Feral Sins

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Well shit. Taryn plonked herself on the bathroom stool as utter shock overcame her entire being. Her breaths started coming in short shallow pants and a slight tremor ran through her body. A cocktail of emotions swished through her, around her, over her, and she couldn’t make any sense of them. A part of her wanted Trey, wanted his arms around her comforting her, but she knew that if she tried to stand her legs wouldn’t support her. She also knew that there was a very good chance that comfort wasn’t what she would get.

It was her full bladder that had woken her early and made her slip out of Trey’s secure hold. As she had stumbled her way into the bathroom still half-asleep, she had found herself frowning as she became aware that something wasn’t quite right. Nothing that set off any alarm bells, nothing that was making her wolf agitated or apprehensive. On the contrary, her wolf was extremely content, though maybe a little more on the alert than usual. Still, something was different and it was pissing her off enough that Taryn began to snap out of her drowsy state. And then she understood; her scent. It had changed again. For a second she’d wondered if it was something to do with the bonding, but an age old instinct surfaced and told her exactly why it was different. Pregnant. She was pregnant.

Just how the hell had that happened? Okay, sure, she knew how, but she had been taking her pills on time, she hadn’t missed a single one. The contraceptive pills designed for shifters were a lot stronger than those used by humans and they were 99.9% fool proof. Yeah she realized that wasn’t a guarantee, but no one expects to be in the 0.1% do they?

No wonder her wolf was so content. Now that the fog had cleared, Taryn found that she herself was…happy. She had always wanted pups of her own, though she’d never dared hope too strongly that it would ever happen. How could she not be happy to know that growing inside her was a little person who was half her and half the person she loved? Now Trey, on the other hand…there was no telling how he would react.

In a few months he had gone from wanting jack shit in terms of relationships to being partially bonded – that was a lot for someone like him. He might not feel ready yet. Hell, given Trey’s nature, there was a chance he hadn’t pictured ever having any kids. Not that Taryn would have agreed to never have any, but she would have agreed to give him time. It would hurt to find out he didn’t want this baby, but that could very well be the case and she knew she had to prepare herself for that – mostly so that she could refrain from clawing his eyes out. It was amazing just how protective she was of this unborn life already.

She wasn’t sure how long she had sat there planning what she would say and panicking as the right words wouldn’t come when she heard Trey call out her name. Shit. “I’ll be out in a sec.” Apparently that wasn’t good enough for him as he then rose from the bed and began unsteadily making his way to the bathroom.

“Taryn, what’s wrong?”

Great, so he had sensed her panic. “Nothing I’m fine.” The door swung open and, frowning at her, he stepped inside. Then he halted abruptly as his frown deepened and his nostrils flared. A few seconds later his eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. There was no mistaking the smell of a pregnant wolf. She gave him a cautious, wobbly smile. “Hi.”

Although Trey had never had a way with words, he had never found himself knocked enough to be speechless. Until now. When he had sensed her anxiety, he had thought that maybe she’d had a nightmare or was worrying herself stupid about the challenge taking place tomorrow – what else was going to wake her up in a panic at dumb ‘o’ clock in the morning? The distinctive change to her scent had hit him immediately as he entered the room, but not harder than his understanding of what that meant.

The sight of his little mate huddled on the stool as if bracing herself for a fierce impact made something in his chest tighten. His reaction, she was bracing herself for his reaction. Her emotions were all over the place, but her primary emotion was happiness. She was happy. Scared and shocked, but happy. And she feared he wouldn’t feel the same.

His wolf bucked at the reigns, wanting to be near her, to protect her, to hold her. Wanting the same and knowing he needed to say something, Trey went to her and squatted in front of the stool. “You’re pregnant.” Oh hell, he was getting worse with words if all he could do was state the obvious.

“Yeah. Pregnant. I’ve been taking my pills but…” She let the sentence trail, shrugging.

“I…I have no idea what to say, baby.”

She smiled a little at his apologetic expression. “I don’t need you to say anything. I just need to know if you’re okay with this. I can’t sense anything from you.”

“That’s probably because I’m numb.” Her small smile fell and Trey wanted to kick himself. “No, I don’t mean...” He sighed. “Baby, I don’t know what I mean.” This here and now showed just how much of an unfeeling bastard he was. He was supposed to be over the fucking moon, wasn’t he? Wasn’t this supposed to be one of the top moments of his life? Here was his mate telling him she was pregnant. Pregnant. His mate was pregnant. She was having a baby. His baby. His son or his daughter…And then the surreal quality of the situation cleared and it actually sank in that, shit, Taryn was pregnant with his baby.

