Exposed

 

Sonia sat on the sofa in Callum’s study, stared out the window at the gray sky, the landscape covered in white snow, and tried to find at least a shred of courage to say what she had to say to Callum.

She’d been with Callum at the castle for three days.

Three days!

Had she told him she did not want to be his mate but was willing to be his queen as she vowed to herself she would?

No.

Had she stopped him from making love to her as she vowed to herself she would?

No.

Had she become enchanted by his castle, the people in it, the village at the base of the rise and the people in that?

Yes!

After her first quiet day of Callum-ordered rest, she woke up in his bed, in his arms, the urge nearly upon her because his hands were roaming and his lips were trailing across her shoulder.

“Callum—”

His mouth went to her ear and his arm wrapped tight around her, pulling her into his big warm body.

“Morning, baby doll.”

Good goodness.

If her world was real, she would live for the morning when he said those words to her in his deep rumbling voice.

“Morning,” she replied, trying to blot the thought from her mind.

“How are you feeling this morning?”

As her body betrayed her and snuggled closer to him, her mind latched on a way out of her first thing in the morning predicament.

“Still a little bit achy,” she told him (and it wasn’t a total lie).

“Poor baby,” he whispered in her ear, and even though he sounded vaguely arrogant, she couldn’t stop the tremble his being close and whispering in her ear caused. “I’ll get Mara to draw you a hot bath.” He bent and kissed her neck. “Have a lie in, little one.”

Then he was gone, out of bed, into the shower, out of the shower, into his clothes, and with a final trip to the bed to lean down and kiss her temple, he was out of the room.

Well, she’d dodged that bullet and she was pretty proud of herself because the whole time he was in the shower she kept thinking of his tall, muscled, naked body with water sliding down it and she’d had the nearly overwhelming impulse to join him there.

She lay in bed practicing her words for when she would confront him.

However, she lay in bed too long for a knock came at the door.

She pulled in breath.

Then she sighed.

Maraleena (she’d learned the woman’s scent).

She called a good morning, Maraleena stuck her head around the door, and smiled huge. “Hi there, Queen Sonia, you sleep okay?”

Then she was bustling in, pulling back the curtains, fussing with the throws on the couch before she headed toward the bathroom while Sonia replied, “Yes, Maraleena, I slept great.”

And she had.

She’d slept like a baby in Callum’s strong arms in his big bed with his heavy warm hides covering them.

“Cal says I should draw you a hot bath and Drogan says I can call him Cal in front of you,” she called half this statement from the bathroom before Sonia heard the taps turn on.

“Well, Queen Sonia says you can call her Sonia,” Sonia called back, throwing the covers off, her legs over the side of the bed, and finished, “Or you can call me Sonny, that’s what all my friends call me.”

Maraleena appeared in the doorway to the bathroom but stopped and stood still, her eyes fastened on Sonia.

“I’ve known you a day,” Maraleena breathed, and taking one look at her shocked expression, Sonia decided she must have done something wrong.

Again.

She started walking swiftly toward Maraleena at the same time she started talking fast, “I’m sorry. I did the wrong thing again. If you have to call me Queen Sonia then do it. That’s okay. I’ll get used to it.”

She stopped in front of Maraleena who stared down at her a moment.

Then she burst out laughing and snatched Sonia in her arms, giving her a strong hug, before, just as abruptly, she let her go.

“I just can’t believe how nice you are!” she declared, walking briskly to the bed. “I was on the phone all night telling everyone our new queen is teeny and pretty and nice. And that she and our king were all sweet and cute together.” Maraleena started to make the bed as Sonia tried to decide how she felt about Maraleena gossiping about her.

Since what Maraleena said wasn’t bad and clearly Maraleena had double (or triple) the words any normal female had to use daily or she’d explode, she decided she didn’t mind.

“If it was me, I’d probably be all queen of the castle,” she went on, pulling the sheets to. She threw a smile Sonia’s way. “Though I’m glad you’re not.”

Sonia smiled back at her and replied, “I’m glad you’re glad.”

She shooed Sonia into the bathroom with her hand. “Shoo. Get. Cal says you’ve got some aches to work out of your muscles.” Her grin turned naughty. “I remember that. After my claiming…” She giggled. “Oo, I was aching for weeks. Drogan was insatiable. And rough! It was brilliant! And, I might add, two times last night, it still is! It’s a wonder I can even walk today!”

Sonia stared at her, wishing she had the wherewithal not to gape in horrified astonishment.

But she did not.

Maraleena caught her look, her smile died, and she straightened.

“What?” she asked.

Sonia’s body jerked out of its shocked stupor and she slid her hands along her belly, crossing her arms at the black fabric of her nightgown there.

“Nothing, I’m just…humans don’t…” she stammered but stopped when Maraleena suddenly slapped herself on the forehead with the palm of her hand.

“Stupid!” she cried. “I forgot. You’re human.” She threw her arm out to Sonia. “You said Cal hadn’t had a chance to explain things and Drogan told me you wanted me to teach you about protocol and such. I’m an idiot.”

“You aren’t an idiot, Maraleena,” Sonia said softly, walked to her new friend, and asked, “I met a lady, one of yours, and she was kind of blunt too. Do all your people talk about…um, sex like that?”

Maraleena’s grin came back full force. “Uh. Yeah.” Her eyes gleamed, she leaned forward and whispered, “Definitely.” Then she went back to making the bed. “I’ve never spent a lot of time with humans but I know you don’t.” She finished on a mumbled, “Weird, that.”

Sonia smiled at the thought that someone would think the human’s way was weird.

Then again, to her people, it obviously was.

“Anyway,” Maraleena went on. “You have your bath. Cal says you should dress warm. I’ll bring up breakfast in a bit.”

“Can I have breakfast in the kitchen with you and Callista?” Sonia asked and Maraleena burst out laughing.

Through her laughter she said, “Sonny! You’re queen! You can do anything you want!”

Sonia really wished that was true.

Alas, it was not.

She took a nice, long, hot bath in the big circular tub fragranced with bath salts Callum had given her for Christmas. She put on light makeup and blow dried her hair, absently acclimatizing herself to where to locate all of her things in her new surroundings as she did so.

But when she went to the wardrobe to decide on her outfit for the day she saw, with all her bags unpacked and all of her things put away, Regan had not packed a stitch of Sonia’s clothes.

She’d only packed the clothes Callum bought her.

Sonia searched through hangers, piles of sweaters, and drawers for something from home, something that was hers.

Nothing.

That was likely an order of King Callum too!

Fuming, Sonia “dressed warm,” as Callum commanded her to do, in a pair of cords so dark brown they were nearly black. To this she added a wide dark brown belt, low-heeled boots over thick socks, and a bright-salmon boat-necked sweater. The sweater was not one of Sonia’s colors, but in the shop Regan had told her it was simply her and she had to buy it, so Sonia did.

She grabbed a long, thin, but woolly, hot-pink-colored knit scarf with fluffy dangling strands at the ends, wrapped it round and round her neck, and let it hang down her front, and then she stormed to the kitchen.

