His lips trailed across her jaw and down her neck as his tongue periodically swept out and tasted her. Jacque heard his growl as she moaned in response to his touch.
“Come back to bed,” he hummed against her skin. His hands were already attempting to relieve her of her sleep clothes.
“Do I have a choice?” she asked, unable to keep the smile from her face.
Fane’s answering smile took her breath away. He swept her up into his arms as if she wasn’t nearly eight months pregnant and carried her to their bed. “As long as I can carry you, I’d say, no, you don’t have a choice.” If she hadn’t been pregnant, she had no doubt he would have tossed her onto the bed and then pounced on her. But instead, he set her down on her feet and held her gaze with an intensity in its own that caused her heart to beat painfully in her chest. He undressed her slowly and it reminded her of the night they were married and bound. He’d been just as intense then and his eyes had not left her face until he’d had her so caught up in his touch that she wasn’t embarrassed. Jacque knew he was attempting to do the same this night because she was so self-conscious of her swollen stomach, dimpled thighs, and stretch-marked everything.
“Hush,” he told her having picked up on her thoughts. “You’re beautiful.”
“You’re just saying that to get me in your bed,” she teased.
She felt his grin against her skin. “Is it working?”
“Maybe.”
Just as her final piece of clothing hit the floor, Fane turned them so his back was to the bed and laid down pulling her on top of him. His eyes swept over her and the heat that filled them had Jacque shivering. “Guess if my words don’t work, I’ll have to try something else,” he whispered just before his mouth met her flesh.
Costin growled as he watched his mate walk into their bathroom and shut the door in his face. “I didn’t mean it the way it sounded, Sally mine.” He heard the whine in his voice and wanted to kick himself. He’d spent the evening fending off her questions about why he was keeping their bond closed. He hated seeing the hurt in her eyes, but he understood why Vasile wanted them to wait to tell the females—especially with one of them still nursing a pup and another with one on the way. He knew it was going to break Jen and Jacque’s hearts when they heard about all the deaths. It would break his mate’s heart as well, but he imagined it would be a tad more personal for the other girls because they had pups of their own.
“How exactly did you mean it then?” Sally said through the door bringing his attention back to her. “Because when you said, maybe we should try something new because things are getting routine, I took it to mean you feel like our lovemaking has become routine. Considering some other words for routine include, mundane, boring, dull, tedious, and commonplace, maybe I misunderstood what you were saying. Did I misunderstand?”
Costin leaned his head against the door and banged his forehead against it. Dammit, he thought to himself. If he ever wished he could take back his words, it was the ones she’d just repeated. In his attempt to distract her, he’d stupidly suggested they spice up their love life, as if there was something wrong with it. Truth be told, his little healer was the opposite of boring when it came to their lovemaking. It had been a dumb thing to say, and as soon as the words had left his mouth and he’d watched her face fall, Costin had wanted to snatch the words back and swallow them down.“Sally,” he groaned. “Please come out. I need to see your face. I need to hold you.”
She laughed, but it was not because she found anything amusing. “But don’t you think maybe holding me is getting a little tedious? Maybe my face is getting a little dull. So, perhaps, talking through this door will spice things up a bit. You could imagine my face looks like something else and maybe then things won’t seem so boring.”
The hurt in her voice bleeding through her words caused his insides to twist painfully. He’d really wounded her.
“Maybe I should go back to help Peri while you stay here. Perhaps, some distance would relieve these commonplace feelings you’re having toward us.”
His wolf snarled inside of him and his hand slammed against the door shaking the frame. “You aren’t leaving me!” Costin was beginning to panic. The idea of her separating from him caused that kind of reaction in the man, but the wolf took the panic to a whole new level. He was thrashing inside of Costin to be let out. He had to keep her; he couldn’t let her leave them.
