Chapter 17
I carried the tray to the office where Joe had been working for the past two days. Why there was so much paperwork for an alpha werewolf, no one could explain. I’d spent a lot of time with Sam, talking her through her shift, and Danny who was sad that he’d missed the whole thing, because he’d spent the whole battle happily making macaroni and cheese for Sam in Joe’s coffee café’s kitchen. Sammy had sent him away before she came to find me, sneaky girl.
She was still unhappy about the idea of me being a werewolf, and me staying with Joe, and the psycho who’d caged me getting away. She was pretty vengeful about the whole thing. Honestly, the idea of me leaving here with her, with me as the one who was supposed to keep her from willful, destructive behavior, was terrifying.
I knocked on Joe’s office door, the one where Jane sat at a small table outside playing solitaire. She ignored me instead of sending me away like she did to everyone else who came along since she’d been guarding his office.
“What is it?” he growled. He sounded particularly irritable, probably because he hadn’t had enough sleep or food. He was trying to organize the east coast pack, or what was left of it, and there were a lot of renegade dark wolves that had to be hunted down, including my own bad apple.
I took that as an invitation and entered his office for the first time. The couch along one wall was long enough and wide enough to comfortably hold my husband, and there was a pillow and a crochet throw in orange and hot pink that absolutely clashed with all the classy dark green and wood of the rest of the room. I’d crocheted that for him. I’d learned crochet as part of my therapy when I’d been in his women’s shelter. He’d kept it here? He must love me, because that thing was hideous.
I stared at that throw, my heart pounding and twisting with the memories of all those wasted years. He kept working until he finally looked up with a frown to see who had entered his domain.
He stood and his eyes widened when he saw that it was me, his runaway wife. His face was slightly scruffy, but nowhere close to camouflaging his intimidating jawline. “Honey? Is something wrong with Samantha?”
I shook my head no and carried the tray to his desk. I sat on the corner with the least chaos on it, because the chaos was clearly the werewolf paperwork style. “She’s still upset about her life, but no, her health has only improved.” I smiled at him and then nibbled on the corner of the cheese toast sandwich I’d made.
He frowned at me, his lips twitching. “That’s good to hear. I’m sorry that I haven’t had time to cook anything for you. I do have the best cooks I could hire, because cooking is more of a hobby for me than something I can do as often as I’d like. Was that all they made for you?”
He was so concerned about my diet. Honestly, I loved it. I loved how he showed affection by cooking, and he had so much affection to give.
“I actually made this for you,” I said, holding it out to him.
He stared at me for a beat before he carefully took it with the tips of his fingers, like he was afraid that it would contaminate his gourmet soul.
I sniffed. “I didn’t poison it. Look, it’s sourdough bread, which I made from scratch, and the cheese is really good. I didn’t make it, but I did choose the three-cheese combo, and it’s perfection. I also seasoned it. I know it’s just cheese toast, but honestly, nothing is better than cheese toast.”
He frowned at the sandwich, still suspicious of it.
I sighed heavily. “Now you’re hurting my feelings.”
“I don’t think you understand,” he said, finally looking at me instead of my humble offering. “If I start eating food that you make for me, it will be a sign that you are mine.”
I shook my head. “No, it’s a sign that you are mine. You cook for me and I’m yours. I cook for you, and you’re mine. That’s logic.”
He pressed his soft bottom lip with his teeth while a slight growl rumbled from his throat. “You don’t understand. Once you are mine, I’m not giving you up. I will follow you to the ends of the earth. The last time you left, I let you go. I refused to allow Jane to hunt you down. I will not do that if you feed me, if you publicly declare your love for me, if you?—”
I shoved the sandwich in his mouth and brushed the crumbs off my hands into the garbage while he chewed. “That’s what you say, but here I am, feeding you, publicly declaring my love for you, and you haven’t claimed me once. When are you going to carry me off and have your way with me? Is it the marriage thing? I know it wasn’t my legal name, so we probably aren’t legally married. Hm. That could be problematic. You definitely should remarry me with the right name. We could go to the court house right now. Do you think Sammy would like being a flower girl? I bet she would. She just needs to get used to the idea. I’m a little worried about you dying from a paper cut or something before I legally make you mine. I want all your money, you know. Also, your paperwork. How brilliant you were to knock up an accountant who can help you with the truly dangerous side of being an alpha warlord.”
He stared at me, finished chewing, cleared his throat and then said, “I don’t think that you understand what you’re offering.”
“You keep saying that I don’t understand, like I got a concussion or something. How’s this: put me in your cage, Joe. Keep me there as long as you’re in there with me, okay? I want you to be a possessive, protective, obsessive husband alpha mate.”
He smiled slightly then picked up the other half of the sandwich and nibbled on the edge, just like I’d done a few minutes earlier. “You’re sounding a bit clingy.”
“You just noticed?”
He rubbed his chin with one hand and nibbled on the cheese toast with the other. Seriously, the way he was looking at me while he nibbled on my bread was giving me ideas. His tongue was so expert and it had been so long. “You want me, but you can’t have me if you’re not willing to keep me. I’m not sure if you’re capable of keeping someone, not after…” He scowled and for a moment I was nervous, but he wasn’t angry at me, just Malachi the monster who had experimented on me to make me a super breeder.
I went around the desk and sat on his lap, kicking off my loafers and curling up so that I could rest comfortably on his chest. “If the price of having Sammy was being caged for a year, it was worth it. Do you want me to get off you? I’m starting to think that you’re comfortable with this whole bachelor thing and would rather I’d never come back. Too bad. You’re mine. You ate the sandwich, and that’s werewolf law, you know.”
