Chapter Fifteen

Dom and Aimee had cleared out for the night. Aimee hadn’t left without offering a few innuendo-filled winks. Callie ushered her friend out the door before slamming it in her face. When she turned back toward Morgan, flames crept up her cheeks.

They were alone for the first time since she’d accepted Morgan as her mate. She knew he was her home, the only place she would ever find comfort and safety, yet there was an awkwardness about being alone with him. It stemmed from the years she’d spurned him. Her father’s lies had been embedded so deep in her way of thinking that she’d destroyed the history of something that should have been held dear.

Morgan seemed as patient as ever. He dropped onto a couch, arms over the back of it, and waited for her to make the first move.

What did she want? Did she want to run over and claim his body the way she’d claimed their bond? Did she want to hear him repeat the truth, as if it would work to cleanse the air she’d stained? Callie knew nothing.

Everything that had happened since she’d touched down in Montana had turned her inside out and upside down. In the end, all she could do was freeze where she stood. It was up to Morgan to approach her.

He smiled reassuringly, as if this weren’t embarrassing for her, and drew her into his arms.

“How about we get take-out and try to get to know one another again? Does that sound alright with you?”

“Can you get delivery up here?” She couldn’t believe that was the first thing she blurted out.

After everything Morgan and his family had done for her, that was what she said? She should have been thanking them all for their bravery. She should have been asking them all what they wanted from her in return. Instead, she was concerned about delivery?

“Well, the businesses themselves won’t bring us food, but I could call Orion and ask him to bring us something.”

She smacked him in the shoulder. “You shouldn’t use your friends like that.”

He feigned being hurt, clutching his chest. “Why? What else would Orion be doing? Sitting alone in the dark with a TV dinner? No. That’s not right. He’s probably stringing up his next prank or working on some invention that will blow up in his face.”

Callie raised her brows. She was learning a lot more about her new family. She sank into the couch, leaning against the arm of it to listen to Morgan go on. The faces she would live with from now on were both familiar and new. Those she’d grown up with had changed more than she had. The others, the changed shifters, brought something new to the family that she’d never expected.

“Orion is a good kid. His beast is a bit strung out, but he uses logic and thought to drown it out. When it gets to the point that he can’t drown it out, he picks a fight and uses pain. We wish we could help the guy, but it isn’t like there’s a dating app for shifters.”

“You should have him invent that,” Callie offered.

Morgan dropped into the seat beside her. “Nah. He likes big machines, not computer programming. The bigger the risk of explosion, the happier he is.”

She smiled. It was easier for them to talk about the others than it was to talk about themselves. She knew the past was stained. There was no way they could reminisce about the days they’d dated without coming to the fact that she’d destroyed it all.

They knew they belonged together, but despite their closeness, the chasm still echoed between them. She knew that physical contact would help close it, but for how long? They would wake in the morning and still wonder how to talk to one another. Neither knew what the other liked anymore. She didn’t know the first thing about her mate.

“How about we play a game?” She jumped to her feet, trying to walk out some of her nervous energy.

There was so much more than just their budding relationship to worry about. They weren’t supposed to think about that while they were alone. Everyone had given them space to get to know one another, but thoughts of her father slipped into her mind again.

He hadn’t given up. The man was desperate to cling to his power no matter what. When Callie and Morgan made a fool of him, they’d angered him. The fight between them wasn’t over. If anything, it was just beginning.

Callie grabbed a deck of cards and began shuffling. “If you draw a number card, I get to ask a question. If you draw a face card, you get to…” her face warmed. It had been a long time since she’d been sexual with anyone. She struggled to put what she wanted to do into words.

Morgan’s grin spread wide, showing the tiny, sharp teeth in the corners of his mouth. He understood what she meant. He motioned for her to return to the couch, arms wide. As soon as she was within reach, he pulled her into his lap.

It was jarring at first, but she found that he was made for her. She fit into him with ease and soaked up his warmth. Morgan claimed the first card. He pouted when he turned over a number card. Callie laughed and plucked it from his fingers.

She got to ask the first question. Tapping her fingers against her lips, she dug for the right question. Morgan watched her finger touch her lips like it was water and he was dying of thirst. It was distracting, reminding her of all the ways their bodies touched.

Finally, she came up with a question. It wasn’t the best, but she couldn’t blame herself when Morgan looked at her like she was a four-course meal.

“What is your favorite video game?” She’d seen the computer in his bedroom and the multitude of wires that sprawled out from behind it. Honestly, she knew nothing about gaming other than the original games from her childhood. He could tell her he liked something made up, like Squash Potato, and she’d believe it.

“Want to hear something funny?” His grin hid laughter behind his lips. He closed his arms around her, holding her tight. “I prefer role-playing games. Don’t tell the others. I’ll lose my tough-man club card.”

Callie couldn’t help it, she threw her head back and belted out a deep laugh. The image of Morgan hunched at his desk with a headset over his ears was almost comical. Adding the imaginary world of elves and orcs to it only made it funnier.

“How rude!” He gave her a playful shake, bouncing his knees beneath her. She only kept on laughing. “It’s your turn. Draw a card.”

She pulled a card from the deck in his hand. Her heart thumped, almost hoping for a face card just so she could slake some of the need that was curling in her core. This close to Morgan, she couldn’t ignore the way he made her feel. To think she’d been kept from this kind of happiness for nine years would have destroyed her if she hadn’t found him once more.

Morgan held his breath, going completely still. She thought he, too, hoped for a face card. Instead, she turned it over to reveal a number. He let out a sigh of defeat. It didn’t stop his fingers from sliding along her body. One hand trailed down her thigh while the other rose along her waist.

