Chapter 43

Chapter 43

Her father’s name was Cade, Kale thought, trying to figure out where he knew that name from. He’d heard it before, but he just couldn’t remember-

“You do nice work,” the little brat that had made him squirm all night to earn her forgiveness for being the biggest prick alive, his own admission, murmured, nodding approvingly as she examined her toenails, which were now baby pink.

“Stop moving. You’re going to wreck them,” Kale said, refusing to let her wreck all of his hard work simply because she couldn’t sit still.

There was an impatient sigh as Ashley tried sitting up again, but he simply glared at her until she dropped back down on the bed between his legs with a grumble. Satisfied that she was going to stop squirming, Kale continued lightly blowing on her toes where they rested on his chest as he scrolled through the forum, looking for any mention of her father.

“Do you forgive me yet?” Kale asked, looking up from his phone to find Ashley thinking it over.

“For telling me that you hated me or for eating the last pancake?”

“Both,” he said, even though he had to admit that he wasn’t sorry about stealing the last pancake.

God, his mate could fucking cook. Last night, after he’d properly groveled and she’d let him know that he wasn’t getting off that easy, she’d climbed off his lap, headed into the kitchen and whipped up a pan of homemade macaroni and cheese along with a batch of chocolate chip cookies to replace the cake that he’d devoured. He ate everything that she put in front of him and when the last cookie was gone, Kale pointed out that he was going to need energy to grovel, which earned him fudge brownies with extra fudge frosting.

“You know? I just don’t feel like you’ve groveled enough to earn my forgiveness,” Ashley said with a sad shake of her head and a long-suffering sigh that had his eyes narrowing on her.

“What else do you want?” Kale bit out, noting the way that her lips twitched as she struggled to keep a straight face.

“Would you let me paint your toenails?” Ashley asked, sending him a hopeful look.

“No.”

“Why not?” she asked, sounding disappointed.

“Because we both know that you would send a picture to Jacob,” Kale said, knowing that he was right when she released a disappointed sigh.

“Fine. Then, will you let me have Cuddles in the house?” she asked as Kale shifted his attention back to the window where the asshole was still fucking pouting.

“No way in hell,” Kale said, absolutely refusing to let the large bastard in his house, knowing that it would end with him sleeping alone so that asshole could curl up on the bed next to his mate.

“He looks so lonely,” Ashley mumbled sadly, which only made the asshole pout more.

“Never going to happen,” Kale said, shifting his attention back to his phone as he continued to blow air over Ashley’s adorable toes.

“Then will you answer some of my questions?”

“Sure,” Kale murmured absently as he-

“When will I finally hit puberty?”

-choked on air.

Dropping his phone, he was forced to swipe Ashley’s Coke off the nightstand and finish it off. Once he stopped coughing, Kale slowly exhaled and looked at the woman that was trying to kill him. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Maybe I should ask Jacob instead,” Ashley murmured to herself as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth.

“You can ask me,” Kale snapped with a glare of warning that she immediately ignored.

Brat.

“To be honest, I don’t think you know,” Ashley said, blinking innocently at him.

With a glare, Kale pushed her feet off his chest, reached over and grabbed her hands and pulled her up until she was sitting on his lap so that he could properly glare at her when he said, “I know.”

“Are you sure?” Ashley asked with a pitying look that was going to get her adorable ass spanked.

“I’m sure.”

Nodding, Ashley slowly exhaled as she settled more comfortably on his lap before blurting out, “I haven’t gotten my period yet.”

“You’re not supposed to. You’re a shifter and a Pyte,” he explained, wondering why she had to make everything so damn difficult.

“And they don’t get periods?” she asked, frowning.

“No,” Kale said, chuckling as he leaned forward so that he could kiss the tip of her nose, “they don’t.”

“I’m bald,” came the next announcement that had him frowning as he looked at her beautiful golden blonde hair and-

“Not there,” Ashley said, rolling her eyes as her gaze flickered south, giving him no other choice but to follow her gaze and…

Oh.

“Is that normal?” Ashley asked as he sat there, thinking about the soft, smooth lips between her legs and just how much he’d enjoyed running his tongue over her and just how much he wanted to do it again.

“I…” Kale mumbled, trying to remember what they were talking about.

“I also apparently don’t have to shave, pluck or do any of the hundreds of things that I’ve heard women bitch about over the years,” Ashley said, sounding oddly disappointed.

“No, you don’t,” Kale murmured as he found himself running his hands over her legs, unable to help but notice just how smooth her legs really were.

