Carnal Secrets

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Shay…Shay, you have to stop.” She really, really did, because the sensations crawling through him and over him were threatening Nick’s self-control. His wolf, his body, his soul—they all rejoiced in what she was doing, and they wanted one thing, and one thing only: to claim her right back. So did Nick, but he knew better, knew he couldn’t keep—

He groaned as she sank her teeth deeper. “Shay…” Then the tricky bitch was tearing open his fly and fishing out his cock. He sucked in a breath at the feel of her soft hand wrapped around him. He was hard and hot and aching, and she was fisting him with a possessive grip that was making him forget why he wanted to fight this.

Tangling a hand in her hair, he tugged hard in an attempt to dislodge her. She was having none of that. She simply bit down harder until she drew blood, growling. And God, that fucking possessive growl made the whole thing worse. His wolf approved of her strength, of her defiance. Nick yanked harder on her hair this time, but it was like she’d locked her jaw because he couldn’t make her release him. Then she was pumping him faster, stealing more and more of his control with each stroke, and sucking on the bite in time with her strokes. If he didn’t stop her, if he didn’t make her release him, there wasn’t a hope in hell that she’d leave this vehicle unclaimed. “Shay, stop,” he ordered.

The depth of authority in his tone almost made Shaya falter. Almost. This was her mate. He was hers. And he wasn’t going anywhere. When he tugged again on her hair, she responded by increasing the pace of her strokes, and smiled inwardly at the sound of his sharp intake of breath. She could sense his resolve weakening, could sense his temptation to claim her slithering all over him, and could sense just how little self-control he had left. It thrilled her wolf to know she could do this to him, to have this power over him. Submissive, my ass.

When the hand she’d knotted in his T-shirt released him, Nick peered down and watched as she opened the snap of her jeans and slid her hand inside her panties. Christ. Then she made that moaning sound that drove him fucking crazy. “Shay…” It wasn’t a sound of complaint or censure anymore. It was a plea for mercy. He was drowning in the sensations she was causing and the primal urge to take, to own, to claim. “Baby, you have to—” His sentence was cut off as the hand she’d jammed down her pants rose and inserted one wet finger into his mouth. Her taste exploded on his tongue. Fuck.

In seconds, Nick had shredded her jeans with his claws, lifted her in his arms, slammed her against the wall, and thrust deep inside her. She released his neck with a shocked gasp, raising determined eyes to his. He held himself still, searching for the control to withdraw, because if he fucked her right now, he’d claim her. No question.

Anger…he needed anger—it was a fuel that had always worked for him in the past. He didn’t have to dig for it, not while both he and his wolf were already raging at fate. His hard gaze drilled into hers. If he had to make her detest him so that she’d leave, then that was what he’d do. “Why would you want this, baby? Because you feel sorry for me? Because your conscience is telling you that it’s what you should do? I don’t want your fucking pity. I don’t want you.”

Did he really think she wouldn’t know what he was doing? Pfft. Shaya was well aware that he wanted to piss her off, to drive her away, to make her hate him enough to run out of this motor home and never look back. What an idiot. “I want this because I care about you, dumbass.”

“Care about me?” He didn’t have to force the snort—that was something he truly didn’t believe. “Nothing I’ve done since I got here has meant anything to you. Nothing. The only reason you gave me a chance was because you felt bad about going on a date—a date you never would have gone on if you cared—so don’t give me that shit.”

She ran her fingers through his hair. “It won’t work, Nick. You won’t push me away.”

It pissed him off that she’d seen right through him. That didn’t mean he’d give in. “I already have pushed you away. I did it the second I found you by ignoring you instead of claiming you. It put up a barrier between us, and that barrier will always be there, no matter what.”

She shook her head. “Not true.” That barrier had come down weeks ago, she now realized. She’d just been too bowled over by her insecurities to take this final step. Faced with the idea of him leaving, she realized that being without him would actually hurt more than if she took a chance and it didn’t pay off.

“It is, and you know it.” When she writhed and her pussy tightened around his cock, Nick grasped her hips hard to still her. “We never had a chance of making this work—you knew that from the beginning, I just didn’t want to accept it. But you were right; I get that now, and I’ll leave you to live your life just like you wanted.”

