Chapter 20

Larkin

When you're happy, time moves by quickly, and I couldn't remember the last time I had been this happy. No, that wasn't true. I remembered what this felt like, but I hadn't felt this way for a very long time. Years. Decades since I'd spent time with my family, told stories around the hearth, and explored the wildlife that surrounded our cottage.

But the kind of pleasure I found with Odhran wasn't just on the physical level. It was also about the quiet solitude we found as we made dinner together, or sat in front of the fire and read or just talked.

The days blurred together, and I found that weeks passed before I even realized time had gone by so quickly. And with each passing moment, I became more and more comfortable with my surroundings and the situation.

We got to know each other's likes and dislikes, learned about the other's idiosyncrasies, what we feared and what we dreamed about.

We took walks on the property, long hours just moving through the Highlands and taking in the trees and animals, smelling the scents and feeling… free. I should've felt a little bit embarrassed at the fact that whenever we took those walks, I would stop constantly, just closing my eyes and tilting my head back, inhaling the fresh air and feeling the sun on my face.

But every time I looked at Odhran—feeling a little sheepish—there was always a soft smile on his face and this loving look in his eyes. I knew without him having to tell me that he took great pleasure in seeing these reactions in me.

My pleasure was his.

And then he'd cup my cheek and say in that gruff Scottish brogue of his, "Gods, ye're the most beautiful creature I've ever seen."

I blushed every time I thought about it.

Every night we bathed together, Odhran washing my hair with gentle touches, soothing fingers. He lathered my body with soaps and oils until I was pliant and soft against him, and those relaxing touches would always turn into something more.

He'd bring me to orgasm in the bathtub, my back against his chest, me lying between his thighs, his hand between my legs as he stroked me to climax.

His cock would always be a hard, thick rod pressing to my lower back, and I wouldn't have to do anything but come for him, moan out his name and then he'd orgasm without even a touch, the hot feeling of his semen coating my skin and getting me off again.

I glanced at myself in the mirror, not fully recognizing the female who stared back at me. The last few weeks of staying with Odhran, isolated in this Scottish retreat, had done wonders for me. He kept the strangers at bay, with only a handful of staff here in the morning before they left in the afternoon, allowing us to have private time the rest of the day.

We held each other and just talked about nothing in particular. And I treasured those slices of comfortable solace as we learned of each other. And during those quiet talks he'd feed me from his hand, insisting I just have "one more bite."

I gained weight, had a more lustrous glow to my skin; my hair was fuller and looked less limp and lifeless. My cheeks were constantly flushed, not just from the happiness I felt and being well taken care of, but also from the copious amounts of pleasure I felt at living life.

We still hadn't consummated the relationship, and I knew his wolf was growing restless. I knew enough about Lycans and fated mates that with each passing day his need for me would grow until it was uncomfortable, unbearable. But he never rushed me, never pressured me.

But every time the heat consumed me, every time I wanted to go further, my body seized up; my emotions and the trauma of my past betrayed me. And Odhran never complained, never acted put-off. He'd just hold me, stroke my hair, and tell me I was perfect, that he loved me.

Gods, did he love me. He told me daily, every time he saw me. He used "I love you" as a comma when he told me how he felt. He made sure I fully knew without a shadow of a doubt where he stood where I was concerned.

The girl looked back at me and smiled, the bags under her eyes and dark circles gone, the blueness of her irises shining brighter than they ever had.

I smoothed my hands down the outfit I picked for tonight. Odhran was taking me out, our first official "date."

And tonight, he was taking me to something called "the movie theater."

Although I was a little apprehensive that we would be going into town, I was also anticipating exploring my new home.

The place I used to live with my family would always hold a very special place in my heart, but my home was where my mate was, where Odhran was.

I left the bathroom and headed out of the room and down the stairs. I could see Odhran waiting by the front door, his hands in the front pockets of his dark slacks, his button-up fitting his broad shoulders and tapered waist to perfection.

He was such a large male, so big and strong, but even in civilized clothing, his air of wild and feral intensity couldn't be tamed.

