Chapter 5 #2
“We’re gonna drive about halfway there, stop somewhere for the night, and strategize,” Sloane said. “And if that stop could be somewhere nice and relaxing, I wouldn’t mind at all.”
“Oh yeah, baby.” Jacob leaned over to plant a kiss on her mouth. “That’s why we’re staying at a nice little cottage by the sea tonight.”
“Yes!” Sloane winked at Olivia. “Hope you guys brought earplugs.”
Eli grunted. “Seriously?”
“Don’t worry, the place is huge and there are several bedrooms,” Jacob said. “Though you guys are consenting adults and you’re already having a baby so …”
Mortification flooded Olivia at the implication and she covered her face. Sneaking a glance over at Eli, she saw him shift uncomfortably, though he said nothing.
Sensing their discomfort, Sloane swatted Jacob on the shoulder. “Just drive.”
As the engine roared to life, Olivia put her hands down, but she didn’t dare glance over at Eli again.
Still, it wasn’t like she hadn’t thought about sleeping with him again.
She did sometimes. Okay, maybe she thought about it more than just sometimes.
Maybe she thought about it a lot. Like Jacob said, they were already True Mates, so it didn’t matter right?
She shook her head mentally. But no, it did. It was too soon and she was already dangerously close to falling in love with him. Not that that was a terrible thing, but she didn’t know if that was what she wanted.
Although her parents were True Mates, as was nearly everyone in their extended family, they never talked about what that meant exactly nor did they make a big deal about it.
Though no one explicitly said anything, Olivia suspected it was because they wanted her and Arch to have a choice.
They didn’t want them to be disappointed if they never found their True Mates.
A lot of Lycans found love with humans or other Lycans who weren’t their True Mates.
They were perfectly happy, though that meant that couldn’t have children and if they did, their offspring were fully human.
And now it seems, there was a case for the opposite.
Eli’s parents were True Mates and they didn’t end up together.
The need to know what happened to them, to his mother in particular, scratched at Olivia.
Had she been from another clan? Or a human who didn’t know about Lycans?
Maybe after some time, Eli would be comfortable opening up about her.
“So, Eli, how was meeting Aunt Luna?” Jacob said as soon as they turned into the West Side Highway.
Well, that didn’t take long at all, Olivia thought with a roll of her eyes. But that was Jacob—he just couldn’t keep his mouth shut for more than five minutes.
Eli didn’t answer, though his entire body stiffened.
“Jacob, leave them alone,” Sloane said.
Jacob snickered. “He called her ma’am. When we were working with Renee, he didn’t even speak a word to her or to any woman.”
A bead of sweat formed at his brow. It was barely there, but Olivia noticed it, as well as a tinge of fear lacing his scent.
“Oh my God, were you scared of my mother?”
His nostrils flared.
“You were,” Sloane said, slack-jawed. “Aunt Luna is the sweetest human being. And she’s like a walking encyclopedia of fine arts. She loved my story about that time we broke into the MFA.”
“I’m so sorry,” Olivia said. “She’s not usually like that. I think the only men who are afraid of her are my dad and brother.”
“It’s okay.” His lips pursed. “I deserve it.”
“No, you don’t. You did nothing wrong.”
“You barely flinched when you told Killian,” Sloane snorted.
“Him, I could deal with. I knew how he would react after working for him for the past couple of months. Same with Arch.” Turning to Olivia, he said, “But I don’t know anything about your mother. And mothers are different.”
She understood what he was trying to say, but there was also something about the way he said it that made her think if he was talking about his own mother. She wanted to ask more, but she bit her tongue, at least for now.
“Olivia, do have any preference for music?” Sloane began playing with the controls of the audio system, then looked over her shoulder at Olivia. “Or should we listen to a podcast?”
“Music is fine, thanks.” She sent her a grateful smile for changing the subject.
The next couple of hours were spent in relative comfortable silence, and Olivia occupied herself with watching the scenery and finishing off her bag of sandwiches. Soon, they passed a sign that welcomed them to the town of Mystic Port, Connecticut.
“Let’s grab lunch before we go to the cottage,” Sloane suggested. “I’m starving.”
“Same,” Olivia said.
They stopped at a restaurant by the water and as soon as Jacob pulled into a parking spot, Eli quickly exited and rushed to her side, opening the door for her.