She gave him a gentle but self-satisfied smile. “It’s too late, Nick. I’ve claimed you. It’s done.” She didn’t think she’d heard of a submissive wolf being the first one out of a pair of mates to lay claim. The idea of that made her smile widen. Oh yeah, not only had she claimed a dominant alpha male before he’d claimed her, but she was now going to totally seduce that alpha male. This was a story to pass down to the grandkids—when they were old enough to hear it, obviously. Taryn was going to love it.

“It means nothing if I don’t accept that claim. And I don’t. Do you hear me?” Nick went nose to nose with her. “I don’t want you.” His wolf took a swipe at him for that. Nick didn’t blame him.

“Yes, you do,” she softly insisted, sliding her hands over his tense shoulders. “The truth is that the one misguided here is you. I claimed you for the right reasons. You’re trying to push me away for all the wrong ones.” She clenched her inner muscles around him, satisfied by his thick groan. “You want this, Nick. Stop fighting it.”

“Shay.”

It was a tortured plea that made her chest ache. “We’ll find a way to stop what’s happening to you. There are other healers out there. But you have to be prepared to battle it instead of rolling over onto your back and accepting it. Some dominant male you are.”

He growled. “Taunting me?” Even his wolf didn’t like that.

“Just pointing out a fact. No dominant male—especially a born alpha—would give up like this. But you are; you’re doing it. If you’re a dominant male, act like it.”

“I’m not going to fall for that.” Not when it concerned her well-being.

“And I’m not going to fall for your attempts at making me hate you.”

He shrugged. “Stalemate.” She squirmed slightly and, Christ, it was like his brain shut down for a second. Then a rush of her cream bathed his cock, wrenching a guttural groan from him. When she went to squirm again, he tightened his grip on her hips and warned her with a look. “Don’t fucking move.” He was too close to losing it.

“I can’t help it.” She truly couldn’t. Figuring some dirty talk would help, she said, “I need you, Nick. I need you to claim me.”

So did he; he felt like he’d go out of his goddamn mind if he didn’t.

“Please, Nick.” Oh, he appeared to like the begging. Ha. “Please, I need to come.”

His eyes flared at her. “You should have thought about that before.”

She raised a daring brow. “Then punish me.”

“Dammit, Shay.”

Seeing how well her efforts were working, she smiled inwardly. “Shall I lick you clean when you’re done?” His cock jerked inside her, and his hand abruptly collared her throat.

“Don’t think I won’t make you. They’re brave words, baby, but I don’t think you could back them up.”

“Is that one of the plans you said you had for my mouth?”

Nick squeezed his eyes shut, cursing. The sly little bitch was good at this, pushing all the right buttons.

“We’ll fight it, Nick.”

The sensitivity in her voice made him open his eyes; ones full of determination and arousal were staring back at him. “You’re stronger than anyone I know.”

Seeing that the fight had almost gone out of him, she pressed in a whimper, “Come on, Nick. Fuck me. Do it like you own me.”

“I do own you,” he said through clenched teeth, feeling his control slipping away, feeling her pulling him into a place where there was only Shaya and the need to claim. His wolf was urging him to give her what she wanted, to make it clear to her once and for all that she belonged to him and ensure that she could never dispute it again. Never had Nick been balanced so precariously on the edge of his control. When she drew his tongue into her mouth and sucked on it eagerly, it naturally had him remembering her sensual lips around his cock. Shit.

“Prove it.”

“You know what will happen if I do.” He’d claim her and she’d be tied to someone who—

He groaned as she again squirmed. More of his control slipped away.

“I don’t care, I want this. I want you to claim me. Now, Nick, I need to come. Please.”

With his mate’s gaze holding his, offering everything she had and everything she was, the will to fight this any longer left him. His worries and his reservations left him. All that mattered was Shaya and finally claiming what was his.

Growling, Nick slammed his mouth down on hers, eating at it, plundering it with his tongue. She went pliant under the assault, making him growl approvingly into her mouth. Pulling back, he bit her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. “How bad do you want to come?”

Relief and triumph surged through Shaya, invigorating her. The uncertainty and anxiety had disappeared from his eyes; there was now only pure male need blazing at her. It thrilled her wolf just as much as it did Shaya. “Bad.” She gasped as he cocked his hips, giving her a shallow thrust.

