cream or sugar in it. Plus, she deserved the reward after trekking up there on two legs. Her feet were sore, something she never had to deal with when running on four of them, and her hair was slipping out of the ponytail she’d pulled it into, too short to last long in the hair tie.

Rami, of course, looked ridiculously hot. He pulled off the mountain man look a little too well with this flannel shirt, long curly hair, and scruffy beard. With how hard he worked out, the hike up had done nothing more than put a healthy glow in his skin that made him look like something out of a Hiking Hunks calendar. It’d be infuriating if it wasn’t so, you know, attractive.

She settled for grabbing his shirt and tugging him forward for a kiss. He lingered there, teasing her with the tip of his tongue, until she started to consider dragging him behind the nearest tree. At least then, he could really make the trip up there worthwhile.

“What else have you got in there?” She pulled away from his kiss with some reluctance and nodded at the backpack he’d carried. “Is it more coffee?”

He chuckled and slipped the bag off his shoulder, zipping it open. Inside, she saw a rolled-up blanket and a cardboard box, which she recognized immediately as one of Moira’s to-go boxes. She perked up, hoping it was cinnamon buns. Rami laid the blanket out at the cliff’s edge, kicking a few rocks out from underneath.

“You didn’t think I’d drag you up here without planning a reward at the end, did you? I know you’re motivated by results.” Rami sat down on the blanket and patted the spot beside him.

“And the results had better be cinnamon buns.” She knelt down next to him and pulled the box from his hands, tearing it open. “It is! I’m only slightly upset that you made me do this in human form now, but I do expect you to finish making it up to me later.”

She bit into a cinnamon bun and offered the second one to Rami. He shook his head side to side, sipping his own coffee with a grimace that did not go unnoticed by Vera. He hadn’t yet worked up to taking his at Vera strength, but they’d made some progress in that direction.

“Please tell me you brought napkins.” Her fingers were sticky from the cinnamon sugar and the tangy glaze.

He dug around in the bottom of his backpack and pulled out a handkerchief. “Here you go.”

She stared at it. “Rami, you are an actual grandfather. This is next level. You’ve skipped past the dad level and moved on to the next.”

“Well, if you don’t want it,” he teased, pulling the handkerchief out of her reach.

She grabbed for it, leaning far over until she was practically in his lap. “Give it here, gramps, or I’ll push your walker over.”

He relented but kept her close, moving his legs apart to make room for her in his lap. She nestled back against his chest and wiped the cinnamon bun residue from her fingers.

“Remind me to set up a nursing home before I’m too old to fight back,” he deadpanned.

She snickered and tilted her head back to kiss him.

“Do you deserve a kiss right now?” He asked, eyes narrowed.

“Always,” she said, confidently.

He rolled his eyes but obliged, kissing her softly, almost chastely. “Don’t push it.”

She planned to do exactly that later that evening in the bedroom, when she could push his buttons and get exactly the kind of comeuppance she longed for. They were alone at the top of the mountain, and her mind was drifting. She wondered just how likely it was for someone to climb up and interrupt them. Her hand moved lazily up his thigh, over the thick denim of his jeans.

“I love this view.” He leaned back on his hands, making room for her to nestle more comfortably against him. “You can see the Rosewood territory and the Silversands, all at once. Have to say I think we got the better deal with the coastline, but you all seem content with your special little tree and your postcard town.”

“I’ll be sure to tell Spencer we should consider expanding to the coast because my boyfriend thinks it’s the place to be. Start a little pack war, shall we?”

Vera did not understand the appeal of the ocean. She didn’t mind swimming in a pool, a nice, clean pool where you could see all the way to the bottom, and she knew there was a perfect balance of chemicals that kept everything working smoothly. The ocean was a mysterious, murky place full of animals she’d never studied in vet school. Not to mention the beach itself. Getting covered in sticky water and then rolling in the sand had never been her idea of a good time.

But she’d driven out to watch the sunset over the water a few times with Rami, and from the passenger seat, she’d agree that it made a striking sight. That was just as close as she needed to be to appreciate it.

“Hmm, I was thinking about pack harmony, actually. Alliances, and all that.” Rami’s voice was dreamy. His chin rested on the top of her head, breath tickling her hair.

