Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
bloom
Maverick dealt with the people he was going to have to fight a lot more smoothly than I would’ve expected. He let them know where to go and when to arrive, had them let their Alpha know they were challenging, then took the driver’s seat.
After the door shut, he leaned over the center console and murmured less than an inch away from my lips, “I’m going to need you to kiss me in front of all of them, Bloom.”
I only hesitated a beat before I leaned in and pressed my lips to his.
It was our second kiss, but even more than that, it was a statement to everyone outside.
We had claimed each other.
We wanted the bond.
They were challenging a wanted relationship.
It may not have been entirely true, but it didn’t feel like a lie.
I slid my hands into his hair, and deepened the kiss.
If we were going to give them a show, we might as well make it a good one.
Plus, he tasted incredible.
I couldn’t miss what just might be my last opportunity have his vanilla on my tongue. Ultimately, I didn’t know what the future would look like for us. If there was one. He could absolutely still walk away—and so could I.
Maverick’s chest rumbled as my tongue met his. He hauled me over the center console, setting me on his lap as the kiss graduated to a full-on makeout session.
At some point, I forgot we were performing and got into it. Really into it. He did too.
His hands were on my face. Gripping my hips. kneading my ass.
Mine were pulling his hair. Digging into his shoulders. Moving over the thick swell of his arms.
His erection pressed against my center. He pulled me against him harder, but didn’t let me move my hips. When I tried, he held me too tightly.
It occurred to me that people were still watching, and I slowly pulled away.
“We’ve still got an audience.” He squeezed my ass again, a little harder. “If you want more when we get to the hotel, I’m all yours.”
My face was hot and my lips were swollen when I nodded.
Maverick kissed me again, lightly, before lifting me back over the console and depositing me in my seat.
“Was that just for the—” I began.
He cut me off. “No. That had nothing to do with anyone but you and me, Bloom.”
My face was still flushed when he pulled away from the building he had called the packhouse.
When my breathing evened, my thoughts wandered back to everything that had happened that day. “Is your tower considered your packhouse?”
“One of them. We have an estate just outside the city, too. There’s nothing but forest for miles and miles behind it. It’s only about a twenty-minute drive, and some of the pack lives there full time.” He dropped his hand on my thigh, squeezing lightly.
I wanted to be back on his lap.
“What would happen if we had sex?” I asked him.
“You would come a couple times. I would—”
I swatted his arm. “I’m serious. What would change?”
“Most likely? Nothing. Worst case scenario, I would lose control and bite you again. Worse worst case scenario, I’d bite you, and you’d be so overwhelmed with pleasure that you’d bite me too.”
“I have better control than that.”
“Then like I said, most likely, it would just be sex. Really good sex.”
I’d gotten that from the kiss. It wasn’t just his blood that tasted like vanilla, and every part of him just seemed to turn me on more.
“It wouldn’t start the mate bond or make it stronger or anything, right?”
“There’s no bond without both bites. If I bit you again, it wouldn’t do anything unless you bit me too.”
I looked out the window, not sure I could hold his gaze for the next question. “If I was interested, would you—”
“Yes.”
“Just like that?”
“Just like that. Rhone would probably insist on chaperoning afterward, to make sure I don’t bite you until he thinks I’ve waited long enough. He’s a pain in my ass.”
I grimaced. “We might need a chaperone if we went through with it. Unless the pull hasn’t really ended and you wake up tomorrow and aren’t interested in me anymore.”
“This isn’t the end of anything, Bloom. Other than the possibility of you mating with Timber.”
My lips curved slightly as I stared out the window. The pack’s land looked smaller at night. Cozier, too.
There were no streetlights, but a few campfires dotted the scenery as we drove back down the dirt road. Every small fire had a big group of werewolves around it. Most were in front of a house, with the porch lights on and people wandering in and out.
“It’s so… friendly,” I murmured.
Vampire gatherings weren’t like that. There weren’t enough of us to be like that, but even if there were, we just stuck to our families for the most part. Even the humans in the Guild didn’t hang out like these werewolves seemed to.
“Is your pack like this?” I asked. I liked his enforcers and got along well with them, but I’d never seen them interact with each other.
“Better. We have shit planned every night. Mondays are for movie nights. We’ve had three-hundred werewolves packed in one theater room together in the tower before. Whoever’s at the estate goes out to watch the movie under the stars, with a projector on the side of the building.”
“What about Tuesdays?”
“Tacos. A few of our wolves convinced everyone to participate a century or so ago. Next week is our 5,026th weekly Taco Tuesday. Don’t ask me why we’re still counting.”