He was pacing, as if he were the one who was nervous, but as if he sensed me, he stopped and looked over, his nostrils flaring instantly, his gaze moving up and down my body.

For our date tonight I'd chosen a buttery soft cardigan set in a deep emerald green, and dark jeans that molded to my new fuller form.

"Oh. Sweetheart." He ran a hand over his mouth as he kept eyeing me up and down. "Lass… I donna… I donna know what tae say. Ye've made me speechless."

I felt my face heat and lifted my hands to place them on my cheeks, feeling my ultra-warm skin. I continued to descend the stairs and stopped in front of him. He held his hand out for me and I slipped my palm into his, letting him pull me against the hardness of his body.

He moved his hands over my upper arms, over my shoulders, and cupped either side of my throat, his thumbs coming to rest right over my pulse points. He swept the pads back and forth, and I felt myself instantly relaxing, heating… becoming aroused.

And he knew it, the perceptive male that he was knew how wet I was.

He leaned in so his mouth was right by my ear and breathed out huskily, "We could always stay in tonight?"

I closed my eyes and shivered, very tempted to agree with that, but when he pulled back and gave me a devilish smile, I knew he was sticking with the original plans.

"I promised ye a movie at the cinema, and I plan on delivering." The heat came back in his eyes and he looked down at my mouth before licking his lips. "But that doesn't mean when we get home tonight, I canna strip ye bare and drag my tongue all over that perfect body of yers before burying my face between yer thighs and making my girl come hard for me."

Oh gods, the mouth on this male…

I could feel the hard length of him pressing against my belly, and those tendrils of desire started to become a wildfire in me, racing throughout my entire body until I knew there was no stopping it.

As if he knew we had to stop now or we really wouldn't be leaving, he gave me one more lingering kiss before leading me out of the house and into the waiting vehicle.

The drive into town was long given the fact his home was out in the middle of nowhere, tucked away deep in the wooded Highlands, but I enjoyed the trip.

He held my hand the entire time and didn't try to make small talk. He just drove as we listened to music.

Once in town, we had dinner before seeing the movie; the café was a little establishment that was intimate and occupied by only a handful of people. Once again, he was thinking about my comfort, making sure I was acclimated slowly back into society.

We walked along a small cobblestone sidewalk before the movie started, and he gave me a small history lesson on the town, how in the sixteenth century one of the wealthy families had the biggest scandal the town had ever encountered.

And that was a pregnancy out of wedlock by a servant.

The way Odhran told the story made me feel like I was right there, witnessing the audacity the town probably felt when they found out the mistress of the manor had gotten knocked up by the stable boy. But it had a happy ending, where they'd run off together, never to be heard from again.

I could picture them hidden away in a small cottage, a noblewoman and a commoner, having fallen in love, created a family, and run away because society had said they shouldn't be together.

It was all awfully romantic, and I slipped my hand through Odhran's as we continued to walk, envisioning the story as if it were my own movie playing in my mind.

The little cinema wasn't like anything I'd ever seen before, certainly not something that had been popular in my time or even a thing. And as we sat in the row in the back, the entire theater curiously empty of any other patrons, I finally looked at Odhran and lifted an eyebrow, asking him without saying the words what was going on.

Because he knew me so well, could read me so well, his smirk told me the answer I'd already assumed.

He'd paid for the entire cinema for us to watch my very first movie alone.

My heart did this funny thing in my chest and I didn't stop myself from raising up enough that I could kiss him. He had a hand on the back of my head and gently curled his fingers around my hair, keeping my mouth to his.

The lights lowered after a few moments, and that was when we broke away, panting, my body soft and wet in all the right places, my thighs clenched tightly together even though that made the pressure between my legs even worse.

He stared into my eyes, his gaze stormy and heated, and then he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in close.

I'dnever seen something as wondrous as the movie that played on a screen as big as the wall. The colors and lights, being transported to a whole different world, a different time and place, was the most magical thing I'd ever experienced.

I could feel Odhran watching me the entire time instead of the movie, but thankfully I was so engrossed with this new experience that we didn't have time to let the heat between us consume each other and make us do something totally inappropriate in public.

