Chapter 3

“Secrets suck. The only good thing about a secret is that when Decebel is keeping one, and he knows that I know he’s keeping one, I have leverage. Leverage is good, especially when you’re mated to a bossy, domineering, possessive, though undeniably sexy, werewolf. Yes, leverage is very important when mated to one of these fur balls.” ~Jen

“I want you to build a doghouse,” Jen said as she lay sprawled across her mate’s bare chest.

“We don’t have a dog,” Decebel pointed out.

“But Thia will need a dog at some point. It would be good for a puppy to grow up with her, and then she’d have a buddy and protector.”

“I will protect her.”

Jen huffed. “What about when you’re out doing Alpha stuff? Who’s going to protect her then?”

“I’ll assign her a guard.”

“And what happens when, as she grows up, this guard and she fall in love because they spent so much time together?” Jen bit her lip to keep from laughing as she felt Decebel’s irritation grow. He always got growly anytime Jen brought up Thia and boys.

“Fine, I’ll build the doghouse.”

“Tomorrow.”

He growled at her. “Why tomorrow? We don’t have the dog yet.”

“It’s good to be prepared,” she pointed out. Decebel began to mutter under his breath in Romanian. Jen couldn’t help it that she found it incredibly sexy when he spoke his native tongue. She trailed a finger up his stomach and across his chest. “Are you grumbling at me in Romanian? You know what that does to me.”

He grabbed her hand to keep if from wandering further. “You’re purposely aggravating me.”

She shrugged, not denying it. “You’re keeping a secret. You know I don’t like it when you keep things from me. Therefore, you have to build a doghouse for a dog we don’t have.”

“Jennifer,” he growled. “You accused me of thinking about other women. As if I would need to think about other women when I have you in my bed.”

“Flattery will only get you one place, but that’s not happening until you explain to me what it is that you are keeping from me.”

Decebel growled.

“NO.” She sat up folding her arms across her chest. “You don’t get to growl at me. You blocked me from your mind tonight and then when I asked you why, you gave me some bull crap about Vasile ordering you not to tell. You’re a freaking Alpha of your own pack. You don’t take orders from Vasile.”

“Everyone takes orders from Vasile,” he pointed out calmly. “I am powerful. I might even give Vasile a run for his money, but I would never challenge him. I respect him. He asked us not to discuss what was said in the meeting tonight and I will honor that.”

“Then you can build two doghouses. I’ve decided Thia’s dog should have a friend for when Thia can’t play.”

Decebel groaned and threw his head back against the pillow. “You’re pushing me, female.”

“Then I suggest you don’t stand on the edge of a cliff because, right now, I’d gladly push you off!” Jen’s eyes were glowing and her wolf was itching for a fight. She didn’t like it when their mate kept things from them. They were supposed to be a team.

He moved before she knew what he was doing and had her pinned to the bed. “Maybe I just need to tire you out so you can’t be angry and you can’t order me around.” He trailed his nose up her collar bone and neck until his lips were pressed against his bite mark on her neck. He nipped her flesh and she shuddered.

“I’m not interested.” She turned her face away from him and bit the inside of her cheek to keep from groaning when she felt his hand trail up the outside of her thigh until it rested on her hip.

“Your words may say so, but your body is telling me something different, Jennifer.” His words were practically a purr. “Do you want to know what your body is telling me?”

“I want you to shut up and go build me those doghouses.”

He chuckled. “Ugh, even that was hot.”

“I think you want to know. I think you want to know that when I touch you here.” —he ran his hand across her stomach— “your skin erupts in little bumps. When I kiss you here” —Decebel pressed his lips to the hollow of her throat— “your breath catches. When I press you firmer into our bed, like this” —he lowered his larger frame over hers, pressing her into the mattress beneath them— “your heartbeat increases and your skin flushes a beautiful shade of red.”

Jen threw up a wall in her mind, not wanting him to see what he was really doing to her. Yes, her body was responding in all of those ways, and more, because Decebel got to her on a level that was beyond physical. He was able to reach inside of her and touch a part of her no one else could. Okay, so that nearly made her laugh out loud because, wow, that sounded bad.

