Chapter 15 #2
He studied me closely, as if he could read my mind and not just my lips, before eventually nodding and turning back to the stove. “I hope you like Italian?”
“If by Italian you mean red sauce, pasta, and good wine… Why, yes, I love Italian.”
“Excellent.” The man opened the oven and pulled out what looked like a homemade lasagna, bubbling with cheese and rich red sauce that immediately perfumed the air.
“Oh my Goddess, that looks fantastic.”
The first real grin I’d ever seen painted his lips, and Goddess, it was even more stunning than the lasagna.
The shape of his face changed completely with a real, true smile.
It was softer, sexier. Even the hard line of his jaw couldn’t diminish the joy.
I couldn’t look away. And was that a dimple hiding under his beard? Damn.
“Yeah?” He leaned his hip against the counter as he studied me right back. “Are they not feeding you well at the enclave?”
I snorted, running a hand through my hair. “They feed us fine. We’re not starving, or anything. It’s just more of a new maiden’s chore, cooking. And most of them are better with swords than whisks, and that’s not saying much.”
“It takes a long time to master a sword.”
“Definitely. Do you have sword training?” Not that it really mattered; fighting with swords—especially specialty swords, like our butterflies—was a dying art, for anyone who wasn’t fighting supernaturals.
Nothing beat a sword, because beheading was the great equalizer among most species.
But still, I was curious. I knew so little about him, besides the little bits and pieces I’d snooped.
“Nothing official, no. But my father was a hobbyist, and he taught me everything he knew. Plus, it’s good exercise. A nice way to burn off extra alpha energy when there’s no sparring partner available. I’m pretty good with a sword because I had a lot of energy to burn.”
Interesting.
“Did you have a hard time controlling your wolf when you first shifted?” I leaned forward, putting my elbows on the counter and my chin in my hands. For some reason, this conversation felt important.
He went stone-still, then turned to a nearby wedge of Parmigiano Reggiano and picked up a fancy grater I didn’t know the name of.
His hands worked smoothly, contemplatively, before he spoke.
“I was a late bloomer. Half the pack was convinced I was a dud, that I’d never shift. The other half thought I’d be more powerful for the waiting.”
I eyed the muscular, dominant man across from me and knew which half of the pack had won.
“How old were you when it finally happened? I was thirteen. Right before heading to the enclave.” I ignored the pang of sadness that thought caused in favor of focusing on Valens.
“Seventeen.”
The word hung heavily between us. It only took me a moment to make the connection, and I gasped.
“When your parents died?”
Goddess, how awful.
He nodded, tapping the grater on the bowl before setting it aside and pulling out simple white ceramic plates.
“Football practice had just ended. The elder Varga was still the pack Alpha, and he was waiting outside the field with this look on his face I’ll never forget.
” He shook his head, and I could tell he was far away—living in the memory, not in the moment with me.
I darted a hand across the counter, capturing his fingers with mine on pure instinct. “It’s okay. You don’t have to relive a painful memory, I just—”
He squeezed my fingers, smiling softly as he met my eyes. “It’s okay. You should know.” He shuddered, obviously battling demons as he told the rest of the story.
“He drove me out to an overlook a few miles away. It was right on the edge of pack lands, a safe distance from the school. It’s quite pretty. I should take you one day.”
I bit my bottom lip, not wanting to interrupt.
“He told me my parents had died. My father was in an accident, and because they were bonded, my mother died along with him. Savannah didn’t know yet, and he wanted to know if I wanted to tell her myself, as the new leader of the family, or if I wanted him to take care of it.”
His eyes began to glow turquoise, his wolf’s strength showing up now when he needed it, just as he had then.
“I felt so lost. Like I was drowning on a sunny afternoon on dry land. His gaze just burned into me, and I could almost feel the disappointment rolling off him, like I was failing some kind of test by staying silent. And then my hands started to shake, and power ripped me apart from the inside out.”
“That sounds terrible. I’m so sorry,” I murmured, stroking my thumb over the back of his hand.
He shook his head, leaning in closer. “Don’t be sorry.
It was the best damn thing that could have happened to me.
Because my wolf was strong, strong enough to get me through and carve a safe place in a brutal pack for my sister and me.
My wolf and I have a close bond, because he was there when I felt alone. ”
Damn.
“Most people would have fallen apart in that situation, but you just got stronger. It’s impressive.”
He laughed bitterly. “Not all strength comes by choice. Some of it’s just survival.” With that, the story was over, and he dished up two heaping plates of delicious food. The lasagna was the centerpiece, but he’d also made a lovely salad, garlic knots, and even tiramisu for dessert.
But while I watched him plate the feast, my brain whirred with all the new tidbits I’d learned about him. I had a new, even deeper respect for how quickly he’d had to grow up. It made a lot of our interactions so much clearer.
He didn’t push me even when I tried to keep him at a distance, didn’t flaunt his strength or try to force anything between us. His strength wasn’t a point of pride; it was a point of necessity. And he used it selflessly for every member of his pack, not for himself.
Valens was a protector.
Just like me.
For the first time since I’d met him, there was common ground between us.
We ate the delicious meal he’d prepared with light conversation right there at the kitchen island, eventually moving to the living room couch with plates of the rich, cocoa-dusted dessert.
I moaned around the first bite, eyes closing in utter bliss as the sweet, creamy taste melted over my tongue.
His low growl had them popping back open in surprise. His eyes glowed again, his fist clenched around the dainty little dessert spoon so hard, it was bending.
