Chapter Three
Libra is gracious.
Burning pain exploded through her shoulder and down her arm. She had been shot. Pushing up through the fog, past the pain, and the need to heal, she opened her eyes. The wood panel above her head gave no clue as to where she might be. Her head ached. Duh. You probably landed on it, birdbrain. But as she went to move her arm to rub away the ache, she found herself confined in a bed. The more she struggled, the tighter her binding became.
“Easy, now. You’re safe.” An older woman looked down at her with a smile. Her accent assured Teagan she was still in the South. “You’ll tear at your stitches. In fact, I think you have.”
Teagan followed the other woman’s line of sight and saw the red spot growing on the white gauze wrapping her shoulder and upper arm. “Untie me.”
The other woman raised an eyebrow but shook her head. “Not until you aren’t bleeding. Your sleep is restless.”
“Drink, then?”
“Oh silly me. Of course.” She reached for a glass on the bedside table and placed the straw in Teagan’s mouth.
Her head heavy, she thanked the woman before letting herself drift back to sleep. She would figure out an escape after she healed. There was little she could do in her current state. The woman didn’t seem to pose a danger to her at the moment. She would have to have faith whoever had her there continued to be helpful and not hurtful.
The next time she opened her eyes, the sun hung low in the sky, her bladder screamed, and her stomach protested the lack of food. All those things quickly flew out of her mind as Archer stood from his chair in the corner. She fought her restraints and tried to shift to no avail.
“Teagan, calm down. You are going to hurt yourself.”
In the history of women, had those words ever calmed a single one down? “You shot me.”
“No. I saved you.”
“Liar.” She pulled on her arm again, and the shoulder protested her movements. “Let me go.”
“As soon as you lie still, I can remove the restraints.” That got her attention. She paused and watched him free one foot then the other. “They were only on because you kept tearing the stitches. Dr. Portwenn will be back in a bit to stitch you again. Before I untie your hands, I need you to listen. There are more slayers in the area. At least one, but I have sensed more. Apparently hunting you. You are safe in the house and on the porch, providing they don’t catch sight of you. But, if you leave the steps, they will be able to track you again.”
“So, I’m a prisoner.”
“For the time being. Hopefully, I can get you out of here and on your way to Ireland in the next day or two.”
She nodded and remained frozen as he removed first one wrist restraint then the one on her injured arm. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. The bathroom is the door in the corner. There are some clean clothes hanging on the back of the door. As I said, if you try to escape, I can’t protect you.” He stepped back and lifted her bag from the table by the stove. “Your phone is charged, but it has been ringing off the hook. When you get out of the bathroom, you need to call people and let them know you’re okay.”
She limped to the bathroom, her body protesting the simple moves. She couldn’t climb out a window with her injuries. She couldn’t shift. Something prevented it. If Archer could be trusted, he was going to let her make some calls. After washing her face and using the new toothbrush she found on the sink, she got into the oversized black T-shirt and gray sweatpants he had left for her. Only then did she make her way back into the room.
The aroma of pancakes frying had her stomach growling. Without turning to her, he placed a plate on the table and returned to the stove. “Eat up. Your phone is next to your coffee.”
“How do I know you didn’t shoot me?”
He faced her. “I never use a gun, not my weapon of choice. I prefer crossbows. If you don’t believe me, check my weapons closet over there.”
She turned in her seat, the double doors taunting her to look inside. A part of her wanted to get up and check. But if she found a gun, she could never trust her mate again. Her head hurt, her shoulder burned, and her heart—her heart didn’t seem to be listening to her brain. Her brain knew there was no way a relationship with Archer could work.
Her phone rang, saving her from checking his weapons stash. “Hello?”
“Oh, thank god. Where are you, Teagan? Are you okay? Do you need me to come get you?” Jeffrey demanded.
“One question at a time.” Her head pounded behind her eyes.
“Are you okay?”
“I’ve been shot.” She tried to remain calm, but her voice trembled.
“We know!” His shout caused her to pull the phone from her ear. “Sheila found your blood in a field about a mile from your car.”
