The feeling of a million bricks crashing down on her brain totally overwhelmed her. Dia had to put her forehead against the window as she cried out in pain. Subconsciously, she could hear the other women in the house running toward her, asking if she was okay. Dia even heard the front door next to her slamming open and shouts of fear from the women surrounding her as the man who claimed to be her husband stormed into the house, demanding to see her. None of it was enough to stop the barrage of memories that crashed into her mind like a Mack truck on steroids.
It was like a movie on fast forward as bits of her life flashed before her eyes. Her parents. Her twelfth birthday when they gave her a brand-new bicycle. Going to cosmetology school, and then mentoring under Betty Anne.
Last but not least were the memories of her would-be husband, who she knew had lied about who he was to her but not his name. Stone was her mate, not her husband. And she immediately understood why he had to tell her that lie. Because she was a human mated to a wolf shifter.
Most importantly, Dia knew there was one very important fact that he had not lied about: he loved her. She knew that with every fiber of her being now, and hated that she had forgotten about his love for even a minute. The thought brought a new wave of tears on.
Dia and her baby were not truly alone anymore. She had some of her memories back, and now she had Stone. They were going to be a family, and she would never have to feel the crushing emotion of that loneliness again.
Ignoring all the others around her, Dia threw herself in Stone's direction and wrapped her arms around his neck.
He hugged her tight to his body and rocked her back and forth in a soothing motion. "Shhh, it's okay, princess; I've got you."
With emotion clogging her throat, tears rolling down her face, and their baby pressing against them, Dia said the only thing that came to mind.
"I'm not a fucking princess."
Chapter Sixteen
One week later …
Dia wasn't sure if it was pregnancy hormones, but she was about to give in to the urge to hit her mate over the head with a frying pan.
For an entire week, Stone had been babying her and treating her as if she were fragile glass. It was nice at first to be pampered, but it got old really quick.
The man wouldn't even let her take a shower by herself, which would be fine if they were having sexy fun times in the shower, but they weren't. It was because he was afraid she was going to slip and hit her head, and according to Stone, he never, ever wanted Dia to forget who he was ever again.
Then there was the food. My God, the man kept trying to shove food in her face.
"You're eating for two," he would say. Well, with the way he was trying to feed her twenty times a day, one might think she was eating for a whole flippin' football team.
Last, but certainly not least, was the sex … Or lack of it.
Her mate had not made love to her since she remembered who he was. It was like he was afraid to touch her. Afraid that the smallest wrong move would somehow cause her to lose her memory all over again. She couldn't keep living like this.
And besides irrational anger, the other thing pregnancy hormones seemed to do was make her horny. She felt like a cat in heat, and her mate wouldn't soothe the constant ache she carried around these days.
This just wouldn't do. So, Dia decided something drastic needed to be done. She needed to seduce her mate.
That was why, at four o'clock in the morning, she was wide awake, staring at him, trying to decide the best way to plan her move. And as she laid there and plotted, Stone rolled over to his back, and she watched in fascination as his erect dick tented the sheet.
Apparently, she wasn't the only one who was horny. That made her decision of what she was going to do next so much easier.
Slowly, so as to not wake him, Dia pulled the sheet down his body until it cleared his knees and his proud erection stood tall in the air. Then she quietly made her way between his legs and placed her hands on the bed on either side of his hips. This left her hovering over the part of him she was practically drooling for. She then bent her head forward and gave his length a long, soft lick.
Stone moaned in his sleep at the touch. She loved the way her mate moaned, so she licked him again, continuing the long, slow licks, tracing the slit of his head, teasing him in his sleep. His hips jerked a little here and there at her touches, but Stone had yet to wake up.
Dia had tasted every part of his length when she finally took him whole into her mouth and began to suck. She loved the softness of his skin as she moved her mouth up and down his shaft. Adding her hand to the base of his cock, she gave a little squeeze and heard Stone's breath hitch in response. Dia knew now her mate was awake.
"Fuck, princess, what are you doing to me?"
Dia pulled her mouth off his dick so she could answer his question. "Loving you. I need you, Stone."
Sliding up his body, she rubbed her core across his length, teasing herself with the rocking motion. Then Dia put one hand on his chest for support as she slid over and over again, hitting her clit and driving her need higher. For the first time, she could feel the sexual changes that pregnancy had brought in her. The fullness and sensitivity to her breasts, and the way her clit felt like it was on a hair trigger.
"If you're gonna do something with that, sweetheart, you need to hurry up. I'm about to blow."
She moaned as Stone ran his hands up her body, over her belly, and then farther up still to cup her breasts in his hands, teasing her nipples with the pad of his thumbs. Dia was soaking now with want, and he was the only one who could fill her needs.
Rocking her body upward a little, she let the head of his cock slide to her opening, and then slowly started to sit down on it. Her mate's hands moved to her hips to help steady her, but at least he wasn't stopping her.
"Son of a bitch, that feels so good."
Dia paused when she was filled with him, enjoying the sensation and squeezing her inner walls around his length. There was no pain or anything else that implied she needed to slow down, so she lifted up, and then sat down on his length hard again, setting the tempo for how she wanted to take her mate. Fully, as if she were as much an animal as he was.
She rose and fell, increasing her tempo until all she could feel was that edge of pleasure. On the precipice of falling over into ecstasy, it seemed Stone was right there with her. He held on to her a little tighter with his hands, helping to lift her, then slamming her down on his length as he started to lose control. Dia didn't mind the help at all as her body tensed up, her orgasm coming, making her limbs twitch erratically.
"Fuck, I can feel you squeezing me," he panted out as he lifted her up, then let her fall on his length again.
"Please, Stone, please," Dia started to beg, unable to put into words what she needed.
"I've got you, baby. Just hold on to me." With that, Stone sat up, then rolled them both until he was now on top of her, making sure to put space between their bodies so she wouldn't feel crushed. Then he buried his face in her neck.
"Bite me, love," Dia panted out. "Give me another mating mark. Remind me what it's like to feel like I'm totally yours."
"Mine," Stone growled against her neck.
"Yes, yours," she breathed back.
One thrust after another, she took his thick cock into her body, loving the way he took control and made them both feel good.
Dia started to think there was no way she could ever feel better than this, but then Stone ran the edge of his fangs over her neck, teasing her with the hint of what was to come.
"Please!"
"I love the way you beg, mate."
"I'll beg all you want," she panted back, "as long as you make love to me like this from now on. Please, Stone, don't push me away again."
"Never," he growled against her skin before piercing his teeth on the spot where her neck met her shoulder.
The flash of pain sent her over the edge and into that euphoric place of pleasure that only he could take her.
Stone's hips started to jerk erratically before he filled her with his seed, making her burn from the inside out. Then Dia was running her hand over his sweaty back, petting him lovingly as they both came down from their sexual haze.
Eventually, Stone pulled back enough to look her in the face and asked, "Did you really feel as though I was pulling away from you, love?"
Biting her bottom lip nervously, she nodded, not knowing what to say. How did one tell their mate that, because they didn't seem to want to be intimate with the other, they felt bereft of love and attention?