Chapter 8
eight
KAT
By some miracle, Sable woke up before Callum. She usually slept on and off through most of the day.
He looked softer in his sleep. His chest rose and fell steadily, his expression peaceful for once as he snored quietly.
His fingers were still buried in her fur, and the cold of his magic had prevented her from overheating beneath the heavy blanket on the mattress.
"He's perfect," Sable said.
"Physically."
"In every way."
"Come on, Sable."
"Can you imagine being in constant pain? I'd force a werewolf to mate with me to get myself out of pain too."
She had a point.
Callum was probably a few hundred years old. He'd been one of the royals since Rumor was created.
To have lived that long, and to have spent all of it in pain? I couldn't even imagine. I definitely couldn't say that I wouldn't take any opportunity to get out of pain, at that point.
"I bet it took a lot of self-control not to come after us until we turned twenty-five," Sable added.
It probably did.
Hence the stalking.
I kind of wondered just how much he’d watched me, and I’d probably need to ask about it sometime. But for the moment, that wasn’t a priority.
Sable made a soft, sad noise, and his arm tightened around her even though his snores didn’t so much as pause.
Wait, was that...
Yeah, he was definitely drooling. Just a little.
"This is probably the first pain-free night of sleep he's ever had," Sable said sadly. "Poor guy."
"I don't think he'd appreciate your pity."
"So?"
"I need to get to work so our business doesn't implode."
She sighed. "Five more minutes?"
"He already put us off at least seven or eight hours."
"Fine." She scooted up his chest and rubbed the side of her furry face against his stubbly cheek.
Callum's fingers tightened in her fur. His eyes opened slowly, his snores finally cutting off.
He looked... relaxed.
"Good morning," he murmured.
She rubbed her face against his—then gave him a sharp-toothed grin.
And shifted.
Crap.
A heartbeat later, my bare breasts were pressed against Callum’s chest. One of his hands was tangled in my curls. The other was on my lower back, barely above my ass. His stubble was rough against my cheek, his body the perfect temperature. Cool, but not ice cold.
His morning wood throbbed against the inside of my thigh as he lifted my hair to his nose and inhaled.
"Is scent important to fae?" The question slipped out before I could consider it.
Or get off of him
"Not as much as it is to immortals with enhanced senses, but yes." His hand moved slowly over my lower back.
It felt ridiculously good.
I needed to get up. I knew I did.
But the way his skin felt against mine was too fucking irresistible.
I was supposed to be seducing him, driving him crazy, but all I was doing was making myself want him more.
"For the record, this was unplanned." I eased my chest away from his, groaning inwardly at the loss of connection. His gaze lingered on my breasts as I climbed off of him.
"I'm aware."
"My wolf likes you too much."
"Not too much."
"You're not the one in her head, so you have no idea." I finally slipped out from beneath the blankets. It took a minute to steady myself. I'd slept so much longer than usual.
"Will I be in her head after the mate bond is sealed? My sources didn’t know, or wouldn’t say," he said.
"No. A mate bond would be between me and you, not you and her. You'd need to have a wolf if she was going to communicate mentally with them. That magic doesn't work in mixed-species matings. That's part of why most shifters only mate with other shifters."
"Will she be disappointed?"
My wolf chuffed. "As if I'd rather be mated to a sweaty, furry beast than a smooth male who snuggles me so perfectly."
"That's not the word I'd use. Of all the things you should worry about, Sable’s not one of them. She can communicate mentally with other wolves if she chooses to, and she’s always jabbering at me, so she gets plenty of social interaction. She just wants to be cuddled."
"And for you to fuck him."
"Why is that a priority?"
"He's so beautiful."
She wasn’t wrong.
"Her name is Sable?" Callum asked.
"Yeah." I stepped into the bathroom to use the facilities, stopping in the closet to put on a pair of colorful, stretchy shorts, a sports bra, and a cropped white t-shirt. My curls went up in their usual messy bun, since I hadn’t taken the time to fix them after my shower, and they’d dried weird.
When I went back out into the bedroom, Callum was still in bed. He was typing something on his phone, but not in any kind of a hurry.
His gaze lifted to me.
"Did Sable help with the pain?" I asked.
"She did."
I waited for an "I’ve never slept that well in my life" or just a "thank you" but neither came.
His gaze didn’t leave me, though.
The man was so freaking confusing.
Whatever.