By the time we left, the sun had set, the night brought a chilly breeze with it, and I was grinning from ear to ear and feeling higher and lighter than I ever had before.

We walked down the cobblestone sidewalk and then he pulled me toward a small bakery that served more authentic Scottish delicacies. After looking at the menu, I ordered a cranachan,a layered dessert that had fresh whipped cream, toasted oats, and plump, ripe raspberries. It even came with a touch of whiskey.

While he was finishing up with our orders, I made my way toward a little fountain tucked against the back wall of the building. There was an alley parallel to it, and I could tell the owners tried to hide the fact that the trash cans were kept back here by putting up a lattice partition with faux ivy woven between the framework.

I glanced over my shoulder to see Odhran still standing by the front counter. The young girl who stood by the register was looking up at him with big, wide eyes. No doubt she'd never seen a male so large and intimidating, even if he was giving her a friendly smile.

As if he felt my gaze on him, he glanced over at me, that friendly smile turning into something more loving, more possessive and heated. Smoldering. His gaze raked up and down my body, and I felt a shiver race through me at how intently I felt that one look.

Instantly I thought about going back to the estate, letting him strip me bare and do all the things he promised. I imagined his tongue moving over every part of my naked skin, as if he were tasting me like a delicacy he'd never get enough of.

And then he gave me a wink that was full of intent and a whole lot of orgasms promised for tonight.

His attention was pulled back to the young girl, and I was thankful for her perfect timing so I could catch my breath and regroup. Walking around town aroused wasn't the most comfortable thing to do.

I turned back to the fountain, closing my eyes for a minute and just listening to the trickling sound of the water falling into the basin.

"Rhodes, stop guzzling it. Yer're already fooking sloshed." The slurred male voice filtered down through the alley.

I shifted to the side and peered around the lattice wall to see three shadowy bodies ten feet from me, a clear bottle of liquor being passed between them.

"Shut it, ya dobber. I bought the damn thing." The one I assumed was named Rhodes brought the bottle to his mouth and took a hearty chug before passing it off to his friend.

They started heading toward me, their voices slurred, their laughter growing the closer they got.

When they were close enough for me to smell the liquor on their breath, I went to straighten but my hand slipped, causing the lattice to sag against the fountain. The sound was minimal but the males heard and snapped their heads up, their gazes latching on to me.

Then the one called Rhodes grinned and sauntered up to me before I could move back.

My entire body went ramrod straight, this strange sort of panic rising for just a second before this numbness settled in. Although anxiety rose in me, I could sense they weren't a threat, not really, not even for my weak nymph strength.

They were a menace. An annoyance, but despite my brain knowing that, my body reacted in the only way it knew how to for the last several decades.

It seized up.

The male smiled, his eyes red-rimmed and bloodshot, and the scent of cheap whiskey and days-old sweat coating him.

He was young, but it was clear he lived a harder life. Probably drank too much, smoked too many cigarettes, and didn't get enough sleep or eat well enough.

And those thoughts ran through my head when I saw him lifting his hand and bringing it toward me. It was when he dragged his finger down the length of my arm that something in me snapped.

There was a voice inside of me that screamed I'd had enough, that I was too tired, too angry to let things be, to accept things the way they were. I didn't have to be that way anymore. I didn't have to submit to survive.

Before I knew what was happening, I brought my arm up, my hand connecting with his cheek. His head snapped to the side, the sound of my open palm cracking against his flesh so loud it echoed off the alley. His two friends were stunned into silence, their eyes wide as they looked between each other.

And then the male I hit slowly turned and looked at me, baring his teeth, and I knew his drunken anger was about to make itself known.

"Fooking cow." He gritted his teeth, and even in the shadowy alley I could see his cheek turning a bright pink from my slap."C'mere, lassie, yer mawkit."

But before I could move away, react, scream, or otherwise, a slow, deadly, threatening growl came from behind me.The human before me froze, his mouth going slack as he tipped his head up, and up, and up a little bit more so he was looking at whatever stood right behind me.

Not something… someone. My mate. Odhran.

Rhodes's friends took a step back, and another one, horror morphing their faces. I could only assume what they saw. I knew my mate was almost in full Lycan mode. Glowing blue eyes, body getting bigger.

