44. Adrianna

44

ADRIANNA

" T his one here says if they burned sage into your foot, it would…ew, no, nevermind," Brody grumbles, his nose scrunched in distaste as he shakes his head at the book in his lap before turning the page swiftly. Searching for information on suppressing powers, my inner wolf, or anything remotely in that realm of documentation feels surreal, and I'm not entirely sure I'm committed to it, but here we are.

Amusement hums beneath the surface of my skin as I stare at him. "Don't stop there, I'm intrigued," I muse, giving him a pointed look, and his lips stretch from a thin line into a huge grin.

"Admit it. You're nerdy."

I roll my eyes, refusing to talk about this again. I'm not sure how many times he's said it now, but every time he does, the sparkle in his eyes gets brighter. Shining like stars in a dark and dreary night sky.

"Fine, don't tell me," I mutter, waving a hand at him as I drop my gaze at the book I'm nursing.

"It's not a bad thing, Dagger. You can be hot, feisty, and nerdy. Your secret is safe with me."

My gaze whips to his, eyes narrowing as I give him my best death stare, but it doesn't hit the mark I intend.

"You're only making my dick harder when you give me that look."

Ass.

Rolling my eyes again , I turn my focus back to the book in my hand before I close it with a thud. "This one is a dud," I grumble with a sigh. The stack of books we've been through is growing taller than those we haven't gotten to yet, and it makes concern swirl in my gut.

Concern. Worry. Tension. Three feelings I sense more than usual at the moment, and there's a part of me screaming that it's leading to something big, but I'm quite sure our situation can't get any messier than it already is.

Wordlessly, Brody stretches, grabbing a book from his desk to hand to me. His room is lost to the stacks of leather binders, old books, and tattered papers. When he said he had gathered some research, I don't know what I expected, but the mage in him definitely took over.

I'm sure we've got half the library here.

A yawn takes over my mouth as I settle back into my spot on his bed. I open the book to the content page to see if anything worthwhile stands out.

"Do you want to call it a night?" Brody asks, pulling his cell phone from his pocket as I shake my head.

"No way," I insist, suppressing another yawn as I turn the page.

"You should eat."

"I'm good."

"If I don't feed you, I worry my balls will be cut from my body, and I rather like them where they are." His random statement draws my attention to him. His arm is already extended, his cell phone in hand as he flashes the screen my way.

Raiden: Have you guys eaten?

Brody: Not yet.

Kryll: It's been hours.

Brody: Our girl says she's good.

My cheeks heat at the mention of our girl , but I don't linger on it; I focus on the next line and bite back a scoff.

Cassian: Feed her. Now.

" Fine, I could eat," I relent, watching him visibly relax in his spot on the floor with a sigh.

"You're a lifesaver, Dagger. Is there anything in particular you feel like?"

"I'm not fussy, but I want snacks, too," I decide, nodding eagerly. If we're going to make it through all of this, snacks are definitely needed. Maybe I should have gotten Flora involved. She's the queen of snacks.

He doesn't pester me any further for an answer, and I smile, turning back to my book, knowing the decision has been taken out of my hands. I've reached my limit of decisiveness for one day, and having someone else take the reins is nicer than I want to admit.

"Whatever the Princess of the Dragons wants, she gets," he sings, tucking his cell phone away as I grab the pen at my side and throw it at him.

His eyes narrow, but he manages to catch it with little effort. "I'm watching you," he warns, raising his eyebrows at me, and I scoff, turning away again.

"I know. I can feel your eyes on me."

"You can?" The lilt to his voice reveals a degree of surprise that I don't expect.

"Always," I confirm with a nod, feeling it even more than ever as I skim my finger over the text before me.

"Look at me." His words are soft, but the order is firm.

Glancing at him, my throat dries out when I find an intensity in his eyes that only darkens the longer I look.

"I'm going to spend the rest of my life looking at you." My teeth sink into my bottom lip as my neck warms, the feeling creeping up to my cheeks, and I turn away. "You like that, don't you?"

I can't even bring myself to imagine the color of my face as the heat increases, but I keep my eyes glued to the book in my grasp.

"You need to focus on the books," I mutter, earning a snicker from him. I wave my book at him for good measure and he hums.

"Hmm, whatever you say, Dagger."

We fall into a comfortable silence again, only the sound of turning pages echoing around us as we consume page after page. If Brody is irritated with me declining the music he offered, he doesn't show it. I just can't concentrate with anything on in the background. Although, it leaves me acutely aware of everything the man next to me is doing.

A hand sweeping through his hair, his tongue flicking out over his bottom lip, his legs spreading as he gets comfortable, revealing the outline of his…

Nope.

Focus, Addi.

It feels hopeless at this stage, but we have to find something. Anything .

Done with another book, I add it to the discard pile, and Brody silently offers me another. I take it from his grasp with a soft smile, watching as his attention goes back to the book in his lap.

Clearing my throat, I instantly have his attention. "Are you going to tell me about earlier?"

