Chapter 26
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX
Reece
I’m going to be sore for a month. But I wouldn’t change a thing.
Mari is asleep in my arms, curled beside me on the slender cot, the red lines from the ropes that had bound her still slightly visible against the creamy paleness of her skin. The small metal prototype glints behind her right ear.
I stare at the ceiling for a long moment, listening to the rain drum softly against the old estate windows. Inside, there’s an unsettled churn in my stomach, below the deep-seated satiation, the pleasure and the fear this situation stirs.
Fear because what’s happened between me and Mari is still so fragile.
I’m afraid that if I close my eyes, even for a second, she’ll end up changing her mind about loving me and take up Luca’s offer to be his mate.
The perfect moment we shared could be gone in an instant, so I just lie here and watch her sleep, clinging to what I can.
All I want is Mari. All I’ve ever wanted was her. And now that I have her, I’m terrified she’ll slip through my fingers.
Ugh. I throw an arm over my eyes as she sighs, snuggling closer in her sleep.
I’m still shocked the prototype worked. And even better than expected.
It was not only able to keep the agonizing pain that comes with heat at bay, but it left her mind focused and clear, which is unheard of during heat.
The rabid need for sex hasn’t gone, though.
We had a few more rounds after the first one—luckily I was able to keep up with her—but now that she’s resting, my worries take center stage.
What if I can’t keep this up? What if I can never fully satisfy her? She should be in heat for, what? Another two or three more days, at least? My body isn’t built for this sort of thing.
Mari shifts beside me again and I tighten my arm around her. The motion brings another thought.
There is no going back for us now. Not after what happened.
My gaze drifts toward the cellar stairs. Pen had told me she was expecting an important guest. Then she’d left. At the time, I’d thought it was strange. Now it feels stranger.
Had she meant Mari?
The idea sounds ridiculous even inside my own head. And yet...
This is Pen.
I wouldn’t put it past her.
Carefully, I ease myself out from beneath the blanket. Mari makes a small sound of protest in her sleep, and I freeze until she settles again. After pulling on my glasses and trousers, I cross the cellar to my work table.
The familiar sight of tools and scattered parts helps steady me.
This is safety. This is stability. For a little while, I sort components back into their proper crates and make a few notes about the prototype’s performance.
The most recent adjustments I’d made to the frequency had definitely improved the results, and if I don’t write things down now, I’m sure I’ll forget.
When I reach inside the cardboard box to pull out the next thing to organize, my fingers brush something small, smooth, and rectangular.
It’s…a package wrapped in brown paper.
I frown.
I definitely didn’t leave that there.
I’m about to put it back when I notice my name scribbled across the top in permanent marker.
So it’s, what? A gift? Who would get me a gift?
Tugging the paper off reveals a white box. When I lift its lid, a sleek black cellphone stares back at me.
“What the…”
Something white flutters to the ground. Paper.
It’s a folded note. Bending down, I pick it up and unfold it.
Reece,
Rue informed me that you were in desperate need of one of these.
Considering everything you’ve done for our family, it seemed like an appropriate goodbye gift.
You’ll be missed. Stay in touch.
- Heath
I read it twice.
A laugh escapes me before I can stop it.
Rue. Of course it was Rue.
The little menace probably spent weeks pestering Heath about it.
I turn the phone over in my hands. It’s nicer than anything I’ve ever owned. He actually got me a cell because Rue was worried. These Gardeners…
A homesickness hits harder than I expect. I’d left in a rush because I thought staying would hurt too much, but that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped caring. I care about each of them.
My thumb brushes the edge of the phone. A goodbye gift.
The kind words make my chest tighten.
Because if Heath ever discovers exactly what happened between Mari and me...
I’m not sure he’ll be giving me anything but a black eye. Or worse.
The thought settles heavily in my stomach. Still, I press the power button to turn it on. The screen lights up.
Eventually I’ll need to get Mari home. And then what? I have no idea.
“I got your music box.”
I go still at the sound of her voice, slipping the phone into my pocket, and then turn. Mari is awake and wrapped in one of the blankets from the cot. Her headband sits crooked on her head, and her eyes are shining.
“It’s your music box now. I fixed it up for you,” I say with a smile.
“You’re always thinking about me,” she replies. “I’m sorry it took me so long to realize…”
“There’s nothing to apologize for,” I assure her.
She sighs. “I always used to pride myself in being able to see things in a different way, deeper than the surface, but…I guess I’ve been ignoring what’s really in front of me.”