Extending his claws, Nick easily stripped her of her top and bra. “I’m going to fuck you hard, Shay.” He rotated his hips, putting pressure on her clit until she whimpered. With one hand still gripping her hip, he let his free hand roam over her body. “But you’re not going to come.” He clutched her ass and shifted her angle, flexing his cock inside her and making her gasp. “You’re going to fight it until I say you can come.”

Oh that so wouldn’t be possible, not while she was hanging on the edge. Not while the need to be claimed was like a fever in her blood. “Nick—”

“You taunted me, baby,” he reminded her, pinching her nipple just right until she released that amazing moan. “You can’t taunt me and expect to get away with it. And you tried to take the dominant role here too, didn’t you? Tut, tut, tut. You knew I wouldn’t like that, you know I like to have the control. To make matters worse, you lied to me.”

“I didn’t—”

He cut her off with a hard, punishing thrust. “Oh, you did. You told me you wanted a hug. But you wanted to get close enough to claim me, didn’t you? You tricked me.” He shook his head in reprimand, thumbing her clit once. “I can’t have that.”

Seeing his eyes blazing with resolve and heat, Shaya knew that this mating was going to be every bit as rough and hard and explosive as the claiming between true mates was reported to be. It would be no-holds-barred. The idea excited and unnerved her in equal measures.

Leaning forward, Nick licked the crook of her neck. “I’m going to mark you right here.” He sucked at the spot. “Here, where everyone can see it, so that everyone knows you’re mine, that you belong to me. So everyone knows this pussy belongs to me, and only I can have it. Do you understand that? Only I can have you. Say it.”

Shaya swallowed hard at the authority pouring from him, heating her entire body. Her wolf was melting from it. “Only you can have me.”

“That’s right. Very good.” He rewardingly cupped her breast with the right amount of pressure, knowing what she liked. “No one else will ever be inside you. And if anyone even tries to touch what’s mine, I’ll strangle them with their own spleen.” And then he was powering into her at a frantic pace, staring into her glazed eyes, not letting her look away. She clawed at his back as if trying to anchor herself, tearing into his T-shirt and branding him at the same time. Her legs squeezed him so tight that her heels dug into his ass, which only speared him on. When he felt her inner muscles begin to flutter around him, he snapped, “Fight it.”

Shaya whined. “I can’t.”

“But you will.”

Before Shaya knew it, he’d jerked her away from the wall, withdrawn from her, lowered her to her feet, and then spun her around. Suddenly she found herself facing the small table of the dinette.

Nick sucked on her earlobe. “Bend over.”

If anyone else had spoken to her with that amount of authority, with such expectation of her total and utter submission, she would have scoffed at their order and slapped them. But not with Nick. Never with Nick. He’d earned her submission on every level. She knew she could never have given up this depth of control to anyone but him, could never have been this comfortable with anyone else, or felt this safe with anyone else.

“Don’t make me repeat myself, Shay.”

Shivering at the dominant growl, she obediently bent over and gripped the table. The cool of the wood against her breasts made her gasp. When a hand abruptly came down hard on her ass, she jumped.

“That was for ignoring me when I told you to fight your orgasm, trying to escape your punishment.” Again he spanked her ass. “That was for almost taking my head off with a baseball bat—oh no, baby, I haven’t forgotten about that.” He made the third spank extra hard. “And that was for going on a date with the web designer and almost tearing my heart out of my fucking chest.” He lightly massaged the prints he’d left on her ass, blowing on them. Then he drove one finger inside her and swirled it around, loving the look of her bent over, submitting to him and finally fully accepting that she was his. “Christ, you’re so wet.”

Withdrawing his finger, he ran it to her puckered hole and circled it teasingly. “This is another place I’ll be claiming soon, baby.” They had been slowly getting her ready for it. “Very, very soon. But right now, I have other plans.” He knotted a hand in her hair, snatched her head back, and buried himself inside her in one long, smooth stroke. They both groaned. Her pussy clamped down on him, tight as a fist and so fucking hot and wet. Folding over her, he spoke into her ear. “Remember: Don’t come yet.”

As he suddenly began pounding into her, bliss tinged with relief rocketed through Shaya. Finally he was taking her. It was wilder than the other times he’d been inside her—more intense, more uninhibited, more everything. His pace was literally feverish as he fucked in and out of her. With him blanketing her body and pinning her in place, all she could do was take it. The feel of the denim of his jeans rubbing against the sensitive skin of her ass heightened the other sensations. The tension inside her kept building and building, making it more and more difficult to hold back her orgasm.

