CHAPTER 14
If Walker found the guy who’d snuck up behind him and whacked him with a slab of marble, he’d give him a talking-to. Just as soon as he remembered how to speak. Or move. And just as soon as he managed to figure out how it had happened.
He’d just taken a Faerie princess as his mate.
Just thinking it made his stomach sink and his heart rise. His mind… he didn’t know what it was doing. It had to realize how ridiculous it sounded, the idea of a beta werewolf with a royal sidhe for a mate. It made about as much sense as a beta fish mated to a bald eagle. Unfortunately, Fate didn’t seem inclined to care.
Swallowing a groan, Walker turned his head to bury his face in his mate’s slick, bare neck. The scent that had tortured him the first time he’d seen her filled his head with exotic spices and flowers. Now it smelled less like torment and more like home. Unable to resist, he parted his lips and nibbled the sweet, salty skin.
She twitched, skin jumping and heating at his lightest touch. Maybe this mate thing really did offer some advantages.
Fiona groaned and let her heels thump to the floor. “Are we dead?”
Walker rocked his hips, savoring the feel of her lingering quivers around his still-erect cock. “Doesn’t seem like it.”
She didn’t open her eyes, but her brows furrowed. “You sure? What about rigor mortis?”
Walker’s head shot up and he stared down at her, aghast.
The laughter started somewhere in the vicinity of her belly and boiled to the surface like a geyser until he couldn’t do anything else but join in. He collapsed back on top of her in a big, boneless heap of satisfied Lupine and savored the feel of her pressed skin to skin against him. Well, against all of him above the line of his jeans, which still hugged his thighs. That was as far down as he’d gotten them before he’d fallen on her like a slavering beast.
Grumbling, he tried to maneuver his hands down far enough to get rid of the offending fabric, but he kept getting distracted somehow. The feel of her damp, flushed skin and the curves and valleys of her limp body seemed a lot more interesting than a pair of stubborn jeans.
“Okay, so maybe we’re not dead,” Fiona managed. She sounded breathless, but he wasn’t sure if that was because of what he was doing to her or because she hadn’t gotten her breath back yet from what they’d already done. “But I’m still pretty sure that all my nerve endings below the neck are at least comatose.”
He grinned. “Let’s just check and see.”
“Whoa there, Silver Chief.” She planted her hands against his shoulders and pushed, trying to dislodge his mouth from the sensitive underside of her breast. “Even the first string gets to take a breather when the buzzer rings.”
His tongue slid up the plump curve and circled her niched nipple, leaving a trail of heat and moisture. “I think I felt the earth move, but I don’t remember hearing any bells, Princess. I’d say we’ve still got some game to play before halftime.”
“I should have known better than to try a sports metaphor with a man.” She pushed harder, and he just ignored her harder. Yet more proof that they were meant for each other. Fate knew its stuff on this mating business.
“Walker, come on. Reality is beginning to intrude here. My butt is getting cold.”
Sighing, Walker released her nipple with a pop and gave it one last affectionate lick. “All right. I’ll get us to the bedroom, but it’s going to take me a minute. My legs have to grow back first. And once they do, I’ll have to get these damned jeans all the way off.”
She opened her eyes, violet gems sparkling at him through the inky veil of lashes. “I could make a suggestion,” she said slowly, “but it’s the kind of thing that would have made you accuse me of treachery, murder, and abusing kittens a few hours ago.”
He winced, and she could have sworn she saw him blushing again. “Okay, I should probably apologize for the way I acted earlier. But in my defense, I never actually accused you of abusing kittens.”
Fiona paused and searched his expression. “True, but I figured you’d forgotten that one.”
Walker sighed. “You’re not making this apology thing easy for me, Princess.”
“As far as I can tell, you haven’t done it yet.”
“I was hoping you wouldn’t notice that,” he quipped, but when he looked at her, his golden eyes were warm and sincere and his expression was open and serious. “I’m sorry I acted like a wolf with a sore paw earlier,” he said quietly. “And I’m sorry I was a jerk when we met. It’s just… you scared me, Princess, barreling into my life with a demon on your tail like that. And you keep scaring me every time you use that courage of yours to put yourself at risk, whether it’s at the hands of a demon, or your uncle, or even a stubbed toe.”
She felt her heart flutter, but that didn’t mean she was going to let him off the hook so easily. “I don’t recall deliberately putting myself in any danger, Tobias. The demon came after me, not the other way around. And I’m perfectly capable of handling my uncle. Probably more capable than you.”
“I know that.” Walker made a face. “But knowing it doesn’t make me happy about it. I’m Lupine, Princess. That means I can get a little protective sometimes. Not because I don’t think you can take care of yourself, but because I want to do it for you.”
“I never asked you to protect me.”
He snorted a laugh. “Neither did my sister, but that didn’t stop me from scaring off a couple of her dates when she was a teenager.”
“Oh, I’m sure you were just charming.” Fiona rolled her eyes and gave him a suitably dirty look, but she could feel her muscles relaxing. It might not be the prettiest apology she’d ever received, but it would do. For now.
“I thought so.”
She looked up into his grinning face and laughed.
“Does that mean I’m forgiven?”
“That depends. Do you still think I was trying to suck out your soul in front of my uncle’s apartment building?”
This time Walker rolled his eyes. “Of course not. That’s the reason I was apologizing.”
“Well, in that case…” Fiona freed one hand from his shoulder, bringing her fingers into view for them both and watching as sparks danced from tip to tip. “My battery seems to be holding a decent charge for the moment. I could take care of those jeans for you. But you’d have to promise not to yell at me about it afterward.”
He raised an eyebrow and met her challenging gaze. “Me? Yell? Surely you jest.”
Fiona snorted. “Oh, sure. What could I possibly have been thinking? You’re so even tempered and restrained.”
He rocked his hips against her, his grin wicked. “Well, maybe not restrained.”
“Watch it. I’m armed, buddy. I can always forget the jeans and turn you into a toad.”
“I don’t know. That sounds pretty kinky. You really into the amphibian thing?”
It was the wriggling eyebrows that had her laughing and smacking him lightly on the shoulder. “Jerk.”
He ducked and chuckled, “Hey, sounds to me like I’m the vanilla one in this relationship. I wouldn’t go casting stones if I were you. One might come back and nick you somewhere tender.” He pinched a fingerful of her waist, then soothed the sting with a tickle.
Fiona giggled and squirmed. “Okay, fleabag! You asked for it.”
Pulling her arms into her sides to protect her most vulnerable spots, she tucked her chin into her chest and flicked her fingers down the length of their joined bodies.
Walker felt a flash of warmth and a tingle passing over his skin. The room around him seemed to spin and melt and all at once the hard wooden floor gave in beneath him. Caught off guard, he toppled forward onto the princess, twisting to keep his weight from crushing her into the… mattress.
Lifting his head, he looked around his bedroom and down the length of his bare legs. Beside him, the princess settled herself back against the pillows and folded her hands over her belly, her expression smug and satisfied. Walker turned to look at her and saw her face, but he also smelled the subtle hint of nervous tension under her confident façade.
“Huh,” he said, leaning back beside her and draping one arm across her hips. “That’s kinda handy, but have you ever considered a short trip to Tahiti?”
Her eyes searched his face for a second; then the tension eased out of her and her smile curved wickedly. “Sorry, sweetheart, but you haven’t earned Tahiti yet.”
Growling, he rolled back on top of her. “So I have to earn my rewards, do I?”
“Absolutely.” She looped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. “And I’m a hard taskmaster.”
He felt his eyes flare and leaned down to take her mouth. “Not half as hard as I am.”