CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY

Skimming his fingers up and down his mate’s naked back, Jesse kissed her shoulder. Not a single scar marred her soft flesh. There was no evidence whatsoever that she’d been ripped into by talons and had almost died earlier. No physical evidence, anyway. His fear, however, was still fresh in his system. “You okay?” he asked. She was too quiet. Too still.

“Stop worrying,” Harley mumbled softly into the pillow. She could feel his anxiety as if it was her own. “I’m just tired.”

Stop worrying? “You almost fell asleep standing up in the shower.”

“Because I’m tired. Let me sleep.”

“I’m not stopping you.” Okay, that wasn’t entirely true. He was intentionally keeping her awake. Every time she seemed to be drifting off, he panicked, remembering that moment when he’d felt a fatal, permanent sleep pulling at her. He stroked his hand over her hair. “I felt how hard you were fighting to stay.”

“Of course I was fighting.” She’d known what it would have done to him to lose another mate. She hadn’t been able to stand the idea of him going through such torture, and that had helped her fight as hard as her cat.

“I really didn’t know, Harley.”

Well aware of what he was talking about, she pinned his gaze. “I know you would never have intentionally held anything back. Don’t be angry at yourself. Being fully open to someone isn’t as easy as it sounds.”

He traced the length of her spine. “If the bond had formed sooner—”

“You realized what was blocking the bond, Jesse. I didn’t. I didn’t even suspect that that was what it was. You did.”

He kissed her, licking over her bottom lip. “Our scents have mixed.” Now everybody would know she was taken. “I like it. I like feeling what you’re feeling.”

“I wonder if a bond formed through imprinting is any different from one that’s formed between true mates.”

Jesse shrugged. “I’ve no idea.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Whatever you want.”

“How does it feel to recognize your true mate? I’m not mourning that I won’t experience it,” she rushed to reassure him. “I’m just curious.”

Able to feel her honesty through their bond, he wasn’t worried by the question. “Torrie was four the first time I saw her. I looked at her . . . and I just knew. There was no big revelation or rush of feelings or anything, but maybe that’s because we were just kids. I looked at her and knew as well as I knew my own name that she was mine. I told her that. She just said, ‘Okay.’ It felt right. Steadying. But it has to be different from what adults feel.”

Harley nodded, thinking just how uncomplicated it could be for a child to sense the bond. Their emotions were often less complex.

“So, that’s how it feels to recognize your true mate. Here’s what it’s like for a broken teenager to look at a person and know that, one day, she’s going to be his.” He maneuvered her so that they were on their sides, facing each other. “If I hadn’t heard the words you said to Mia that brought me back to myself, maybe it wouldn’t have happened. Maybe it would have. But one look at you . . . and I wanted. You have to understand it was a long time since I’d really felt a longing for anything, so it was a big fucking deal to me.”

She blinked. “Just one look?”

“Just one look. The possessiveness was a true shock. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be capable of that emotion. Not after losing my true mate. I wasn’t good at accepting the feeling, but I didn’t want to get rid of it either. It was, I don’t know, uplifting to know that I could feel it. It was uplifting to feel anything at all.”

Harley had assumed he’d grown to feel possessive. She hadn’t thought it had been an instant thing for him.

“The more I was around you, the more intense that emotion became. After a while, I stopped thinking I wanted you to be mine and started thinking of you as already belonging to me. I knew I’d one day have you. Knew I’d do what it took to make it happen. But I still wasn’t ready to accept that.” He slid his hand into her hair. “So I kept it to myself. I didn’t let you see it. I didn’t ask you to stay when Tess came for you, even though I didn’t want you to go. And even though I knew it was best for you to be away from your pride, I still didn’t want you away from me. So I kept watch over you, always knowing that one day I’d claim you. And I did.”

Harley melted into him as he kissed her, licking into her mouth. So many emotions flickered down the bond. Adoration. Possessiveness. Need. Respect. Protectiveness. All of it was wrapped up in what he felt for her. She moaned appreciatively as he rolled her onto her back and ground his cock against her clit. Then she moaned in complaint as her cell rang.

He sucked on her claiming mark. “Don’t answer it.”

Oh, she had no intention of doing so. But it just kept on ringing. Harley ignored it, arching into Jesse as his hand closed over her breast. Finally, her phone stopped ringing. She sighed, happy. And then his cell phone began to ring. “Oh, for fuck’s sake.” But he ignored it and began sucking hard on her nipple, grazing it with his teeth. He was just making his way to her other nipple when his phone finally shut the fuck up. And then her damn cell began to ring again.

Growling, Jesse grabbed it from the beside cabinet and gave it to her. “Answer it or they’ll harass us all night.”

Seeing that the caller was Shaya, she lost some of her anger. The female had been through a lot tonight. Harley answered in a monotone voice. “You have reached the Federal Bureau of Investigation tip line; this call will be recorded.”

Shaya gave a soft snort of amusement. “Your cousins are here.”

Harley sighed. “We’ll be there soon.” Ending the call, she asked, “Did you hear that?”

Jesse put her phone back on the cabinet. “I did.” He sucked her nipple into his mouth and gave it a sharp nip. “But we’re not leaving this bed until I’m done with you.” Jesse tilted her hips and drove deep inside her.

