38. Lumi
Chapter 38
Lumi
A loud knocking forces my eyes to fly open, but the warm arm tightening around my waist keeps me in bed.
“Ignore it,” Ambrose says in a gruff voice.
I let my eyes fall shut and snuggle into his shoulder again.
But the knocking restarts.
We both groan.
“It’s kind of hard to ignore.”
“It’s just Rowena or Emeric. Both can go the fuck away,” Ambrose barks at the door.
“Don’t try to alpha command me. It’s noon, and as Lumi’s best friend, I’m entitled to hear everything about what happened last night. At least prove to me that she’s still alive, and I’ll go away,” Rowena says through the door.
I grin as Ambrose glares at the door. “I’m kicking you out of the pack.” But as he says it, Rowena pushes into our room. The second she sees both of us naked in bed together, she squeals and runs over to my side of the bed.
“Oh my gods! It’s true! You’re a Moonlight pack member, and you two…” She motions between the two of us.
I grin, nodding as my cheeks redden to uncontrollable levels. I can’t believe she’s bold enough to be in here, acting like Ambrose doesn’t even exist.
She squeals again and tosses two coffee cups she’s holding onto the nightstand before climbing up on the bed and pulling me into a tight hug.
“I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!”
As she pulls me to her, the covers fall from my body.
“Um, Rowena…”
She stares at my nakedness and rolls her eyes as she straddles my legs. “You really need to get over being ashamed of your body. You’re a wolf shifter. We’re naked for half our lives. We spend a lot of time naked; get used to it.”
I crinkle my eyes. “Well, I’m not going to get used to it while I’m in Ambrose’s bed with his ex sitting on top of me.”
She scoffs and then reaches over and rustles Ambrose’s hair. “We are old news. But you two! Finally, I was so sick of trying to keep the two of you away from each other and these other men away from you.”
“Out,” Ambrose says pointedly to Rowena.
“I brought coffee.” She reaches over and snatches the coffee cups back up off the nightstand and holds them out to us.
“Out,” Ambrose says again, snatching a cup from her hand.
She smirks, still holding out my coffee while straddling my thighs. I take the cup from her. “Thanks.”
“Shower and get dressed. I want to hear all the details and introduce you to the rest of the pack.” She leans in and takes a good whiff of me. “Although, showering isn’t going to wash away your new smell.”
“Rowena,” Ambrose says in a warning tone. I’m not sure if he actually gives her an alpha command or if she willingly starts to retreat, but a few moments later, Ambrose and I are alone in his bedroom again.
“You don’t have to go with her. You don’t have to tell her anything. You can stay in bed with me all day,” he says with a grin.
I bite my lower lip, trying to hide my excitement at that idea. But then I roll toward him and wince at my soreness.
He frowns but kisses me sweetly on the cheek. “You can also spend the day soaking in the tub while I massage you until your soreness melts away. Then I can try my best to make you deliciously sore all over again.”
I stare at the door, considering my options. “She’s just going to come back.”
“I’ll throw her out of the pack.” He kisses my neck, and heat floods my body. I’m desperate for him again, even though that’s exactly how I spent my entire night—having him over and over and over. We probably only got an hour of sleep.
There’s a knock at the door. “Ambrose, you’re supposed to be meeting with Isolde to discuss the marking ceremony next week in about an hour,” Emeric says through the door.
The desire immediately vanishes from my body. Well, there goes that idea.
“I’m going to go meet up with Rowena, unless you want me to go to the meeting with you?”
He shakes his head, pulling me tighter against his naked body. “No, go. You’ll have more fun with Rowena.”
I kiss him as I begin to move off the bed, but the kiss pulls me back in. I forget what I’m supposed to be doing the second his tongue sweeps into my mouth. He’s the only thing I can think about. He consumes everything in me.
Another knock at the door brings us both back to reality.
“You’re still up for doing the marking ceremony? Even if you haven’t learned to shift yet?”