It was hard to keep fuming with Callista and Maraleena both so unceasingly cheerful and both so excited to share with Sonia the ways of their people.

And over a breakfast of porridge sweetened with what Callista called “golden syrup” (and it was delicious and it wasn’t huge and artery clogging), Sonia learned a lot.

For instance, she learned that when a man claimed his mate, he and his mate would hole up for weeks (even months) after the claiming, not to be seen or heard from until they emerged for the Mating Ceremony.

And she learned that once they emerged, they told everyone about everything as in everything about their claiming, down to the most intimate detail. Indeed, they’d do this often over the years trying to best each other’s claiming stories. And it wasn’t just the males who did it for both Maraleena and Callista shared theirs, in shocking detail (Sonia demurred, using being human as her excuse, which luckily worked).

And she learned that the Mating Ceremony and ritual was like the humans’ wedding reception except they didn’t have any wedding dresses, tuxedos, champagne toasts, posed pictures, or pre-arranged dancing. They went straight to what sounded like drunken debauchery with a big buffet of food that, as Callista assured her on a wink, “In the old days, dear, we don’t do that anymore,” led to the male actually mating with the female in front of everyone.

Now, apparently (and fortunately), at the end, the couple just stood (or swayed, depending how drunk they were) in front of everyone and restated the words, male: “Are you mine?” female: “Yes.” Then they went home with everyone shouting advice and encouragement and had sex again.

That was it!

“It’s a shame those rebel rascals had to spoil things for you and Cal. Ruined your whole claiming with their antics,” Callista muttered irately then added as an afterthought, “Oh, and the fact that he’s king.”

“What does that mean?” Sonia asked as she poured more coffee into all three of their mugs.

Callista gazed closely at Sonia, giving Sonia the (correct) impression that she hadn’t quite decided about her yet, and replied, “Just that he’s like his father. Mac never rested on his laurels and Cal certainly doesn’t. Everyone knows no one could seize his rule. He’s the mightiest warrior in the kingdom. But there’s a great deal more to it and he takes it all seriously.”

“Like what?” Sonia asked, curious in spite of herself.

“Like a great deal, too much for now,” Callista answered but she did it on a genuine smile. “Now, dear, you need to get to your king.”

Sonia stifled her sigh, dashed milk (not skim, but also not full fat, thank God) into her coffee and started to head to Callum’s study but stopped when Maraleena called out to her.

Sonia watched as Maraleena pulled down another sweep-lined earth-brown mug with turquoise interior and poured in coffee and milk.

She handed it to Sonia who took it in her free hand.

“For Cal,” she muttered and grinned. “He’ll like that you’re looking after him even though you chose for us to do the, um…bulk of it.”

Sonia nodded and smiled her gratitude to Maraleena but on the way to his study she had a mind to throw his coffee mug out the window. She liked the mug too much, so she didn’t.

He was sitting behind his big desk when she appeared in the door and his handsome dark head came up instantly.

Somehow from yesterday to today his desk had become covered in strewn and stacked papers and files, mounds of post, and an open laptop.

She gazed at the mess on his desk and couldn’t stop herself from asking in all jest, “Are you planning another war?”

He burst out laughing and her body jerked then stilled at the rich sound.

She’d made him grin. She’d made him smile. She’d made him chuckle. She’d heard him laugh, even at her. But she’d never purposefully made him laugh and doing it made her feel like she’d planted her flag at the top of world’s most treacherous mountain.

“No,” he replied after he got control of his humor. “This is what it normally looks like.”

“You need an assistant,” she informed him, walking forward trying to get control of herself and sound curt, and not doing a very good job of it (because she wasn’t a curt-sounding person).

“I have four: Ryon, Calder, Caleb and Drogan. None of them are good with paperwork,” Callum told her on a grin.

Sonia figured that was the truth. None of those men seemed the paperwork kind.

She stopped on the opposite side of the desk and reached over it, trying to find a safe place to lay his mug. She scooted some papers aside to expose the blotter and put the mug down because he hardly could have a system going that she would mess up in that clutter.

“You brought me coffee,” he stated and his voice was soft and warm.

She looked at him not wanting him to get any ideas. “Maraleena thought you might like a cup.”

“I do,” he replied. “Would you like to know what I’d like more?”

No, she wouldn’t.

“Callum—” she began but he interrupted her.

“What I’d like is to know why you’re standing over there?”

She straightened her shoulders, deciding the time had finally come, and declared, “Because we need to talk.”

“You can talk in my lap.”

“I’d rather talk from over here.”

His voice was firm but still soft and warm when he ordered, “Sonia, come here.”

That voice did weird things to her system. Weird things such as setting the urge upon her. Weird things such as making her want to sit in his lap and put her mouth on him. Anywhere. Everywhere.

Yes, just his voice.

She fought the urge back.

“No, Callum, I—” She stopped speaking because he stood up.

Then she stared at him as he rounded his desk.

She began retreating too late.

He grabbed one of her wrists, pulled the coffee cup out of her other hand, set it on some papers on his desk, and as she tried to twist her wrist free, he yanked her to him. Then she was in his arms. He walked back around the desk and sat down with her in his lap. He calmly leaned forward, nabbed her cup, and handed it to her then nabbed his.

Finally, his attention came to her and he invited, “Now, baby doll, what’s on your mind?”

Nothing.

Nothing was on her mind except for the fact that she was again in his lap where she’d told him she didn’t want to be.

“Sonia?”

She blinked at him, wanting to cry and scream at the same time (not to mention scratch his eyes out).

He waited.

She didn’t speak. There were too many words to say and she couldn’t put even two of them together.

“I see this is one of those times,” he muttered mysteriously, not sounding irritated or angry about whatever one of those times was, but amused. “All right, little one, this is what we’re going to do today,” he told her softly. “We’re going to go upstairs, I’m going to give you your injection, then we’re going to go into town.”

She wasn’t keeping up. Her mind was churning but her body was registering the fact that she liked the safe comfort of him so close.

“To town?” she asked.

“To town,” he answered. “Then we’re going to come home and you’re going to take it easy the rest of the day,” he finished. “Agreed?”

He took a sip of his coffee, which would have given her time to agree or, say, perchance, disagree. But before she could speak, he slid her carefully off his lap, grabbed her hand, and led her out of the room and up the winding staircase.

As he did, he spoke. “I talked with Dr. Mortenson while you were napping yesterday and he said your blood tests all came back normal. He’s still concerned. He says there’s a specialist consultant in Aberdeen he wants you to see. I made an appointment this morning for Friday.”

Sonia’s mind cleared at this astonishing news and she asked, “There’s a specialist in Scotland?”

“According to Dr. Mortenson there is.”

“I didn’t know there was such a thing,” she told him.

“Well there is, baby doll. And you’re lucky he’s a short flight away,” Callum replied, led her into the bathroom, gave her the injection, held her until the burning fire died away, and held her long after.

“Callum,” she whispered when he didn’t seem to want to let her go, her hands gliding along his forearms which were crossed at her belly.

