“Yes,” she whispered. “I’m already on the outside of the den, where I’ll stay if I don’t find a match.”
“You mean if you don’t say yes to Darren’s bullshit business proposal. I heard the way he talks about you. Before you showed up, I was watching your people, trying to figure you out. Darren talked about you like he wanted to rent you.”
“He needs heirs.”
Rage was a quick boil in his blood, and she was a frightened little critter normally, so he clenched his fists and swallowed the snarl in his throat. “Nevada, if you say yes to that match, you’ll be unhappy forever.”
“I know.” Her bottom lip trembled, and her voice went thick and shaky, too breathy like she was gonna do something horrifying like cry. Oh, God. He should run. He would rather be shot by Torren again than watch the girl he had warm fuzzies deep in his nutsack for go weepy. It made him want to go Red Rage Bear Death on her whole den. “If you cry, know that I’ll want to kill Darren, revive him, and then kill him again. And then repeat that process like…eight times. Suck it back in your eyeballs!”
“It’s a tear,” she said. “It doesn’t suck back up.” A single drop of water fell to her cheek.
Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. He closed the distance and patted his hands in the air around her face helplessly. Go back in! “What do I do?”
“Probably hug me, and I’ll feel better.”
In a rush, he crushed her to his chest and froze. “Now what?” he whispered.
“Now nothing,” she said in that sweet voice. “Just stay here like this while I tell you my thoughts. And maybe if I get all emotional again, just…pat my back.”
In quick succession, he patted her back in hopes of deterring the girl-emotions from rearing their terrifying heads.
“Too rough, and I feel like you’re burping a baby. Maybe rub my back. Gently.”
When he did, she told him, “Good job.” When Nox growled, she corrected herself and said, “Mediocre job.” Much better. “I told Darren I didn’t want the match, and he said horrible things.”
“Oh. That’s good. How would you like me to kill him?”
“Nox! You can’t just kill everyone.”
False. He was really good at killing, but she was a lady and probably wouldn’t like that admission so he swallowed it down like a shot and kept rubbing her back in gentle circles because she wasn’t crying anymore. If this was all he had to do to stop the tears, he would literally rub her back until he had to take a leak and/or starved to death.
“He told me he is the only one willing to take me because I’m so submissive and not a good fox. He was taking a risk that our kits would have my genetics and be broken like me.”
So Nox was probably going to use a knife to disembowel him, or perhaps just run him over with his truck a few times…
“And then he told me no one in the den respects me as a functioning member, and that the sooner I said yes to his proposal, the better it would be for my reputation.”
Poison was also an option…
“And then he brought out this stack of papers. It was a contract to pair up, and I read the first two paragraphs and wanted to puke in the front seat of his fancy Lexus because he was trying to make me sign documents that would guarantee I would have at least four kits for him, one after the other, and I couldn’t say ‘no’ any time he wanted to have sex.”
Oh, so he wanted a slow death. Head on a spike maybe…
Easing back, she said, “Nox, I told him no. I don’t even know how I did that. I never fight anything, but you seem so sure of yourself and brave, and I wanted to be more like that, more like you, so threw the papers in the back of his car. I’m risking getting shunned, and it changes everything. I’ll be outside of the protection of the den. I’ll be a rogue. Me! I can’t even talk to people, and now I’m going to lose my entire support system.”
“Your support system sucks big hairy balls, just so you know.”
“Well, yeah, but it’s all I have.”
“You have me.”
“Until you leave.”
Nox exhaled a gusty breath that tapered into a growl. He didn’t like thinking about the leaving her part. Now it wasn’t just Vyr who could ruin her life. Darren would keep pushing her into a pairing, and the rest of the den, too. They would threaten and bully her until she got tired and gave in, and then she would actually have to sleep with that crusty old dingleberry. Nox’s growl grew louder, vibrating against his chest. Maybe he could kidnap her away to Damon’s Mountains and lock her in his trailer like the Princess and the Pea and feed her magical beans like Jack and the Beanstalk… And what the fuck was he thinking about? Those fairy didn’t make sense together, and if he fed her magical beans, they would grow to the sky... Beans were delicious. “Do you like beans?”
She didn’t even miss a beat. “I like refried beans in burritos and on chips.”
#perfectwoman. And she wasn’t even shrugging away from his hug, which definitely involved his boner pressed against her stomach. He was hung like a friggin’ horse so it wasn’t like she couldn’t feel it. She had to know he was ready from the way she was pressing closer against him. Plus, now her eyes were going all soft and drunk-looking, and she was running her hands down his chest and, holy fuck, it felt good when she touched him. Usually, the only touch he received was painful when he was fighting one of the other dominant males back home. That’s the only way he’d wanted touch before Nevada.
When she rested her palms against his chest, his body betrayed him completely and his nipples perked up, poking out against his Bone Ripper T-shirt.
Her hands felt so good. Sooo good. But there was this awful, gut-wrenching moment when he knew with certainty that he was going to fuck this up. He didn’t know how to do this. Not the sex part. That was easy—stick his dick in her hole, hump, spoog. But with Nevada, it felt like that wouldn’t be enough, and he had no idea what that meant. He’d never been this far with a girl, where he actually wanted to make her happy, and not just for now. Not just this moment. He was thinking about her happiness tomorrow, next week, and next year.
“I’m gonna screw this up,” he admitted.
Nevada swallowed hard and nodded as though she agreed. But just as a knife was twisting in his gut, she took him by the hand, pulled him inside, and whispered, “I’m gonna screw this up, too.”
And that was good enough for him.
Chapter Eight
Nox Fuller was hot as sin. Nevada would’ve never in a million years been brave enough to touch him like this—like she wanted—if he wasn’t so obviously into her. His hard shaft pressing against her stomach was a dead giveaway. She’d been telling the truth earlier. He was different from anyone she’d ever met. An outsider too, and she wasn’t as intimidated because he made her feel safe somehow. Which was insane because just an hour ago, she’d decided to risk being shunned from the den. This was simultaneously the scariest and most exciting moment of her existence.