“Thank you, you really don’t have to do that,” she said.
He didn’t say a word, but held the door open and even helped her out. The contact of their hands was brief, but even as she walked away, Olivia could still feel the warmth of his skin like a brand.
“Brr…” Olivia rubbed her arms as she shivered.
The hostess had sat them on the outside patio, and though it was a beautiful sunny day, the breeze from the Atlantic was freezing.
“I should have worn a sweat—” She stopped short as Eli reached over to drape his jacket over her shoulders.
That delicious mix of rum, spices and leather hit her nose.
It drove her she-wolf crazy, and it rolled around, reveling in being surrounded by their mate’s smell.
“Th-thanks,” she stammered, feeling her skin—and other parts of her—warm. Throughout lunch, he barely spoke but he remained attentive to her needs. He also didn’t bat an eyelash when she ordered three entrees. He even pushed his plate of fries at her.
After eating, they headed to the cottage rental, which was only a few blocks away from the restaurant.
Jacob explained it was owned by the human widow of a Lycan from the Connecticut clan and it was fully stocked with food and all the necessities so they wouldn’t even have to go into town.
They weren’t expecting trouble all the way out here, but it was better to take precautions so as not to alert anyone in the Boston clan that they were coming.
Jacob wasn’t exaggerating about the size of the “cottage.” It was more like a mansion, with a huge living room that opened up into a sizable deck that led to the beach and overlooked the ocean.
“There’s two bedrooms upstairs and three downstairs,” Jacob said.
“You guys should take one of the upstairs rooms,” Olivia said.
At least that way, they’d be far away from the rest of the house.
A hallway just off the living area had three doors, which she assumed were the downstairs bedrooms. “I’ll take that first one,” she said.
“I’m gonna freshen up, if that’s okay with you guys? ”
Sloane nodded. “Yeah, we should all rest and then we can go over our plan during dinner.”
As she said, Olivia entered the first bedroom on the right.
It was nicely sized, done up in a nautical theme in blues and whites.
The queen bed in the middle looked cozy, so she dropped her bag on the floor then proceeded to take her shoes off and sprawled on top of the bed.
While she wasn’t sleepy, the trip definitely made her tired.
A knock on the door made her sit up. “Yes?”
“It’s me,” came Sloane’s voice from behind the door. “Can I come in?”
“Sure.”
“Hey,” Sloane said as she entered. “Just came to check on you. Is your room okay?”
“It’s great,” she said. “Too bad we’re only staying the night. I’ve been working for a month straight without a break. I could use a vacation.”
“I know right? I was going crazy being trapped in Jacob’s studio. Sooooo,” Sloane began as she sat down at the edge of the bed. “I just wanted to say sorry about Jacob been an idiot.”
Olivia chuckled. “First of all, I’ve known him all his life so I’m used to it. And next, you definitely don’t have to apologize for him.”
“I know.” Sloane picked a piece of lint off her shirt. “But, he’s not wrong.”
“About?”
“You and Eli.” She cocked her head to the side, as if she were gauging her reaction.
“Oh. I mean … that’s not … I don’t—”
“You guys are True Mates.” Sloane bounced up and down on the mattress. “Can I say something about that?”
“Yes?” It sounded like she would anyway, no matter what Olivia said.
“Eli’s like my brother so I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that you’re his True Mate and having my niece or nephew, plus we’re pregnant at the same time. If you guys hooked up that night we went to Blood Moon, then we’ll probably give birth days apart.”
Olivia placed her palm over her belly. “It’s only been a little over a day since I found out.”
“Shocking, right? And I didn’t even know shit about True Mates until I found Stella.” Sloane touched her own stomach. “But we’re over the moon. And yeah, so if you and Eli wanna get together, I won’t get in the way. In fact, I may encourage it.” She wagged her eyebrows suggestively at Olivia.
A laugh bubbled from her throat. “We said we wanted to get to know each other first. See where it goes, so he’s interested in me.”
Sloane tsked. “Interested is a mild word. I think he’s already obsessed with you. He’s never acted this way about a female, just so you know.”
“He hasn’t?”
“Never had a steady girlfriend, as far as I know. He’s got it bad for you. How about you? How do you feel about him?”