In these moments, now twice a day, she could believe in him, really believe.

His head came up and his now tawny eyes caught hers in the mirror.

“I hope to fuck this new doctor knows another way.”

His voice was rough with frustration and she could almost believe that too.

Lost in the moment, she promised, “You’ll get used to it.”

His laugh was as harsh as his voice before he said, “I don’t think that’s going to happen, baby doll.”

Then he zipped her pants, buckled her belt, and took her to town.

 

* * * * *

 

“Town” was not a town.

It was an enchanting village. The cottages and buildings were all made of the same warm golden-red-brown as Callum’s castle. There was only one cobbled street, which was lined with shops on both sides, and on small alleyways that led off the street and up the rise behind the village there were picturesque cottages and houses.

The melted snow had given the cobbled streets a glistening shine and the sidewalks were all brushed clear of snow.

Regardless of the gray day that threatened more snow, the village seemed vibrant and fascinating.

There was a bakery with jam donuts, cookies, and pastries displayed in its window, a peek inside showing different loaves of bread and rolls on wire racks behind a heated counter filled with warm savories. There was a fruit and vegetable shop with brightly-colored produce in bushels in suspended baskets outside. There was a florist with vivid blooms in steel buckets out front. There was a butcher, a drug store, a shop that looked like it sold nothing but fishing gear. Another store that looked like it sold nothing but yarn. A women’s clothing store with a window that displayed more active outdoorsy gear (but the bags and sweaters looked lush). A gift shop, which, when Sonia stole a glance inside while they strolled past, looked like it was filled with fun bits and bobs, none of which you needed, but all of which you could convince yourself you did. And there was a café that was heaving with people eating or ordering teas and cakes.

And, lastly, even though it was a small village, it had no fewer than five pubs. Five!

Sonia would have liked the opportunity to peruse, but this opportunity didn’t present itself.

Mainly because the other thing about the village was that it was busy with loads of people shopping or chatting on the sidewalks.

And all of them were Callum’s people, with clear eyes, long bodies, dark hair, and beautiful faces.

And all of them, when they saw Sonia and Callum, looked surprised then delighted then they’d smile and start to drop to their knee.

And to all of them, Callum would say something like, “Keep your feet, Merriden, your queen doesn’t stand on ceremony.” Or, “Stand, Rhiannon, Queen Sonia isn’t big on formalities.”

Then they’d bow their head, grin a friendly grin at Sonia, and chat with Sonia and Callum before letting them get on their way.

There were four things that surprised Sonia about this.

The first was that Callum knew all their names. Every last one.

The second was that he apparently wasn’t big on formalities either. She knew this because he chatted amiably with the villagers, his arm around Sonia’s shoulders, as if they were normal people, not a king and his new queen.

The third was that everyone was so welcoming, open, full of life and smiles, and quick to laugh.

The last was that Callum acted to save her the discomfort of people bowing to her in the streets. People she had to live with and she wanted them to like her, not bow to her. She didn’t want to think that was a kindness he’d shown to her, having learned she didn’t like it the day before and thus stopping it from happening again. But she couldn’t help but think that it was.

They slowly made their way down one side of the street, stopping and chatting along the way as everyone else gazed at them frankly and speculatively. Then they slowly made their way down the other side of the street doing the same.

At the end of their journey, Callum led them into a pub called The Claw. It, too, had diamond-paned windows, but the glass was multi-colored in ambers, reds, and greens and it had a furry paw with sharp claws painted on its suspended shingle.

The inside was inviting and warm after the cold of outside. There was a circular fireplace in the middle with a brass hood over it and a fire lit within. There were brass taps at the gleaming bar and a variety of cushioned seating. And there was another clawed paw etched in the mirror behind the bar.

Callum guided her directly to the bar, and when they stopped, he asked her, “Do you like cider?”

She gazed up at him, and figuring he wanted to warm her up with hot apple cider, though she would prefer hot cocoa but would request herbal tea, she asked, “Apple cider?”

He smiled and answered, “In a way, though not the way you’re used to.” Then he proclaimed, “You’ll try a cider.”

He turned to the bartender (who was named Ralph, by the way) and ordered their drinks and also two fish pies, though he didn’t ask Sonia if she wanted fish pie, or anything to eat for that matter. He handed her a half pint glass of something cold and golden, told Ralph to, “Put it on Canis’s account,” and led them to a comfortable curved couch by the fire.

He shrugged off the brown leather jacket she’d given him for Christmas. But he kept on the brown, burgundy, and navy striped scarf wrapped around his throat over his thick, navy wool, cable-knit sweater (both of which Sonia had given him too). Sonia took his lead and divested herself of her own dusky-blue woolen pea coat. Then Callum sat them close together.

Sonia tasted a sip of her cider and found it was brilliant, cool but refreshing.

She didn’t want to (she told herself) but she couldn’t help it. She liked the village. She liked the villagers. She liked being outside in the snowy cold. And she liked the cider.

“This is brilliant,” she told him as his arm slid around her and pulled her close.

“I’m glad you like it, honey.”

“I like the village too,” she added.

He made no response, just smiled down at her.

She didn’t want to (she told herself) but she couldn’t help it. She was just too curious to stop it.

“Have you lived here your whole life?”

He pulled her an inch closer and lifted his leg to rest the sole of his boot against the edge of the fireplace.

“A good part of it, yes. We spent some time in France, with my mother’s people. During a time of peace, when my father didn’t need me close, I lived in Canada for a while. And my father appointed me liaison to the British government for a brief period and I lived in London then.”

Well, that explained his accent.

“But you like it here?” she queried.

“I like it here.”

“The best?” she went on, Callum laughed and his hand gave her waist a squeeze.

“The best. Though I found it difficult leaving the Canadian Rockies. I’d been happy there,” he informed her.

This knowledge settled somewhere in Sonia (and, if she was honest, it was in the region of her heart) for she’d always been happiest in the American Rockies. And, she hated to admit it, but she really liked it right there.

Belatedly, she decided to find a different, less personal subject. One that couldn’t give Callum an opening through that guard around her heart.

Therefore, she inquired, “Liaison to the British government?”

He nodded and took a sip of his beer. “All governments know of our people.”

She looked to the fire, sipped at her cider, and murmured, “I’m surprised about that.”

His hand gave her waist another squeeze and he asked, “Why?”

She looked back at him and replied, “Because you’re so secret. I had no clue.”

“No one has a clue,” he responded. “Unless we want them to.” His face got closer and his voice got lower when he finished, “Like you.”

She pressed her lips together in an effort not to respond to how much she liked his face that close and his voice that low and looked again at the fire.

His big body relaxed further into hers. “Our people intermingle with your people all the time.”

“Do a lot of your people have human mates?” she queried.

“It’s rare,” he answered. “But it happens.”

Sonia looked about the pub and saw all eyes on them and all the eyes were clear and light. All the heads were dark. And all the bodies were big and long.

She turned back to Callum and whispered, “This whole village is your people.”

He looked down at her and smiled. “You noticed that?”