And although the Otherworld was relatively kept secret for the safety of the species, and rarely let themselves be known to humans, sometimes it just couldn't be helped. And those times were when you were protecting your mate.

I felt Odhran's hand land gently on my shoulder. Ever so softly, slowly, he adjusted me so I was now behind him, his big body like a shield in front of me. I looked up at his profile, but his expression was void of any kind of emotion.

The calm before the storm. Dangerous waters without a ripple or a wave.

"Odhran," I said softly but he didn't look at me, didn't flinch, didn't even blink. "Let's go," I said with a little more strength in my voice, and placed my hand around his thick wrist.

I glanced down to see his hands were curled tightly into fists before he relaxed them. He did this motion over and over again, his nails now claws, the heat pouring off him at dangerous levels.

I said his name again, but still he was silent, still that low growling leaving his chest and increasing in intensity the longer we stood there.

And then he was taking a step closer, and another one. I felt my eyes widen when he curled his hand around Rhodes's throat and slowly lifted him off the ground, the male insubstantial compared to Odhran and a Lycan's strength. The human clawed at Odhran's hand, the tips of his toes barely scraping the asphalt.

The human was gasping, his face turning red as my mate leaned in and growled something low, harsh, and unintelligible against the human's ear.

And then Rhodes's eyes widened, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Odhran pulled back, and they were now nose-to-nose, my mate's gaze fierce and glowing.

Rhodes made gagging, strangled noises and then just as quickly as the situation started, Odhran was dropping the human to the ground, turning around to take my hand, and leading me away from the scene.

My body was trembling, not from Odhran's reaction, but from a multitude of different emotions and sensations moving through me. I'd been so shocked to see him react that way that my fear and the memories of the past had been temporarily beaten down.

But the farther we moved away from the men, the more I started to feel my body unravel, my mind fraying at the edges.

Odhran didn't say anything as he helped me into the SUV, buckled me in, and then gently smoothed his hand over the back of my head. He refused to look me in the eye, but that was probably for the best. I was feeling stripped bare.

Part of me hated the woman I'd become, the female who, although she had shown strength just moments ago, was still so unsure of how to navigate this new world of freedom.

The trip back to his home was done in silence, with the intermittent sound of his hands tightening around the steering wheel, of the leather creaking filling the interior of the car.

It wasn't until he was pulling the car to a stop, cutting the engine, and then helping me out of the vehicle that I dug my feet into the ground and looked up at him. His focus was on the ground, his jaw tight, a muscle flexing underneath the scruff-covered skin.

"Can you give me a minute?" I waited until he looked at me, until his glowing blue eyes were locked with mine before I spoke again. "Just a moment alone. I…" I glanced down at my feet, my brows pulled low as I was lost in thought. "I just need a moment to myself." To rage, to cry, to scream, to just say screw all this pain and push through it, move forward. I didn't want to live my life like this. I didn't want to be so trapped in the past it was my own personal vault, a hell that I'd never escape.

He glanced up and looked around, as if he could see into the dark in the forest. His nostrils were flared, his eyes appeared a little fierce, and his breathing was a little fast. "I didn't frighten ye, did I? I could no' stand it if I was the cause of any of yer fear."

When he looked at me there was a lot of torment behind his eyes, something I wished I could take away from him. But I couldn't even control myself or my own feelings. I wanted to be strong for him, so strong that he didn't have to worry that I was too fragile and unbreakable, that I wasn't truly ruined.

I knew by the look on his face it was painful for him to give me this time to myself, his instincts and inner animal demanding he was always near, always protecting me. I was proud of both of us when he gave a slow nod, leaned down and kissed my forehead, and then took a step back.

"I'll be here for ye, lass. When ye're ready. I'll be right here."

A major part of me wanted to stay, to just wrap my arms around him, rest my head on his chest, and have him promise me that everything would be okay. That no matter what I felt or thought or saw, everything would be okay.

With one last lingering look, the scent of impending rain in the air, and the heavy cloak of darkness shielding me, I turned and walked toward the forest.