“Are you ready for me to claim you?” She nodded, releasing a broken moan of assent. Nick’s voice was almost harsh as he continued. “You know what it’ll mean, Shay, don’t you? I won’t let you go. Not ever. Not for anything or anyone. There’ll be no more holding back from me—I won’t stand for that. I want everything that you are, everything you can give. Can you handle that?”

Shaya gave him a sideways glance. “Only if I get the same.”

Nick grinned. There was that sassiness he loved. “That’s my girl.”

As he licked the crook of her neck, Shaya’s entire body tingled in anticipation. Her claws shot out, making deep grooves in the cherry wood table.

“Shall I let you come now?” When she began to sob, Nick frantically slammed in and out of her, wrenching loud cries from her. “That’s it, baby, let me hear you. You know how much I love hearing those noises you make.” He slid his free hand around her body, finding her clit and circling it with his finger. “Come. Now.” She did; her pussy clutched and rippled around him as she screamed his name, making him explode inside her. It was right then that he bit down hard and deep at the crook of her neck, sucking hard and licking so that there was no mistaking what that mark was to her or to anyone else: the ultimate irrevocable brand, a claiming.

A zing bowed Shaya’s back as a sharp pain lanced through her head, but it was quickly gone and replaced with warmth, and calm, and a sense of “home.” She’d never felt so safe, so sheltered, so utterly complete—and maybe that meant so much more to her because she had felt so broken her entire life. Not now. The cold loneliness was gone—she could feel him inside her and surrounding her. There was only her bond with Nick, and it was much stronger than she would have expected. Not totally complete, but it was by no means weak. Maybe it was because they had both wanted this for so long, or maybe it was because the claiming had been a total surrender on both parts. She didn’t know, and she was too content and at peace to ponder much over it. She wondered if this was what it felt like to be high.

Drawn to the mark on her neck like it was all that existed, Nick licked it again and again, filled with self-satisfaction and elatedness and a sense of completeness. He could feel what Shaya was feeling—it was the same things that he himself was feeling. His wolf felt at peace for the first time. Oh, he’d always be moody and remote in many ways, but he no longer found the world so bleak. How could he when Shaya’s warmth was filling the empty spaces inside him?

A dark voice whispered in Nick’s mind, reminding him of why he’d been fighting this, but Nick wouldn’t let fear creep in and fuck with this. He’d do what Shaya said, he’d battle this with everything he had. And now he had the biggest incentive possible—his mate’s happiness depended on him winning that battle.

“I’ll be right there with you the entire time,” said Shaya.

Yeah…this sensing his feelings thing would take a little getting used to. “I know.” He kissed her mark, licking over it one last time before standing upright. Surprised to find that he was steady on his feet considering that it felt like his whole world had tipped on its axis, he slowly withdrew from her and stepped back. When she, too, was standing, she turned to face him and smiled up at him—a free, easy smile he’d never seen before. “I hope you meant it when you said you could handle this, Shay, because I’ll never let you leave.”

“Same here, Beavis.”

“For the millionth time, I’m not stupid.” Before she could tease him further, he loosely collared her neck with both hands and shook her playfully. She laughed—a sound as free as her smile. And he knew right then that he’d do whatever it took to keep hearing that sound and seeing that smile.

Half an hour later, Nick and Shaya returned to the house, where she quickly dressed in fresh clothes…clothes that were then removed so he could be inside her again. They then made their way downstairs to find that everyone had gathered in the backyard. Nick could only gape at the sight. Many of the shifters were swimming in the pool while music was playing and lots of food was being passed around. Nick turned to Shaya. “They think this is a summer camp or something, don’t they?”

Shaya could only smile at the consternation on Nick’s face. He’d apparently had enough of their constant company and was on the verge of snapping. “Guys? Guys?” Finally they all turned to look at them both, smiling. Then eyes zoomed in on the claiming marks, and everyone was talking at once.

“Finally,” drawled Derren, grinning, from his sun lounger.

