Chapter 27
The kink in my neck stirred me awake. I’d slept with my head on his shoulder all night. Our bodies were pressed together. I opened my eyes and tilted my head back slowly. He was awake, staring at the ceiling. My movement had him turning his head and looking down at me.
“How long have you been awake?” I muttered.
“A while, but I didn’t want to wake you,” he said.
He squeezed his arm around me tighter.
“What are we doing today?” I asked.
“We are gonna enjoy the tub together, get some breakfast, and then head back. We have a busy next few days before we leave. Lina demands that we have a big dinner on Saturday to say goodbye. She’s afraid she won’t see Callie and me for a very long while,” he said.
“That means we only have tonight and tomorrow to prepare our trip back,” I said.
“Yeah…” he said, sadness lacing his tone.
“Are you sad to go back home?” I asked.
“Yeah… honestly, if it wasn’t for you, and my stuff back there, but mostly you, I’d stay here. I was born here. It feels like home,” he said.
“Oh,” I said. Guilt settled in.
“Don’t feel bad. It’s the right choice to go home,” he said.
“Yeah…”
He flipped over on top of me and started tickling me. Laughter burst from me. He kept tickling me until I pleaded for him to stop. It may have been the threat of peeing on the bed that actually did it.
“Let’s soak in that tub,” he said, nodding toward the giant tub that sat within the room. It was probably big enough for four of us.
He leaned forward, placing a gentle, simple kiss on my lips, then hopped off the bed and went to the tub.
He turned on the faucet and let it run for a bit before putting the stopper in it.
The steam rolled off the top of the water.
He reached back toward the wall, where there was a line of small oil bottles.
He grabbed one and added a few drops to the water.
Banana, jasmine, and something earthy I couldn't name hit my nose. It smelled lovely.
He walked over to me and reached his hand out toward me. I placed my hand in his, and he pulled me to my feet. We stood there, me staring up at him. Our eyes were locked. He slowly reached down, and his lips met mine. They lingered. It was gentle, not demanding, but still passionate.
He pulled back and smiled so big, his dimples popping out.
With that smile, I didn’t think I could ever tell him no.
His fingers interlocked with mine, and he pulled me to the tub.
He helped me step into the tub before stepping in behind me.
He sat against the tub and pulled me back against him.
We sat there, me in his arms, in silence.
Silence never felt awkward around him or like it needed to be filled.
I didn’t feel like he wanted to talk just to hear himself, but he also knew when to fill the quiet.
“What are we gonna do when we go back?” I asked. I let my mind wander too far, and the question escaped before I could stop it.
“Well… I’m gonna take Ravik out—”
“I mean, us? You and me?” I asked, clarifying the question.
“What do you want us to do?”
“I don’t know, I guess. I like you… God… I do. More than I’ve ever liked someone, actually, but I need to go home. I need to take care of my family,” I said.
“You don’t need to fix everything, Zay. It’s not your job,” he said.
“Maybe I can’t fix my mom… or my brother, but I won’t leave my sister to suffer,” I said.
“We can take it day by day,” he said.
“What does that really look like? You being a wolf and possibly becoming what exactly?”
“The Novo… but I don’t know if I even want that—”
“Of course, you want that.”
“I did want that… but right now, Zalayuh, I only want you, however that looks,” he said.
His honesty hit me hard in the chest. I wasn’t expecting that. Of course, we admitted we liked each other, and there were feelings there, but… damn.
“You would throw it all away for me?” I finally asked, after a few heartbeats.
“Yeah… It’s okay if you wouldn’t…” he said.
“I mean, I would, but I wouldn’t. Aspen comes first… but I’d put you at second,” I said. As soon as it left my mouth, I wasn’t even sure where that came from.
He put his hand to my chin and lifted it, tipping my head back against his shoulder, making our eyes meet.
He brought his lips to mine and kissed me, then he pulled my bottom lip in his mouth, gently sucking on it.
He would stop for a second to give it a little nip before sucking on it again.
Tingles rushed from my stomach to between my legs.
Our tongues started gliding against each other.
His other hand found itself gripping my breast, his thumb and forefinger rolling my nipple.
Heat rushed through me. He let go of my chin and let that hand trail down my body and in between my legs. His finger hit the sensitive spot, and my legs fell apart, letting him have more access. I could feel him, thick and hard, pressing against my lower back. He wanted me as much as I wanted him.
“This isn’t bathing,” I finally managed to say.
“It indeed isn’t,” he said, “but what's a man to do when a beautiful woman is against him naked?”
“I’ve never… umm… done it in a tub,” I said.
“Me either… guess it will be a first for both of us,” he said.
I flipped around and straddled him. One of his hands reached up, wrapping around my neck.
The other pressed against my back, pulling me closer to him.
He leaned forward and teased my nipple briefly before pulling my mouth to his.
His hand was perfectly around my neck. Our lips parted enough for moans to escape between us.
I sat atop, his cock sitting between my legs. I rocked forward just a little, teasing him, teasing myself. He threw his head back and grunted. I did it again. Every grunt, moan, and squirm excited me more.
“Womannnn,” he drawled.
“Yes,” I replied, with a smile.
“You undo me in ways that you don’t understand,” he said.
I laughed.
I leaned forward and kissed him. This time, I drew his bottom lip into my mouth, sucking and biting on it.
He pulsed between my legs. His response was just what I wanted.