“You need to ask me a question before you get too distracted.”

He hummed, devouring her with his eyes. “You’re right. I should do that.”

His fingers threaded through the hair at the base of her skull. A shiver ran down her spine before warming and tugging at her core. She thought he would pull her into a kiss. She waited for it, hungry.

Then, that smirk touched the corners of his mouth. “If you could do anything for the rest of your life, what would you do?”

She leaned back, his question cutting through the heated fog in her mind.

“I, ah, don’t know. I never thought about it.”

Morgan’s smirk dropped. His hands began to fall away, but she caught them and pulled them back around her.

“It’s not a bad question. You didn’t hurt me. I just…don’t know. That’s bad. Right?” She searched his gaze for a hint. What should she have said? That she wanted to go fishing every day? That wasn’t true. She turned inside herself to search for some kind of meaning, but without the Den, her life had been reset.

Instead of filling her with fear and dread, she drew in a deep breath and found it refreshing. There was a whole new life that sprawled out before her. It was filled with possibility. It was filled with promise.

Most importantly, she wouldn’t have to do it alone. Morgan would be beside her every step forward. He would hold her hand while she leapt into new endeavors. The thought filled her with excitement.

“I don’t know what I would want to do. Ask me again tomorrow. Ask me every morning. I’ll come up with the right answer someday.”

***

Morgan wanted to kiss her. Deeply. He wanted to reach inside her and feel her soul brush his. It glowed with brilliance now that she was free. There was a cloud that hung over their heads. Richard Stone was not yet finished with them.

He feared that Richard would rather blame Morgan and his family for Callie’s death than admit she rebelled. The fear sat in the corner of his mind no matter what they did. There was nothing that distracted him from what was coming for them.

That was a lie. He could think of one thing that would pull his thoughts away from doom. He pulled another card and tried to hide the frown that threatened to cross his face. Another number card. He was tempted to throw it over his shoulder and take control of the game Callie had made up. Instead, she grabbed the card from him and saw the truth for herself.

He would give her a few more cards until he took over. Getting to know his mate was nice, but he wanted to bury himself deep inside her. The beast grumbled in his mind. It thought she’d somehow removed all the face cards before he’d pulled her into his lap.

Callie tilted her head so that her hair cascaded over her shoulder. While she thought, he played with the long tendrils of her hair. It fell like silk over his fingers. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d touched something so soft. His hands had been filled with cold machinery and rough wood for years.

When he touched her, he feared that his calloused hands would be too harsh. He didn’t want to hurt her, to bruise her plush skin. It made him pull back, but when he did, she leaned into his touch.

“Why did you agree to leave when I told you to?”

The question came from nowhere. It punched him in the gut and left his head spinning. His lungs grasped for air where there was none. For a moment, Morgan had to steady himself before he could answer.

Callie waited patiently. The look on her face said she knew she’d caught him unaware. Yet, there was also a vulnerability that he saw when he looked at her. This was a question that might have gnawed at her. He did his best to gather his thoughts and give her the answer she deserved.

“All I wanted was to make you happy. If leaving you made you happy, then I wasn’t going to fight. You came at me with no explanation. It was like everything about my life had reversed. Where once I made you happy, you suddenly couldn’t stand the sight of my face.”

Morgan drew a haggard breath. The words didn’t come easy. He didn’t like to walk back to those days. He’d buried them long ago and never bothered to dig them up. “I knew that if I stayed and tried to get the truth from you, that I’d only make you more upset. I thought that if I left you alone for a while, let you work through whatever it was that changed your mind about me, that you would come find me. When you didn’t…”

When she hadn’t, Morgan had shut down a part of himself. He’d turned away from the thought of ever being happy like that again. Instead, Morgan found happiness in gaming. Being another person, even for a short while, allowed him to forget the pain of losing his mate. While the beast knew she was out there and that she belonged to them, his human mind was far more troubled.

She reached to run her hand along his cheek. Fingertips brushed his skin, feather light. He leaned into the touch and captured her hand between his cheek and shoulder. She was here now. It had only taken close to a decade for her to come and find him. It hadn’t even been of her own free will.

He swallowed, trying to summon a bit of strength. He wanted to love her, but she was right. They knew nothing about each other anymore. They were mysteries that needed to be unfolded. The desire that swamped both of them only delayed what needed to be done.

“I think it’s fair to say that neither of us got fair treatment. I was a fool,” Callie admitted. “I fell for a lie without a second thought. That was unfair of me. You deserved so much better.”

She spoke as if she would give him up for another to love him, and yet she held him tighter than ever.

“I promise to be better than I was.”

The beast growled through him. He greedily accepted her promise and drew her down for a kiss. Her lips parted for him, even more eager than the kiss he’d stolen at the festival. Callie opened to him. She touched him with abandon, in ways he’d only been able to dream of. She dragged her hands along his skin, through his hair, greedily exploring every inch of his body.

Together, they slid back onto the couch. Morgan balanced Callie’s body over his. He cradled her in his arms as she moved to fit her frame into his much larger one. She sank into him. It was a sensation he could have only dreamt of in the past years. Yet, here she was. His mate. His fate.

He gripped her hair and pulled her head back, exposing her neck as he rolled them over. Morgan dragged his teeth along the sensitive skin and felt her shudder beneath him. She couldn’t escape, couldn’t leave him.

But, she pressed her hands to his chest and pushed him back. Despite the flush of desire on her cheeks, she made them pause. Morgan could barely keep still. Callie was beneath him. Surely, she could feel the rise of his erection against her core, feel the passion in his fingers while he sought ways to please her.

His heart stuttered as he waited for her to say something.