Slowly he raised his hand and placed it on her stomach. A fierce sense of protectiveness surged through him, stealing his breath. Her half smile returned, but it was forced and shaky. Even as she had a fragile look about her, there was pure steel there. She was ready to kick his ass if he said anything negative. He leaned forward and closed his mouth over hers, kissing her greedily, and suddenly became aware that, hey, he was happy about this. No, more than happy. He was…kind of excited. He rested his forehead against hers as he spoke. “If someone had told me a few months back that I’d soon be mated with a baby on the way, I’d have laughed my fucking head off. You changed everything, Taryn.”

She knew he didn’t mean it in a bad way. Still, she couldn’t resist teasing him. “Me? This is all me, is it?”

“All you. You’ve made me want things I never would have expected to want. Things I didn’t think were on the cards for me.” He massaged her stomach gently. “Like him.”

She arched a brow. “Him? It could be a ‘her’.”

“I’m not going to be very good at the dad thing. You know that, right?”

Taryn pinned him with a look as she cradled his face in her hands. “You will be. I know you will be.”

“Baby, I don’t know anything about being a dad – mine was an asshole.”

“Exactly. Just do everything your dad didn’t do.”

There was actually logic in that, he thought. He could work with logic. His gaze was drawn again to her flat stomach. So slender. She was so slender and so damn small. He didn’t see how she could carry a baby inside that body and not snap in half with the strain.

Sensing his fear that she might be hurt, Taryn kissed him softly. “I’ll be fine.”

“Nothing can happen to you, Taryn,” he insisted.

“Nothing will. I’ll be fine. We’ll be fine.”

He scrutinised her face as he asked in a low voice, “How does it feel? To know you hold my sanity in your hands?” If he lost her, if she left his life, his sanity would go right along with her.

She smiled, brushing her nose against his. “Trey, whatever makes you think that you’re sane now?”

He chuckled, shaking his head. He nipped her bottom lip then sucked it into his mouth, liking the way her eyes flared with lust. She was so responsive it was enough to drive him crazy. He kissed her softly, denying her his tongue just to tease her. “You better be okay, baby, or I swear I’ll blister your ass with the palm of my hand.”

“Like last night?” Her eyes widened as something occurred to her. “Oh shit.”

“What?”

“I can’t believe our baby was conceived in front of the guys.”

He couldn’t help smiling. “Something tells me they’ll be pleased about that.”

“What about everyone else? How do you think they’ll feel about the pregnancy?”

“There’s only one way to find out.”

When half an hour later they stepped, hand in hand, into the kitchen, they were granted their usual brief nods and smiles. Then everyone’s nostrils flared, the chatter stopped, and all eyes zoomed in on Taryn.

She knew the pregnancy was an extremely significant thing. For some reason no one had yet been able to explain, wolf shifters couldn’t produce their own offspring unless either their Alpha pair or their Beta pair had done so. Nature had really funny ways, in her opinion. Now that Taryn was pregnant, it meant that it was possible for Grace and Rhett or Lydia and Cam to begin their own families, which was probably a lot to do with why all four of those looked absolutely ecstatic.

Dante was the first to react. He jumped to his feet and strolled over to slap Trey on the back. “Congratulations.” He quickly kissed her cheek and artfully dodged Trey’s subsequent clout. “With his gene pool, he’ll be a powerful Alpha.” Suddenly they were surrounded by most of the pack, and Lydia and Grace were squealing excitedly.

Tao raised his hand. “I claim bodyguard duty!”

Ryan grunted. “Damn little shit, I was going to do that.”

“I’m going to be an uncle,” said Dominic excitedly. “If it’s a boy, I’ll teach him all he needs to know about reeling in women.”

Trick snorted. “You mean you’ll teach him those dirty lines you’re always subjecting us to.” He gave Taryn a quick hug and said, “Congratulations, honey.”

“Speaking of dirty chat up lines,” drawled Dominic as he turned to Taryn, wearing that all too familiar wicked grin. When she shook her head, warning him to keep it to himself, he sighed. “I can’t help it. I love your hair, your eyes, and your smile. Hell, I love every bone in your body. Want to add one more?” As usual, Trey hit him.

“Don’t worry about Dom, Taryn.” Marcus patted her stomach gently. “I’ll teach the little guy in there the art of flirting so that he never has to use those lines.”