He raised a dark brow over his dangerously soft eyes. “Hm. You know all about werewolf law since you’re an accountant?”
“Naturally. I’m so excited to look at your books.” I picked up a paper with something illegible scrawled across it. “You haven’t answered me about the marriage thing.”
“Are you certain that you’re serious about wanting to keep me, letting me have you to keep, to hold, to protect and lavish food and presents upon?”
I kissed his nose. “Yes.”
“But my beard hasn’t grown back yet.”
“Yeah, I do like your beard, but I have to admit, this look is kind of awesome. Seriously, I do have a thing for clean-cut guys, barring the whole psychological trauma thing. So, yes, I am serious and certain and not hallucinating or concussed. Have you been hiding in here waiting for your beard to grow back so you wouldn’t freak me out?” I sighed heavily. “I’m sorry for being such a mess.”
He carefully traced my cheek, brushing my hair behind my ear. “Honey, you are my mate, my wife, claimed by me and my dark wolf, body, heart and soul. Werewolf laws gives you everything I own if anything happens to me. There are separate assets owned by the pack, but that’s mostly open acreage. The coffee chain is yours, if you’d like it, although I think you prefer sneaking off to cage fight disreputable supers.”
His touch was so sweet, so delicious, so absolutely perfect. My breathing was getting tricky because, as comfortable as it was to perch on him like this, it was also more than moderately stimulating. I wanted him so much, his strength, power, and racy skills. Still, just being with him was enough. It always had been.
“I’d rather wrestle with you on your private mat. I’m sure you have six or seven.”
He growled and nipped my shoulder, sending a shock of electric pleasure through me. “Six or seven hundred. You’re talking to the mat king.”
“Oh, really,” I said, sliding my hand up his chest, over the curves of his pectorals, which flexed under my touch. “I’m trying to seduce you right now, but I’m only becoming more and more seduced. So much for my feminine wiles having you eating out of my hand.”
He raised my left hand and licked my fingers, his eyes burning golden and delicious at me. “You were always irresistible, and you seemed to want me too senselessly. I thought you’d adapt to the werewolf issue without too much struggle. How can I trust your desire for me when it was defeated by a razor and a silver cage? Who knows what will trigger you in the future?”
I hated that he was right. Yes, I’d been stupidly, blindly, incomprehensibly in love with him, but I’d left him and our love because he had cages and scary cheekbones. But I wasn’t the same person I’d been back then. I’d faced him and my fears to save Sammy. I had fortitude and stubbornness when it came to what was good for my daughter.
I tried to get off his lap, but he growled and pulled me closer, making my heart skip and my toes curl as he slowly kneaded the muscles in my back with his strong hands.
“Where are you going? Nowhere without me. I warned you. I came to this office and kept myself here so that you could take our daughter and run if you so chose even after the heat of battle had ended. I’m not letting you go again. Whatever terrifies you, I will defeat. Wherever you run, I will accompany you and carry your luggage. Whenever you make cheese toast, I will eat it.”
I laughed as happiness swept through me, washing away every fear and uncertainty. I sank against him while his hands wove a spell of happiness over me. “That was positively poetic. Will you read me books in Old English?”
“Of course. I will teach you Old English and you can read to me. I love your reading voice.” His voice was rough, his eyes softening with his admitted vulnerability.
I laughed and tangled my fingers with his. “My voice?”
He nodded and carefully squeezed my hand back. “Your smile, your sweetness, and your strength. Yes, we will remarry with your true name. Sammy will be a flower girl, and we will go on a honeymoon afterwards. What date would you like to set?” He studied me with steady eyes, like he was trusting me with his beautiful heart again. Was anything more courageous? He really was the bravest person in the world, to give me his heart after I’d thrown it away once before. Maybe he was just crazy.
I frowned at him while my heart ached and my stomach tangled with happiness and anxiety. “You’re saying that we’re going to wait until we’re remarried before you let me take you to my bed?”
He nodded. “It will be better for Sammy to get comfortable with the idea of us dating before she has to accept me as your bed mate. I won’t let you out of my bed once you are in it, not for a very long time.”
I sighed heavily, but he had a good point, and he was probably making sure that I wasn’t going to freak out and run away again. The idea of being in his bed for a long time was more than slightly compelling. Still, there was no way I was waiting for his love for another second.
I nodded and shifted so I could face him without quite so much delicious body contact. “I accept your proposal. I’m going to go take a nap on your big couch without any of my clothing on. I agree, we should definitely wait for a bed, but you didn’t say anything about the couch.”
His eyes glimmered gold, and he studied me intently. “What would we say about the couch?”
“That it’s very comfortable and sturdy.” I tugged on his hand, fingering his wedding band. “I had to wait for you for two days. Two days on top of twelve years is too much. I want to wake up with you every morning. Go to bed with you every night. Be by your side whether it’s in paperwork or in grocery shopping. Sure, we can have a pretty wedding, with Danny giving me away. He’ll cry buckets and get some closure to our thing. I’ll probably give him my winnings to sweeten the pain, help him remodel the dojo, you know, useful things like that. But you’ve worn that ring for how long?”
He bent his head and nibbled on my fingers, sending a rush of longing and hope through me. “Forever. I’ve waited for you forever. I can wait longer.” He frowned. “But I don’t want to. You’re my mate. If you need me, that’s what you’ll have. Now and always.”
He kissed my nose, my forehead, my chin, and then my mouth. His kiss was sweet, burning, utterly constant. He would love me forever, and I would absolutely do the same.
And that couch was even more sturdy than it looked. Good thing because Josiah Benton, my husband, my mate, my heart, loved me with every fiber of his being. And me, I devoured him. He was my dark wolf’s mate, after all, and so very worth devouring.
The End