Chapter 17

17

T he door to my room opened and a second later, Mom’s head poked in. Her expression softened when she saw me laying in bed, still awake despite saying I was going to bed almost eight hours ago.

“Did you sleep at all?” she asked, her voice quiet in the dimness of the room.

“No,” I admitted, flopping onto my back with a sigh.

After coming home from my run, Mom and I ate in silence. Bella and Zara were gone by the time I returned. I headed to my room and put away my things that had arrived from school, killing time until I could talk to Remy.

He called, but only to say he was going into a meeting. The conversation lasted fifty-eight seconds according to the log on my cell phone.

I tried watching tv, reading, and sleeping but my brain was too preoccupied and anxious to let me do anything except stare at my ceiling and replay memories I would rather not think about, including how I lashed out at Bella last night.

She didn’t deserve a lot of the shit I had said, and I owed her an apology.

Mom pushed the door open a little more and glanced down at her watch. “Want me to call Zoe and see if she can cover me?”

Mom was supposed to open the cafe at six, and it was after five now. Calling Zoe meant things definitely wouldn’t open on time, plus Zoe was pregnant and needed her rest.

“No, don’t do that. I’m fine.”

“I’ll be home by dinner,” she offered with a smile. “If you’re bored, you can always come hang out at the cafe.”

I smiled at that. “Thanks. I think I’ll call Larkin when it’s not the buttcrack of dawn. I’ll hang out with her and Katy.”

Mom nodded, her ponytail bobbing. “Sounds good, honey. Call me and let me know if you’re going out, though, okay?”

“I will,” I promised.

She started to close the door. “And try to get some sleep.”

I couldn’t suppress my yawn. “I’ll try.”

She closed my door, and I listened to her footsteps fade as she walked down the hall. A few minutes later the front door opened and closed.

With a groan, I rolled onto my side, my back to the door.

God, I wanted to sleep. I wanted to escape into that nothingness void where time flew by.

I pulled the collar of my shirt up over my nose and inhaled deeply, letting the scent of Remy steady me.

I had grabbed his shirt on a whim when I packed and pulled it on last night before I climbed into bed. If I couldn’t sleep with him, at least I could keep his scent with me.

My wolf sighed a rumble of approval, both of our frayed nerves calmed by the familiar scent of pine and earth.

I forced my eyes to close, blanking out my mind to try and find sleep yet again. I pulled the flannel sheets and comforter around my shoulders, burrowing into the little cocoon I created in my bed.

My bedroom door opened behind me.

“What did you forget?” I asked Mom, not bothering to roll over now that I found a comfortable position.

Maybe I would actually fall asleep.

The bed dipped as she sat down next to me.

I rolled over. “Mom, seriously, I’m fi—”

The words died, my eyes going wide as my jaw dropped.

Remy arched his brows down at me, a teasing smile on his lips.

“Definitely not your mom, babe,” he told me with a grin as he reached out and traced the bridge of my nose with a calloused finger.

I sat up, shoving the covers away and wrapping my arms around his neck. I pressed my nose to his throat, inhaling deeply and realizing the shirt I had on was a pale comparison to the actual scent of him in my arms.

Remy’s arms came around me, lifting me up and settling me on his lap so I was straddling him. I hadn’t bothered with shorts or pants when I got into bed, and the intimate position exposed the entire length of my legs.

I picked up my head, my hands coming around to frame his face. The dark stubble on his jaw rubbed against my palms.

“You’re really here?” I breathed.

He raised a hand to cradle my jaw, the warmth of his skin pressing to mine sending a shiver skittering down my spine.

“I’m really here,” he promised, his nose brushing mine as he lowered his head and sealed his mouth over mine.

I gasped into his mouth, my chest arching into him as my tongue met his stroke for stroke. Fire ignited in my belly, the flames spreading through my veins until I was ready to combust.

He took his time reacquainting himself with my mouth, his tongue licking and exploring, tasting and driving me crazy. His lips moved unhurriedly against mine, his teeth nibbling on my lower lip as he kissed me.