“I’ll teach him how to throw a ball,” declared Dante. “And how to drive.”

“That’s nice and all,” said Ryan, “but you know I’m going to be his favorite uncle, right?”

“Um, hello,” said Taryn. “The baby could be a ‘her’, you know.” They all gave her sympathetic looks as if they pitied her for even thinking something they perceived to be dumb. She might have scowled at them if, to Taryn’s astonishment, the old crone hadn’t suddenly approached wearing a genuine smile. Just like that, Trey, Dante, and the enforcers formed a wall in front of her. Oh dear God, was she going to have to put up with this overprotectiveness for the entire five months of the pregnancy? It certainly looked like it.

“I’m not going to hurt her.”

Nobody moved to let her pass.

“She and I might not always see eye to eye, but that’s my great-grandchild in there.”

Their expressions said that wasn’t relevant.

Sighing, Taryn hopped up onto the counter behind her. Immediately Trey spun to face her. “Be careful jumping around like that.”

Taryn double-blinked. “Oh my God, you’ve got to be kidding me. Chill, Flinstone. Grace, I need one of your magical coffees.”

“No, no coffee,” said Grace. “Caffeine’s not good for you during pregnancy.” As Grace then rambled on about all the other things Taryn wouldn’t be able to drink or eat, she felt her mood plummet.

“You look tired, baby. Want me to take you back to bed?”

She looked at him in sheer disbelief. “No, I don’t. None of you get to treat me like an invalid – let’s just clear that up right now.”

“It’s great to have some good news for a change,” said Brock with a smile. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been around any pups.” He turned to Kirk. “Well, son, aren’t you going to congratulate our Alphas?”

Kirk said nothing. Just sat next to an equally mute Hope looking kind of…defeated.

“She’s pregnant?” hissed Selma. “Oh. Great. Not only are we stuck with her, but we’ve got Warner blood polluting our pack!”

“Selma,” growled Trey, more protective of Taryn than ever before.

“Twelve weeks you said she’d be here! Twelve weeks! Then you try telling us she’s your true mate! I’ve waited for you to see the truth, waited for you to see that you’re wrong and she’s just fooling you so she can be Alpha fe -”

“You know, Selma,” began Taryn, interrupting her mid-rant, “you’re behaving like a drug-crazed Terrier trying to catch and chew off its own tail. Seriously, pursuing you’re mated Alpha is insane and suicidal. It really is time to get off the ‘Selma Gets Whatever She Wants’ plane and accept the facts. I am Trey’s mate, I am Alpha female here, and you don’t have a prayer of changing that. We’ve got enough things to worry about so stop with your tantrum or I’ll have to do what I like to call making my point in a way that no one can misinterpret. Others might refer to it as breaking your fucking nose.”

“That wouldn’t be so bad,” said Grace, sounding hopeful.

Selma refused to drop the matter. “Trey, how can you not see her for what she really is? Everything was fine here until she came along.”

Reminding himself that hitting females wasn’t a good thing, Trey released his frustration with a long exhale. “Well if you’re so unhappy, feel free to leave. In fact, you’re more than welcome to leave with Darryl tomorrow after the challenge. If there’s anything left of him. I can’t guarantee there will be.”

“M-maybe I will l-leave,” she replied, seeming to be truly shocked that Trey would choose Taryn over her. Why? “Maybe Hope and I w-will start our own p-pack.”

“I never said anything about Hope. If she wants to leave, she can…but it won’t be because you bullied her into it.”

Predictably, Selma stormed out of the room wearing the scowl from hell. For once, Hope didn’t follow her, making her loyalties clear. Kirk, too, remained where he was.

Taryn spent the next few hours being fussed over by almost the entire pack. At first, she was feeling pretty damn claustrophobic and had fought the urge to bash everybody’s skulls in with the cast iron frying pan. But when she was nicely placed on the reclining end of the humungous sofa with a mug of hot milk and a pack of cookies while Marcus massaged her shoulders and Dominic massaged her feet, she was thinking it was good to be a pregnant Alpha.

Then Trey had to go and mess it up. “I want you to stay here while I go to meet Lance about the challenge.” They had notified her father yesterday via the pack web about the challenge and arranged a meeting for this morning at Mo’s Diner.

She sat up straight in the recliner. “Oh hell no!”

“Baby, don’t fight me on this. You know it’s a good idea for you to remain home where you’ll be protected.”

“Alpha pairs deal with issues together, they go to meetings together.”

