Chapter 17 Maddy
MADDY
Nico was at work again, and he’d said he would be late.
His auto shop had gotten a new contract for servicing the county post office vehicles.
All twenty vehicles had to have their oil changed, tires rotated, and general tune-ups done by the next day.
He’d said he probably wouldn’t be home until after nine.
Sebastian was here, but he’d brought his new motorcycle and was in the garage working on that. The mudroom door was open, so if I needed him, I only had to shout, but I was starting to feel lonely.
It had been over a week since I’d seen Abi, so I texted her to see if she wanted to come over. Her response had been enthusiastic, and she told me she’d be there in thirty minutes. I grinned and put my phone away, then went to let Sebastian know.
“Hey,” I said, knocking on the doorframe.
Sebastian was on his knees, trying to remove some type of chain from the engine of the motorcycle. He glanced up when I called him. “Yeah?”
“I’ve got a friend coming over. Abi, from the bar. I wanted to let you know so you wouldn’t freak out when she got here.”
“Oh.” Sebastian smiled. “That’s cool. No problem.”
I went back to the living room and read my book until I heard the knock at the door. Abi came in holding a massive bottle of red wine. “Refreshments,” she called as she held the bottle over her head.
“Oh, thank God. I could use a drink.”
“Well, get the glasses, sister,” Abi said as she peeled the foil off the top of the bottle.
A few minutes later, we were on the back porch, sipping wine and watching the sun go down. Abi glanced around at the house for about the tenth time. “So, how is it living in a mansion?”
I scoffed and took another sip of wine. “It’s not a mansion. It’s just a big house.”
“How many square feet is this thing?”
“I don’t know, I think Nico said it was like six thousand-ish.”
Abi raised an eyebrow. “Mansion.”
“Whatever. It doesn’t even have a pool.”
“No, but they have a neighborhood pool. I saw it as I came through the security gate.”
I waved a hand at her. Who cared how big the house was? I’d lived in a place less than a quarter this size for years. My parents’ house had been half this size. It didn’t matter how big a place was. It was more about who you shared it with. That’s what made a house a home.
“You’re thinking,” Abi said. She raised an eyebrow. “Are you imagining Nico naked?”
I almost spat my wine out. “What?”
“You heard me. Girl, you are literally dating a Chippendale dancer. Gorgeous face, like zero-percent body fat, big sexy muscles. Not only that he seems like an actual good and sweet guy. You’re like…super lucky.”
I blushed. “It’s nice. I have to admit that. He’s pretty awesome.”
“Okay, the big question,” Abi said, leaning in. “How big?”
“What?”
Abi rolled her eyes. “Don’t play coy. How big? Seriously.”
“You mean—”
“His wang, crotch sausage, pleasure tube, muscle snake, whatever you wanna call it. How big?”
I blushed furiously, giggling. “Do you really want to know?”
“Maddy, I haven’t been laid in six months. If I can’t live vicariously through my best friend, my lady bits might shrivel up and float away.”
“Well,” I said, glancing over at her. I raised my eyebrows and gave a massive, toothy smile.
Abi’s jaw dropped. “For real? He’s got a big ol’ porn star dick, doesn’t he?”
“That’s all I’m giving you. I’ll simply say that it’s satisfying.”
Abi sat back in her chair and took several more sips of her wine. I could tell she was contemplating something. I wondered whether she’d asked me what he was like in bed, but what she did ask surprised me.
“Maddy, why did these guys come to your rescue?”
I chewed at my lower lip and stared down at my wine glass. “What do you mean?”
“I know you got attacked by shifters, but…bringing you here to live? Twenty-four hour bodyguards? It’s a little weird for a robbery gone wrong.”
It was a lot. Most people wouldn’t believe the story, but Abi was my best friend. If I couldn’t tell her what was going on, there was no one I could tell.
I sighed and put my wine glass down. “Are you still sober enough for this?”
Abi sat her own glass down and leaned forward, eager and excited. “Spill it.”
I took a deep breath. Where to begin? My family?
Did I go chronologically? Or did I start with the night of the attack?