She nodded.

He pulled her even closer. “This is one of the reasons we need a liaison to the British government and why we have liaisons to every government. There are small countries like this around the world.”

“Countries?”

“Yes, little one,” he replied. “Villages, towns, even some small cities. This is our land, our country, the village and miles of wood that surround it. It isn’t owned by the British government. It’s owned and ruled by us. Didn’t you wonder why you didn’t go through Customs and Immigration when we arrived?”

She hadn’t thought of it, her mind was on other things.

“No,” she told him. “I’d never flown in a private jet before. I didn’t think about it.”

“Well,” he said, “that’s why. Not because you arrived in a private jet, but because we landed on an airstrip, a private airstrip, our private airstrip that no one uses. The roads leading to this village are not on any map. Essentially, to your people, this place doesn’t exist.”

Sonia didn’t respond, she just stared at him.

Callum continued, “That doesn’t mean that humans don’t find their way here on occasion and they aren’t welcome when they do. They just wouldn’t be able to find their way back unless they had excellent memories and little fear of very bad roads.” He gave her a quick grin before he took a sip of his beer and then went on, “There are those of us who prefer living amongst their own, being who we are and how we are and not having to keep anything secret. There are those who find their calling in the human world and their profession takes them there. There are those who just like living in the human world, amongst more people, having more opportunities. There are others who move back and forth, depending on their mood. And there are others who live here but also like to spend time in the human world.” Then he finished, “Ryon’s like that.”

“What are you like?” she asked quietly, more curious than was prudent as to his answer.

“I like being with my people and I rarely stray into the human world,” he answered honestly.

“Don’t you like humans?” she blurted on a whisper before she could stop the words and then wished she could kick herself because she didn’t care (though, she did).

“I do,” he grinned again, his voice went soft, his eyes grew warm and his face got closer. “One in particular.”

She pulled in breath and reminded herself that he could be like this, sweet and tender one minute and the next…

Well, the next he would not.

“So why don’t you spend time with humans?” she pushed.

He sighed and pulled away, saying, “I just don’t understand them.”

Her eyes grew wide. “What’s not to understand?”

He gazed at her a second before he threw back his head and roared with laughter.

“What’s funny?” she demanded when his laughter calmed.

“You, baby doll,” he was still chuckling when he responded. “How much of my culture makes sense to you?”

She had to admit, he had a point.

She didn’t inform him of that fact. She looked to the fire and sipped her cider, which caused him to chuckle.

“I’ll make you a deal,” he said on another squeeze of her waist, capturing her attention.

She looked at him again and raised her eyebrows.

“I’ll help you understand my people and you help me understand yours.”

Before she could answer, she heard a noise outside. A noise that sounded like someone carrying bags slipped and fell to the sidewalk giving a startled cry of pain. She automatically tensed at the noise, as if she was going to rush outside to help, her eyes flashing to the door.

Then she realized it was a noise that Callum wouldn’t hear and she couldn’t help because she wasn’t supposed to hear it either.

As she had many times in her life, Sonia forced herself to relax and took another sip of her drink.

“Sonia,” he called and she hesitantly turned to look at him.

“Yes?” she answered, trying to look innocent and thinking maybe she failed for he was studying her closely.

He opened his mouth to speak but Ralph was there with two big plates on top of which sat smaller, oblong dishes of browned, fluffy mash potato-topped fish pies that were so hot they were steaming and looked delicious.

“Two fish pies, your grace?” Ralph asked.

Callum didn’t look happy to be disturbed but he nodded, moved them to a table, and they ate their pies (filled with salmon, cream, carrots, herbs, onions, and cheese, they were to-die-for and likely a million calories each).

Their conversation died because Callum seemed deep in thought and Sonia didn’t have anything to say.

After that, he took her back to the castle.

But not before taking her to the bakery and buying her a huge Viennese cookie, half of it dipped in a thick layer of chocolate. This he ordered her to eat in the Rover, and when she refused, he pulled the car to the side of the road, turned to her, and raised his brows ominously.

She ate the cookie and she hated herself for being so weak.

She hated him more.

But the cookie, she had to admit, was delicious.

 

* * * * *

 

Callum made Sonia take it easy the rest of the afternoon but he made her do it while lounging on the couch in his study while he sat at the desk and worked. Clicking through his laptop or talking on the phone, but mostly he seemed to spend his time writing notes in longhand.

They ate dinner, he took her to their room for her injection and after they lay on the couch in the room he called “the lounge.” It was a couch upholstered in hides (and she told herself it wasn’t soft and snugly, but it was). He threw a woolen rug over them (making them snugly too) and they watched Cool Hand Luke, which, according to Callum, was Calder’s favorite movie, a fact Sonia didn’t find surprising.

The phone rang (or, dozens of them rang all through the house) as they were winding their way upstairs to bed. Sonia was also winding herself up trying to figure out how she was going to stop him from making love to her, or more precisely, herself from wanting him to.

“You go on up, baby doll, I’ll be there in a second,” he murmured distractedly and peeled off into a room.

She was asleep by the time he joined her in bed.

And the urge was over her by the time he woke her with a hand between her legs and fingers rolling her nipple.

There was no chance to fight it, she was too far gone.

She arched her back and pressed her hips into his hand.

“You’re still tender, honey, I’ll—” he started but she rolled to him, dislodging his hands, and kissed him.

Then she did other things to him with her mouth.

Then he did things to her.

Finally he took her, not hard and rough, but slow and sweet, and she didn’t cry to her wolf when she climaxed. She whispered it in his ear on a contented sigh.

In the end, she fell asleep in his arms.

She woke up in them too, just as far gone as the night before, but Callum wasn’t in the mood to be slow and sweet. He was in a different mood. And, with the urge over her, Sonia liked his mood.

She liked it so much she begged for it.

After, she lay on her belly, her eyes closed, her mind trying to regulate her breathing.

She felt him lying beside her, her head was turned away from him but she knew he was up on an elbow and his fingers were trailing lightly along the naked skin of her back. His hand finally glided down over her bottom and he reached low as it slid down the back her thigh and he gently cocked her leg.

Then, just as he had done after her claiming, he coated her thighs with their combined wetness.

She felt his chest at her back and his fingers digging in her hip when he growled in her ear, “That’s the most beautiful thing in the world.”

Sonia didn’t respond verbally but she shivered deliciously because, somewhere deep down, even though she told herself she didn’t, she agreed.

His fingers gave her hip another, far gentler, squeeze.

“Dress warm before coming to me,” he ordered before exiting the bed, throwing the hides over her, and walking to the bathroom.

Before he left the room, he tucked her stuffed wolf in her arms and kissed her temple.

Sonia stared at the pillows, clutching her wolf, and told herself not to cry.

She also told herself, that day, she was going to find a way to end this.

Before Maraleena could arrive, she threw back the hides, went to the bathroom, and took a shower.

 

* * * * *

 

However, Sonia didn’t find a way to end it.