Sheila had been a tracker for her pride before mating with Jeffrey. A damned good one, it appeared. “I’m healing.” Kind of.
“Was there still a man tied to a tree when they found the scene?” Archer asked, sitting down across the table from her with a plate of pancakes.
“How did you…” She stared him down.
“Your friend’s voice is loud enough I could have heard him down the road.”
“Oh.” She cringed. “Jeffrey was there anyone at the scene of the crime?”
“Not when we got there. Where are you?”
“At a safe house of sorts. I’m safe at least within the walls of the building.” She pressed mute. “I trust Jeffrey. Can he come out and bring me some clothes that fit and supplies?”
“It would be safer if he didn’t. I can go get your things from him if you wish.”
“Please,” she pleaded.
He reached out a hand and took the phone, tapping the speaker phone icon. “Jeffrey?”
“Who is this?”
“My name is Archer. Do you have a piece of paper? I’ll give you directions. Your GPS won’t find this place.”
“Ready.”
“Drive south on the highway near where you found her blood. When you cross the Holcomb County line, you will see a bridge. Take the dirt road just past it on the left. It will split twice. Take the left fork then the right. Another mile up, you’ll find the house. Bring whatever you think she’ll need.”
He clicked the phone off and handed it back.
“Thank you,” she said.
“You’re not my prisoner,” Archer assured.
“You can’t blame me for thinking that.”
He shrugged then rubbed at the back of his neck. “When did you figure out what I was?”
She took a bite of the pancakes, forced herself to swallow, and decided sometimes one needed simply to be thankful for food. As long as it was edible, she wouldn’t complain. “It certainly wasn’t the night in the back of your truck.”
“But it was before you saw me again the next afternoon.” Not a question. “I need to ask you something, and I hope you can answer honestly.”
“Are you calling me a liar?”
“No, but I hope you won’t let emotions—”
“Emotions?” She threw her fork down. “Because I’m a woman.”
“Yes.”
“First of all, I’m a Libra. That means I weigh the good and bad in any decision. If I decide not to give you an answer, it has very little to do with my gender and a great deal to do with you being an asshole.”
He gave her the look men the world over gave women they thought were being unreasonable. He waited in condescending silence. If she could have left, she would have. She didn’t even have a room to storm off to and slam the door. “Fine. Ask your question.”
He leaned forward. “Am I your mate?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” She couldn’t think of a single reason to not share that bit of information. She hadn’t chosen him for a mate, so she had nothing to be humiliated about. Keep telling yourself that.
He cocked his head to the side. “Why unfortunately? The sex was unbelievable.”
“The unfortunate part for me is that this is more than sex. And I would like to remind you that you don’t do relationships.”
“So, the whole mate thing happened immediately?” They could have been talking about the theory of relativity for all the emotion he showed.
“Yes.” She never imagined having to explain to her mate what being a mate was about.
“You knew when?”
“The moment you touched me. When you helped me off the bench.” What did it matter if she told him? He didn’t appear to have the same connection with her.
“So, it’s instant. You touch your mate, and you know.”
“I suspected something, but it was the touch that nailed it.” Her heart ached. Had anyone in her family ever had their mate not reciprocate their feelings?
“Interesting.”
Interesting? Her entire world was falling apart, and her mate seemed so very unaffected by her. At the same time, she longed to be in his arms again. She hated it. “I think I need to lie down again.”
He reached up and pressed the back of his hand to her forehead. “Your fever is back.”
“I’ll survive.” She crossed the room and climbed back into bed. After a second, she turned her back on him and pulled the blanket over her head. What had she done that the fates would punish her in this way?
She had waited patiently for her mate to come, and he had, but not in the way she ever could have imagined. She released her pent-up breath when the front door opened and Archer exited. Distance helped.
By the time she heard a car approaching, she had counted the beams on the ceiling, the panels on the walls, and the planks of the floors. She longed for something to read, her files to go through. Anything to keep her mind working and off Archer.
She climbed out of bed but paused at the door. Warnings came off her mate in waves. He might not feel the connection, but it was there nonetheless. She eased down onto the floor under the open window to listen.
