Chapter Nine
Summer wandered out of the bedroom, disappointed Fenrir had not joined her in her nap.
Entering the living room, she looked at the piles of bags and boxes that filled the space in front of the couch, and sighed.
She’d slept for two hours but was still tired and not looking forward to putting everything away.
Working extra shifts anytime she could for the past few weeks had apparently caught up with her.
She was glad she had not seen the mess earlier or she’d never been able to rest until everything was unpacked and put away.
Picking her suitcase up in one hand, and a bag of random stuff from her apartment in the other, she looked at Fenrir who was in the kitchen drinking something from a mug. “Which room should I take?”
“Excuse me?”
“Where do you want me to put my stuff?”
Instead of answering, Fenrir set his mug down and moved to her side. He took the bag and suitcase from her and set them down. “We’ll worry about unpacking later. Right now, you need a snack before we get ready for tonight.”
“But all this stuff,” she said, waving her hand toward the pile of her belongings.
“Unpacking will wait,” Fenrir said as he wrapped his arm around her and guided her to the counter where her snack waited.
While she ate, he finished his dinner and washed the mug, careful that she did not see the residual of the blood in the mug. Now that he’d tasted her blood, drinking someone else’s wasn’t appealing, but would keep him going until she agreed to complete their mating.
Once she finished, he took her hand and led her toward the bedroom. As they passed the couch, he grabbed a hanging clothes bag that held several of the outfits they’d bought that afternoon.
“Tonight is the opening party of the hibernation. This dress will be perfect for tonight’s festivities,” he said, laying the hanging bag on the bed.
“Are you sure I should attend?”
Fenrir looked at her like she was turning purple. “Of course you will attend. You are my mate. No doubt the news that I’ve found my mate has the whole tribe anxious to meet you. You will come with me.”
He added a thread of power to his tone. She recognized it as the one that made her want to do whatever he said. He’d used it on her before, every time she tried to oppose his decision, and she was coming to understand what it meant.
“You’ve got to stop that,” she said even as she unzipped and opened the bag to look at the dress he’d chosen.
“Stop what?” he asked, trying to sound innocent, but she wasn’t convinced.
“Stop using that tone that makes me want to do anything you tell me to.”
“I will, when you stop fighting me on everything,” he said as he dropped a kiss on her temple. “I’m going to take a quick shower.”
Summer waited until she heard the shower running before stripping off her clothes. Instead of dressing in the outfit Fenrir had chosen, she walked into the bathroom naked.
There was no way she could face a room full of supernatural beings who would know within seconds how aroused she was. Or that she and Fenrir had not finished whatever mating ceremony needed to happen. Even if he did not claim her, they could at least slake each other’s sexual need.
Pushing open the shower door, she stepped in, then jumped back with a squeal as ice cold water hit her lower body.
“What the hell?” Fenrir roared as she fell backward, landing hard on her ass.
“Ouch,” she cried.
****
Fenrir turned the water on, but kept it ice cold as he stepped under the spray. Hissing as the icy drops hit his body, he forced himself to stand under the spray for nearly a minute before grabbing the liquid soap and quickly washing up.
Once he was clean, he remained under the water, hoping it would cool his fiery hunger for his mate. But his cock remained erect as a steel pole, demanding more than an ice-cold shower to take care of his need.
He needed his mate.
He needed to claim her, to fuck her, to come buried deep in her body, otherwise he might be a danger to anyone who approached her during the hibernation’s opening evening activities. But she wasn’t ready to become his mate. Yet.
Being with her all day and not claiming her as his mate had tested his control and only Summer’s sweet touch had kept him from killing Vincent and every other man who looked at her.
Whether it was holding his hand, leaning into his hand against her back, or snuggling into his side when he put his arm around her had helped him to somewhat maintain control.
Only the fact that he was gay and more interested in flirting with their guards, had kept him from ripping Vincent’s head off.
Wrapping one hand around his cock, he began stroking, though he knew the effort to orgasm would be futile. Now that he’d found his mate and taken a drop of her blood into his body, all of his orgasms belonged to her.
He was so lost in fighting to control his need to skip the evening’s opening party and take Summer to bed whether she was ready to accept her place in his life or not, he did not realize she was in the bathroom until she squealed.
Turning, he was too late to catch her before she landed on her ass on the marble floor just outside the shower.
“Ouch,” she cried as tears filled her eyes.
Turning off the water, he stepped out and helped her off the floor. “Summer, what are you doing in here?”
Once she was on her feet and stable, he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist hoping to hide his erection. Turning back, he had to smirk as she continued to stare at his pelvic area as if she’d never seen a naked man before.
“Sweetness, my eyes are up here,” he cupped her chin and lifted her face until she met his gaze with her own wide-eyed one.
Her face flushed until she glowed bright red as she stammered, “I’m sorry, I can’t go with you tonight.”
Fenrir frowned as he fought to keep himself from looking over her entire naked body for injury. “Are you ill? I knew we probably did too much today. Come on, I’ll put you to bed so you can rest some more.”
Summer stepped back and shook her head. When he tried to follow, she held her hand out between them. The touch of it against his cold chest was like the heat of a branding iron.
“No, it’s not that. I’m fine. But I’m so horny everyone will know. And I don’t want to embarrass you in front of your tribe. It will be best if I just stay here. I can work on unpacking my things.”
Fenrir pulled in a deep breath and knew she was right. The scent of her arousal filled the room. But then, so did his. There was another solution that would help them both calm down enough to face people together.
Brushing her arm out of his way, he closed the distance between them and wrapped his arms around her. “You don’t have to hide. There’s another way to deal with the arousal we’re both feeling.”
Summer blinked and looked up at him with both excitement and fear in her expression. “We can have sex without completing the mating bond?”
Fenrir’s cock twitched as her scent grew stronger. “Yes, as long as I don’t bite you and take your life essence into my body while filling yours with mine.”
She dropped her gaze to his throat as she picked apart his words. Taking a deep breath, she looked into his eyes again. “Let’s do that. Otherwise, I’ll have to hide in here for the next two weeks.”
“That is not an acceptable solution. You will be by my side from now until the end of the hibernation. I won’t trust you with anyone else.”
Summer giggled as she lifted her arms and wrapped them around his neck. “Then fuck the arousal out of me, my handsome Konungr.”