I walk over to her and stroke a thumb over her bottom lip. She tilts her head up to me. “You see me now.”
“I do.”
My grin widens. “When your heat is done, we’ll have to find a way to get you home.”
Mari frowns and asks, “Home? But what about you?”
Hand dropping from her face, I shift. “I…I should stay here. I’ve already caused enough trouble by leaving so abruptly.”
“I’m not going back without you,” she says. “I want you to come with me, where you belong.”
“Mari—”
“I mean it.”
I run a hand through my hair. “Mari, you don’t know what you’re saying.”
“I’ve never been more certain of something in my life,” she continues. “I want to be with you. When I told you I loved you, I meant it.”
“But…your family… The Monarch… We can’t—”
“Do you love me, Reece?” she interrupts.
I want to melt into her and force myself to keep some space between us. “More than anything.”
“Then we should be together.” She says it like it’s the easiest thing in the world. But it’s not.
“We might be shunned, thrown off the island… You could lose your family.”
There’s a pause, but it’s no more than a second long. “I don't care.”
My brows knot. “That’s not true. You can’t disown your family because of me. I’d never ask you to do that.”
“You don’t have to,” she says. “I’ll talk to them. And if they don’t understand, I’ll—”
“Mari...” I trail off, groaning.
I don’t think she really knows what she’s asking, but she stands, the blanket falling away, and grabs both my hands.
“I love you,” she says as her gaze locks onto mine. “I want you to be my mate. Forever.”
I swallow. No one has ever wanted to be with me for me. Not for what I can do for them. Even my brother’s affection is transactional. So I need to make sure she’s sure about this.
“We won’t be able to have children,” I say, “or a proper pack. I don’t want to stop you from having the life you’ve always wanted.”
Her eyes narrow. “I never said I wanted children.”
Her insistence is a blow to my sternum. “You might someday.”
“Maybe,” she says. “Maybe not.”
I look down at our joined hands and our fingers linked together.
“I'll be perfectly okay with just you,” she says.
My heart somersaults in my chest.
I’m enough.
Rising up on her toes, she presses her lips against mine. I kiss her softly, and her body folds into me, as though we might actually be made for each other. I sigh against her mouth.
When she pulls back to look at me, she whispers, “Let me prove it to you, Reece.”
Before I can say a word, Mari goes down to her knees and unzips my trousers.
I should stop her.
I don’t. Because I want her mouth on me. I want to finally experience what it’s like to have her lips wrapped around my cock and sucking me.
I’m already getting hard, and when I see her face so close to my dick, her mouth mere centimeters away, it jerks upright. She gasps, her fingers closing around my base.
“Did I do that?” she asks, full of innocence.
I chuckle and nod. “It’s too easy to get hard around you.”
Her springtime scent blooms around her, filling the cellar and my nostrils. Her Omega scent does things to me, making blood rush downward and my dick stand at attention.
Mari’s eyes go wide. “Oh, wow.”
Unable to help it, I grin. Talk about an ego-boost.
Precum beads at the head. She licks her lips, and I nearly blow from watching her.
Hesitantly, she stretches her fingers around the shaft and squeezes. She starts to jerk my cock in short pulls, with no rhythm or pace. Exploring. And then, taking me completely by surprise, she runs her tongue up my length, making me almost leap out of my skin.
She lets go. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No, no,” I say, panting. “That. Do that again.”
She does it a second time, then a third, working her way around my shaft, her tongue traveling everywhere and following her hand as it moves.
It’s torture, pure and delicious, and with each lick, my cock becomes slicker.
Finally she laps up to the underside of my head and there’s a sweet sparking sensation that tickles up my spine.
I want her to suck it, lick up the precum, and take me as deep as she can. Her movements are stronger now and each time she comes in close to the tip, the insanity grows and my balls draw up tight.
It takes everything in me not to move. Not to jerk my hips forward and bury myself until I touch the back of her throat. This has to be hers to control.
As she opens her mouth, sucking me in, electric jolts race through me. I want more, for her to go as far down as she can, but she hesitates, her fingers of her free hand digging into my thigh.
When she pulls off me, she looks up, batting long lashes at me. “Help me, Reece, please. I’m not sure what it is you want to do.”
I tangle my fingers in her hair, careful not to move the device or headband. “Whatever you want.”
“There has to be something more that you need. I’ve never…I’ve never done this before.”