He heard her rustling around in the bathroom, and all he could imagine was her packing up her things. His heart felt as though it was going to climb out of his throat as he opened the bond just enough to send her some thoughts. He filled her mind with the visions of herself, from his eyes. Costin showed her how he saw her. He showed her how the sway of her hips seduced him anytime she was around him. He showed her how soft her skin felt to him, how she tasted to him, and how beautiful she looked when she gave herself unreservedly to him. He thought about some of his favorite memories of them together and revealed to her just how crazy she drove him. If it was up to Costin, they’d never leave their bed, ever. But unfortunately they had to eat. That brought his thoughts to a whole different place as he showed her all the things she’d shown him and taught him. His quiet mate might not be a she-wolf, but she was definitely an animal when it came to her desire for him and it thrilled him and humbled him.
Costin continued his onslaught of images, forcing them into her mind, and then adding his emotions to the mix. He heard her take a sharp breath. Yeah, female, that’s how badly we want you, need you, and crave you, his wolf growled through the bond. He needed her to open the door. He needed to hold her, touch her, and kiss her, and he conveyed this to her through his thoughts. Costin waited, his breath frozen in his chest, to see if she’d come out to him.
“Sally, please,” he pleaded, his voice hoarse with emotion.
The lock clicked and he nearly pulled the door off the hinges as he wrenched it open. Her tear-stained face stared up at him with an awe he didn’t deserve. He took one large step and then had her wrapped in his arms.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered into her ear as he pressed his face into her neck. “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean it.”
“I kind of gathered that from your show and tell time,” she said breathlessly. “Why did you say it?”
“Because apparently my forte isn’t distracting you. I just wanted to get your mind off of why I’m keeping the bond closed. The words left my mouth before I could even think about how they sounded.”
Sally tilted her head and pursed her lips. “Why didn’t you just try to distract me with some of those things you just showed me?”
“I didn’t know if you’d let me touch you.”
She looked up at him and took his face in her hands. “I’m pretty sure there’s no way I could deny you after you showing me those things and making me feel what it is you feel.”
Costin picked her up, wrapping her legs around his waist, and carried her out to their bed. He sat down on the edge of the bed but kept her in his lap. His hands roamed over her as he stared at her. “Will you forgive me and allow me to show you just how un-tedious I find our love life?”
She bit her bottom lip as she thought about it and Costin held his breath. He was pretty sure if she didn’t say yes he would have to take the world’s longest cold shower ever.
“I suppose I should allow you to redeem yourself.”
The words were barely out of her mouth when he’d stood, flipped her over, and pressed her body into the bed, his larger frame covering hers. Costin kissed the top of the tantalizing cleavage revealed by her nightgown and then moved up to her neck, her jaw, and finally her lips, causing his wolf to growl as his mouth took possession of hers. He should slow down, he told himself, but he couldn’t. In his desperate need to prove to her how much he desired her, he practically ripped her gown off and loved the sound of her surprised gasp and the giggle that followed.
Sally didn’t hold back either as she used some of her magic to intensify her touch. She’d only done it a few times before because the effect aroused Costin’s wolf, and things got especially interesting when his wolf decided to play. When he pulled back to look into her eyes, he knew she’d see the wolf’s glowing eyes staring back at her. Sally’s lips pulled up into a seductive smile.
“Hello,” she purred at him.
Costin forced himself to keep control as his wolf lunged for their mate. His teeth sunk into her flesh where his mark laid claim and he rumbled at the taste of her. Mine, the wolf told him. Costin agreed; she was theirs. He licked the wound and watched as his female arched her back trying to get closer to him. As he gazed down at her beautiful form, watching her writhe under his touch, his passion for her only intensified. “Tedious my ass,” he said as he lowered himself back down to her.
“I love you,” he whispered into her ear as he claimed her once again.
“And I love you, even if you are a bit commonplace,” Sally whispered back and then laughed as Costin playfully nipped her delicate flesh.
“Then by all means, mate, let me show you something that I guarantee won’t bore you.” And he did. And he could tell by his mate’s reactions to him, she was anything but bored.