18. Eighteen

eighteen

I wasn't sure if what I'd said was okay. "Unless you want me to stop?"

I would. She only had to say the word. I was more than happy to hold her close and listen to her breathe as she slept.

"No, don't stop."

I attacked her cunt like it was my salvation. It was, and it wasn't. Salvation was all of her. My heart thumped in my chest, my love for her swelling and invading every cell in my body. It was supposed to be irrational. I'd heard enough humans lament their relationships to know love wasn't supposed to develop that fast.

Listened enough to know if I said how I felt aloud, I would scare her. Terrify her.

It must be a function of the mate bond the shifter mentioned, but I didn't know enough about it to be sure.

She went through something incredibly traumatic. I would not add to that trauma. I wanted to be a source of safety. To be the one place her anxiety melted and was replaced by warm feelings.

Her channel quivered around my tongue and I flicked faster. I held her, spread wide before me, and watched as she orgasmed. Her thighs pushed against my shoulders, her ankle shaking where my tail held it. Her hands fisted the pillow under her neck and her back lifted as she shattered.

It was the most beautiful thing I had ever witnessed.

I wanted to watch her come again, and again, until her body was too exhausted to reach another peak.

I eased my tongue from her as the aftershocks subsided and licked her leg from where my tail held it up and over her belly and back to her neck. The urge to bite her overwhelmed my senses. My mouth watered and my teeth clicked together as I clamped my jaw shut.

I didn't know what that instinct was. I'd never felt it before. But something in me knew it was an irreversible step. One I could not take without her explicit consent.

I emptied my lungs through my nose and sat up, away from the temptation.

Her eyes traveled down my body, growing wide as they landed on my still erect, still straining cock.

"You didn't…?"

I shook my head, afraid if I opened my jaw to speak my teeth would fall on the soft spot between her neck and shoulder and draw blood.

She reached for me, her soft hand just brushing the head of my dick before I leaped away from her. My eyes rolled in my head and I shook myself out like I was wet.

"Tonight was for you."

She collapsed back on the couch, not as exhausted as I'd like to make her, but tired enough to not care she remained spreadeagle. Her right leg draped over the back of the couch, her left foot on the floor.

She shuddered a deep breath and I followed suit. After three more, her eyes finally blinked open. "Can you stay?"

I nodded and scooped her up. I carried her to the bed and arranged her on top of me, her head on my chest, most of her body cradled between my legs.

I watched her sleep, staying as still as possible. I ignored the cramps in my knees and ankles, the position on my back awkward for my anatomy.

The sun turned the sky a dusty pink and it was time to go. I packed up the laptop and the few things I'd taken from the kidnappers' house. I snuggled my muzzle into her hair, careful not to touch her skin with my cold nose.

She made a sleepy noise and turned toward me.

"Dawn approaches, little one. I have to go."

Her arms escaped the blanket I'd covered her with and wound around my neck.

"Be safe."

I chuckled. "I think I should be saying that to you."

She smiled without opening her eyes.

From the other room came the unmistakable sound of paper being slid under her door. My ears pricked and she released me, her eyes wide as she followed my gaze.

"What is it?" Her voice was barely a whisper.

"Stay here."

She nodded, but her entire body tensed. I hated her fear. It wasn't enough for me to kill the men who took her. She needed to know they were dead. That they would never hurt her again.

The door was still locked; the windows closed. Nothing was amiss. A piece of folded paper lay in the middle of the floor. I picked it up and carried it to her. I wanted to read it, to make sure it was friendly. A notice from her apartment manager, a takeout menu. I told myself it could be any of those things, but my gut said otherwise.

I still wouldn't read it before her. I grew up with no privacy. No way to escape the constantly watching eyes. Everything we did was on display.

This note was not meant for me, so unless she said otherwise I would not read it.

I held it out to her. "It was slipped under your door."

Her eyes flew to the doorway that led to the front door and back to me. "What do you think it is?"

She made no move to take it. I shrugged. "I don't know."

"You read it. It could be from the Society council."

My shoulders dropped a few inches and I exhaled before carefully unfolding the sheet of paper.

We have reason to believe the kidnappers haven't given up. Take every precaution with your safety. -Zeus

My fingers tensed, and my claws ripped through the paper.

Kendal gave a nervous chuckle. "That good?"

My vision fogged at the edges. "I don't want you to leave this apartment without me."

She bent her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs. "I have to work, Drym. I have bills to pay."

Her voice was thready and unnaturally high. My teeth ground together. "I know. Can you take a bit more time off?" Just until I found and eviscerated those fuckers. I kept that to myself. She didn't need to know the contents of the message.

She knew it was bad from my reaction.

She nodded. "Another day or two, maybe."

"Will you come home with me?" She was safer in the caves, surrounded by my brothers.

Her throat bobbed as she swallowed. I knew she was thinking about walking into the still dark forest.

Her reluctant nod told me she was more afraid of what I wasn't telling her than the forest. My heart cracked. She shouldn't be afraid. She should never have to be afraid again.

I'd protect her. Even if it meant exposing myself to the world.