“What are you hiding from me, baby?” he asked her as he continued his assault on her senses. His hands continued to roam and his lips found every tender piece of flesh available. “Are you trying to keep me from feeling what I make you feel?”

The smugness in his voice almost gave her the strength to push him away. Almost, but not quite, and as she always said, almost only counted with hand grenades and bad hair days. Okay, so maybe she didn’t really say that, but she’d probably read it somewhere and totally agreed with it. Her breath suddenly rushed out of her body as her mind was brought back to the present. Decebel had her full attention, but it would be completely unlady-like to say why.

“I’m not finished,” he growled.

Well neither am I, she thought to herself with a laugh that she didn’t let out. He must have picked up on the fact that her mind had been wandering. Dec just didn’t understand how she could possibly think of anything except him when they were being intimate. Jen just told him it was a chick thing. His response was usually something along the lines of, chick things are unimportant when my hands are on your body. That usually made her hush and pay attention.

“Are you still not interested?” he asked her as he looked into her eyes, his wolf glowing back at her. Jen felt her own wolf respond and when her she-wolf joined the party, her other senses suddenly joined as well. Decebel’s scent hit her like a freight train. His pheromones danced around her, coaxing her to respond. Had she been in her wolf form, she would totally have been rubbing up against him shamelessly. “Hussy,” she huffed at her wolf. Mate, mine, her wolf growled back.

“Your wolf definitely smells interested,” he added with a grin.

“Quit sniffing my wolf,” she said, intending the rebuke to come out with a little bite. Instead it was breathy and pathetically lustful. She should just give in and admit defeat. She could deny it all in the morning and then make him build two doghouses and a playhouse for when Thia is older. Jen snickered to herself. Yes, having leverage was nice. Then again, having an attentive lover for a mate was even nicer.

So she gave in and pulled his face to hers, kissing him just like she knew he liked it—little nips, in-between open mouths and dancing tongues. She heard him groan but that was the last truly coherent moment as clothes came off in a blur and whispered words followed hungry lips and hands.

“Decebel,” she breathed out as he pressed his lips to her stomach.

He grunted his response.

“You’re still going to be building those doghouses tomorrow.” She wasn’t about to let him think she’d caved just because she’d allowed him to seduce her.

“Jennifer, shut up and let me love you,” was his growled reply.

And when his mouth started doing what it did best, she did shut up—at least about the doghouses.

Decebel stared at his sleeping mate. He’d propped himself up on his arm and leaned over her, creating a shelter around her body. Her face was relaxed, serene even. There was only one other time that Decebel could classify his mate as looking serene and that was when she was holding their beautiful daughter, who was currently asleep in her own bed in the room just beside theirs. Decebel had been surprised when Jen had announced that it was time for their five-month-old daughter to move to her own room. When he’d asked why, especially since she was still nursing, Jen’s response had come with a wicked gleam, because mama wants to play with daddy and playing with daddy when Thia is in the room feels like I’m giving her an education she is way, way too young for. So, they’d moved Thia into her own room, and he had to admit, it was nice having their space back. He absolutely adored his daughter, but he needed alone time with the child’s mother, just as much as Jen needed alone time with him. He smiled as he gently pushed his mate’s hair over her shoulder revealing the mark his bite left. Such a small thing, and yet, every time he saw it, emotions swelled inside of him.

She was his—his mate, his wife—and together they’d made a child. If someone had told him a year and a half ago that by now he’d be mated and a father, he’d have laughed. Decebel was pretty sure that no male of his race truly believed there was a true mate out there for him until he actually met her. It was as though they were a myth, a fairy tale that their parents told them to help them deal with the growing darkness inside of them. He thanked the Great Luna that true mates weren’t myth, but real and priceless.

She stirred but didn’t wake up. He needed to sleep, especially since he was going to be building doghouses for a dog they didn’t have, all the while trying to dodge Jen’s attempts at getting through the barrier in his mind. He dreaded the moment when he’d have to tell her about the children and how they’d died. He knew his fierce Alpha female would be out for blood. If she could, she would single-handedly kill every vampire on earth for touching one child, let alone eighteen or more. He dreaded telling her because he knew that she was going to want to be involved in whatever plan he and Vasile formulated. He’d try to play the Thia card, and it might work, but even if it did, he knew he’d be sleeping in one of the doghouses she wanted him to build. Decebel decided then that he’d better make at least one of them big and comfortable.