“Aetolos, is that you?” Archer yelled out.
“Archer, my old friend. I sensed another Foniás and came to investigate.”
The thud of Archer’s boots echoed through the cabin as he took the steps down from the porch. “I had a fugitive to turn in a couple towns over and decided to take a mini-break. Libra is about as quiet as it gets for us.”
“True enough.” The other snorted. “You haven’t sensed any shifters in the area, have you?”
“I can’t remember the last time I sensed a Libra. You want a beer or something?”
“Nah. I need to get on the road and search for my fugitive. Nice to know there is a place out this way to rest should I need it.”
“You bet. Any time.”
Her heart raced as she waited, not daring to move. The door opened, and she pulled her knees to her chest. He looked to the bed before scanning the room and finally resting his eyes on her. “Teagan, it’s okay. He’s gone.”
She nodded, and although she hated her need for him, when he sat beside her, she threw herself into his arms. “He’s the one who shot me?”
“He didn’t know you were here. If he did, he would have fought tooth and nail to get into the building. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
She nodded.
“I can’t let them hurt you.”
She stared up at him afraid to read too much into his statement. He might be Foniás, but he wasn’t a killer. She wasn’t self-centered enough to believe he killed any shifter he came across and spared her. “Because?”
“I don’t kill indiscriminately, but at the thought of you being hurt, my lungs seize.” He reached up and cupped her face. “My kind don’t have mates. We love occasionally, but most of us learned a long time ago it wasn’t worth the pain of watching your spouse die of old age while you remained heathy and young. Watching your children suffer through a life without children of their own and dying brokenhearted and alone.”
She removed his hand from her cheek. “As you said, you don’t do relationships.”
“I’m not sure I have a choice.”
“Do you think that is what I want from a mate? A man who doesn’t want the relationship but feels he has no option? I would rather live a long, empty life alone, so, thank you, but I don’t do your type of relationship.”
She moved to stand, but he placed a hand on her knee. “I am not the man you deserve.”
“No, you aren’t.” An awkward silence stretched until she could take no more. “I haven’t thanked you for saving me.”
“Don’t—don’t thank me.”
What did one say to that? Nothing, she supposed, so they sat side by side. If only she hadn’t gone to the courthouse that night, none of this would have happened. Would it be better never to have known him or never to have tasted the heaven she had found in his arms if for only a few hours? And yet, even with everything going on, she would mate with him in a moment. Or in seven days. They weren’t far enough into Libra’s reign for her to mate with him, though. And even if they were, she didn’t know how it could work.
She wasn’t weak or needy, but she wanted a family. Her kind longed for the partnership only their true mate could provide. Only he could provide children for her. Yet, the man beside her hunted her kind. Could she ever take him home? She doubted it. Her prime, who was also her grandmother, was unmoving at her most lenient. No matter if this were something predestined by the fates, she would have none of it.
Could Teagan really blame her?
“Explain the mating thing to me,” he finally said.
Thing? She gaped at him. He sat with his back to the wall, arms resting on his raised knees, facing the ceiling. “Why? So you can use it against my kind?”
“After I nursed you back to health, that is what you think?”
“How many Libras have you killed?” Though she feared the answer. She knew from experience in the courtroom the unknown was usually worse than the evidence.
“Six.”
“Six?” Six in thousands of years seemed low. “Total?”
“Yes. Now ask me how many of the other signs?” He plunged on to answer his own question. “Too many to count, but I promise you every one of my kills was justified. There was more than enough evidence that they hunted, fed on, and were a threat to humans.”
“So you are judge, jury, and executioner?” She eased away from him, wrapping her arms around her knees.
“Yes, and you want it that way. The Libras I have killed were the worst of the worst. The only reason I want to know about the mating is so I can understand and best help you.” He turned to face her, one eyebrow raised. “I can’t blame you for being hesitant with me. But I haven’t hurt you, and unless you were to kill humans for no reason…” He hesitated a moment. “Even then, I don’t think I could eliminate you.”
“You speak so clinically, yet the other night you were passionate.”