My head dropped back on a ragged breath, and he moved his assault from my mouth to my jaw. My throat, and then lower.

A low groan fell from my lips as he suckled the tender flesh on the side of my neck. I felt his lips curve into a wicked grin as his tongue soothed over the heated skin.

His hand slid up my spine, tracing the ridges and dips of my bones, smoothing over the muscles until his fingers tangled in my hair.

The hand by my knee teased the exposed skin of my thigh, dragging up and down, but always stopping when he hit the hem of the shirt I wore. His shirt.

Heat pooled lower in my belly, my center clenching as I unconsciously rolled my hips to his.

Now Remy was the one who groaned. The gutteral sound low sent shivers racing across my skin.

“God, you feel amazing,” he murmured, his eyes hooded and molten as he watched me.

I ground my hips down once more, my eyes fluttering shut for a second as my center came into contact with the hard ridge in his jeans. I bit down on my lip to stifle the cry at the sharp pleasure. I repeated the action, my movements bordering on edgy and almost animalistic.

My wolf growled inside of me, desperate for more .

His hand again trailed up my thigh... and then retreated.

I whimpered, my thighs tightening against him as I pressed against him again.

“Skye—”

“Touch me,” I begged, needing something. Needing more. Every nerve came alive, sparking and searching for his touch.

I wasn’t even sure if it was me or my wolf dictating things right now. All I knew was I needed a lot more than I was getting at the moment to put out the inferno blazing through me.

I leaned forward, my mouth landing hot and open against his throat. My teeth scraped against the soft skin that joined his neck and massive shoulder.

That snapped whatever tether of self-control Remy had.

He flipped me onto my back, his hips settled between my legs in a way that felt so fucking perfect, but so fucking wrong.

There were too many layers of clothes separating us.

My hand blindly groped for the front of his jeans, and he hissed out a sharp breath when I brushed against the hard length of him.

“Fuck, Skye,” he whispered.

Yeah, that’s the general idea.

“Okay,” I agreed with a grin, reaching for him again.

His hand caught mine, stopping me. “Wait.”

Wait.

Wait ?

My head fell back against the pillows. “What’s wrong?”

He winced, his eyes squeezing shut for a second like he was in pain.

And, judging by the impressive hard on he currently had pressing against his jeans, he very well might have been.

“This... this isn’t what I came here for,” he finally ground out, opening his eyes.

My eyes narrowed a second before I offered what I hoped was a seductive sort of smile. “Then consider it an added bonus.”

He huffed out a strangled chuckle. “I didn’t come here for...”

He trailed off, and something that looked like a faint blush tinged his cheeks.

My lips curved into a wicked smile. “A hook up?”

He chuckled warmly, pressing a chaste kiss to my forehead. “Yeah.”

“That’s why it’s an added bonus,” I repeated, kissing the underside of his jaw.

He groaned, the sound rumbling out of him in a way that curled my toes. “Babe, we have to stop... or I might not be able to. And as much as I want you? I don’t want to be too fucking exhausted to spend hours memorizing every single thing about you the first time I’m inside you.”

My cheeks heated as I looked up at him through my lashes. “Oh.”

His eyes went soft and melty as he smoothed my hair away from my face. “Can I just stay here with you for a while?”

Now that the haze of lust was clearing, I could see the exhaustion on his face. Dark circles pressed hard under his eyes, the lines around his smiling lips were deeper than usual.

A loud yawn pulled my mouth apart before I could stop it.

“Maybe I’m not the only tired one,” he teased.

“I didn’t sleep last night,” I admitted.

He grinned. “Miss me?”

“That,” I agreed with a laugh, but then sobered. “But I also kind of yelled at Bella.”

His brows rose and he shifted over me, rolling over to lay alongside me, but twisting our bodies so we were still facing each other. The leg pressed between mine stirred something in me that I wanted to explore when we both weren’t ready to pass out.

“You yelled at Bella?” He propped his head up in his hand, his bicep straining against the short sleeve of his tee.

I reached up and traced the firm skin there. “Yeah. It was stupid, and I sounded like a psychotic bitch.”