Fane was sound asleep as Jacque stood staring out of the window into the cold night air. Spring was only a couple months away and she was ready for the warmer weather. She was ready to see flowers bloom and green things grow. Winter was beautiful, but for some reason it seemed ominous to her as she stared out at the snow. She heard the sheets ruffle and turned to see if her mate had woken up, but he was still asleep. Jacque had considered pushing his butt out of the bed after the argument they’d had, especially since he’d simply rolled over and nodded off like they hadn’t just had it out.

She’d asked him repeatedly why he was blocking his thoughts from her. Jacque felt as though she had a pretty good reason to be freaked out by his mental wall, considering they’d recently endured months of mental separation. Jacque had been tortured by Desdemona’s curse, and Fane had lived every second of it as if it were real. His resulting anger had caused him to shut her out completely, leading to his own internal turmoil. He had repeatedly told her that this had nothing to do with the hell he had gone through, but it was hard for Jacque to take him at his word. Of course then he pulled out the you don’t trust me card and also reminded her of the fact that only a couple months ago she’d tried to convince the Fates to change her past. She’d thought that if Fane had never met her, then he would have avoided his suffering entirely. Yes, that had not been one of her brighter ideas. What was she supposed to say to that? Well, what she did say was something along the lines of, damn right I don’t trust you, not when you’re blocking me from your mind and attempting to placate me by practically patting me on the head and telling me to run along. And she might have also pointed out that they were talking about his actions, not hers. Fane hadn’t taken too kindly to her heated comments. It was at that point that he had informed her that there was no point in continuing to argue about it and they should just go to bed. He’d rolled over and that was that.

So here she was, wide awake, out of bed, unable to sleep after their argument. Jacque pressed her hand to her nearly eight-month pregnant stomach and smiled as she felt their baby kick. There wasn’t much she liked about being pregnant, but feeling their child move was one of the few things she treasured. She found herself wondering what he or she would look like. Would the baby have her red hair and Fane’s blue eyes? Or maybe her green eyes and his dark hair. Jacque got so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t hear her mate approach. She jumped when strong arms wrapped around her settling on her stomach where their child grew. He pulled her into his warm chest and she wanted to kick herself for being so easily affected by him when she was still upset with him.

“Our bed is empty without you,” Fane murmured into her hair as he pressed his face into her neck.

“Guess you should have thought about that before you told me I shouldn’t worry about anything but having our baby. As if I’m not capable of dealing with anything else—”

“You know that’s not what I meant, Luna,” he pleaded. “I was just saying that there was no reason to burden yourself with more. My father has entrusted Costin, Decebel, Cypher, and I with a heavy burden, but I can handle it.”

“But we’re a team,” Jacque said. “We’re supposed to handle things together. I’m not going to be some passive mate who sits around and waits for you to come home.”

“I’ve never expected that of you. But sometimes I need you to trust me as the leader of our family to know what’s best.”

“And you feel it’s best not to tell me whatever it is your father has forbidden you to share?”

Fane let out a sigh and his breath brushed gently over her skin. He lowered his head to her shoulder and rested his chin there so his lips were close to her ear. “Yes, my love. I feel it is best to not burden you with this information at this point.”

Jacque tensed. She tried to pull away from him but he wasn’t having it. Instead, he turned her in his arms and took her face in his hands. His bright blue eyes stared down into hers and they never ceased to take her breath away.

“I know I’m going to have to earn your trust back after all that I put you through.”

“No, Fane, I trust you.” She started to shake her head but he held her still.

“Not completely,” he interrupted her. “I shouldn’t expect you to. But what I do expect is for you to know just how deeply I love you. And how much I already love our unborn child. I don’t just want to protect you both, I need to protect you. It is as much a part of my DNA as the color of my eyes. You are mine—the pup in your beautiful stomach is mine—mine to cherish, love, and protect from whatever it is that could possibly hurt you.”

“Is there some threat to us or our child?” Jacque’s eyes widened.

“No, no, Luna. I wouldn’t keep that from you. Please” —he pressed his forehead to hers— “please trust my love for you, even if you don’t feel you can trust my reasons for not opening the bond completely.”