Instead, she had breakfast with Maraleena and Callista in the kitchen again and they spent that time teaching her queenly etiquette and protocol and doing it hilariously. Callista acted out the silent part of the queen while Maraleena acted out the domineering part of the king and all three of them giggled until their sides hurt.

When she arrived at the door to Callum’s study, he was already striding across the room. Sonia barely got her mouth open before he took her up the stairs for her injection and then he said they were off to explore the wood.

Before she could say another word, they were off to explore the wood.

That was the worst because it was the best.

Tramping through the snow and the trees, the brisk air in her lungs, the cold on her face, the warmth in her active muscles, she could smell the wildlife, hear it and sense it all around her.

And she loved it.

It reminded her of being out with her father all those times when she was a child. She hadn’t done it since he’d died and she forgot just how much she loved it.

No, how much it felt right, like she was where she belonged, like she’d come home.

And being there with the sweet tender Callum. Feeling that with him, while Callum held her hand as they trudged through snow. Stopping her every once in a while to place his hand under her jaw, tilt her head to his, and brush his lips to hers (and sometimes it was far more than a brush). Coming to a rise which exposed a new vista and both of them halting, standing close, and just experiencing the view. With all that, she allowed herself to pretend. Just that once, she allowed herself to be where she always loved to be with the man she wanted for so long to be hers.

So, when they returned, without demur, she ate lunch seated in his lap, and after lunch, she made out with him in his desk chair that was turned to face the roaring fire. She didn’t make a peep when he picked her up, walked her to the couch, and set her down.

Arranging the woolly throw over her, he murmured in a tone filled with regret, “I’ve work to do, little one.” He framed her face with his hands and touched his mouth to hers. “We’ll finish in a bit.” Shafts of tawny sliced through the blue of his eyes before he whispered, “There’re a few things I want you to do to me in that chair.”

Sonia felt the throb pulse between her legs and she also heard the soft moan that caught in her throat.

The gold took over the blue when he growled with approval, “In heat.”

Then he kissed her, harder, longer, and wetter before he let her go and went back to his desk.

Once Sonia emerged from her pretend world of enchanted castles and fairytale kings you met in your dreams, she realized that she’d been in Scotland for three days.

She didn’t intend to go to Scotland at all but she’d been there three days, met people she liked, and fell in love with the village and the woods.

She didn’t intend to have sex with Callum again but they’d had sex six times, not passable sex, not good sex, but (as usual) fantastic sex.

But she did intend to get a few things straight, which was the only thing she didn’t do.

And she had to find the courage to do it, and soon. Or she was going to be doing things to Callum in his chair, things her mind was making up on its own, things that were making that throb beat between her legs and her breasts swell. Things that, the very thought of them, when Callum wasn’t even looking at her or speaking to her, were deeply affecting her.

And she was, she decided, in serious, serious trouble.

So deep was Sonia in her thoughts, when she heard the front door open, miles away (well, not exactly, just two floors of winding stairs and a long hall, but still), she didn’t even think to stop from looking toward the door.

She thought about it when Callum said her name.

Her body tensed but she looked toward him.

He was studying her closely again, eyes narrowed, brows drawn.

His ominous look.

Finally, he asked, “Did you hear that?”

Oh good goodness.

She’d forgotten to hide her gift. Her father told her never, never to forget.

She tried to cover. “Hear what?”

Callum answered instantly, “Regan and Ryon arriving.”

She stared at him.

She knew it was Regan and Ryon too, she could hear their voices and they were getting closer.

How did he—?

He interrupted her thoughts, “Answer me, Sonia, did you hear that?”

She didn’t have time to think about him hearing the arrival of his family. She still had to cover.

“Ryon and Regan are here?” she asked, tossing the throw aside and standing.

“You didn’t hear it?” he returned as he, too, stood and started toward her.

She considered running.

Instead, she lied, “No.” Then she cocked her head and went on lying, “Oh. I hear them now.”

Anyone would, they were coming up the stairs.

Callum stopped in front of her and looked down at her. “If you didn’t hear them, why did you turn your head the minute the front door opened?”

“You can hear the front door open from all the way up here?” she asked immediately, shocked and extremely interested in this news at the same time still hiding her secret.

“I can,” he replied tersely, stepping closer, making her tilt her head back to look at him, and feeling the heat from his body, then he finished with, “And so can you.”

Her eyes flew wide, her mouth opened to deny it, and Regan came through the door.

“Cal! Sonny! It’s so good to be home!” she cried, rushing in, her face wreathed with smiles.

Ryon was following her, his eyes were on both Sonia and Callum and they were wary like he felt the tense air.

Callum turned to face his mother.

“I hate that plane ride. It’s so long and you’re so pent up. There’s nowhere to roam,” Regan declared while placing her hand on Callum’s biceps, giving his cheek a kiss, and then giving Sonia a hug.

After Regan moved away, Sonia tried to step away from her mate.

His arm slid around her shoulders.

Sonia stopped moving.

Callum tucked her into his side.

“But I’m home now!” Regan announced gleefully before turning to Sonia. “And I want to know how you’re getting on, Sonny, but the very first thing I’m going to do is change my clothes and take a walk. Then I’m going to ask Drogan to light a fire in the knitting room and you’re going to tell me everything. Oh, I do hope Callum took you to the village. They have the best bakery in the world and I’m French so that’s saying something!” She grinned, looked between them, and teased, “Then, I suppose, I’ll let Cal have you back for dinner.”

“I’m glad you’re home, Regan,” Sonia smiled at her mother-in-law then turned her smile to Ryon. “And you too, Ryon. Glad to see you safe.”

“It’s good to be safe, Sonny,” Ryon smiled back.

“Oh!” Regan cried suddenly. Sonia jumped and looked to see her mother-in-law was digging in her purse. “Things were…well, we didn’t get much time and I was just so happy everyone was okay and then I was worried about getting Sonny ready.” She pulled her wallet out of her purse and zipped it open. “So, I forgot, but…” Her arm extended toward Callum and she announced, “Here!”

The wedding band Sonia gave to Callum was gleaming between her thumb and forefinger.

Sonia stared at it and felt every muscle in her body grow so rigid, she feared if she moved she’d break into a million pieces.

She watched as, casually, Callum reached out and took the band from his mother, murmuring his thanks. And, just as casually, he reached across Sonia’s rigid body and slid it on the finger that was curled around her shoulder.

They said that people had their limits, their breaking points.

That was Sonia’s.

Something came over her. Something she’d never felt in her life. Something she didn’t understand, for a moment.

Then she realized it was fury. It was a fury so mammoth, she could think of nothing else but it.

She looked up at Callum not noticing the air in the room had gone dense as all of its inhabitants sensed her rage.

“I need a word,” she declared before yanking out of his arm and practically running to their bedroom.

In the seconds before Callum followed her in and shut the door, Sonia realized that the time had come.

She was going to do this.

Now.

She lifted her hand out, palm up, and demanded, “Give me my ring.”

Callum was watching her carefully, arms crossed on his chest, as he asked, “Sorry?”

She wriggled her fingers. “My ring. Give it to me.”