“It’s different now. You need to be careful, you’re having our baby.” God, it was weird saying that, but not in a bad way, which made it even weirder.

“Oh puhlease, you’d have said the same damn thing if I hadn’t been pregnant. You don’t get to use our baby as an excuse to keep me cooped up here. We both know that’s exactly what you’re doing.”

He tilted his head, conceding that. “Okay. So I would have said the same thing no matter what. It’s only because I want you safe. I don’t like you being near your father, even if he does seem to have a newfound respect for you.” She just stared at him, completely unmoved. “Taryn, you’ve got no idea just how protective and possessive my wolf is feeling right now. He’s not going to cope well with you being around strangers, and he’s really not going to like you being around a wolf who has repeatedly hurt you.”

“So now your wolf is getting the blame?”

“Taryn,” he groaned. “Your father isn’t going to be the only Alpha male there. He’s also bringing along ten very powerful Alphas from his collection of alliances. Ten wolves I don’t know or trust. Then there’ll also be whatever enforcers or bodyguards they each decide to bring along. That’s a lot of strange wolves. Is it really so unreasonable to ask you to stay here where you’ll be away from them? Is it really so unreasonable to want you to stay away from any possible danger?” She didn’t answer, just continued to stare at him blankly. “Taryn, are you even listening to me?”

“I pretended to, so let that be enough.”

“He has a point though, Taryn,” said Tao.

She raised an eyebrow at the traitor. “If I want your opinion, I’ll kick it out of you, okay?”

When Tao went to speak again, Dante put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. “You should know by now that when she’s smiling like that it’s not a good sign and best to leave her alone.”

Suddenly Grace appeared and placed a glass in her hand. “Here, drink this. You need plenty of nutrients and lots of folic acid in your diet so -”

Taryn grimaced. “What the hell is that?”

“Fruit juice.”

“Really? Strange. Because it looks like vomit.”

“Grace, will you tell her it’s best to stay behind,” said Trey. “It’s not a good idea for her to be going to stressful meetings while she’s pregnant.”

Taryn poked him in the chest. “Oh no, Flinstone, you don’t get to drag Grace into this. I am going to this meeting.”

“Don’t make me have to lock you in our room.” He was expecting an outburst. What he got was a smile. Dante was right, it only meant bad things when she smiled like that.

“Try it if you feel you must. But just remember this: I know where you sleep, I know where the cheese grater is, and I know it’ll cause you a hell of a lot of pain if it makes contact with your cock. Don’t think I won’t do it. I know I can heal you afterwards so my conscience won’t interfere.” Her smile widened when he emitted a low growl.

He was still growling twenty minutes later when they left Bedrock en-route to Mo’s Diner. Taryn probably shouldn’t have found it so amusing, but she did – much like a smiling Dante who seemed to find humor in every dispute his Alpha’s had. As Trey was in overprotective mode, he had wanted to bring all six enforcers so they had taken his gold, nine seater, Chevrolet Tahoe.

When fifteen minutes later his mood hadn’t improved, she finally snapped. “Will you stop with the growling! If you really must brood then do it quietly.”

“This isn’t brooding, baby, this is me so unbelievably pissed I’m considering just taking my chances with the cheese grater and having Dante drive you back home.”

“Dante knows better than that.”

The Beta winced. “Yeah, I’d kind of like to keep my foreskin.”

Trey sighed at her. “Pain in my ass.”

“Pain in your cock if you try sending me home.”

And so the growling continued.

Finally they arrived at the diner and, much like last time, Trey received many wary looks. To her surprise, so did Taryn. Clearly the Brodie incident was still fresh in everybody’s minds. She picked up Lance’s scent almost immediately. Sitting at a long table surrounded by ten of his powerful alliances, he looked exactly like the big man he wanted to look. Scattered around the diner were enforcers and bodyguards ready to protect their Alpha’s at the slightest hint of danger. Trey subtly directed his own enforcers to do the same, other than Tao who came along with him, Taryn and Dante to the table.

All the Alpha’s stood, and all looked pretty insulted that Trey was keeping his Beta and Head Enforcer so close – it was considered a sign that he distrusted them. But then their eyes went to Taryn and she guessed that they had scented her condition and, thus, the reason for Trey’s cautiousness. She was proven right when her father spoke.

“Trey, Taryn. Congratulations.” Strangely enough, he sounded like he meant it. All the Alpha’s followed suit, congratulating them both and inviting them to sit opposite Lance.