“And that’s normal?”

“Yes,” Kale said, although to be honest, he wasn’t sure about that.

“How will I know if I go into heat?” she asked, making him bite back a groan because he hadn’t thought about that and now, that’s all he could think about. Shifter females usually started their heat cycles after they turned eighteen. From what he’d heard, for those nine days a year, it was hell for the females and bliss for every male lucky enough to catch her attention.

Once a female shifter was mated…

She would go into her first mating heat within hours, days, or weeks of the mark appearing, making her desperate for sex and fertile for the first time in her life, which would drive every male around her out of his fucking mind. Unlike during a normal heat when a female shifter could satisfy herself in any number of ways, anything but her mate’s release would only make it worse. No matter what she did, how many men she’d fucked, it wouldn’t give her the relief that she needed.

Only her mate would be able to do that. With every release, he would take the edge off of her body’s needs until the heat was over, which usually ended in pregnancy. The first few pregnancies for shifters normally didn’t end well because the female’s hormones needed time to adjust, but Ashley wouldn’t have that problem.

She was also a Pyte, which meant that her body would do everything within its power to protect the child, making it easier for Kale to keep his fucking sanity. He’d never wanted children before, but with Ashley…

He liked the idea of seeing her round with his child probably more than he should. A family would make him vulnerable, giving his enemies something to use against him, and leaving him terrified that he could lose them one day, but…

God, he wanted them.

He wanted all those things that he’d told himself that he could live without and he wanted them with her. They’d fill this house with boys that lived to torment them the way that Aine used to torment him and he’d love every minute of it. As much as he would love a little girl to dote on, he knew that wasn’t possible. They would only ever be able to have boys thanks to her Pyte blood and he would do everything in his power to protect them.

For a moment, he wondered if they’d be able to have girls since she’d managed to survive, but he knew how it worked for Impures. It was the reason why most shifters did everything they could to keep their Packs free of Impures because their children would be weakened hybrids, most of them died young, and more than half of the pregnancies ended in disaster. Ashley had been lucky, more than fucking lucky, and he wasn’t sure that luck was going to extend to their children.

“You’ll know,” Kale promised her as he kissed her forehead while he continued running his hands over her legs even as he couldn’t help but wonder how long it would be before she went into heat. If she’d been able to shift when they’d been marked, she would have already gone into heat, but since her shifter side only showed up a few days ago, he had no idea what to expect.

“How?” she asked, wrapping her arms around him as he moved his hands over her thighs.

“Because I won’t be able to keep my hands off you,” Kale said, his cock hardened painfully just thinking about how good it was going to feel when he slid inside her.

“You can’t seem to do that now,” Ashley pointed out as his hands cupped her ass and pulled her closer so that she could feel what she did to him.

“True, but when you’re in heat, you won’t be able to get enough of me,” Kale said, groaning as he turned his head and kissed her throat.

“I already can’t get enough of you,” Ashley admitted on a moan as she shifted on his lap, driving him out of his fucking mind as she moved, rolling her hips against him as the scent of her arousal teased him, making his cock ache, desperate for the release it had been denied yesterday and-

“Wait!” she suddenly said, shaking her head as she stopped moving and pulled back as he struggled to figure out why she’d stopped moving only to groan when she said, “I don’t think this is a good idea. Not after what happened yesterday.”

“I think it’s a very good idea,” Kale said, not sure how much longer he could go without a release before he lost his fucking mind.

“Well, what if-”

“You liked what I did to you yesterday,” Kale reminded her, leaning in to brush his lips against hers.

“This is true,” she mumbled in agreement, only to hesitate before adding, “but I don’t know if I can stay in control.”

It took him a moment to figure out what she was talking about and when he did…

“I really am an asshole,” Kale said, rubbing his hands roughly down his face as he slowly exhaled.

“That’s what I’ve heard,” Ashley said, nodding solemnly as he dropped his hands away to glare at her, noting the way that her beautiful lips twitched.

“Have you really?” Kale murmured as he reached up and cupped her face in his hand as he leaned forward and-

“M-Maybe we should wait,” she mumbled nervously as she leaned back before he could kiss her. “Just until I learn how to control this,” she rambled on nervously as he closed the distance and brushed his lips against hers.

It was the smart thing to do, giving her a chance to forget what happened, especially since he couldn’t guarantee that he wouldn’t react like that again if she took him by surprise, but…

He would never survive the wait.