Chapter Twelve
I WAKE UP MATED TO the Leopard King, and something is different.
Not just the delicious soreness between my thighs or the way his scent clings to my skin. Something else. Something in my head that wasn’t there before.
How does she do it?
I stir and slowly open my eyes even though a part of my mind is still lost in my dreams—
How does she make me feel these things without even trying?
With the way I keep hearing Hexius’ imaginary voice—
Oh. No.
The moment I see Hexius across the room getting dressed, I know right away I’m completely mistaken.
It’s not a dream. None of it was a dream. But instead everything’s happening real-time...
Because I can hear his thoughts.
Can you hear me?
My heart races as I ask this in my mind, but Hexius only continues buttoning his shirt, and what if...what if he can hear me but he’s not supposed to act like it? I mean, the world of preters is still a mystery to me. So who knows, right? Anything’s possible, and that’s why...
If you can hear me, how about just blink twice?
I stare hard at Hexius, wanting to make sure I don’t miss anything. Since preters are pretty much faster than humans in every way, I want to make sure I don’t miss seeing him—
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
Oops.
I’ve been so caught up in my thoughts, I didn’t even realize Hexius has been watching me watch him for God knows how long.
“Talk to me.”
My lips part, but no words come out...because my mind’s too busy picking up his thoughts.
I want her.
Just seeing her like this, I want her all the time.
I clap my hands over my ears, horrified at the way I can’t seem to stop hearing his thoughts.
I’m obsessed with—
I squeeze my eyes shut in desperation. Please, God. Help me with this? Please?
As I feel rather than see Hexius approaching me, I find myself imagining a door to his mind—
Bam!
And what do you know?
As soon as I slam the door shut and triple-lock it for good measure—
Silence.
Blessed, private silence...just as the bed dips under his weight, his fingers are cupping my chin, and my eyelids involuntarily fly open at the startling heat of his gaze.
“Tell me what’s wrong.”
I don’t need to read his thoughts to understand that the gruffness of his tone underscores his concern, and my heart just...melts.
Secretly.
“Nothing’s wrong.” Because technically...I’ve yet to determine if hearing is thoughts is a fluke or something to worry about.
“Then what were you thinking about when you were looking at me earlier?”
Good question.
But since I can’t seem to make myself admit the truth for some reason—
“I was, um, wondering—”
Think, Sam!
“—about how last night would change things between us?”
Phew.
It might not be the complete truth, but it’s no lie either since it’s something I really want to know as well.
“It changes nothing.”
But now I’m suddenly thinking maybe I should’ve let sleeping dogs lie because that’s definitely not what I expected to hear.
“You were mine the moment I found you again.”
Oh. My. Staaa—aaaaah!
In yet another breathless, jaw-dropping, mind-spinning burst of preter speed, Hexius already has me on my lap, the covers falling from my naked body as he takes my mouth in a deep, drugging kiss that has me clutching his shoulders even as my legs wrap automatically around his waist.
Another blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment passes, and he’s on his feet, I’m pressed against the wall, and aaaaah!
All I can do is whimper as his mouth latches to one aching breast while I feel his hand between our bodies, unbuckling his belt and unzipping his pants until—
Hexius.
He thrusts inside of me, and I start seeing stars.
Hexius, Hexius, Hexius.
My back slides up as he pounds into me harder. Faster. Deeper. And with every powerful thrust, the door between our minds start to swing open—
Yes, Samira. That’s it. Take me. Take all of me.
It’s just too, too much, hearing his thoughts while having sex—
Yes, like that. Squeeze harder. Yes. Harder.
I just can’t take it anymore, and my nails dig deep into his back.
“Hexius!”
His name spills past my lips as I shatter around him, and he growls out my name a moment after, my climax triggering his own.
Mine. Mine. Mine.
It’s the last thing I hear before slumping weakly against his powerful body, the aftershocks of my orgasm completely draining me of strength.
When I wake up again, I’m all alone. Hexius is gone, but my memories are still there, and as much as I love hearing the way Hexius thinks of me so, so possessively—
It’s not right.
And so I make a rule, right there in that moment: I’ll do everything I can to keep the door shut between our minds. No peeking. No cheating. It stay shut no matter how curious I get or how much I want to know what he’s thinking.
Remember all the horror movies you’ve watched, Sam!