She could feel his worry through the small amount of the bond that was still open between them. Jacque pulled back so she could look up into his eyes again. She could never doubt his love for her, but she also knew from her own experience that love could make a person do irrational things.

Fane leaned down slowly, as if asking permission, and when she didn’t back away he pressed his lips to hers. It started out sweet and gentle, but Fane’s hunger for her took over and he quickly took the kiss to a whole other level. One of his hands slipped up the back of her neck and tangled in her curly hair while the other moved down her spine until it reached her lower back. Then he slid that hand around to her hip and pulled her as close as her pregnant belly would allow.

His lips trailed across her jaw and down her neck as his tongue periodically swept out and tasted her. Jacque heard his growl as she moaned in response to his touch.

“Come back to bed,” he hummed against her skin. His hands were already attempting to relieve her of her sleep clothes.

“Do I have a choice?” she asked, unable to keep the smile from her face.

Fane’s answering smile took her breath away. He swept her up into his arms as if she wasn’t nearly eight months pregnant and carried her to their bed. “As long as I can carry you, I’d say, no, you don’t have a choice.” If she hadn’t been pregnant, she had no doubt he would have tossed her onto the bed and then pounced on her. But instead, he set her down on her feet and held her gaze with an intensity in its own that caused her heart to beat painfully in her chest. He undressed her slowly and it reminded her of the night they were married and bound. He’d been just as intense then and his eyes had not left her face until he’d had her so caught up in his touch that she wasn’t embarrassed. Jacque knew he was attempting to do the same this night because she was so self-conscious of her swollen stomach, dimpled thighs, and stretch-marked everything.

“Hush,” he told her having picked up on her thoughts. “You’re beautiful.”

“You’re just saying that to get me in your bed,” she teased.

She felt his grin against her skin. “Is it working?”

“Maybe.”

Just as her final piece of clothing hit the floor, Fane turned them so his back was to the bed and laid down pulling her on top of him. His eyes swept over her and the heat that filled them had Jacque shivering. “Guess if my words don’t work, I’ll have to try something else,” he whispered just before his mouth met her flesh.

Costin growled as he watched his mate walk into their bathroom and shut the door in his face. “I didn’t mean it the way it sounded, Sally mine.” He heard the whine in his voice and wanted to kick himself. He’d spent the evening fending off her questions about why he was keeping their bond closed. He hated seeing the hurt in her eyes, but he understood why Vasile wanted them to wait to tell the females—especially with one of them still nursing a pup and another with one on the way. He knew it was going to break Jen and Jacque’s hearts when they heard about all the deaths. It would break his mate’s heart as well, but he imagined it would be a tad more personal for the other girls because they had pups of their own.

“How exactly did you mean it then?” Sally said through the door bringing his attention back to her. “Because when you said, maybe we should try something new because things are getting routine, I took it to mean you feel like our lovemaking has become routine. Considering some other words for routine include, mundane, boring, dull, tedious, and commonplace, maybe I misunderstood what you were saying. Did I misunderstand?”

Costin leaned his head against the door and banged his forehead against it. Dammit, he thought to himself. If he ever wished he could take back his words, it was the ones she’d just repeated. In his attempt to distract her, he’d stupidly suggested they spice up their love life, as if there was something wrong with it. Truth be told, his little healer was the opposite of boring when it came to their lovemaking. It had been a dumb thing to say, and as soon as the words had left his mouth and he’d watched her face fall, Costin had wanted to snatch the words back and swallow them down.

“Sally,” he groaned. “Please come out. I need to see your face. I need to hold you.”

She laughed, but it was not because she found anything amusing. “But don’t you think maybe holding me is getting a little tedious? Maybe my face is getting a little dull. So, perhaps, talking through this door will spice things up a bit. You could imagine my face looks like something else and maybe then things won’t seem so boring.”

The hurt in her voice bleeding through her words caused his insides to twist painfully. He’d really wounded her.

“Maybe I should go back to help Peri while you stay here. Perhaps, some distance would relieve these commonplace feelings you’re having toward us.”

His wolf snarled inside of him and his hand slammed against the door shaking the frame. “You aren’t leaving me!” Costin was beginning to panic. The idea of her separating from him caused that kind of reaction in the man, but the wolf took the panic to a whole new level. He was thrashing inside of Costin to be let out. He had to keep her; he couldn’t let her leave them.