“The other night was about being so sexually aroused, I couldn’t see straight. Even now, if you were healthy and accepting, I could show you more passion than you know what to do with. I either rein it in, or it burns us both.” His gaze burned into her.
“This ‘mating thing,’ as you call it is my kind finding their soul mate. The other half created for them by the gods and, with luck, fate will find a way to bring them together.” She couldn’t help the anger from tinging her words.
He cupped her cheek, forcing her to look up at him. The gentleness of his touch and the pity in his eyes nearly undid her. “So, everyone has a mate?”
“Some have two. For instance, my aunt has two mates. They are also mated, so it’s a big triangle.”
“Does everyone find their mates?”
She shook her head. “No. Some go their entire lives never finding their mates.”
“Makes for a rather lonely couple of hundred years.” His voice was far off, as if he remembered something.
“You had a wife once, didn’t you?” The thought had occurred to her before, but now she was sure of it.
“I did. Her name was Ptolemais. It was a very long time ago.”
Her heart seized at the way the name rolled off his tongue. The pain as he said it told he had loved her dearly. It mattered not that this was long before her birth. She was his chosen, yet someone else would always have his heart.
“It might have been better had I left her alone.” He kicked at some dirt with his boot.
“But you couldn’t?”
“She was the very air I breathed. She blessed me with four children. And I blessed them with the inability to procreate.”
“Perhaps it was a genetic fluke?”
He shook his head. “It has been the same with all my kind, both the men and the women.”
“There are female slayers?” The thought had never occurred to her. She’d always assumed the Foniás were male. Of course, until she met Archer, she had also assumed they were heartless killing machines created to kill her kind.
His lips twitched. “Yes, there are females. Why would you think there were only men?”
“I don’t know. Up until this week, your kind were faceless monsters of nightmares.”
“Many of us should remain faceless monsters.”
“That is a bit close to home.” The thread on the hem of her shirt allowed her something to focus on while asking questions she wasn’t sure she wanted the answers to. “So, you’ve never fallen in love with another Foniás?”
“Oh gods, no. We all were created in one orgy of mating by Lelantos. Zeus commanded him to create a species able to stalk the shifters as prey. Nine months later, his army was born. We are all half-brothers and sisters.”
“Oh.”
“And none of our offspring have given any of us grandchildren. We can reproduce but one generation. So, for many of us, it’s better never to breed again. Better than leaving someone barren.” The pain lay bare and raw before her. “To watch those you love grow old and die is hard enough. To watch them try to have babies for years and know you are the reason they cannot is salt in a wound that never heals.”
And he would do the same to her, as only he could allow her to breed. But as her heart bled for the love he had lost, she couldn’t add to his pain. He had guilt over the children he had created and issues that had caused. She would be damned if she guilted him into giving her a baby. “I see. I’m sorry for your loss.”
“As I said, it was a long time ago.”
“And yet the pain is very fresh.”
“Tell me how I break this bond of ours and give you your freedom.”
Stabbing pain, as if he had taken his crossbow and shot her straight through the heart, caused her to double over. She cried out.
“What is it?”
She couldn’t talk through it. If she could, what would she say? He would kill her, if not by arrow, by his lack of interest. No one she knew had ever been rejected by their given mate. “I need to lie down.”
“Did you pull your stiches?” He lifted her shirt to get a better look. She tried in vain to swat him away. “The area is still red and inflamed. But perhaps it’s the muscles reforming inside. I don’t know how your healing works.”
“It’s all about time. Either way, in a couple of weeks, I’ll be out of your hair. You never have to deal with any of this again.”
“Is that what you want?”
“You asked how to best get me through this. Get me to my people. And then put as much distance between us as possible. Then, for every month of Libra, stay away. That is all you can do.”
“Will you find another mate?”
“No, but that isn’t your problem. Perhaps I’ll find someone to love and who will love me in return. It will be enough.” Even as she said it, she didn’t believe it. She stood in time to be blinded by the lights of an approaching car. Archer shoved her out of the window’s view.