"Earlier?" he queries, line marks gathering between his brows.

"Whatever you were holding back in dance class," I explain, and he goes still.

"Ah." He scrubs at the back of his neck nervously.

"Ah," I repeat, trying to bottle up the concern that instantly bubbles to the surface so I don't overreact. I'm not sure if it works or not; either way, his shoulders sag and he speaks.

"I heard from my father while you were gone."

No beating around the bush, then. It leaves me slightly impressed. "That sounds…joyous."

He scoffs, sensing the sarcasm that attempts to hide my uncertainty. "Yeah…definitely not," he retorts, running his hand through his hair with a sigh.

"I get the feeling what he said involves me," I admit when he doesn't explain straight away, and it earns me another scoff.

"You would be right. It's actually what led me here," he clarifies, tightening my chest as he still withholds exactly what was said.

"Here?" I ask, needing full disclosure, the book in my lap completely forgotten as my eyes drill into his.

"To the research." Tension radiates from him and I can't contain it any longer.

"Tell me."

He nods, accepting my demand as he clears his throat, looking up to the ceiling for a brief moment before his gaze settles on me again. "He seems to think that if you continue to suppress the wolf in you, the chance of them forcing the fated mates has a higher success rate."

His words hang in the air for what feels like an eternity before I finally remember how to use my tongue.

"So, if I find my wolf…"

Brody shrugs. "It's no guarantee, but I wanted you to have options."

I blink at him. One simple word and it makes me falter. Heat creeps over my skin again, but this time, it's not with shyness or desire. No. It feels a little like embarrassment.

"Options. I've never had those before," I blurt, slapping my hand over my mouth quickly to stop anything else from slipping out. Brody's eyes soften, along with his smile, but before he speaks, I drop my hand. "I don't know if I'll want to go ahead with whatever we might find." Another blurt, another truth, and it's accepted with a simple nod.

"I know, and that will be your choice," he states, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that he will stay at my side no matter what I choose, no matter where our fate falls, he's always going to be there.

"Thank you," I breathe, unable to expand on my appreciation, but he doesn't seem to mind as he winks.

"You're welcome."

I nod, my gaze drifting back to my book, but something pauses me from going back to the passages. "Why did he call you with that information?"

"To get me to do the opposite," he answers immediately, and my eyebrows crinkle. "He wants me to be on high alert with you to ensure you don't find your wolf."

There it is. That's the issue. What a fucker.

"Thank you for telling me."

"Always," he says with a firm nod, sealing the promise between us. With a lingering smile, we turn back to our books.

Flip, flip, scan, pass. Flip, browse, sigh, flip, pass. Flip, flip, flip, scan, scan, pass, double sigh.

The cycle continues, the desperate need to find something—anything—grows.

"Oh," Brody hollers suddenly, making me pause.

"What?"

He scrubs the back of his neck, his eyes narrowing on whatever he's reading.

"What?" I repeat when he doesn't answer quickly enough.

"I'm trying to confirm the sources," he offers, but I shake my head.

"I swear, Brody, if you don't tell me what it says?—"

"It says if you mate with your fated other, it could lift the spell or whatever it is that's suppressing you."

My heart rattles in my chest. "Mate?"

"Yeah." He finally lifts his gaze from the pages to look at me, to find my eyebrows crinkled.

"You know what that means, don't you?" he says, wagging his brows, and my throat dries. I struggle to gulp. "Do you like the idea of that?" he pushes, placing the book beside him as he rises to his knees.

"Of sex? Obviously?—"

"Not just sex, Addi?—"

A knock at the door startles me and halts whatever Brody was about to say. He groans, rushing to his feet and charging toward the door. As quickly as he swings it open, he slams it shut, but when he turns to me, there are two bags of food in his hands.

"Who was that?" I ask, discarding my book carefully.

"Kryll," he answers with a shrug, and I gape at him.

"I could have said hi."

"You're mine right now." The pointed look he offers leaves me rooted to the spot.

"Am I, though? We're discussing me fucking my true mate. I'm going to assume that's a wolf, not?—"

He cuts the distance between us, slamming his palm against my mouth before I can say another word. "Don't finish that sentence while you're with me. There's teasing, Dagger, and then there's playing with fire. You're off the Richter scale with words like that." His eyes darken with every word, leaving me speechless. "Do you like that? You like my warning?" he breathes, keeping his hand firmly in place as he kneels over me on the bed. I nod, unable to deny it, and he grins. "I love that you're not shy."

I grin against his palm before I open my mouth and sink my teeth into his flesh. He groans, his hand slipping from my mouth and dropping to my waist as he slowly shuffles down my body.

"Brody." I don't know what I want or need but his name parts my lips nonetheless.

"We should eat," he breathes, and I freeze, but when he looks up at me through his lashes, the heated gaze sends a shiver up my spine. "And I'm not talking about food, Dagger."

"Brody?"

His hands smooth down my thighs, pausing at my knees before he spreads my legs apart.

"I think I want to start with dessert."