He wasn’t watching her carefully anymore. He realized what she was talking about and his jaw clenched.

Then he asked, “Why?”

“It doesn’t mean anything to you. And, when I bought it, I wasn’t certain it meant anything to me.” She watched the muscle leap warningly in his jaw at these words but she was too enraged to care. “But then it did. It meant something. And it isn’t right, if it means something to the giver, for the receiver to wear it if it means nothing to them.”

He was silent for a moment before he spoke.

Then he said in a tone that was as much of a threat as the muscle jerking in his jaw, “Can I ask why in the fuck you think it means nothing to me?”

Sonia ignored his tone too.

She dropped her hand and snapped, “It doesn’t matter how I know, I just know. Now give me my ring!”

She watched his body grow taut before he stated, “You’ve got about two seconds, baby doll, to tell me what the fuck you’re on about.”

Something broke inside her and the pain was excruciating.

Because of that she leaned forward and hissed, “Don’t call me baby doll.”

And the second the words were out of her mouth, she saw it, clear as if she was an inch away.

His eyes instantly turned golden.

And he started toward her.

Sonia was alert enough to retreat.

“Two seconds are up,” he growled as he stalked her.

She was still throwing caution to the wind in the frightening face of his mirrored fury. She might have been alert enough to retreat but she was definitely not going to back down.

“I didn’t know your kind existed,” she threw at him. “But you knew about humans. You knew what wedding rings were.”

“And?” he clipped.

She stopped retreating, braced, and shouted, “So I had an excuse when I started to take off my claiming chain! I didn’t know what it was!” She jabbed her finger at him as he stilled his progress and stared at her. “But you knew what a wedding ring was and you took it off just the same!”

His head jerked slightly, his face cleared of his fury, and he murmured, “Honey.”

“Don’t call me that either,” Sonia snapped. “This charade is over. You don’t like blondes? Great. Fine. Whatever. Consider your duty served, Callum. In public, if your people want me, I’ll be their queen. My parents wanted that. It’s my destiny. Even I feel it, though I don’t want to. But in private, it’s over. I’m done. If you aren’t okay with that, that’s good too. I’ll just go home.”

Sonia thought that was pretty good. However, when she focused on Callum and not what she was saying, she saw he was grinning.

Yes, grinning.

He was such an arrogant bastard!

Then he asked calmly, “What makes you say I don’t like blondes?”

Sonia gaped at him.

Was he mad?

“That crazy woman said it before you sequestered her!” Sonia cried.

He started toward her again, not stalking in the same way, but definitely still stalking.

“Baby doll,” he said with humor threading his tone, “She’s crazy.”

Sonia started retreating again in exactly the same way as before.

“Do you like blondes?” she queried with a bite in her tone.

“No,” he replied honestly. Her shoulders hit tapestry and she was forced to halt at the same time she gasped at his effrontery before he finished, “Or, I should say, not until recently.”

He got close and she tried, quickly, to move to the side to escape him.

This failed.

With no effort at all, his arm shot out, hooked around her waist, and he pulled her in front of him. He took a step forward and she was back against the tapestries, pinned there by his tall frame.

Sonia decided she’d fight her way out of it. Not physically, she wasn’t stupid, or at least not that stupid.

Verbally.

“You sequestered her,” Sonia accused.

“I did,” he replied, gazing down at her patiently, one arm around her, the other hand coming up to curl around her neck.

Sonia tried to yank her neck away.

This failed too.

She quit trying and went on, “That was cruel.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Sequestering Mona?”

“No,” she shot back. “Everything you did to Mona.”

“Sonia, you don’t know what you’re talking about.” She opened her mouth to speak but his hand at her neck moved to her jaw and his thumb pressed against her lips. “But if you’d calm down a second, I’ll explain.”

She jerked her face from his hand and then snapped, “I don’t want an explanation. You’re right, I don’t know what sequestered means. But I know you humiliated her in front of a room full of men. Then you forced her to go somewhere she didn’t want to go and she barely got a word in edgewise. There is no explanation for that.”

Callum watched her speak with curiosity then he muttered, “Bloody hell, Ryon was right. Baby doll, have you been holding on to this for a whole fucking month?”

“Has it only been a month?” Sonia retorted sarcastically. “It’s felt like years.”

He studied her a moment still with that strange curiosity then he remarked musingly, “I thought this would be annoying but it isn’t. You’re pretty all the time, little one, but you’re spectacular when you’re pissed off.”

Sonia growled and shoved at the massive wall of his chest.

He rocked back a few inches but recovered quickly and returned to his previous position.

“All right, Sonia, you obviously need to talk, we’ll talk,” he offered but it looked like he was fighting a smile. “Tell me what’s on your mind. All of it.”

She stared at him in astonishment.

He was enjoying this!

Her vision covered with a film of red.

She’d never been so incensed and she didn’t care that he could snap her like a twig. She shoved him again, harder this time, but he just rocked back and then came forward yet again.

So she went back to her earlier strategy.

“I don’t want to talk!” she yelled in his face, “There’s nothing you can say about how you treated Mona. About me being here without you even asking me if I wanted to move, wanted to leave my business, my friends, my home. There’s nothing you can say about coming back from…wherever, whisking me away, just like that, without even saying hello! There’s nothing you can say about me not having any of my clothes here, about you taking over everything, every move I make, everything I wear, everything I eat. There’s nothing you can say to explain all…things…you!”

He was still fighting a smile when he commented, “There’s a lot there, baby doll.”

“Stop calling me baby doll!” she shrieked.

She barely got out the word “doll” when he bent, put a shoulder to her belly, and hefted her up. She kicked out her legs and beat at his back with her fists, but he didn’t notice or didn’t care. He strode nonchalantly to the bed and tossed her on it.

Sonia instantly rolled, got up on all fours, and started crawling but his hands seized her ankles and he pulled her knees out from under her, dragging her across the bed, and rolling her to her back.

She growled and went at him.

In no time at all, he was on top of her and had her wrists pinned over her head.

“We’ll play later, Sonia,” he informed her, his face suddenly serious but it was studiously so, as if he was being serious for her benefit but still found the situation amusing. “Now we’re going to talk.”

Sonia gaped at him, mouth open and everything.

He thought she wanted to play?

He was mad.

“We’ll start with Desdemona,” he announced and she bucked under him but his hands tightened on her wrists and he gave her a warning shake before he demanded, “Pay attention.”

She stilled and glared at him.

“There’s a lot of history with Mona I won’t get into,” he started to explain.

“I gathered that,” Sonia snapped acidly.

He watched her, still obviously trying to fight back his humor. “You’ve got nothing to be jealous of, little one.”

“I’m not jealous!” she screeched.

He shook his head, ignored her screech, and continued, “Being sequestered is not a bad thing. Your people do it as well when someone is not right and they need help. Mona, as you could tell, is not right.”

“She just has a thing for you,” Sonia retorted.

“Yes, she does, but it’s more than that,” he returned smoothly. “She’s in a far better place than she deserves to be. For what she did, or, more to the point didn’t do, she should have been punished. Instead she’s amongst people who will try to help her sort out her head.”