“How hard was it to track the extremists?” Jesse asked the margays later on. It turned out that they had arrived to assure Harley that the local group was now very much dead. They hadn’t been happy to hear she’d been caught up in a battle with harpy eagles and, in fact, seemed disappointed to have missed the opportunity to join in. Jesse had always thought Harley was quirky, but her cousins took it to a whole new level.

“Very difficult,” replied Indie, chewing gum. “They went underground.”

Eli arched a brow. “You’re sure they’re dead?”

“Unless they’re capable of reattaching their severed heads and digging their way out of a shallow grave, they’re quite dead,” said Indie with all the emotion of an answering machine.

Eli inclined his head. “Fair enough.”

“That should repulse me,” Shaya said to Harley. “I’m not sure why it doesn’t.”

Chin resting on his hand, Bracken leaned close to the quiet female, Shiloh, who seemed to be one of those people who spent most of their time focused on their phone. “Did you sever any heads?”

Shiloh looked at him, seeming surprised that he’d spoken to her. “Why?” Her flat tone matched her indifferent vibe. Jesse had never met anyone who had such a detached air about her . . . as if she simply had no interest whatsoever in the world around her.

Bracken shrugged. “Just curious.”

“Why?”

“Why not?”

“Curiosity can get you killed.”

“I’m not a cat. I’m a wolf.”

“We can’t all be special.” She went back to her phone, dismissing him. The enforcer actually smiled. Then again, he wasn’t a guy who was easily offended.

Shaya spoke to Piper, who was tapping her long, red-painted nails on the table. “Did Harley tell you she’s going to buy the club she was working at?”

“You are? Good.” Piper flicked back her dark, blue-highlighted hair. “It’s smart to branch out.”

Shaya smirked at Nick. “See, told ya.” He just grunted.

“How are your plans coming along for the club?” Derren asked Harley.

“Fine,” Harley replied. Just thinking about the club made her smile. She was excited to go back there and get everything ready. “Ally’s been a big help.”

Indie leaned back in her seat, arms folded. “Will it need refurbishing?”

“Nothing major,” replied Harley. “I like it as it is; there are just a few things that need fixing or altering, which I can—”

“You’re not stepping a foot into the club until all the security measures are in place,” Jesse firmly stated. Her brow slid up, but he said, “I’m serious, Harley. It’s true that a lot of premises belonging to packs don’t have much trouble with the extremists now that The Movement hunts them. But I’m not taking risks with your safety.” The. End.

Harley frowned at him. “Dude, I’m not Kim—your forcefulness does not turn me on.” Not all the time anyway. “It just makes me want to hit you. Hard.”

Shaya chuckled. “I can imagine how hard it must be for you to be with Jesse. I mean, I’m submissive and Nick is extremely dominant. But it works for us because he’s not designed to deal with dominant females. Jesse’s not cut out for it either, but I honestly don’t think a submissive female could handle him without feeling crushed.”

“I agree,” said Ally. She spoke to Harley, “You deal with him the way Jesse has to be dealt with.”

Roni nodded. “Firmly, brusquely, but not coldly.”

Jesse sighed. “I’m right here.”

Shaya waved a dismissive hand his way, which made him snort.

Watching Jazz play with a Rubik’s Cube, Ally said, “Wow, she’s good at that.”

Harley nodded. “Jazz is a mechanic. She likes to take things apart, especially when she’s bored, so she has to be closely watched. Boredom makes her crazy.”

“Crazy?” repeated Roni. “Really?”

Harley understood her disbelief. Jazz was cute and tiny and looked like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. No one ever saw Jazz’s temper coming.

Indie pointed from Harley to Jesse. “So you two are fully imprinted now?”

“Yep,” said Harley.

“And he makes you happy?” said Piper. There was a “he’d better make you happy” note in her tone.

Harley smiled. “When he’s not making me want to remove his spleen with my bare hands, sure.” Of course, if he’d just develop some caution lights . . .

“You guys have to have a ceremony and a party,” said Marcus.

“A party?” echoed Nick.

Marcus frowned at him. “You don’t have to say it like it’s a dirty word. They’re fully mated now. They have the right to celebrate that.”

Nick snorted. “The only reason you’re pushing for a party is that there’ll be a buffet.”

Marcus raised a brow. “Um, hello, we have three really good cooks in our pack. Having all their cooking combined into one buffet is a luxury we should indulge in as often as we can. How can you not see that?”

Nick stared at him. Then he waved an impatient hand. “I can’t deal with you. I really don’t know how Roni does.”

With an expression of mock hurt, Marcus put a hand over his heart. “Is that any way to treat your brother-in-law?”

“Don’t know. Don’t care.”

“Hey,” complained Roni playfully. “Leave my mate alone.”

“Then find some way to control him,” said Nick.

Roni arched a brow. “What, like you control your mate? The same mate who goes patrolling the border with her shotgun?”

Shaya gaped at the female enforcer. “How do you know about that?”

Nick glared at his mate. “You patrol the border? Dammit, Shay, you’re not an enforcer.”

“No, but I’m Alpha female, and if I want to guard my territory I damn well will.”

“Do I have to confiscate the shotgun?” Nick growled.

“Only if you want to be stabbed in your sleep.”

Jazz turned to Harley and quietly said, “Your Alpha’s a little crazy, isn’t she?”

Harley snorted. “And you’re not?”

“Only when I’m bored. That doesn’t count.”

And Harley could see that her cousin genuinely believed that. Whatever.