“Politics at a time like this? The Rosewoods and the Silversands have a solid alliance. There’s nothing to worry about.”

She hoped he wasn’t still concerned about the mild tiff he’d had with Spencer during the fight against the curse. It was water under the bridge now, the sort of thing that might ruffle fur under perfect conditions but was easy to explain away in a high-tension situation. Spencer had laughed it off and she thought Rami had done the same.

“You know how they used to form alliances?” Rami went on.

She felt him moving behind her. Was he grabbing the thermos to refill her coffee?

“Is this my history lesson now, gramps?” Vera held up her empty cup, waiting for him to top her off.

It took a moment for her eyes to realize what they were seeing. Rami’s hand was open, palm flat. On it sat a small silver ring. A modest blue sapphire sparkled at its center, low enough to not snag on anything or get in her way.

“A mating ceremony. Nothing tied the packs together like a declaration of eternal commitment.”

“Rami,” she gasped, dropping her empty tin mug. “Is this—“

“I hope so,” he replied. “Vera, my love, my mate, my heart.”

She twisted in his lap so they were face to face. His face was raw and open, every emotion etched into the handsome features. “Yes. A thousand times, yes.”

She caught his face with both hands and kissed him fiercely. It had seemed an impossible dream once, something she hadn’t dared to even fantasize about. He wanted her and he wanted the world to know it, wanted to declare it and swear to it.

When she broke the kiss, it was only to let him fit the ring onto her finger. It slid over her knuckle and settled at the base of her finger, looking like it belonged there.

“It’s perfect.” She held it up and twisted her finger side to side, letting the light catch the deep blue of the gem. “Silver, too. Like the locket we found.”

“I thought the color would suit you.” He looked down at the ring. “And that the silver might remind you of a love that persisted. I hope that wasn’t a mistake.”

Vera thought of the witch’s pain and the love that had inspired it. A bittersweet reminder of the dangers of loving. It opened you to pain. She knew now that she couldn’t open her heart without risking being hurt, but she knew, too, that the pain had been worth it. She and Rami wouldn’t have grown as they had to come back together without that pain.

She tightened her hand into a fist, pressing the ring against her palm. “It wasn’t a mistake. She brought us back together, in a way. I like the reminder.”

Sometimes, Vera wondered if, without the threat of the curse, Rami would have let her leave the first time she’d wanted to storm out. If they hadn’t been forced back together, maybe they wouldn’t have realized it was worth another try.

Rami smoothed his fingertip between her brows, ironing out a crease there. “What’s worrying you?”

Vera chewed her bottom lip. “It’s just… you’re sure about this? It’s a big commitment, and we’re still working things out. I just went through an almost midlife crisis. What if that happens again? I don’t even know what I want out of life yet.”

“But do you know if it includes me?” Rami cupped the back of her head in his hands, fingers in her hair.

She nodded. “I know it does.”

As scary as that was, she knew it was true. The Vera who had been afraid to share her life lest she have to change any part of it was gone. The Vera, who had needed her house in perfect order and her schedule just so, had morphed into someone who could handle a little shakeup now and then. As long as it was little.

She wouldn’t have managed it with anyone else, but Rami knew her. He wouldn’t push her to be someone she was not.

“Then the rest of it? We’ll sort out together. Side by side,” he reassured her. “We can’t predict how things will change, but we can swear to be there for each other when they do.”

“And you’re not afraid that we’ll have some terrible fight one day?” She shifted nearer on his lap, wrapping her legs around him.

“I can’t say it’s not a thought in the back of my mind. But I realized that even if the worst were to happen and you left me one day, I’d rather have had the time with you that I got than nothing at all because I was too afraid to risk it.”

She bumped her forehead against his. “That’s very emotionally brave and vulnerable of you, gramps.”

He slid his hand underneath her shirt, fanning his fingers across her back. His touch against her bare skin made her inhale and shift against his lap.

“Rami.’ She squirmed when his hands traveled higher, his thumbs brushing against the bottom of her breasts. “What if someone comes up here?”

“It’s not a busy trail.” He kissed her neck, and she tilted her head back for more, exposing her throat to him. “But I can stop if that’s what you want.”