Sonia’s eyes narrowed on him and she asked scornfully, “She should have been punished just because she’s got the hots for you?”

His painstakingly serious expression changed to genuinely serious.

In fact, deadly serious. So deadly, one look at it made Sonia hold her breath.

“No, Sonia,” he stated slowly. “She should have been punished for what her inattention to her responsibilities caused. She should have been punished because what she didn’t do meant hundreds of warriors died. Hundreds on both sides. She should have been punished because what she didn’t do means I’ve spent the last three days writing letters to mates and mothers explaining that their lovers and sons died brave. Died honorably. Even though every word is fucking futile because nothing I say will ease their anguish.”

At his words, and the depth of feeling with which he spoke them, the fight left Sonia. She felt her body relaxing under his as she felt her heart slide into her throat and tears start to prick the backs of her eyes.

He’d been writing a lot. She saw him doing it.

Callum had been handwriting letters to grieving mates and mothers.

She couldn’t imagine writing hundreds of letters like that. She wouldn’t know what to say. The task was so atrocious she couldn’t ever imagine having the strength to bear it.

But Callum did. He did it at the same time he grinned at her or took her to the village or walked with her through the snow, never once letting on that this heavy weight was bearing on his broad shoulders.

For the first time since she met him the burden of his responsibility as king to his people struck her and it felt like she’d been seared by lightning.

It came out of her mouth before she could stop it. It came out softly, gently, even lovingly as the tears welled in her eyes and slid out the sides.

“My handsome wolf.”

The instant she whispered those three words, his hands released her wrists and his forehead dropped to hers.

Freed, her arms wrapped around him tight.

He rolled to his side, taking her with him and curling his arms around her to hold her close.

She realized then she was another one of his burdens. A mate he didn’t exactly want but he had all the same and it was his duty to do right by her.

And he was attempting to do his duty, not only to his people, but to her. His moments of kingliness were a part of him, ingrained. It was who he was.

The rest of it, his tenderness and humor, was him doing the best he could with a difficult situation.

Her destiny had brought her to him to be his queen, his people’s queen, and she had a duty as well, to him, to his people. It was an awesome responsibility, but it was also an honor no one but no one of her kind would have.

But Sonia had been chosen and she’d been acting like a selfish idiot, thinking of her lost dream instead of doing her duty to him.

No man, not even someone as strong and charismatic as Callum, should face such a burden alone. It was her duty, her destiny, to stand by his side and provide what she could to help him see it through.

Still weeping silently, she tipped her head back to look at him.

“Callum—”

He looked down at her and started talking at the same time, “Your place is beside me, Sonia, wherever I go. I’ll take you to visit your friends as often as we can but you belong at my side. After what happened with the rebellion, I needed to be home and I needed you with me.”

“Callum—” she repeated.

He kept going. “You can’t wear your fancy clothes and high-heeled shoes here. It’s cold and it snows, a lot. It’s my duty to take care of you and I did, by getting you what you needed to live your life at my side.” Then he muttered with irritation, “Christ, you’re the only woman I know who doesn’t like new clothes.”

She wanted to kick herself at throwing his generosity in his face, but instead attempted yet again to interject, “Callum—”

He kept right on talking just as, visibly, his irritation grew. “Your life is too short to worry about calories, fuck, it’s too damned short to worry about anything. You have a beautiful body and it’ll be even more beautiful when there’s more of it. But you have to learn, little one, to enjoy your life and not waste it on ridiculous things like counting calories and making certain you’ve taken every last vitamin.”

“Callum—” she tried again but he was on a roll.

“And when I arrived to collect you and didn’t say hello it was because I’d been fighting for eight days straight. No food, no rest. And I’d left the front after having given an order, an order I knew was carried out in my absence, a vile order I had no choice but to give for they would not admit defeat.”

Her body grew taut against his again because she knew he was talking about the executions and she fully realized the weight of his burden wasn’t immense.

It was colossal.

She tried to break in. “Callum, please—”

She failed in her endeavor and he carried on, “This has been going on for too fucking long. My father dealt with it, his father before him, we’ve tried everything. I had no choice but to break them. I don’t fucking like not having a choice and I don’t fucking enjoy being forced into a corner that requires me to make a decision that means the end of the lives of men who are probably good men but they followed the wrong path. If I didn’t break them, even more warriors would die, more letters would be written, this would never fucking end.”

She decided to wait it out. She’d created this, now she had to bear the consequences.

However, apparently, he was done, for he asked, “Do you understand?”

Sonia did understand.

Boy, did she understand.

She lifted her hand to the side of his face, her fingers going into his hair, but her thumb swept along his cheekbone and she replied softly, “I understand.”

He studied her face and must have approved of what he saw for the intensity moved out of his, his big body relaxed into hers, and his fingers started stroking her back.

“So we’re good?” he queried, his deep voice as soft as hers.

No, they weren’t good.

But they were as good as they were going to get. And, as always, Sonia had to accept that.

Feeling his warm strong body against hers, gazing into his handsome face, allowing the stroking of his fingers to relax her, she thought perhaps she was wrong.

Perhaps, if she simply gave up her dream, she could do this, and she vowed at that moment she would.

Therefore, she nodded.

“All right, little one,” he was still speaking softly but, for some reason, his arms were getting tighter, “we have one more thing to talk about.”

Committed to her new vow, Sonia nodded again.

Then he stated, “You heard Regan and Ryon arrive.”

Forgetting her vow completely, Sonia automatically jerked in his arms to try to get away.

Those arms tightened further.

Panicked, she stared at him and denied, “I didn’t.”

“You did,” he returned firmly. “You heard the person fall outside yesterday as well.” Her panic rising, Sonia kept pushing against his arms, but he held her fast. “You hear a lot you don’t let on to hearing, you smell a lot too.” At the extent of his knowledge, she started to struggle, but he didn’t let her gain an inch. “You see a lot too. More than any human does.”

“I don’t,” she lied.

“Sonia,” he warned.

She shook her head.

His brows drew together and he asked in a far less soft tone, “Why are you hiding it?”

She stared at him and then something pierced her panic.

He’d heard Regan and Ryon as well and the person falling outside yesterday and he’d heard Waring arriving at the cabin weeks before. And he smelled them between her legs, just as she did. Thinking about it, she’d noticed it often in a distracted way that he could sense the same things she could.

And her attackers that night, they’d sniffed her. They could smell her and she’d forgotten or blocked it out of her mind, but she’d thought, at the time, they were just like her.

It was because they were Callum’s kind.

So much was going on she never thought about it, but Callum consistently exhibited the same abilities, the same gifts of sight, hearing and smell that she did.

And he never hid it. Not once.

“You have heightened senses,” she breathed in wonder.

He continued to watch her with knitted brows. “All my people do.”

“They do?”

“Yes, Sonia, they do,” he replied and his arms gave her a squeeze. “All my people do. What I want now is for you to admit that you do too.”