Simultaneously, Roni, Kathy, and Amber hopped out of the pool and all hurried over to hug Shaya and Nick. Not liking even the thought of another female with her hands on Nick—particularly when said female coveted him and was only dressed in a skimpy bikini—both Shaya and her wolf wanted to slash Amber’s face. But Shaya pasted on a smile, settling slightly when Nick stepped away from Amber and curled an arm tightly around Shaya before kissing her temple.

Trey, Tao, Bracken, Jesse, and Zander came over to pass on their congratulations, shaking Nick’s hand and merely nodding at Shaya—they weren’t dumb enough to hug her right now. From her spot on a lounger, Greta raised her teacup and smiled. Shaya tensed the second Dominic came over, knowing he had no sense of self-preservation. But he wasn’t wearing his usual flirty smile.

When Nick growled warningly at the blond pervert, Dominic raised his hands in a gesture of peace. “I only want to pass on my congratulations like everyone else. I won’t lie—I had my reservations about you, Nick, but Shaya’s a good friend of mine, and I want her to be happy. If you make her happy…well, that’s good enough for me.” He offered his hand to Nick, who slowly shook it. Dominic then gave Shaya a nod, just as the others had.

“So just like that, you’re fine with this?” asked Nick, skeptical.

Dominic shrugged. “I learned a lot about you today. Not really personal stuff. But your mom talked about you a lot, told me how you pulled through for your old pack at a time when they needed you, even though you’d only just got out of juvie. I can respect that.” He tilted his head. “Your mom told me you had some Portuguese in you. I never would have guessed. I have some Irish in me, like Shaya.”

Frowning, Shaya shook her head. “I don’t have Irish in me.”

“You don’t? Really?” That flirty smile crept onto his face. “Would you like some in you?” Anticipating that Nick would make a grab for him, Dominic quickly jerked out of the way. But Nick was too fast; he grabbed him and launched him into the pool. When Dominic burst to the surface of the water, he shouted in exhilaration and went into a fit of laughter.

Trey growled at his enforcer. “Could you try being normal for just a little while? I’d rather not have to take you home in a fucking casket.”

Shaya moved her attention to the person whose support she needed most. Taryn was sitting at the patio table beside Trey, her expression slightly sulky. “You’re uncharacteristically quiet.”

“If you’re going to tell her she rushed into this or some shit like that,” began Nick, “you should—”

Taryn snorted. “Easy there, Axton. I’m actually happy for you guys. I’m not saying I think you’re good enough for Shaya—no one will be good enough for her, in my eyes.” A huge sigh. “But it just occurred to me that this means Shaya will never be part of my pack again. Face it, Nick, you can’t obey Trey—or any other wolf, for that matter—and we all know it. But that means I can’t have Shaya back, and I hate that. Yeah, that’s selfish, but I never claimed I was unselfish.”

Nick stifled a smile at her petulant expression. “It’s not like you’re losing her. She’ll still be visiting you and stuff.”

“Will you be coming, too?” Taryn smirked—she knew the answer.

“I’ll be waiting for her in the car. You people annoy the shit out of me.”

Taryn leaned forward in her seat, her face imploring. “Please say you guys will have your mating ceremony on Phoenix territory? That’s your real home, Shaya. Nick’s family and Caleb can come too, obviously.”

Shaya looked up at him. “I’d like that. Is that okay for you?”

Nick shrugged. “If you want us to have the ceremony there, I’m good with that.” Trey chuckled, drawing Nick’s attention. “What’s funny?”

“I just find myself reminded of that time when you visited my territory and the subject of a mating ceremony for Taryn and me was brought up. I said if she wanted to have one, we’d have one, but that if she didn’t, we wouldn’t. What was it you said? Oh, that’s it. You said I shouldn’t let my mate have her own way all the time. Hmm. Right back atcha.”

Nick scowled at him. “Whatever, asshole—you mated a psycho.” Trey nodded in agreement, looking proud. Twisted.

Chuckling, Shaya shook her head against Nick’s chest. When she nipped it, he peered down at her. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

His arm contracted around her. “Where are you going?”

“To make some coffee. Want some?”

“Sure.” For the hell of it, he bit her lip hard before she pulled away.

Giving him a mock frown, Shaya turned and waltzed back into the house. She had only just switched on the coffee machine when she picked up Amber’s scent. Her wolf growled.