My lips curved upward. “Wednesdays?”
“Workouts. Everyone practices fighting. Most of them don’t have to keep up with training the way Rhone and I do, but we all need to be ready to protect ourselves. There’s no telling when we’ll be attacked. Being the ruling pack makes us a target at all times.”
“Tell me your activities aren’t all themed by the letters of those days of the weeks.”
“They aren’t. Thursdays are for the city markets. Whoever can goes to check out a different one every week. It keeps things lively for us, and boosts the economy as well.”
“I actually think I’ve seen pictures of you guys at those on the internet.”
Maverick nodded. “It’s good PR.”
“So you kill three birds with one stone. PR, bonding, and economy-boosting. Impressive.”
“Are you just now realizing that about me? I would think our makeout session proved how impressive I am.”
I heated with his reminder about the way we’d kissed. “And humble,” I said.
“Extremely.”
I rolled my eyes at him, and he grinned.
We checked into Erren’s nicest hotel. It was far from fancy, coming in at a total of two stars, but it smelled clean so that didn’t matter.
We grabbed our key and went up to our room pretty quickly. Maverick had insisted on sharing, and given that there was still a chance the Erren pack wanted me dead, I agreed.
Rhone called Maverick almost as soon as we were inside the room. He stepped outside to answer, which was kind of a relief. There was no awkwardness, just for a moment.
I took my hair out of its bun, put on the unsexy oversized tee and fuzzy pajama pants I’d brought to sleep in, and slipped into the one king-sized bed in the room.
Would Maverick fit on that thing even if he was sleeping alone?
It was debatable.
My phone buzzed, and I checked the messages.
Velour
I’m staying with some very old family friends who live in a tiny town. Hoping they’re willing to share what they know about our problem soon. Stay tuned.
Relief made my shoulders sag.
Me
I will
Thank you
I sent Harper a text next.
Me
Finally heard from you know who. Sounds like he’s actually looking into it
Harper
Now we cross our fingers I guess
Me
For real
Harper
How’s the road trip?
Me
Mostly uneventful. Cassidy isn’t behind it, but she gave us a lead
Harper
What’s the lead?
Me
Some tech guy
He’s hiding out in a different pack. Not sure where it is.
Harper
Does Maverick know?
Me
Yeah
I’m hoping he can send Rhone so we don’t have to do another trip like this
Harper
It’s that bad?
Me
Depends how you define bad
Harper
What happened?
Me
We made out in front of a bunch of people who want to claim him as their mate and/or take over his pack
Harper
WTF?
How many people?
And how long was the show?
Me
I don’t know. Five minutes? Ten?
He said he wasn’t just doing it to make a statement, but idk
There were a lot of people
Harper
Was it good?
My chest ached.
Me
Ridiculously good
Harper
Are you going to screw him?
Me
Of course not
He’s a werewolf
Harper
And you’re a vampire
Me
So?
Harper
So?
Me
I don’t know
He said he still wants me even though the fated mate pull thing is over, but making things messy by hooking up still seems like a bad idea
I’m not sure what to think or feel
Harper
What does he think/feel?
Me
Idk
I think he wants us to be mated officially, but he hasn’t really come out and said it
Harper
Maybe you should ask
Me
That’s a reasonable idea. I hate it.
You know I can’t mate with him. Even if we’d known each other for more than five minutes, there’s too much going on
Harper
LOL
Then don’t.
Me
He’s opening the door GTG
Harper
Good luck!
I put the device down as the door opened. Maverick dropped his phone on the nightstand, which wasn’t more than a foot from the door. The room was seriously tiny.
Maverick’s gaze moved over me slowly.
Almost predatorily.
The comforter was pulled up to my waist, so he wasn’t seeing much. I’d taken off my bra, but you couldn’t tell with my gigantic shirt.
“You look really damn good, Sugar.”
My face flushed. “We probably should’ve asked for a room with two beds.”
“Why?” Maverick pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it toward the bags we’d brought in. The sight of his abs had me struggling to remember what had been about to say.
“We, uh… need to keep things friendly. Just friendly.”
“Why?” he repeated, pulling the blankets aside and sitting down on the mattress. He was basically on top of me, because the space was so small.
“Sharing a bed is sort of intimate.”
“Being fated mates is sort of intimate. My blood is in your body. Your tongue was in my mouth thirty minutes ago, too. Is sleeping on the same mattress really that intense in comparison?”
I guess it wasn’t. “As long as you don’t snuggle.”
“I’m a werewolf. Of course I snuggle.”
I sighed, as if that was a hardship.