Chapter Six

In Which We Experience the Lock in All of Its Intricacies

I can’t help but grin. “So you like my knot?”

She runs a hand down my arm until she’s caught my hand and pulls me back to the bed. “Now that I’ve seen a knot firsthand, I can definitely see the advantages.”

“You sure you’re okay with being that close to me for an hour? You’re not claustrophobic are you?”

She shakes her head. “Do you snore?”

“Snore?”

“An hour after sex, we’ll both be passed out. But the person who falls asleep second has to sit awake and listen to the other person snoring.”

“What if,” I tell her as I climb on top of her again, “I promise to stay awake until you fall asleep?”

“You would do that?” she asks, amusement in her voice .

“I told you,” I tell her as I push my cock back into her, slowly this time. “I’ll take care of everything. Well, everything you’ll let me take care of.”

She sighs as I fill her entirely.

“You ready?”

She smiles and nods. “I’ll let you take care of this.”

I shake my head and begin to move. She closes her eyes as the bed begins to gently rock with each slow and purposeful thrust. It doesn’t take long for the knot to build back up again. This time she gets to feel the full effect, as it swells. “Zander…your knot…” she breathes as I pick up the pace.

I lean forward a little bit so it brushes her clit with each thrust, and she gasps and opens her eyes, only to close them seconds later as her body begins to shake. My own legs and arms begin to tremble as I try to shut off that part of my brain. Making a girl cum like this is part luck, but it’s luck I hope is with me tonight.

Something about Nollaig makes me want to show off, to be so far above the bar that she finds her way back to my bed another night. She starts to grab for me, crying out at last just when I think I can’t wait any longer. With a sigh of relief, I press into her one last time and let my own orgasm overtake me, my knot securing us together as I fill her once again.

There are only a few comfortable ways to negotiate the lock. The lighter of the two people can sleep on top of the heavier person, or probably far more preferred by everyone is the side-by-side leg tangle. Someone’s leg or arm always ends up asleep, but for breathing purposes, it’s the most comfortable.

I roll her with me, grateful for an excuse to rest my arms and hide the shaking. I need to hit the gym more. Old age shouldn’t be creeping up on me already.

She snuggles into my shoulder, right into a giant patch of my chest hair. I’m tempted to make a smartass remark about it, but she either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care. She sighs a big sigh and pulls me in closer.

“You good?” I ask her.

“Better than good. That was amazing. Werewolves must fight off girls with a stick.”

That makes me chuckle. “Not really. I’m sure everyone has their preferences.”

She scratches absently at my chest. I can almost feel her thinking. She wiggles a bit. “I’m sorry, I’m not even the least bit sleepy. You’re never going to get any sleep at this rate if you have to wait on me.”

“What if I rub your back?”

She laughs. “I won’t say no. My ma would do that when I was little and she was trying to get me to sleep.”

“Did it work?” I ask, yawning.

“I’m too stubborn, I think,” she says as she catches my yawn. “Okay, maybe I am a little bit sleepy.”

I run a hand down her back. “My dad would tell us long, boring stories to get us to fall asleep.”

“You remember him?”

I nod. “I was twelve when he died.”

“What were the long boring stories about?”

I snort. “Mostly hunting. He and my Uncle Randy would spend half the winter in a deer blind.”

“A deer blind? You mean to tell me that two Alphas don’t just shift to hunt?”

“Nope. They thought it was cheating.”

She snorts. “I’d give anything to run through the woods as a wolf. Regular boring legs are lame.”

“They have their uses,” I murmur as my eyes get heavy.

She looks up at me and smiles. “You’re falling asleep, Zander. ”

“Absolutely not. Just resting my eyes.”

“You aren’t old enough to be just resting your eyes. Me on the other hand…”

I mean to ask her what she means, but her hand is on my back, rubbing gently. She is warm, and the bed’s soft, and I can’t fight the pull of sleep as it draws me into the dreamless darkness.

“Zander.”

A voice is calling my name.

“Zander.”

Fingers trail down my spine. My brain is still far off and not quite connected to the real world.

“Zander, I have to go. I turn into a pumpkin at sunrise,” Nollaig says softly, laughter in her voice. She’s standing on my side of the bed, slipping her sandals on in the dark.

I reach up and run a hand down her arm, pulling her back to me. “You sure you can’t stay? I’d like to get to know you better.”

Her eyes flick to the window, and she sighs. “It is such a beautiful area. It’d be a great place to plant roots.”

I smile. There isn’t much beautiful about this overgrown lot behind the Wild Hare, but if anyone can see the potential of it, it’s Nollaig. “It has its charms,” I agree.

She laughs and opens a small purse strapped across her body. It’s tiny, and honestly, I don’t remember her having it last night, but I guess most women have one. Though what could actually fit in Nollaig’s, I have no clue.

“My people are outgrowing their home. This would be the perfect area for us. It has so much space, too. We could really spread out, maybe even plant some crops.”

Her words are utterly confusing, or maybe it’s just I’m not quite here in the real world, yet. The wooded lot this RV is parked in is barely the size of a parking lot. You might get a decent garden for a small family going…maybe, if you were a plant witch like Darla, but her people and crops?

“May I bring my people with me when I come back?”

“Sure. ”

From the depths of her tiny bag, she pulls out a large gold coin and places it in my palm. She wraps my fingers around it and brings her hand to my lips. “My promise to you. We’ll be back in three days. May I see your wolf then?”

I grin. “Of course.”

She leans over and kisses my cheek. “Sleep, Zander,” she whispers.

My body obeys her command. My eyes grow heavy, and I’m asleep before the front door even closes.