I decided it would be easier for her to understand if I started from the night the shifters walked into the bar.
Tell her everything in the order I learned them.
I began, and though I wasn’t a great storyteller, I did a pretty good job.
Abi gasped and cursed at all the parts I thought I would have if I’d heard the story myself.
I finished with the story we learned about my birth parents.
By the time I was done, my mouth was so dry from talking so much that I grabbed my glass of wine and drained it.
Abi sat in stunned silence, trying to take in everything she’d heard. Finally, she shook her head and looked at me. “So…you’re like…long-lost royalty? Literally a missing princess or queen or whatever?”
“I don’t know that I’d go that far.”
Abi gasped. “Holy shit. You’re like the shifter Anastasia.”
I snorted a laugh. “Nothing that dramatic.”
Later I got Abi a cup of coffee to help her sober up before she drove home. Nico got back about ten minutes after she left, and Sebastian took off on his newly repaired motorcycle.
“You got home early,” I said. It was only seven.
Nico shrugged. “Surprisingly, the postal trucks weren’t a complete disaster. I’d assumed the worst. I’m starving. Do you want to get something to eat?”
“Sure,” I said. Any chance to get out of the house was a welcome change of pace, but it didn’t ease my worries. “Are you sure it’s okay? I mean…with Javi and his clan being out there?”
Nico nodded. “I made sure Javi understood. He got the message loud and clear. Go on. Get changed. Don’t let him worry you. I’ll be right by your side the whole time.”
Nico took me to an Italian place downtown.
I’d been there before and loved it. I was a little on edge the whole night, though.
Nico had given me his word that Javi would stay away, at least for a while, but it still made me nervous.
After the shooting at the diner, nowhere but here felt safe.
To Nico’s credit, he helped take my mind off things.
It was like a normal date. We talked about the mundane things new couples always talked about.
He told me about his childhood, being the heir alpha and all that entailed.
I told him about growing up with my own family.
How it had been simple. Camping trips, Disney trips, beach trips—all the normal family stuff.
Then the revelation that I was adopted when I’d just started high school.
It had thrown me for a loop and made life difficult for a year or two.
After dinner, Nico took me for a walk through downtown, and we talked some more.
It was one of the most romantic evenings of my life.
I couldn’t even explain why. A small part of my mind told me it was the bond we shared.
We both knew we were fated mates. That had to have played into the bliss of being with him, but I didn’t care.
All I wanted was to keep walking down the sidewalk, holding his hand, and talking.
It was almost eleven by the time we got home, and I had a huge smile on my face.
The night couldn’t have gone better. I was still a little buzzed from the cocktails we’d had at a classy little bar downtown.
My whole body had a warm fuzzy feel to it as we strolled in the door from the garage.
Nico caught my arm and spun me around. I was startled, but when he kissed me, the surprise melted away.
His hands slid down to my hips and he pulled away. “I wanted to say I really love having you around.”
“I love being around,” I murmured.
My skin was hot and the voice in my head was chattering away.
I’d come to the conclusion that it was my wolf—dormant, but still very much alive.
It wanted Nico. Desired him in a way I couldn’t even understand.
It wanted to claim him, to mark him as mine.
The alcohol was lowering my inhibitions just enough for the creature living inside me to start taking over.
Carnal thoughts exploded through my mind, thoughts of what I could do to Nico, thoughts of what he could do to me.
Warmth radiated from between my legs, and I was dripping wet already.
The quick and powerful reaction was a little startling.
“Are you okay?” Nico asked.
I hesitated for an instant before speaking. “I…there’s a voice in my head telling me to…take you. It wants you. It’s scary because I don’t know if it’s me that’s thinking that or some other thing.”
Nico’s eyes grew intense as I spoke. “Don’t ever turn from your instincts. The voice you hear is dormant, but the feelings are natural.” He leaned close, his lips almost touching mine. “You’re mine. I’m yours. Don’t hold back.” His hand slipped lower, cupping my ass. “Don’t ever hold back.”
The words seemed to tip a scale in my head.