“Thanks,” said Taryn while Trey gave them a nod. Dante and Tao stood directly behind their seat, alert and wearing ‘don’t dare try anything’ expressions. She hid a smile at the apprehension wafting from the wolves at the table. These might be very powerful Alphas, but they were still intimidated by Trey.

Lance introduced each of the Alpha wolves, though it hadn’t been necessary. Trey knew who each and every one of them was, just as he knew that each and every one of them had had problems with his father’s pack in the past. Much like Lance, his father had been good at making enemies. It was little wonder then that they were there, prepared to listen and possibly be present for the battle.

“Could you tell us what exactly the trouble is that you have with the Bjorn pack?” asked Lance.

Massaging Taryn’s nape the entire time, Trey explained about his banishment, his father’s death, and his uncle’s challenge. “My hope was that he would back down at some point before the twelve weeks were up. Instead, as ‘encouragement’ for me to give him what he wants, he ordered an attack on Taryn -”

“An attack on you?” If Taryn hadn’t known better, she might have thought Lance actually cared.

“- which very much backfired, leaving her unharmed.”

“It was most likely a trap,” said one of the Alpha’s – a very muscular red-headed guy with an accent Taryn couldn’t place. She didn’t bother to hide her smug ‘told you so’ smile from Trey, petty though it was.

“Yes, and that was the only thing that kept me from reacting.”

“This happened while you were pregnant?” asked another of the Alphas.

“If it had, he’d be dead right now and we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” replied Taryn.

Damn right, thought Trey. “The challenge takes place tomorrow. My uncle won’t keep this as a battle between two Alpha’s – he’s too much of a coward for that. He has many alliances, so I’m expecting a large number of wolves to appear with him. Nick Axton, the Alpha of the Ryland Pack, has already offered his support.”

“Ryland Pack,” repeated Lance. He looked at Taryn. “Your uncle Don mated into that pack, right?”

She nodded and smiled. “He sends his love.” Lance rolled his eyes.

A roundish, grim looking wolf looked at Trey curiously. “Nick’s a powerful Alpha, but his pack isn’t much larger than yours.”

“Exactly,” said Trey. “That’s why I’m low on numbers, and that’s why I’m here.”

“If you win tomorrow, what do you intend to do with who is left of the Bjorn Pack and with their territory?” asked Lance.

“Let me make it clear that when I win tomorrow, I don’t intend to make any wolves outcasts or distribute the territory amongst others. I know a lot about being out there with no protection or territory and I have no wish to place others in the same situation. Whoever is left of the pack will be permitted to keep their territory and choose a new Alpha providing they swear their allegiance to me. They’ll be expected to do the same for any packs who back me, but that is the most I can offer in terms of reward for anyone’s backing. So, in other words, if that and a chance to settle some scores with Darryl isn’t enough for any of you, it’s important you say so now.”

“So, all in all, we have the support of only one other pack?” asked Cam later that day over dinner, sounding both panicky and beaten.

“Two,” corrected Dante. “Nick Axton also gave us his support, remember.”

Taryn watched from her position on the counter as the faces of those at the table all melted into ones of despair. Seeing that she had – gasp – paused in eating her meal, Trey and Grace, who stood either side of her, scowled at her until she jammed a chunk of steak in her mouth.

Kirk gave Trey an accusatory look. “You said that mating with Taryn would give us the alliances we need to get through this challenge.”

“And you said Darryl would never follow it through,” Dominic pointed out.

“Didn’t I say it would all be for nothing?”

Taryn didn’t even see Trey move. One moment he was at her side, the next moment he was clamping his hand around Kirk’s throat and snatching him from his seat.

“All for nothing, huh?” Trey growled. “That’s my mate you’re talking about. My mate who is pregnant with my child. My mate who is also your Alpha female.”

“Trey, I know he crossed a line, but…he can’t breathe.” Brock tried appealing to Trey with a look, but it was useless.

“There’s only so far you can push someone, Kirk, and you’ve pushed me too hard, too far, too many times. One more shove from you will be all it takes for me lose it.” The fear wafting from his cousin satisfied both Trey and his wolf enough so that they were prepared to release him. Kirk flopped back into his seat, coughing and trying to gasp in air. Trey returned to Taryn’s side and she kissed him lightly, easing his tension slightly.

“What time are Lance and Nick each coming with their enforcers?” asked Lydia.

“They’ve agreed to arrive here at noon. I’ve no idea what time Darryl will appear, but I don’t think it will be any earlier than then.”

