She nodded. “I just don’t want my parents knowing we’re having sex.”
“We’re married. I’m pretty sure they already know.”
“Knowing in theory and knowing because of actually hearing or seeing are two totally different things. How on earth would I be able to look my dad in the eyes if he heard something?”
Costin chuckled at the aghast look on her face. “What exactly would he hear?” His voice had dropped lower, and he felt his wolf stir as their mate reacted to them. Her scent shifted slightly, and it was a smell he could get drunk on.
“Hey, Dad.”
Costin froze. “He would hear ‘Hey, Dad?’ Sally, I know we’ve never really discussed what words turn us on, but I’m just going to throw this out there. ‘Hey, dad’ doesn’t flip my switch.”
She huffed and pinched his side. Damn that hurt.
“My dad is at the door,” she said when Costin pulled back to glare down at her.
Her words finally registered through the lust-induced fog. Costin turned and forced his wolf not to growl at the man, father or not, who’d interrupted his hunt.
“Your hunt?” Sally asked through their bond. “Do I want to know what you were hunting for?”
“As soon as your father leaves, I’ll gladly show you.”
“Sally.” Her father’s voice drew both of their attention. “I just wanted to tell you both that your mother and I are so glad you’re here.”
Costin glanced at his mate, whose eyes were looking a little wet.
“Thanks, Daddy. I’m really glad we’re here too,” Sally said and hurried across the room. She embraced her dad, and Costin’s wolf growled. He couldn’t stop it. He wasn’t used to seeing his mate show another man affection, even if it was her father.
She stepped back quickly, and they said their good nights. When the door closed and the lock clicked into place, Costin was no longer thinking about how he didn’t like seeing his mate hug another man when he so desperately wanted her to be inviting him to her bed. He wasn’t thinking about the fact that Sally had just, moments ago, expressed her desire not to be intimate in her parents’ home, and he really wasn’t thinking about the fact that maybe she had a point. All he was thinking when his glowing eyes turned on his mate was that she was entirely too clothed, and she wasn’t nearly close enough to him.
“Costin,” Sally said his name slowly, a warning.
His wolf heard a challenge and perked up even more. “Mate,” he rumbled.
“I told you no,” she said, as if she were scolding a damn puppy.
Costin smirked. He needed to remind his mate that he wasn’t some whelp for her to command. His feet were moving before he even made the decision. His lips found hers as his hands began to remove the offending clothing he’d helped her put on that morning.
“Still want to tell me no?” he whispered into her mind as she gasped. His teeth had sunk into his mark on her shoulder, and her taste flooded his senses.
“We should…” She started to speak into his mind but stopped when Costin picked her up and carried her to the small bed that was pushed against the furthest wall. He laid her down and immediately covered her body with his.
“Bite me.” He growled as he licked clean the wound he’d reopened.
“That sounds so wrong.” Sally breathed out.
Costin lifted her head and tilted his own, bearing his neck to her. “You know you want to,” he taunted. Several heartbeats passed before he finally felt her teeth sink into his flesh, and all was right with the screwed-up world.
“Mine.” He growled through their bond. He felt her love flowing into him even as his blood flowed into her mouth. He loved knowing his scent would be infused in her veins, and hers in his.
His beautiful mate didn’t put up any more of a fight as he gave what was hers and took what was his. Her fingers were like tiny flames dancing across his skin, and the soft sounds she made nearly drove him mad with desire. He should probably have been worried that her parents would hear her, but he was too busy making sure his female was taken care of in every way possible. When all of their clothing was finally gone and they were skin against skin, Costin’s wolf howled inside.
“I love you, Sally,” he whispered into her ear as he made love to her. Words of love poured out of him as he marveled at what an incredible gift she was.
“I love you back, dimple boy.” She sighed an hour or more later. Loved and satisfied, Costin pulled her close and listened to her heart beat as she slipped off to sleep.
Half an hour later, he was just starting to fall asleep when he felt something dark growing inside of him. His wolf began to feel agitated and restless as he shifted in the bed, trying to get comfortable. The uneasiness continued to grow, and, within minutes, his chest was tight, and he felt as though he was suffocating.
Costin felt Sally shift next to him and then felt her fingernails dig into his arm where she had a death grip on him.
“Sally?” he whispered as he turned to look at her. Her eyes were closed, and she was still sound asleep. He pushed past her sleep-idled mind, using their bond to allow him to see what was going on in her sleep that was causing her to leave scratches in his flesh. He was immediately surrounded with darkness and filled with despair.
“Sally, mine,” he called to her, but she didn’t respond. There was another groan, and then he saw the dream, or nightmare rather, in which her mind was immersed. Sally was standing in a dark room staring at a bed. It wasn’t empty. In the bed were two bodies. One was the male wolf that Costin had ripped apart, and the other was his mate.
He growled, and Sally turned to look at him. Her eyes grew wide as they filled with sheer horror.
“Costin? You can’t be here! You have to go. Wake up,” she pleaded with him. Her head was swiveling back and forth between him and the couple on the bed. She looked like a cornered animal ready to strike at anything that moved.
“Sally, come here,” he said gently, trying to ignore the sounds coming from the bed. He would like to just tell himself it was just a dream, but he knew that, more than likely, it was a memory.
“You have to go!” She roared at him. “You can’t see this. Please, please, I don’t want you to see this.”
Chapter Six
“I just want to fix it. I just want to make all your pain and fear go away. Tell me how, love, and I will.” ~ Costin