“Brute? You okay?”
He cleared his throat, as if he was suddenly aware of his over-the-top reaction. “You can’t make noises like that. My wolf likes it a little too much.”
“Yeah?” Heat stirred low in my belly as I drank him in from head to toe. His golden-brown hair was pulled back, his neatly trimmed beard dark along his jaw. Those delectable, plush lips he’d taunted me with earlier teased me.
All thoughts of dessert fled, and I slid my plate over to the coffee table.
There was only one thing I wanted a taste of, and it was him. His own plate clattered to the tabletop seconds after mine, but he was frozen in place, watching me with the eyes of a predator.
A predator who could eat me up and spit out my bones.
But on a foundational level, I knew he wouldn’t. He wanted me, but he’d shown over and over again that he respected me and was happy to take things at my pace.
So if I wanted it, I was going to have to take it.
Damn, I wanted it.
Making a snap decision, I rose to my knees and threw a leg over his lap, straddling him and putting us chest to chest.
A low rumble in his chest told me he liked the bold move, his hands coming to rest lightly on my waist, even now protective as he waited to see what I would do next.
It felt wrong to just take, though, after how patient he’d been with me. How giving. This whole night had been him giving to me, and I wanted to give him something back.
But what?
I had very little experience with relationships. Okay, basically none.
I’d had several quick fucks on weekend leave, but that was just curiosity. Scratching the occasional itch for release after a hard week of training.
This… was more. So much more.
Perhaps honesty was the best policy.
“I’ve been thinking about kissing you ever since you teased me with that almost kiss earlier.”
His eyebrows shot up, the side of his mouth quirking up in a half smile. “Is that so?”
“Mm-hmm,” I murmured, tracing my hands up his muscular arms, all that harnessed power in one hot-as-fuck package.
“Do you want me to do it again?” he asked, his own hands starting to rove a little, up under the hem of my shirt, to the sensitive skin of my lower back. Nothing inappropriate; just his fingertips, a ghostly promise of more.
All of a sudden, I wanted so much more. But moving fast wasn’t the point of tonight. This was dipping a toe in. Testing the waters, getting to know each other so that my eventual heat wouldn’t be awkward. Nothing more, nothing less.
Surely one little kiss wouldn’t hurt?
I bit my bottom lip, worrying it between my teeth.
He lifted a hand from my hip, tugging it free with his thumb and soothing the spot with a gentle touch. “All you have to do is say the word, Elodie.”
I shivered at the sultry promise in his words, the involuntary motion bringing my core deeper against his lap, his straining erection.
It was like a match to a fuse. Instant sparks.
“Yes. A thousand percent yes.”
His lips were on mine before I could process that he’d moved, one hand going up to cradle the back of my head, the other holding me firmly at the hip.
His lips were soft perfection, his beard tickling my cheeks as his lips slanted over mine, his tongue stroking gently over my lips. I opened for him, and our tongues tangled in a dance as old as the heartbeat of the earth. Primal perfection.
I don’t know when my hands moved to his shoulders, when I started to rock my hips into him, or when he tangled his fingers in my hair, firmly directing me where he wanted me.
All I knew was that when someone pounded on the door several minutes later, I was breathless and needy, pissed at the disruption.
I pulled back, my hand flying to my swollen lips as if whoever was knocking could see our position through the sturdy wood.
The person pounded again, and Valens groaned, dropping his forehead to mine with a sigh. “I’m going to have to answer that. People know they can come here for help any time.”
I nodded, sliding to the side, my knees jelly as I landed back on the couch. Before he got up, though, he pulled me in for one more kiss, just a chaste brush of lips, even though it felt like he branded himself on my soul with the motion.
He strode across the small living room, quickly adjusting himself for discretion before pulling open the door.
Lucien stood on the other side, deep frown morphing into a grin when he took in the two of us. “Am I interrupting something?”
Valens cleared his throat and stepped to the side, effectively blocking Lucien’s view of me. “Respectfully, Alpha, what goes on between my mate and me behind closed doors isn’t your business.”
“Understood. Either way, I’m sorry to interrupt you during your personal time, but you’re needed. Both of you,” he added in a raised voice, to ensure I could hear him. “It’s all hands on deck. Take a minute if you need one, then meet us in the pack mansion.”
After a quick goodbye, Lucien left, and Valens wore a grave expression as he turned back to me.
“That sounded ominous, as usual,” I joked as I pushed myself up, ignoring the way my thighs trembled with barely repressed need.
“Elodie,” he said my name like the very word was precious, crossing the room quickly to cup my face in his palm. He stared down at me with an intensity that set me on fire. “Are we good? Pack business is important, but not more important than you.”
Goddess, how did he slice me open with one little sentence?
No one had ever put me first. Not in the whole of my life.
Yet, here he stood, offering me every single one of my little-girl dreams.
And some more adult fantasies, if that couch make-out session was an indicator of things to come.
“We’re good. But duty calls.” The smile I pasted on felt forced, even though every word was true.
For now, I was still a maiden. And while I’d been more than happy to forget my duty while I was alone with him, the reality was like a bucket of glacial water.
“You’ll want to fix your lipstick before we go,” he said, running his thumb under my bottom lip.
“Of course. I’ll just be a minute.”
I escaped down the hallway to the bathroom, the flicker of the overhead light revealing the truth.
The woman staring back at me in the mirror was no maiden; she was a mate, all smeared lipstick and bedroom eyes. And now I had to erase her because the pack needed me.
I squared my shoulders and put myself back together.