He heard her rustling around in the bathroom, and all he could imagine was her packing up her things. His heart felt as though it was going to climb out of his throat as he opened the bond just enough to send her some thoughts. He filled her mind with the visions of herself, from his eyes. Costin showed her how he saw her. He showed her how the sway of her hips seduced him anytime she was around him. He showed her how soft her skin felt to him, how she tasted to him, and how beautiful she looked when she gave herself unreservedly to him. He thought about some of his favorite memories of them together and revealed to her just how crazy she drove him. If it was up to Costin, they’d never leave their bed, ever. But unfortunately they had to eat. That brought his thoughts to a whole different place as he showed her all the things she’d shown him and taught him. His quiet mate might not be a she-wolf, but she was definitely an animal when it came to her desire for him and it thrilled him and humbled him.

Costin continued his onslaught of images, forcing them into her mind, and then adding his emotions to the mix. He heard her take a sharp breath. Yeah, female, that’s how badly we want you, need you, and crave you, his wolf growled through the bond. He needed her to open the door. He needed to hold her, touch her, and kiss her, and he conveyed this to her through his thoughts. Costin waited, his breath frozen in his chest, to see if she’d come out to him.

“Sally, please,” he pleaded, his voice hoarse with emotion.

The lock clicked and he nearly pulled the door off the hinges as he wrenched it open. Her tear-stained face stared up at him with an awe he didn’t deserve. He took one large step and then had her wrapped in his arms.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered into her ear as he pressed his face into her neck. “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean it.”

“I kind of gathered that from your show and tell time,” she said breathlessly. “Why did you say it?”

“Because apparently my forte isn’t distracting you. I just wanted to get your mind off of why I’m keeping the bond closed. The words left my mouth before I could even think about how they sounded.”

Sally tilted her head and pursed her lips. “Why didn’t you just try to distract me with some of those things you just showed me?”

“I didn’t know if you’d let me touch you.”

She looked up at him and took his face in her hands. “I’m pretty sure there’s no way I could deny you after you showing me those things and making me feel what it is you feel.”

Costin picked her up, wrapping her legs around his waist, and carried her out to their bed. He sat down on the edge of the bed but kept her in his lap. His hands roamed over her as he stared at her. “Will you forgive me and allow me to show you just how un-tedious I find our love life?”

She bit her bottom lip as she thought about it and Costin held his breath. He was pretty sure if she didn’t say yes he would have to take the world’s longest cold shower ever.

“I suppose I should allow you to redeem yourself.”

The words were barely out of her mouth when he’d stood, flipped her over, and pressed her body into the bed, his larger frame covering hers. Costin kissed the top of the tantalizing cleavage revealed by her nightgown and then moved up to her neck, her jaw, and finally her lips, causing his wolf to growl as his mouth took possession of hers. He should slow down, he told himself, but he couldn’t. In his desperate need to prove to her how much he desired her, he practically ripped her gown off and loved the sound of her surprised gasp and the giggle that followed.

Sally didn’t hold back either as she used some of her magic to intensify her touch. She’d only done it a few times before because the effect aroused Costin’s wolf, and things got especially interesting when his wolf decided to play. When he pulled back to look into her eyes, he knew she’d see the wolf’s glowing eyes staring back at her. Sally’s lips pulled up into a seductive smile.

“Hello,” she purred at him.

Costin forced himself to keep control as his wolf lunged for their mate. His teeth sunk into her flesh where his mark laid claim and he rumbled at the taste of her. Mine, the wolf told him. Costin agreed; she was theirs. He licked the wound and watched as his female arched her back trying to get closer to him. As he gazed down at her beautiful form, watching her writhe under his touch, his passion for her only intensified. “Tedious my ass,” he said as he lowered himself back down to her.

“I love you,” he whispered into her ear as he claimed her once again.

“And I love you, even if you are a bit commonplace,” Sally whispered back and then laughed as Costin playfully nipped her delicate flesh.

“Then by all means, mate, let me show you something that I guarantee won’t bore you.” And he did. And he could tell by his mate’s reactions to him, she was anything but bored.