“I just wanted to say congratulations once again,” said Amber as she appeared beside her. Her eyes bulged as she added excitedly, “We have to get started on the plans for the mating ceremony!” Not only was she effectively inviting herself to the ceremony, but she was doing the BFF thing. Shaya had had enough of it.

As everyone was still outside and the music was blaring enough to keep the conversation private, Shaya figured that now would be as good a time as any to get things straight with her and Amber. “Listen, I appreciate the offer, but we both know that it wasn’t made out of the kindness of your heart.” Amber looked appropriately offended. “You don’t want to befriend me. My guess is that, on the contrary, you hate me…because you want Nick and I have him.”

Amber’s expression darkened, and her eyes became diamond hard, no longer hiding the hatred she had. At least she wasn’t going to play the “Oh, you’ve got it all wrong” game.

“I can’t be pissed at you for wanting Nick—it would make me a huge hypocrite. But if you care about him, you won’t try to mess things up for him. I say ‘try’ because it’s not something you’ll succeed in doing if you do make an attempt at it. But hopefully, you won’t want to.”

In a sickly sweet voice full of contempt, Amber said, “Of course I wouldn’t mess things up for Nick. I want him to be happy.”

Shaya gave her a beaming smile. “Great. I’m glad that’s settled.”

Amber turned on her heel and marched away, but then she suddenly halted and pivoted to face Shaya once more. Deviousness twinkled in her eyes. “I really do hope you two will be happy. I know a few mated dominant/submissive pairs. They’re all happy. Even the ones whose bond hasn’t completely snapped into place. Not totally happy, but happy enough, given the circumstances. Oh, did you not know that fully mating can be a problem for dominant/submissive pairs?”

No, Shaya hadn’t, and her expression must have given that away because there was a glint of smugness in Amber’s gaze.

“No one knows exactly what the issue is,” she said as she did a cocky strut around the room, “but it seems to be that taking the very last step is hard because it requires both shifters to accept what that means. Dominants often have to give up any ambitions of being Alpha or holding positions of authority within their pack. Submissives have to accept that they hold their mate back and that their strength will never match that of their mate. Some dominants are okay with that, but the submissive of the pair isn’t always so okay with it because knowing they hold their mate back is hard. Especially if it’s the guy who’s submissive, or if the dominant of the pair is a born alpha. But hey, don’t worry, it doesn’t mean that will happen to you and Nick.”

But Amber would try her best to ensure it did happen, Shaya understood. It wasn’t an uncommon thing for jealous ex-partners or shunned pursuers to try to stop the shifter they wanted from fully bonding with their mate. It was the ultimate form of revenge and, in a lot of cases, it could work. In this case, it had a high chance of happening without Amber’s help because the difficulties Nick and Shaya faced were exactly those she had described.

“Can you imagine how hard that must be to have your mate so close but for him to never totally want and accept you? That would be a hell like no other, wouldn’t it?”

Yes, it would. If a bond seemed to be taking too long to click into place, resentment and anger and depression would build—not a good combination. That combination would then make it more difficult for the bond to fully form. Shaya had seen it happen. But she wouldn’t let it happen to her and Nick. “I guess I should make it clear to anyone who thinks of trying to interfere with the development of the bond that I won’t stand for it.”

Amber gave a short laugh, regarding Shaya like she was ridiculous. “What is it you will do to these people? Other than cower and submit, I mean.”

Shaya smiled. “I’d warn them that they really don’t want to find out the answer to that.”

“But for them to defeat you…all they would have to do is this.” Amber’s dominant vibes crashed into Shaya, attempting to force her to submit. When that didn’t happen, Amber’s eyes widened in both surprise and anger.

“Hopefully that would be enough to make those people think twice about coming at me. What do you think?”

Clearly too infuriated to remember to keep up her sweet, friendly-friendly act, Amber curled her upper lip at Shaya…and it was apparent exactly what Amber intended to do. Before the dominant female had the chance to charge at her, Shaya quickly grabbed the knife block beside her and whipped out a knife, hurling it in Amber’s direction. Just as quickly, she threw another, and another, and another, and another…and smiled at the end result.

As Nick walked into the kitchen in search of Shaya, he came to an abrupt halt at the sight he found. There was Amber, plastered against the wall with five knives stabbing into the wall and framing her body. And Shaya…well, she was smiling cheerily and somewhat sweetly. “What’s going on?” he asked dubiously. His mate shrugged, still the image of innocence.