I rocked back and forth while kissing him.
He moaned through my lips. Tingling heat rushed from my stomach to between my thighs.
God. I wanted him inside me. The pressure was building.
I reached between us and guided him into me.
Loud moans escaped from both of us. He stared at me, eyes wild, gold flecks shifting in his eyes.
His hands moved down to my hips, gripping me and moving me back and forth.
I wanted this moment to last forever. The way his eyes looked at me was like I was the only woman on earth.
It filled something so deep within my soul that words couldn’t explain.
I kept my eyes open; he did too, both of us watching each other.
One of his hands moved up my body, taking his time, like he was remembering every curve.
My hands gripped his chest, using them as leverage as I moved on top of him, slow and deliberate.
I pressed my forehead against his, keeping our eyes locked onto each other.
His hands reached around and gripped my ass, moving me faster.
The only advantage to this giant tub was that it allowed my legs to spread, letting me lower myself fully onto him, taking all of him in.
I gripped his chest, moving faster and faster.
My lower stomach roared in fire. I knew I was close, and my body took over.
Faster and faster. He started moaning louder.
“Oh God, Zay… Zay… Baby… I’m… uhhhhhhh,” he groaned out.
Every bit of control I had was gone. My vision faltered, my body froze, and he took over. My fingers dug into his chest.
Screams erupted from my mouth.
He kept moving my hips slowly. My vision cleared, and I focused on him.
His eyes had shifted into an even lighter color—something I hadn’t thought possible.
My hands let go of his chest, little dots of blood beading on the skin.
I fell forward, my head into his neck. Our breathing was ragged.
Then our breathing fell into sync, both of us getting in control.
His heartbeat raced—I felt it everywhere we were connected.
“Now, we take a shower,” he said.
“A shower?”
“Yes… This water is getting tepid,” he said.
I laughed, but he wasn’t wrong. It was getting cold.
We got out of the bath and moved into the shower.
Our infatuation didn’t stop in the tub—it carried into the shower.
We had breakfast at a little diner outside the hotel and then made our way back to the cabin.
We spent our time asking random questions about what we liked and didn’t like.
We traded random movie quotes and laughed at each other.
Once we got back to the house, we started making a plan for what we wanted to take back to Tennessee.
We collected quite a bit of stuff over the last couple of months.
Various movies, books, clothing, and more.
We decided only to take our clothes. Well, I refused to leave the book I was currently reading, but Quinn finished his a few days ago, so he didn’t have any must-reads to bring back.
The rest of the stuff could be left for whoever stayed here next.
We deep-cleaned the house, wanting to leave it better than when we arrived. We didn’t know if or when we would come back here. The thought of never coming back to the place where I found peace and healing after Izayuh, where I found love, made my eyes burn.
Saturday came quickly, and we headed to Lina’s for the afternoon and evening. The evening was a wonderful time with his family. Lina had prepared a large meal for everyone. The entire evening was spent laughing and smiling with this family that had also become mine.
We brought Lucy with us, since we would be saying our goodbyes, or as Quinn kept telling me, see you laters.
His uncle didn’t believe that she would ever be able to fully live in the wild, because humans raised her.
Still, he was hopeful she could eventually go to a sanctuary for feline animals and live more like a bobcat.
Normally, I’d let everyone pass her around and cuddle her, but not tonight.
I held her tight, taking every single bit of it in.
I studied her grey fur with black striping throughout.
She had the perfect little bobbed tail and blue eyes.
His uncle departed before us. When the time came to hand her over, tears rolled down my cheeks.
One of my healing cracks in my heart split open all over again.
Saying goodbye to her reminded me of when I said bye to Izayuh.
She filled a piece of me that went missing with him.
Through tears, I gently placed her in his uncle's arms. Quinn didn’t let any tears fall, but I could tell he was sad as he scratched her head, telling her we would see her soon.
By the time we left, Lina and I were crying.
We held each other, with tears flowing down our faces.
She understood me more than most people could.
She nurtured me and loved me when I needed it most. We were both part of a club no woman should ever belong to.
We birthed our babies and held them while they took their last breath, all in the same day.
Callie was at the cabin before six in the morning.
Hyder had also met us at the cabin. Quinn decided that Callie could drive the Civic back, since he knew she wasn’t as comfortable driving a truck on the interstate.
We loaded the handful of boxes we had into the back of the truck and went on our way.
The drive was boring. I read for most of it, but in between reading, I’d bombard Quinn with questions that he mostly didn’t have answers for.
The closer we got to Tennessee, heaviness settled into my chest, making it harder to breathe.
I stopped being able to focus on reading.
My foot tapped a million miles an hour. Quinn grabbed my hand and squeezed it.
It was a small reassurance that I’d be fine.
We planned to stop a little bit away from home and get a hotel there.
We didn’t want anyone to know that we were back before we were ready to.
It was a little after eight p.m. when we finally made it to the hotel.
Quinn got a room for us, then he got Callie and Hyder their own rooms. We all retired to our rooms and planned to meet up tomorrow with some of the other pack members who wanted to be a part of this little uprising.
I stayed in Quinn's arms all night, him holding me tight. The closeness was exactly what I needed. The last few hours, my legs and hands were trembling. My chest was tight, and words had left me. He didn’t have to say anything to know that being back here was a lot for me.
This was where I was kidnapped. This was where I gave birth. This was where I lost Izayuh.