I nod. “Yes.” My eyes blaze as I look at him. And for the first time, I don’t doubt that I’ll survive the marking. Ambrose will ensure I survive, and I’m strong enough to endure it.
“Stop looking at me like that, or I’m never letting you leave,” he warns.
I run my tongue across my bottom lip and watch him nearly come undone. The only thing that stops him is Emeric opening the door.
I freeze, standing completely naked next to the bed, but Emeric doesn’t so much as look in my direction. And Ambrose doesn’t seem bothered that another man is in the same room as us while I’m naked.
It’s so strange to me, but I guess I have to get used to it.
“Tell me everything,” Rowena says when I’ve finally showered and dressed. We’re walking away from Ambrose’s house, and Rowena has promised to introduce me to everyone, but right now, it’s me who has to spill.
I blush, and my entire body heats with thoughts of what we did. But I have no idea what to share with her, especially considering how she and Ambrose used to date.
“Oh my gods, look at you! The only part of you that isn’t red is your hair.”
My cheeks redden even more as we walk. “I’m just not sure I can talk to you about any of this.”
“Now I really need to know. How was it? Was it the best sex you ever had? Did you feel the mating bond practically cement between you? Was it rough? Did you shift? He didn’t hurt you, did he? Because if he did, I’m going to kick his—”
“He didn’t hurt me! It was…” I don’t know how to finish my sentence. It was everything I ever imagined. The connection. The intensity. The orgasms. The gentle way he held me. The magic spurring inside me, telling me my wolf was there; she was just waiting for the perfect moment. She wasn’t about to ruin my first sexual experience with my mate by making an appearance yet. But she’s ready. When I need her, she’s ready.
“You love him.”
“What?” The pink in my cheeks whitens, and my eyes bulge.
“You love him. I can tell. It’s written all over your face.”
“I do not. I barely even know him.”
She frowns. “Why are you upset about falling for him? He’s your mate. It helps things if you two love each other. I’m pretty sure he loves you, too, even if he hasn’t said it out loud. And if he didn’t before, it seems like the sex cemented the feeling.”
My heart races. She can’t be talking about Ambrose falling in love with me. But it confirms that he never told her his curse. I’m the only one who knows.
“It’s just…” How do I get her to stop with all the love talk?
“Wait…” she halts to a stop, grabs my shoulders, and faces me, staring me down like she can read my mind.
“That was your first time with anyone, wasn’t it?”
The blush returns, and I can’t look her in the eyes as I answer, “Yes.”
“Oh, gods. I’m so sorry. I should have prepared you. Ambrose can be—”
“Please don’t finish that sentence.” I don’t want to think about her and Ambrose together.
“Sorry, I just know that—”
“Nope, I don’t want to hear it.” I scan the dirt roads and houses, looking for anyone who can save me from this conversation, but the streets are eerily quiet.
“It’s just that—”
“Rowena, stop! I really can’t hear about it.”
She sighs and bites her lip, trying to hold back whatever she was about to say. I need something to distract her.
“Is it strange that no one else seems to be out right now?” It’s the middle of the afternoon.
She frowns and looks around, realizing that I’m right. “Come on,” she says, yanking me closer to her. We turn around and head back toward Ambrose’s house.
She doesn’t let go of my arm as we practically run back to the house.
“Maybe you should shift,” I say.
She shakes her head. “Then I can’t communicate as easily with you. I will as soon as I see a threat.”
I nod, remembering that she can shift within a split second.
A question pops into my head I realize I should have asked sooner. It should have been a priority over everything else.
“Why is it so important to break the curse at this full moon? Why can’t it wait?”
“Vampires.”
“Huh?”
Rowena shifts, and then I see them—Draven, Nikolai, and Vespera. Their gazes are brimming with cold, piercing, lethal intent. Their lips are pressed together as their eyes narrow in on me with a deadly promise—to kill me.