“I don’t think it’s another slayer, but why take the chance. Stay here.”
She nodded. She had no wish to come face-to-face with Foniás ever again.
“Teagan?” Jeffrey shouted from outside the house.
Teagan ran through the front door and would have taken the steps had Archer not wrapped his arms around her waist and yanked her back on to the porch. “You cannot touch the ground.”
“Right. Sorry.”
Jeffrey paused, assessing the situation the way he did a courtroom. “Teagan?”
She offered him a reassuring smile. “Come on in. Sheila didn’t come?”
“She had some things to check into.” Jeffrey grabbed a large bag from the back seat. “I know you said you had a bag near the airport, but this one was already packed, so I grabbed it.” He approached, shoulders back, head held high. He might not be one of his pride’s betas, but he was no shrinking omega, either, and he wanted Archer to know it. She had no doubt his bride was hiding in the forest edge within earshot and view of the cabin.
“You must be Jeffrey.” Archer extended his hand in greeting. “Archer. A pleasure to meet you.”
“Shall we go inside?” Jeffrey gripped the extended hand in greeting.
“I think that would be a great idea.” Archer peered out into the darkness. After a second, he turned, placed his palm on her lower back, and guided her back inside. The mere touch sent heat radiating through her body. Once inside he turned to Jeffrey. “I assume you know what she is.”
“He does,” Teagan answered for him.
“Good, then. That makes things easier.”
“Is this the man you were with the other night?”
“It is. But he is also the man who rescued me. I’m in no danger with him.”
“Archer, huh? We have a mutual acquaintance.”
“We do?” Her mate lifted an eyebrow in disbelief.
She hadn’t told Archer anything about Jeffrey other than she trusted him and they worked together. She would not out another shifter. Even if she trusted Archer, she couldn’t put another family in the slightest bit of danger.
“A man by the name of Leonidas Karatasos. I believe you know him.”
“I do, but how would you?”
“Before working as a public defender, I did some work with him on a case involving a murder on one of his shipping vessels.”
“Why you?”
“I suppose you could call me a lawyer to the Zodiac, as was my father before him.”
Archer eyed him skeptically. “I don’t see how you would have known my connection.”
“He had just met with you when I had a meeting with him years back. I can’t imagine there are many bounty hunters named Archer, so it was an educated guess.”
Archer continued to stare at the other man. But, eventually, his shoulders relaxed. “Yes, he is a very interesting man. Powerful, and he appears to be fair. Extremely protective.”
“That he is, he watched over my case the whole way. It was one of his cousins being accused.”
Archer smiled then. “Ah, now the pieces are connected. He had asked me to track down the person he felt might have done it.”
“No might about it. Juan did do it.”
“So you got the cousin off?”
“Of course. There wasn’t much evidence against him to begin with. The boy could have defended himself and still managed to get released.” Jeffrey pulled her car keys from his pocket. “Do you want them, or do you want me to hold on to them until you get back from Ireland?”
“If I ever get to Ireland.”
“I hate to say I told you so…”
“Then, don’t.” Teagan sat down in one of the chairs around the table. “Trust me. Next year I’ll take on no new clients from the last week of August on.”
Jeffrey turned to Archer. “She says this every year.”
“Yes, well, this has changed things.” She rubbed at her shoulder.
“Perhaps next year you can see to helping her keep this promise,” he threw at Archer.
“I can’t imagine I’ll be in the area this time next year,” Archer answered, lighting the burner on the stove for the kettle.
“Oh, but I thought—that is, I assumed you both—aren’t you her mate?”
“Yes, but it appears I am not his,” Teagan inserted before she diverted. “I need a plan to make sure I can get to Ireland safely.”
“Sorry, Teagan. I didn’t know.” Jeffrey pulled out a folder and placed it on the table. “Okay here are the lists of outgoing flights to Ireland. I think you’re safe changing planes in Heathrow. Too many people to witness a hunt.”
“He’s right. A Foniás will not capture in airports, amusement parks, or any large public area where he will draw attention. Too many CCTV cameras around to catch what happens. But, once you are on the dark road to Tara, there will be slayers in force.”