She didn’t know what to make of this. She’d never met anyone who had her gifts, except her father. She had always been the strange one, worried about what people would think, how they’d react if they knew.

But Callum was just like her.

She stared then she swallowed.

Then she thought about her destiny and how it brought her to this man who shared her gifts.

And she took a huge chance, hoping her father wouldn’t disapprove, and quietly, she shared.

“Father told me never to tell anyone,” she whispered and watched his brows unknit and lift.

“Why the fuck not?” he asked irately.

She shook her head and answered, “Humans don’t have my gifts. He said I should be proud of them but I had to hide them from everyone. Everyone. I could never tell a living soul. And I didn’t. Even Gregor and Yuri don’t know.”

His mouth got tight at that but he didn’t speak.

“If they knew, Callum, they’d think I was a freak,” she went on to explain. “They might even fear me.” She pressed closer and her voice dropped back to a whisper. “They might even harm me. My senses are that good. They could think I was a mutant. They could want to study me.”

As her lifelong, perhaps hysterical fears were verbalized, Callum gave her a shake. “Baby doll, no one is going to hurt you.”

“Not now,” she agreed. “I have you to protect me. But before, who knows?” she cried. “It’s not just that, it’s more,” she added. Now that she’d let it go, after so, so long, she couldn’t stop the information flowing. “Animals don’t fear me. And I’m not just talking dogs and cats, I’m talking all animals. Birds and the wild animals Papa and I would see when we were out in the woods. And even more, I can feel eyes on me, smell people from far away, but I know if they’re good or they’re bad. I’d been sensing your people watching me for years and I knew I had nothing to fear. I also knew those men who attacked me that night before they came into my house. I knew them because I’d been sensing them for weeks.”

It was Callum’s turn to try to cut in. “Sonia—”

But it was Sonia’s turn to be on a roll.

“And I dreamed of you. I dreamed of you for ages and you were real. I dreamed of you and I in this room and I didn’t know you or this castle existed. No one does that! I’m a freak!”

His arms grew so tight, for a second it cut off her breath and she stopped ranting and stared at him.

“Baby doll, calm down. You aren’t a freak. Me and every one of my own have the same abilities.”

Her eyes grew wide at this revelation and she breathed, “Did you dream about me?”

His gaze grew soft and he rolled to his back, rolling her on top of him at the same time. Then his hand came up and his fingers tucked her hair behind her ear.

“No, unfortunately, I never dreamed of you,” he whispered. “That, honey, is a gift all your own.” She drew in breath to speak but he kept talking. “But your father was right, it’s a gift. All of it and you shouldn’t hide it. You should be proud.” His thumb swept her lower lip and she trembled against him, hearing those words again, words her father said time and again but this time from Callum, spoken in his fierce whisper, his eyes never leaving hers. “You don’t have to hide it here, not amongst my people, who are now your people. Baby doll, with me, you don’t have to hide anything. You can be all you.”

A relief so extreme, a relief that she never thought she’d know, hit Sonia, and it was so immense, her body sagged with it. Melting against his, she dropped her cheek to his chest, clutched his shirt in her fists, and burst into sobs.

“I never thought…it’s been so…so ha-hard…” she stammered as his fingers sifted soothingly through her hair. She was focusing on his hand’s movements, trying to come to terms with everything (an impossible task) when something occurred to her, Sonia’s head jerked up, the tears ceased, and she asked, “Do you think I’m one of you?”

Callum shook his head. “No, baby doll. We don’t have any blondes among us.” His hand came to her face, he swiped at her tears, and said softly, “But you know you aren’t. If you take a minute, you can smell the difference.”

She took in a breath and she knew what he was saying. She’d never given herself the time to make the connection before, but his people’s scents were different than hers. They were deeper, muskier, almost wild and animal but not in the least unpleasant.

In fact, she liked their smell better than humans.

“I like your smell,” she blurted, meaning his people’s smell (though she liked his too, immensely), but it didn’t come out that way.

He grinned before he rolled into her saying huskily, “I like yours too.”

The tawny was spiking through his irises and Sonia knew all too well what that meant.

And she suddenly felt vulnerable.

Exposed.

She’d never been with him knowing him the way she did then, understanding both their duties, their abilities, their connection on a level that hadn’t, until that moment, penetrated.

“Callum—” she whispered but he was mostly on top of her and his face disappeared in her neck.

Then his tongue slid up its length before he said, “Regan wants you and she’ll be back from her walk soon, we have to be fast.”

“Callum—” Sonia whispered again but his mouth moved over her jaw, took hers in a hungry kiss, and she was instantly lost.

They were fast, or, she should say, Callum was fast.

With practiced ease, he’d drawn the urge over her, but even if they needed to be fast, he felt in the mood to play.

Therefore, she was fully clothed, as was he, but Sonia was on her knees in front of him. His arms were around her, one hand in her unzipped jeans, the other up her sweater having yanked down her bra. His fingers were torturing her in beautiful ways in both places.

Her head was resting against his chest, and as she ground down into his fingers, she tipped it back to gaze unfocused at his strong square jaw.

“I want you inside me,” she begged.

“Tonight,” he growled.

“Please,” she breathed.

He gave her what she asked for but not what she really wanted and two of his fingers entered her, stroking deep.

Taking what she could get, she rode them wildly.

“That’s it, baby doll,” he groaned hoarsely into her ear. “Fuck yourself and come for me.”

Instantly upon hearing his words, she did as she was told. Her cries piercing the air as the orgasm overwhelmed her and her body trembled in his arms.

When she was done, he was cupping her breast and her sex and his mouth was at her neck.

“You okay, little one?”

Her body wasn’t okay. It was more than okay, happy and content.

Her mind wasn’t okay either, but it was better than it had been since Callum stormed into her life and turned it on its head.

She understood him and his duty and she knew her place.

It was okay as it was ever going to be.

She decided to nod.

“Good,” he murmured, his hands moved gently away, and he righted her clothing, but his arms wrapped around her and he held her where she was. “One more thing, baby doll.” He was still murmuring but there was steel veining through his tone and she held her breath for what was to come next. “Never again ask me to give back my ring. No matter how pissed you are, never do that again.” His arms tightened around her and he growled, “I can’t wear it into battle for reasons you’ll eventually understand. I gave it to Regan for safekeeping. From now on, if I need to, I’ll give it to you. But it means something to me. I can’t fucking imagine why you’d say it doesn’t, but get that out of your head right now. Am I understood?”

Her breath caught in her lungs, the steel in his tone piercing that guard around her heart, even though she wasn’t entirely certain she understood or believed what he was saying, Sonia could do nothing but nod.

Satisfied with her response, he kissed her neck, gave her a squeeze, and then pulled them out of the bed, walked them out of the room, and took her to his mother, leaving her in the cozy warm knitting room with its blazing fire and her mother-in-law smiling happily at them as he kissed her thoroughly and left.

Likely to write more letters.

She stared after him long after he’d gone.

Then Sonia Arlington sighed, finally accepting her fate, and she turned with a smile to Regan.