No good comes out from opening the door to strangers.
Not that Hexius’ thoughts are strange. Or wait. Should it be that Hexius isn’t a stranger, but it’s more like I can’t let them trespass—oh, stop babbling, Sam!
Just don’t peek, period.
I repeat this to myself, for emphasis.
Do. Not. Peek.
And when the next day comes, so far so good.
I’m getting better at keeping the door closed.
It helps that Hexius is...well, he’s not exactly difficult to read even without hearing his thoughts.
The way he looks at me across the breakfast table, like he’s trying to solve a particularly fascinating puzzle.
The way his hand finds the small of my back when we’re walking through L’Alliance’s corridors.
The way he kissed my forehead this morning before leaving for a meeting, casual and unconscious, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
That last one makes my heart squeeze so hard I almost stop breathing, and I...I have to stop thinking about him because I’m in the middle of class, and I’m only going to bring him shame if I end up flunking this.
So concentrate, Sam!
Today’s eight-hour class is actually more like premarital counseling offered by churches or non-profits, only this one is specifically geared for human mates like me.
A L’Alliance officer usually serves as lecturer, but today we’re all left starstruck since our guest “professor” is none other than Spencer Hirsche, whose billionaire husband isn’t only old-blood Caro royalty, but. ..
“In Hirsche Laboratories’ most recent experiments, sangferia-powered defenses have proven to be ten times more effective, at the minimum, and with an unscalable potential for growth.
We’ve barely scratched the surface with sangferia, but I just want you to remember that at the end of the day, we cannot and should not allow ourselves to be pressured into mating or marriage just because of high compatibility rates. ”
Listening to Spencer talk is like having your own wisdom machine, but she’s also so perfectly brisk and efficient I feel like a sloth as I do my best to keep up with my notes.
And this is saying a lot, considering what I do for work.
She just seems so effortless with everything that she does that I can totally see why Etienne Hirsche hired her as his chauffeur even though she’s human, and way before he realized she’s his match, too.
Another guest professor comes in after Spencer, and I’m stunned to hear a name I recognize.
Maryah Celestini...from Concord Agency?
I sit up as soon as I realize that it’s the same agency that Hexius consulted about finding his ideal mate, and I’m just blown away with how they’re able to compute compability scores even without having to meet mating candidates.
That’s relieving to know, honestly. I never told Hexius this, but I did wonder how the Agency was able to—
“The first beta match that the Agency used to test its system was my husband and me. And for those who aren’t aware, Nicolo—before we were married—was not just my alpha. He was my stepbrother, too.”
No way!
I come out of the class with my mind spinning just a bit. While it was nice to hear about how high compatibility scores and sangferia matches often lead to fruitful marriages...it sadly doesn’t guarantee that mated couples have feelings for each other.
And when on my way back to meet Hexius in the dining hall, I see a lady chatting him up, and she’s simply oozing with so much glamor and seduction that you just know she’s Caro at first glance—
What is he thinking right now?
Is he regretting choosing me?
Is he wishing—
Hexius suddenly turns to my direction, and I freeze like a deer in the headlights, feeling guilty without even knowing why.
He raises a brow at me, and I don’t even have to take a peek at his thoughts to know what that means.
Aren’t you coming here?
I shake my head. Is he for real? Why would I willingly stand next to a lady that gorgeous? That’s just going to give him more reason to compare me to her and finding me absolutely lacking.
The urge to listen to his thoughts suddenly consumes me, and I spin away in a jerky movement.
Don’t you dare, Sam!
I walk away as fast as I can like it’s one way I can outrun my thoughts. I feel silly for being jealous, but I also can’t get the image of Hexius with the other woman out of my head. I know he’s not cheating on me, but—
Whoa!
I jump in shock when fingers curl around my wrist from behind, and I’m spun around in a blink.
“Everything alright?”
The gleam in his eyes is telling, and I’m so tempted to make a face.
But since I’d like to be known as the very mature, very demure, and very deserving future wife of the Leopard King—
“Of course.”
I feel rather proud with how the words come out all steady and so not like I was feeling rather insecure by how effortlessly chic and jaw-droppingly beautiful all Caro women seem to be. But just when I’m about to give myself a pat on the back because of this—
“I must be mistaken then. I thought you were bothered when you saw another woman speaking to me earlier.”