Keith’s calloused fingers stroke my cheek, and his voice is in my head. “I love you. I wanted the first words you hear in your head to be that, so you'll never forget.”
“Love you right back.” Keith and I had talked about how he would turn me into a werebear when the time was right. He wanted it to be part of our marriage. Victor’s face flashes in my mind, but I shove the vision aside. I can get mad at him later. I try to communicate in my head to Keith. “Now we can sneak off for sex without everyone hearing our plans.”
Keith doesn't even blush at my words. He didn't hear me? A voice breaks through, and I realize it’s Victor. “Ah, my precious. Good to know fucking was the first thing on your mind. I can't wait to taste you.”
A twinge of desire for Victor makes my blood run cold, and I swallow panic to speak out loud as calmly as I can. “Keith, honey, could you get me a glass of water, please?”
“Sure.”
Victor keeps talking. “What? No response?” His sinister laugh comes through, and then he says, “We'll talk dirty later. Now that you're my mate, we’ve got a lot to discuss.”
The rush of water from Keith filling a glass in the bathroom sink sounds like a waterfall with my new supersensitive hearing. I grab Carly's arm and whisper as quietly as I can, “Carly, Victor's talking in my head, too.” Her eyes widen, and she puts a finger to her lips as she speaks in my mind. “Sierra, Victor can talk in your head all he wants, but you're a Le Roux. He has no idea what he's stepped into.”
My heart races as I try to sort out what to do. I don't dare think anything until I understand how communicating in my head works. The tumbler is cool in my hand when I take it from Keith. I gulp some down and say, “Someone explain how this head-talking thing works.”
Carly hands me a T-shirt, and I realize I'm naked under the sheet barely covering me. She answers, and her words make me think she knows why I'm asking. “You concentrate on who you want to talk to and say it in your head as if you're seeing them face to face.” She touches my arm to get my full attention. “Unfortunately, you can't keep an alpha from hearing things if they want to listen.”
She winks at Keith. “But Brady and I have to focus to do it. Your thoughts don't just come through, and we won't eavesdrop.”
I pull the soft cotton shirt under my butt. “Wait, you're an alpha? I thought only the prime in a clan could be the alpha.”
“Apparently there are two alphas in this clan. We're not sure how it happened to me.” Carly is bunching up the bottom of what must be a shirt of Brady's. She's not telling me something, but I know better than to force it out of her. She’ll tell me when she’s ready.
I stretch my arms above my head, hoping to ease the tension in my body, but all it does is confirm that every inch of me hurts. “Sorry I ruined your wedding.”
Brady speaks as he enters the room. “Sierra, you didn't ruin our wedding.” His jaw clenches, and a low growl sounds. I wonder if Carly's talking to him.
Keith is clearly speaking to Brady by the way he’s scowling at him, and I wish they would say it all out loud. “Hey, anyone want to share what's going on?”
Brady says, “We sent men after Victor, but he got away.” He glances at Keith. “He tried to make Sierra his mate. We need to figure out why.”
I realize I can't keep the fact Victor can talk to me from Keith. This is the man I plan to spend the rest of my life with. I reach for his hand and notice it's not searing hot anymore. “Keith, Victor can talk in my head too.”
I watch as Keith's jaw clenches, and his eyes turn stormy gray. He stands abruptly, and the chair he was in crashes to the floor. As he paces the room, his breathing is loud and deep, and I know he's trying to stay in human form.
I say, “I didn't talk back to him.”
Brady says, “Look, while he bit Sierra, he's not mated to her. They have to have sex for that to happen. You need to do it first.”
But the fact Victor can speak in my head is making my sweet bear rage with jealousy. “Keith, he still repulses me.” I shudder a bit. “His smell disgusts me.”
I swing my legs over the edge of the bed so I can go to him. But he comes to me and kneels on the floor. I spread my legs to let him come closer. His warmth against my thighs turns me on, and I know he can smell my arousal as I stroke his jawline with a finger. I take a deep breath. “If Victor and I were mated, I wouldn't want to drink you in. Like this.”
He rises up to me, and we kiss. Our tongues dance as we taste each other, and the sensations make me giddy with our love. I will it to flow into him and take away his anguish. I follow him a little when he breaks away.
My nipples are aroused and hyperaware of the fabric of my shirt. My senses are in overdrive, and I'm so wet for Keith. I recall how his body tenses and the sound of his roar when he comes. I speak in my head. “Take me home and to your bed. I want to be in your arms with you inside me.”
I hope Victor is listening so he'll know I'm screwing Keith.
Keith's gaze is intense. “I will. You're mine, Sierra.”
32
Chapter 2