“So the Foniás will be concentrated in and around the area from Dublin to Tara?” Jeffrey asked.
“Most likely, yes. We assume that the Hill of Tara is, in fact, the sanctuary for the Libra. Thus, we have in the past hunted the areas around in case.”
“I don’t have to go to Tara at all,” she said, silencing both men. “There are many entrances, but the one I’m most familiar with is in Galway near the Burren. I can enter from there. If I flew into Shannon airport, it would be an hour drive to my portal.”
“It could work only because they would expect you to drive northeast rather than northwest.” Archer nodded in agreement.
“But there might be some waiting there, too?” Jeffrey asked.
“Yes there is guaranteed to be one or two at every port of entry in Ireland. But even my kind have to sleep and take a break. We can’t hunt three hundred sixty-five days a year or we’ll go crazy.” He looked over the map. “By Monday, many will start easing back on their search for Libras. Some use this time of the year to take a vacation of sorts. Most Libras are too smart to be caught out.”
“You know why I was,” she inserted, on the defense.
“I wasn’t talking about you—”
“Well, you should have been,” Jeffrey interrupted. “She should have been in Dublin days ago. Now she needs a flight into Shannon airport?”
“It would make no sense to the Foniás for any Libra to fly into Shannon airport at all. The person would either have to take a seriously long way around Dublin to get to Tara, adding to their time without protection, or they have to go through Dublin, which is guaranteed to be swarming with Foniás hoping to find the stray Libra teen willing to take a deadly chance.” He pointed to the map. Circled around Tara to Newgrange and then back to Dublin. “This is the circle of fire for the slayers.”
“How many will be there?” Jeffrey tapped a pencil on the table.
“Hard to say. At least a hundred.”
A hundred all scanning for her existence. “How many are like you? Unwilling to kill the innocent?”
“About sixty-five. But they aren’t likely to go into Ireland.”
“Why not.”
“We aren’t hunting those whose only crime is they missed a plane and are desperate to get home. We are hunting those who hunt others.”
“What are you talking about?” Try as she might to follow his train of thought, she couldn’t quite get there.
“When a Libra goes bad, they go real bad.”
Why was he singling out Libras? Certainly other shifters had bad seeds in the mix. “You’ve mentioned that before.”
“It’s the truth. A Libra thinks long and hard of all things.”
“Of course. We weigh everything we do for good or bad, pros and cons.”
“Exactly, so, when a Libra crosses the line and starts to hurt, torture, or kill humans, or even other shifters, it’s a definite reason for concern because they have weighed the reasons to kill very carefully. They aren’t likely to stop on their own.”
“You make is sound like Libras are the worst of the worst.”
“No, each sign has their own issues. And each has groups that are not too keen on humans. It’s my job to make sure these fringe groups don’t enslave the humans for their own devices. But Libras are menacing, and when we hunt them, there are times it takes months or years to track them.”
“But you can only track us until mid-October.”
“Murder of innocents stains the soul, leaving them open to tracking by a select few Foniás.” Archer stared at both of them. “I assume you plan to pass this information on.”
“I think I have to,” Teagan said. They knew so little about Foniás that every bit of information could assist in keeping all shifters safer.
“As fascinating as this is. I really feel like we need to nail down Teagan’s travel plans. If we can get her to the airport, we know she’ll be safe until landing in Ireland.” Jeffrey pulled out his phone and swiped until he found his travel agent app. “I can get you on a flight tomorrow morning.”
“Are there two tickets?”
“Why?” She knew it was a stupid question, but the word was out before she could stop it. “I can do this on my own.”
“No, you can’t,” both men said together.
Archer continued. “You can’t even shift at the moment. You think I haven’t watched you try? You’re still healing, and I think you need to get to your healers to heal properly. I might not be able to kill another slayer, but I can knock them out or act as distraction. And I certainly know they are coming. My only goal is your safety.”
“I feel better knowing you are there to protect her.”