I padded out of the bedroom. The temperature outside the room was significantly warmer, which made me think his magic was harder to control at night.
"Don't forget to make him fall in love with you," Sable said with a massive yawn.
"I decided seduction was a better idea, remember?"
"You haven't successfully managed any part of either one."
"Thanks for the vote of confidence."
"Someone has to be honest here."
"Oh, just go to sleep."
She yawned again. "Good idea."
I made myself some coffee before sitting down with my laptop. At least Callum wasn't there to close it again.
I’d only been working for a few minutes when the front door opened.
A woman came striding down the main hallway a few minutes later. I heard the click of her heels on the tile even though I couldn’t see her.
She stopped in the hall, probably checking the office. When she didn’t find Callum there, she came into the kitchen.
I blinked when I saw her.
She was stunning. Tall and strong, wearing a tight pencil skirt, an expensive-looking silk blouse, and a blazer. Her black hair was up in a sleek, coiled bun on top of her head, and her dark brown skin was clear and glowing. Whatever kind of immortal she was, she definitely wasn’t a shifter.
Not a nonmagical one, at least. Dragons, phoenixes, and a few other types had a little more access to their innate magic than us werewolves.
In comparison, I hadn't put lotion on any part of my body in months.
There were dark circles under my eyes. And much like Liv, I didn't own any clothing that couldn't be appropriately worn to the gym.
Although, I would put money on her working out significantly more than me, considering I only ever went to the gym to see Jonah.
Whoever this woman was—probably Callum’s actual girlfriend, considering the way she’d just walked into the house like she owned it—she definitely fit better with him than I did.
But if he was going to fuck her after dragging me to his mansion and forcing me to sleep in his bed, I would find a way to kill him. Bargain be damned.
"He's in the bedroom." I pointed to the hallway, since she was obviously there for him.
"Thanks." The woman gave me a polite, professional smile. After a few beats of hesitation, she headed down that hall.
Every click of her heels grated on my nerves.
"She's perfect for him," I muttered to Sable, forcing myself not to glare at her back like a complete bitch.
"If he touches her, I'll eat him," Sable growled, suddenly wide awake again. "If he lets her into our room, he's dead."
I forced myself to continue breathing as if I wasn't visualizing myself murdering the king's girlfriend.
…maybe I was slightly unhinged too.
The murmur of voices was followed by the bedroom door closing loudly.
He'd let her into our room.
Illogical rage blazed through me.
"It's worth going to prison to kill that bastard, right?" I asked Sable.
"Absolutely."
She was simultaneously the best and worst kind of friend to have.
I tried to breathe steadily.
No way in hell was I going to murder him while they were having sex. I'd do it afterward. When he was relaxed, so it would surprise him more.
I waited.
And waited.
And waited.
My wolf was growling and snapping her teeth within me the whole time. "Interrupt them. Kill them both."
"I'm not killing her. She's not the one who's forcing me to mate with her so she can stay out of prison," I gritted out.
I had no business being as possessive as I currently felt, but I was.
Just as I lost all self-control and rose to my feet, the bedroom door opened loudly once more, and I heard voices again.
The sound of Callum's dress shoes joined his dream woman's clicking heels as they walked toward me.
I clenched my jaw, trying and failing to convince myself to sit back down and act like everything was okay.
My nostrils flared when both of them entered the kitchen and dining area. There was plenty of space between their bodies, and the woman didn't have a single hair out of place.
"They don't smell like sex," I told Sable.
"Kill them anyway."
Apparently, her addiction to the fae king had officially been cured. At least for the next five seconds.
Callum walked to my side, taking my elbow in his hand lightly. The fucker was just as neutral as he had been the day before.
"This is my mate, Kat." He introduced me to his lover, like she cared what my name was. "She's the one you'll be working with."
I would what?
"No," I said.
Callum ignored my protest. "Kat, this is Elle. She's at the top of her field, and her team is well-known for helping successful businesses like yours find their footing."
I blinked.
"Kill him," Sable snarled.
"He might not have screwed her. They don’t smell like they touched."
"Hi. It's nice to meet you." I forced myself to attempt a smile at the woman who was probably a hell of a lot more powerful than I was. Werewolves were at the bottom of the power barrel in Rumor. "Please excuse us for a minute. I need to talk to my mate."
Sable snapped her teeth at the label, despite literally biting the man to claim him as hers last night.
I decided I would blame my instability on her.