It was definitely not what she wanted. The way he touched her short-circuited her common sense to the point where she’d say yes just about anywhere. And it was true; they hadn’t seen anyone else on the trail or since reaching the top. His fingers were on her nipples now, teasing them into hard peaks beneath her shirt and sending waves of pleasure down her body.

“Is that what you want?” He asked, lifting her shirt to bring his mouth to her left nipple, wrapping his lips around it and sucking it into his mouth.

She sank her teeth into the side of her cheek to keep from crying out. “No, that’s not what I want.”

Vera circled her hips on his lap, feeling his cock beneath her through the fabric of their pants. It was already stiff and ready for her. She ground back and forth against it, building a delicious friction between them.

His hand cupped her bare breast, kneading it, twisting and pinching her nipple. She arched forward into his hand, desperate for more.

“What do you want?” Rami released her nipple from between his teeth. Vera shivered at the sudden sensation of cool air over the sensitive skin.

“You,” Vera mewled, tugging at his zipper. “I need you inside me.”

He found the snap on her pants and undid it, leaving her to wiggle out of them as he freed his cock from his pants. His eyes scanned the nearby woods, but Vera was focused solely on feeling him again. She straddled his lap.

“We have to be quick about this,” Rami murmured, catching her nipple again when she brought her chest close enough. His hand moved down between them to circle her clit. He teased and stroked her until she was slick and wet, ready for him.

Vera felt him pressed against her pussy, the head of his cock splitting her apart. She lowered herself down on it, pausing halfway to let her body stretch and adjust to the size of him. His breathing stuttered, and he muffled a moan against her skin. His hands moved to her hips and pushed her down the rest of the way, seating himself deeply inside of her.

“Rami,” she gasped at the sudden white heat of it.

He started to move at once, bucking his hips. “I warned you we’d need to be quick about it, but I know you can take it all. You’re so good at taking it.”

And he knew she loved the ache of taking him all at once. Loved feeling like she couldn’t take even a tiny bit more. His hands tightened on her hips, and he lifted her up and down, moving her like she was as weightless as a doll.

Vera held on to his shoulders, finding her own rhythm on top of him, grinding him into that deep-seated place that had her hurtling toward an orgasm. He sucked and nipped at her breasts, leaving red marks in the places he’d been, a roadmap of her pleasure.

“Fuck Vera, I’m close already. You look so good with those tits bouncing.” He moved her faster over him, and she worked to keep up, hips moving back and forth as they chased their release.

Her body moved in response to his, like they were made to be together. Her teeth caught on his shoulder as she ground down against him, seeking that sweet ache of being overfull again. He sensed her need and drove in deeper, his teeth nipping a little harder.

“Right there, please, right there,” she begged, uncaring how loud her voice was, how it could echo through the forests. She wouldn’t stop even if someone walked onto the summit right then.

She was close, and the sight of Rami with his mouth parted and panting was enough to send her over the edge. Her pussy tightened around his cock in spasms that left her seeing stars. Rami was just a moment behind. He thrust his hips up one final time, forcing every inch inside of her, pumping her full of his cum.

His vice grip on her hips relaxed, and he caught her lips in a kiss. “I love seeing you like this. Undone. Flushed. Full of me.”

She blushed and buried her head in his neck. “Out here where anyone could stumble on us? You’re a delinquent.”

“Maybe I just can’t resist you.” He helped her ease off him, catching her when her legs wobbled.

She loved that jelly feeling that came from a bone-deep orgasm, the sense of ease that flowed through her afterward. It was the best stress relief, better than any yoga class or meditation session. Maybe she should start booking an appointment for an orgasm. Not that she needed to. They spent every moment they could steal finding new ways to pleasure each other.

Rami zipped himself back up and reached into the backpack, coming out with yet another handkerchief. He handed it to her with a satisfied smirk.

Vera took it, snorting as she cleaned herself up and pulled her pants back on. “Seriously? This is next level, Grandpa. Not one, but two handkerchiefs.”

“And you wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said, reaching for her.

She settled herself back onto his lap, leaning against his chest and threading her fingers through his. Her ring sparkled on her pale finger. A symbol of his promise.

“I really wouldn’t,” she agreed.