Total pages in book: 70
Estimated words: 65151 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65151 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Dipping his shoulder so she would have better access, Jules lowered himself, allowing her to view the forever impression of her teeth in his flesh. And it worked. Brenya rolled up onto her toes, the female worrying her lip as she saw how deeply she’d forced her bite into his shoulder.
Face repentant, she found more of her justified horror over the Omegas in Central transforming into guilt over her earlier violence. “Mine… the one on my throat, I mean… grew infected. Your skin feels hot. You should…. Can I wash it?”
“That would be sweet of you.” Sweet and very welcome, Jules pleased as he handed her a clean cloth prepared just for this.
Oh so gently, she dabbed at the oozing wound, patting it.
And Jules acted the part of wounded soldier. Every hitched breath timed, every long look of adoration placed at the proper moments. Until she felt he was safe in her care, that there would be no reprisal. That he could be vulnerable with her.
She’d be such a good mother.
Another pass with the cloth, Brenya worrying over nothing. “You should see a medic.”
Every urge to breed his mate tamped down hard so she could sense nothing through the pair-bond but his relief to be cared for. “I am a medic, Brenya.”
“Oh. Right.” He could practically see the workings of her mind as she studied her mark, as she found herself drawn to it the more she tended, the sweet girl licking the edges of her teeth without any idea she’d done so. Right before honey eyes began to dart around his flesh on a hunt for another mark.
Seeking to find the telltale sign that another Omega might have bitten him first.
That instinctive alarm, Jules put to bed quickly. “She never bit me, Brenya.”
“Why?” Adorable surprise, total disbelief that his first wife had not enjoyed such a thing with her husband.
“Perhaps she didn’t love me enough.” Jules felt no shame in such words, though they were not true. Rebecca had loved him, just not… not like Brenya would. Besides, this moment in the warm shower was not about Rebecca; it was about Brenya and what she needed.
And how much Jules adored that she was offended on his behalf. How cute it was that his mate tried to hide it—but the pair-bond didn’t lie. She could hide nothing from him, especially when he had oozed so deep inside her there was no cutting him out.
Not that Brenya had fully forgiven him for the morning, nor the afternoon. “Lucia made it sound as if Omegas bite for control. Maybe Rebecca never needed to control you.”
Careful not to startle her, Jules gently began to wash her arm, making no big deal out of it. “Do you want to control me, Brenya?”
“I wanted you to stop.” Fingertips slipping away from his shoulder, Brenya muttered a sore, “I was scared.”
Soothing, suds-covered hands moved to her other arm, Jules calm. “I know.”
Nothing more needed to be said. No back and forth that he was right and she was wrong. Because he had done it for her. He’d do even more for her.
Give her her perfect world.
“I’m going to leave the shower now.” Pulling his touch from her limbs, Jules offered an easy smile. “Take your time; stay here all night if you want to. You have a few minutes before Jacques and Lucia begin. I won’t disturb you if you want to be left alone. Or… you can join me in the nest, where I’ll teach you how to have sex where the goal isn’t a quick orgasm or escape from Jacques. It can be very intimate, very pleasurable, if we take our time. We can also play. Have fun…. Yes, sex can be fun. It doesn’t have to be only duty or the means to an end. Do you know how to play, Brenya?”
Innocent confusion, her blush bright, and her eyes bashful. “No.”
“Oh, that’s sad. Do you want to play?” Just to show her he could, Jules seeped deep into the bond, filled her, surrounded her, stroked her thoughts and desires, and then pulled away the tentacles of his influence like the tide rolling out, lips brushing her ear as he spoke low and dirty, “Or, do you want me to chase you? Did you enjoy that last night, being my sweet lamb while I was the wolf? Shall I prowl and corner and bite?”
He snapped his teeth, her reaction to overt flirtation completely charming.
How she froze, worried her lip, even backed away a step.
But Jules had accounted for that, not just pulling away his influence, but stepping out of the shower totally as he purred. “No, we’ll leave all the biting to you today. Tonight, you chase me.”
And then he left the room, no backward glance, no more teasing, wrapping a towel around his hips and walking off while his tantalized mate gawked at his back.