“We might not have only Lance and Nick,” said Rhett. “You’ve had a lot of messages over the pack web, Trey. It seems that word’s gotten round about the challenge. Apparently Darryl has earned himself a number of enemies over the years and they’re all offering to be present tomorrow to stand at your side.”

“Standing at his side as in actively getting involved in the battle, or as in literally just standing there like lemons?” asked Grace.

“The term means that they’ll be present and act as back-up if things go to shit,” Taryn explained. “Unless Trey looks like he’s losing, they won’t get involved.”

“They’re more or less just people who want to watch like nosy bastards so they can go and tell everyone about how they were there,” said Trick. Ryan grunted his agreement.

An unexpected yawn escaped Taryn and she allowed her head to drop onto Trey’s shoulder as she closed her eyes.

“Tired, baby? Come on, let’s get you to bed, you need sleep.”

“I’m not tired. I’m just checking my eyelids for holes. It could take a while.”

He chuckled and scooped her up, cradling her against his chest. “Bed.”

“You’ll get tired more easily over the first month of your pregnancy,” Grace told her. “It’s totally normal.”

Having said their goodnights, Trey carried her to their bedroom, liking that she didn’t fight him and allowed him to carry her. Once inside he carefully laid her on the bed and peeled away her jeans before then removing her long sleeved t-shirt. “What’s with the glum look on your face, baby?”

“You’re kidding, right? Take your pick. There’s the fact that you’ll be in a battle tomorrow. There’s the horrible knowledge that we have a traitor in our pack. Oh and there’s the little matter of me being hidden away tomorrow instead of being part of the battle.”

He sighed and draped himself over her, kissing her neck softly, wanting to relax her. “Baby, you can’t be upset with me for asking you to stay clear of a battle.”

“I’m not. There’s no way I’d endanger our baby like that. I just worry something will happen to you. Any of you. It’s worse knowing I’m a healer and I can help but won’t be there to help.”

“I can understand how you’re feeling. I’d be going ape shit crazy now if I knew you were going to be near any danger and didn’t even have me with you. But I need you to stay here, inside. Nothing can happen to you or the baby, Taryn, it just can’t, I’d never get through it.”

“Nothing can happen to you either, so make damn sure you come back to me.” She fused her mouth to his, kissing him hard. He tangled a hand in her hair and tugged, reminding her who the more dominant was, and then he took over the kiss. His tongue plundered her mouth just as she wanted his cock to plunder her body, but for some reason he was holding himself back. He was so tense it was like he was bracing himself for some kind of impact. She arched against him and felt the very hard proof of his arousal. His entire body stiffened and he looked like he wanted to jump off the bed. “What’s the matter?”

His eyes danced to her stomach and then back to her face. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

She groaned. “Is that why you’re holding back? Trey, you won’t hurt me or the baby by fucking me.” He didn’t look convinced. She sighed dramatically. “I suppose I could just get my old vibrator out or -”

He pinned her with his gaze. “Nothing goes inside you except my cock, remember.”

“Yes, and I remember agreeing that…but it was pending the applicable terms.”

“Applicable terms?”

“In situations where you’re denying me said cock, I get to dig out my vibrator and take care of the matter myself.” His face molded into a menacing scowl. Or, at least, he thought she’d find it menacing. Instead, she laughed. And cupped the erection pressing insistently against the denim of his jeans. “I want it. It’s mine.”

“Yes, it’s yours,” he allowed, “pending the applicable terms. In situations where you’re threatening to cheat on me with a fake cock, you don’t get any.”

Tricky little bastard. “It really is a good thing I love you and your cock, Trey, or I’d have had to snap it off for that.” An expression of shock replaced his scowl. She placed a finger to his lips. “Don’t say it back. I don’t want you to say what I know you don’t mean. Maybe one day you can mean it, but we both know that’s not today. I just want you to know.”

This was why she deserved a better mate – he was so damn wrong for her it wasn’t even funny. Still, she was staying exactly where she was. “You’re all there is for me, Taryn. I’m broken, baby. You know that. Before you…it was like those bits of me were just scattered all over the place. I’ve never felt whole. Not until you. You hold those pieces together. It’s not an exaggeration when I say you hold my sanity in your hands. Without you, I’d fall apart.” If that made any sense to her, he’d be surprised.

She stroked his bottom lip with the pad of her thumb. “Thank you for that. Now do me already.”

He sighed dramatically. “I’m mated to a nympho.”

“Ass.”