His dark brows snapped together. “Somehow I doubt that.”

My fingertip trailed over the edge of his shirt. “She said something about how she missed the good times from Long Mesa. I not-so-gently reminded her I didn’t have those same memories.”

His mouth flattened. “I’m still not seeing how you did anything wrong, babe.”

I searched his eyes with mine. “I said some shit I shouldn’t have. About Bella. And Cassian.”

Fury flared bright in his eyes for a second at the mention of Cassian.

“I don’t know, Rem,” I said slowly, shaking my head. “I just feel so... out of control all the time anymore. Like all of my emotions are more volatile than usual.”

His hand settled on my hip, his thumb gently moving in a soothing circle. “I think we’ve all been on edge lately.”

“It’s more than that,” I insisted. “I actually wanted to talk to Elias about it, but he never came back from winter break and then the school closed...”

“So, talk to me,” he replied simply, zero judgment in his eyes.

“It’s kind of hard to talk about you to you,” I muttered before I could think to censor myself.

His eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?”

I moved my hand to his chest, feeling it thump steadily and knowing that every beat of my own heart matched his perfectly.

“It’s nothing bad ,” I tried to explain. “I just feel... I can’t explain it. Like the bond is getting more intense? Or like I’m standing on the edge of a cliff, waiting to fall over the edge.”

He frowned at me. “And is that a bad thing?”

“No,” I said quickly. “I love you. Maybe it’s because I grew up having no idea that bonds like this existed? I mean, it’s not like I watched normal couples or mates when I was growing up. It was always... violent or a last resort or forced. Love was never a factor.”

“I never thought of it like that,” he answered after a beat. “I had my parents. And even now, if something feels off or I have questions, especially about the bond, I can ask them. They’ve been through it.”

“Yeah,” I muttered. “I can’t exactly ask my mom about this stuff. I don’t want her to think I blame her for anything.”

“You can ask me, ” he said gently. “We’ll figure it out together.”

I nodded slowly, that answer giving me a small sense of peace.

“Speaking of together,” I said, changing the subject, “why are we together right now?”

A smirk caught his mouth. He leaned forward and kissed me way too fast for my liking. “Because I love you, and I wanted to see you.”

This boy .

“Good answer,” I teased. “But did you figure anything out?”

He sighed, his expression falling. “Not much. Nothing substantial. We were able to get a serial number off the snowmobile of the guy who... didn’t make it. We traced the sale back to a distributor near the Norwood territory, but the company who bought it is a shell company.”

“Great. What about the guy?”

“No ID, no way of identifying him,” Remy said with a grimace. “He was definitely a shifter, and the rifle he had aimed at Katy was full of tranqs.”

“So, they were going to take her,” I whispered.

He exhaled hard and nodded. “Yeah. We couldn’t figure out where his friend escaped to. By the time the storm cleared and we got back up the mountain, the trail was completely covered. But Ryder’s pretty sure the gasoline he smelled where Maren went missing is the same kind that was in the snowmobile left behind.”

“It was the same guys.” My stomach dipped realizing how close we had come to losing Katy.

“Looks like it,” he replied, shaking his head. “We all finished up last night. There was another storm coming in, so Rhodes and I decided to leave last night and try to beat it.”

“That sounds reckless,” I chided.

He grinned. “Maybe, but we didn’t crash. And if we would’ve waited for our flight to be rescheduled or the roads to be cleared, I wouldn’t be back until next week.”

He reached out, his arm coming around my back and pulling me close. He dipped his head and inhaled deeply.

“ That wasn’t an option,” he murmured against me. “We got into town about an hour ago. I gave my dad the rundown and headed over here. Your mom let me in as she was leaving.”

“I missed you,” I said softly, touching his jaw.

His eyes slid shut as he nuzzled into my touch. “I missed you, too.”

I yawned again, and Remy turned me in his arms, pulling my back flush to his chest. One arm slid under my pillow, and the other arm banded around my waist, anchoring me to him.

Finally, I was able to fall asleep.