She wanted to scream she wasn’t some weak female who needed their protection, and she certainly didn’t need them speaking about her as if she wasn’t here. But as she moved her arm to snap in their faces to get their attention, the pain it caused had her thinking twice. At the moment, weak did describe her. And she might be stubborn and independent, but she wasn’t stupid.
“There are two tickets in first class tomorrow night. You can choose between a layover in JFK or one in Heathrow.”
“Do the overnight to Heathrow and the long layover in London. We can stay in the airport.” He pulled out a wallet and handed over a credit card.”
“I can pay for my own ticket.”
“I never doubted it,” he agreed but still paid for the tickets.
A moment later, Jeffrey passed the card back and stared down Teagan. “You two can work this out on your own. Now, can you think of anything else you need from me?”
She shook her head, thankful her friend didn’t say he told her so, even if she knew he thought it. Jeffrey stayed for a few more minutes before embracing her and wishing her well on her trip. He thanked Archer before climbing into his car and driving off.
“He cares a great deal about you.”
She turned to him, wondering what he was getting at. “We care about each other.”
“Did you hope he would be your mate?”
“No,” she nearly screeched. “He’s like a brother to me. Ew. And, besides, he has a wife. Just ew.”
The chuckle filled and warmed the room, washing over her and reigniting the fire of passion she had hoped had been extinguished. “I’m going to take a shower.” Cold, she added silently.
“You’re flushed.” He placed the back of his hand to her forehead. “Hell, Teagan, you’re burning up.”
No kidding. Stepping back out of reach, she made a second attempt to get to the bathroom. “A cold shower will bring down the heat.”
He obviously wasn’t taking the hint. “Let me check the stitches for infection.”
If he touched her, she would jump him. Perhaps his ignorance of mating would work to her advantage. “It’s not infection. It’s the mating heat.”
All true.
“Mating heat?” He stepped back as if struck.
“The need to mate with you becomes a growing fire within. If you were a shifter, you would experience it as well.”
“But I’m not, so I don’t.” He leaned his hip and shoulder against the wall. “So what will ease this within you?”
“We have sex.”
He coughed then coughed again as if choking on air. “Won’t we mate?”
“We have to be seven days into Libra to mate and by then, hopefully, I’ll be with my family, and you’ll have long departed,” she threw over her shoulder from outside the bathroom. “Because, after all, you don’t do relationships.”
She’d barely turned on the hot water, undressed, and stepped in, when the door opened and his large form filled the small bathroom. One second she stood alone under the spray, the next she was pinned between the shower wall and his muscular chest. “Fuck it. I need you.”
“You still have days before we would mate,” she added, stripping off his wet shirt.
He left a trail of kisses down her neck. “We’ll deal with it in a few days. Can you get pregnant?”
“Not until we mate.”
“Thank god,” he muttered and, a second later, clothing scattered around them, he entered her with a grunt. He was great at hiding his emotions, but he had them. His coldness toward her had been a façade. His passion the night before was a drop in the bucket to the passion he gave her. With every thrust, he filled her and kept a pace she matched stroke for stroke. His fingers dug into her hips, supporting her weight so she didn’t have to hold on.
“What do you need?”
“Only you,” she managed between gasps.
“You have me.” His lips claimed hers and, for a second, she allowed hope to flair. The hope spurred her over the edge, and her orgasm pushed his.
“Better?”
“Yes, thank you,” she mumbled against his shoulder. The heat eased within her and, for a moment, she had peace. It would be enough for now.
They remained entangled until the racing of her heart calmed. Ever so slowly, he lowered her to her feet and stepped out of the shower. If he resumed the cold slayer façade, she didn’t know how she would deal with it. But he returned, bringing a washcloth with him, and bathed her. His touch became extra gentle as he checked over the healing injury. “Do you want to try and shift again tonight?”
“No, I think a good night’s sleep will do me more good.” She yawned.
He turned off the water, wrapped her in a towel, and carried her to the bed. The chill in the air cooled her heated body, and she shivered. “Do you want me to start a fire?”
“Not if you will sleep beside me.”
“I do not sleep much, but I would be happy to lie next to you and act as your protector while you do so.”
Again, she would take what she could.