One moment, I was scared to give up control to the thing in my mind.
The next, every barrier in my mind was torn down.
All the hesitation, fear, worry, and shame drained away.
It left me standing there, wanting to take him.
To take control like I never had before.
I wanted to have him in every way imaginable.
I pressed my lips to his, sliding my tongue into his mouth. I pressed against him, pushing him out toward the kitchen, then toward the couch. I shoved him down onto it, and the look of surprise in his eyes somehow made me even wetter.
I tore my shirt over my head and stripped my bra off.
Nico saw what I was doing and started pulling his own clothes off.
Excitement flooded my body, like hot lava searing through every vein.
The crotch of my panties were soaked through when I peeled them off and tossed them to the side.
Nico was naked by the time I collapsed to my knees and grabbed his thick, twitching cock.
I locked my eyes on his and slid the full length of him into my mouth.
“Shit,” Nico whispered, laying his head back onto the couch.
The hot, thick flesh in my mouth sent my wolf into a frenzy.
It was the closest I’d ever felt to her.
The being who shared my mind told me to take this man.
Take him, make his eyes roll up in his head.
To give him something so amazing, he’d never look at another woman, never even think of another woman.
I tightened my lips around the head of his cock and sucked at him, slipping my tongue back and forth across his flesh.
One hand caressed his balls, the other stroked his shaft.
He was vibrating beneath me. Small whimpers and whispers of pleasure fell from Nico’s lips.
My pussy felt hot, my clit was engorged and aching.
I sucked at him for several more seconds before I couldn’t take it anymore.
I stood, turning around, then lowered myself onto his cock.
Nico gasped as I moved against him, my body feeling completely full and whole.
His thickness nearly split me in two, but the voice in my head urged me on.
I leaned back into him, feeling the heat of his chest and stomach on my back.
Nico’s hands rose and caressed my breasts.
I looked down, watching him gently pinch my nipples, rolling the dark brown flesh between his fingers.
It sent electric tingles down to my crotch.
Nico slid a hand down my stomach and stopped at my clit.
His fingers rubbed and slipped across the wet flesh, a sigh of ecstasy hissed out of my lips.
Nico’s hips thrust up, slamming the full length of himself into me.
Every movement was like a shot of adrenaline.
Every motion he made was somehow both too much and not enough.
I growled and stood, pulling him free. Turning, I straddled him, reaching between my legs to slide him into me again.
I looked into his eyes. “Fuck me, Nico.”
He growled, grabbing my hips and ramming into me.
My head hung down, pleasure rocking through me as he moved.
I kissed and sucked at his throat, leaving hickeys across his neck, collarbone, and chest. My breasts bounced and swayed as he had his way with me.
I ground my hips onto his cock in time with his rhythm, bringing us each closer to orgasm.
Sweat sheened our skin, both of us desperate for what was about to happen.
Nico wound a hand into my hair and tugged gently, pulling my face up so he could look into my eyes. “Look at me when you come. Look into my eyes,” he whispered between grunts of exertion.
As though he could read my mind or sense the changes in my body, I could feel the building pressure, the aching rise of pleasure deep in my pelvis, tendrils starting to arch out into my limbs.
I trembled, my breathing now only fast gasps.
My nails dug into his arms, like I was afraid I was going to fly off his body at any second.
I looked deep into his eyes as the final cresting wave crashed over me.
Explosive, deep, and earth-shattering, the euphoria erupted across me.
I clenched my jaw as it burst through me.
Nico hadn’t finished, though. Even in my state of bliss, the wolf still urged me on to finish him.
I shoved his shoulders back into the couch and slammed myself down on him.
The look on his face was one of abject happiness, pleasure, and surprise.
Over and over, I fucked him, until his mouth dropped open into the oh of a silent scream.
His face went red, and with a grunt, he came.
His cock twitched and spasmed within me.
I rode him until he was fully spent and gasping for breath.
I collapsed against his chest. Nico wrapped his arms around me and we sat, stroking each other as we silently enjoyed the afterglow of our lovemaking.