“I was just showing Amber my knife trick,” Shaya told him, pulling the knives from the wall. “Cool, huh?”

Pretty certain there was a lot more to this, Nick narrowed his eyes at Amber. But then Shaya was in front of him, kissing and holding him…and he decided that if she didn’t care, fuck it. Having shot Amber a cautioning look—which received a gulp and made her quickly depart—he locked his arms tight around Shaya. “Are you sure everything’s okay?” Her smile wobbled slightly. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Or, at least, nothing I want to talk about right now.”

Pleased that she wasn’t trying to blow him off, Nick planted a firm kiss on her mouth. “Then we’ll talk about it later.”

As Taryn then entered the room with Roni close behind, she smiled awkwardly at Shaya. “We might have a problem. A problem other than that Greta’s still alive and kicking, that is.”

Shaya rolled her eyes. “What?”

“When I spoke to Caleb on the phone yesterday, I told him about how Nick tracked you down—he was harassing me and making me feel guilty, saying we were leaving him out of everything.”

“I don’t mind you telling Caleb.” When Taryn’s awkward expression remained, Shaya narrowed her eyes. “That’s not the ‘problem’ you mentioned, is it?

“No. He called me just now and, well…Remember I said he complained we were leaving him out of everything? Well, he thought it was only him who we hadn’t bothered to tell about Nick finding you. So he sort of might have mentioned it to your parents, thinking they already knew.”

“What?”

“And they sort of might have demanded to know if he’s claimed you yet and when the mating ceremony is.”

“Taryn!”

“It’s not my fault. Blame Caleb.”

Running a hand over Shaya’s curls, Nick asked, “You didn’t want your parents to know you’re mated?”

“Not until after the ceremony, because then my mother couldn’t insist on going.” She grimaced.

Roni cocked her head. “Why wouldn’t you want her to go?”

“My mom isn’t like yours.”

Confused, Roni frowned. “In what way?”

“She’s evil,” supplied Taryn. “Her dad’s okay, though…albeit a little unbalanced.” Shaya couldn’t deny that.

Nick tightened his hold on his mate, rubbing her back. “She’s not coming to the mating ceremony.”

“I doubt she wants to,” said Shaya, “but she’ll go for the sake of appearances. In any case, my dad will want to be there, and he’ll force her to do her motherly duty and attend.”

“I don’t care what they want.” Nick leaned his forehead against hers. “If you don’t want them there, they don’t go—that’s it.”

“It’s not that I don’t want my dad there. It’s just that I know he won’t leave my mom behind.”

“Then they both stay behind.”

“I agree.” Taryn nodded. “Now I’m going to save my son from Yoda—he’s due to have a nap soon. If you guys are going to go upstairs again, try not to make too much noise, okay?”

“We’re not that loud,” maintained Shaya, blushing.

Taryn’s expression said, “Sure you’re not.” Aloud she said, “By the way, Nick, I have to say you’re good at the dirty talk—you could give Trey a run for his money. You know who else is good at it? Cam.”

Shaya gasped, shocked. Cam was a reasonably quiet mated Phoenix wolf with the cutest baby face. “Really?”

“Really.” Taryn shook her head in disbelief. “To look at him, I wouldn’t have thought he had it in him. I think Derren would be good at it too. What do you think?”

Before Shaya could answer that, Nick slapped a hand over her mouth. “Just in case you say something that could get Derren killed,” he explained to Shaya. He threw a warning look at a departing, laughing Taryn, who had clearly been baiting him. He looked into his mate’s amused eyes. “You have a very strange friend. I shouldn’t like her, but I find that I do.” When amusement fled from Shaya’s eyes and they became more like lasers, he dropped his hand and kissed her hard on the mouth. “Not the way I like you, baby. I told you, you never have to feel insecure about us.”

“Maybe you should reassure me a little. In the bedroom. Naked.”

A grin spread across Nick’s face. “I’ll reassure you anytime you want.”

When a soaking-wet Dominic appeared at Shaya’s side, fidgeting with a weird grimace on his face, she looked at him questioningly.

He wiped a hand over his brow. “Is it hot in here, or is it just you?” Naturally, Nick’s fist went flying at his jaw. Laughing, Dominic barely dodged it. He had to be suicidal.