Danea (19 page)

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered again.

“It’s alright,” he said aloud this time.

Danea looked up, her face streaked with tears she didn’t know had slipped free. His hands were strong on her shoulders and gently pulled her from the floor. He sat on the bed and urged her against him, hands positioning and stroking soothingly over her shoulders and back.

“I can honestly admit to not recalling the last time I had my bell rung quite so effectively,” he chuckled until he looked into the wide brown eyes swimming with tears. “I’m usually much faster, Danea. I can’t say I expected the kind of reaction. I thought it would amuse you and…and perhaps delight you…”

“I didn’t know…I felt…and thought…I’m so sorry,” she collapsed against him, her arms around his neck and holding on. She accepted the small towel he handed her and sniffled.

“I thought you’d known Fae before in your life,” he said cautiously, easing them both against the headboard.

“I have friends…college…just people around town,” she sniffled. “No one had ever…I didn’t know what…how…I’d never seen them other than as humans before,” she finally found the right path of words and sighed thickly. “I’m sorry.”

Wade put both hands on her face and remained persistent until she met his gaze.

“I’m okay, angel…look at me…”

“I heard you hit the wall!” She whispered, embarrassed and mortified, her cheeks flaming with heat. “I hurt you!”

“It definitely got my attention, Danea, but I’m alright now. Look at me…no marks, nothing broken.
”

“I’m sorry,” she sniffled and blinked rapidly. “I didn’t know…” she repeated softly, pulling in a long breath and slipping from his lap to the surface of the bed. Her gaze began at his face, one palm up and stroking over the faint stubble on his cheeks and jaw.
“I’m not usually that easily startled.”

Wade laughed and pressed his mouth against her
s, his tongue sliding between the prettily parted lips and sweeping hers into the game. His hands slid to her shoulders and his body drifted to the side, pulling her over him. They both offered up low groans when her hips rotated and massaged the rising cock stretching out between them.

“I didn’t mean to frighten you,” Wade murmured against her throat when his kiss ranged along her jaw, nipping teasingly over the silken skin.

“I think you’ve recovered,” she returned with a little gasp and moan.

“I’m sure you have the ability to help me recover even further,” Wade whispered, his mouth moving to one pert nipple, pulling it between his lips and suckling deeply.

Her body arched against him, thrusting her breast against his mouth with a low, sexy moan.

Wade felt his body tighten impossibly. The sweet abandon she offered with each encounter was something that only served to arouse and enflame the male in him.
While his teeth nipped and tugged on her nipple, his hands took free rein and stroked over her arched back and onto her ass.

He could feel each warm, damp fold of her pussy stroking along his cock. Each hand gripped one of her ass cheeks, tugging and stroking, pulling her to and fro along the hard length of male.
And as good as it felt, he wanted something else tonight.

Reluctantly, his hands moved to her waist, lifting her to the bed and pressing her back onto the surface. He saw her lashes flutter, the gleam of sweet sugar brown peering at him quizzically. He took her hands and carried them over her body, placing her palms on her breasts.

“Stroke them for me, Danea…” he moved between her thighs, his palms sliding down the soft insides until his thumbs could stroke through the hot, damp grotto. “Pinch your nipples…pretend it’s my hands or Noah’s…beautiful…”

He took in the soft sounds of her pleasure, rising to his knees between her spread thighs and lowering his mouth to her stomach. His tongue tasted her. Teeth nipped
at her skin and his mouth kissed its way lower. He could smell the sweet scent that was Danea, his fingers parting the puffy labia. His mouth kissed down the center of her, his hands out to immediately grip her hips when she tried moving away.

“No, Danea…lie still…”

“Wade…”

“Shhh…it’s all good, angel, I promise you…” his hands loosened and returned to toy with the hot, damp center.

Danea had no idea her body could reach so high or explode so completely. She clung to him when he used his mouth and fingers, the strokes of his tongue so different, so new and so alive.
The light touches were enough to get her almost to the edge and he’d move and switch. She heard sounds and knew it was her, begging for more.

“Wade!” Her hips moved at the same time her hands fell on his head, her body arching, thrusting against his mouth and fingers.

“So pretty and wet for me,” he murmured, quickly fitting a condom to his cock and stretching out on the bed beside her. He met the surprised gaze. “On top, Danea…I want to see you fly…” he teased sexily, helping her move over him.

He thought he was prepared. He believed he was ready for the velvety softness; the taut sensations of her body clutching at him. But when she thrust a few times, a low moan broke from her lips. Seconds before she released her thighs and let her weight carry her down on him, sinking his cock fully inside her.

Both of them lay panting for a long few seconds before she moved, rotating and thrusting; angling her hips so her clit rubbed against his pubic bone. Hard and shallow, her thrusts were driving him toward the edge when her body began pulsing, convulsing around him.

He heard his name and saw the flush of wild pink flood her skin, her head thrown back, her lips parted in a scream that ended her movements. The hard, pounding pulses gripped him and pulled him into the maelstrom, his hands on her hips for several deeper thrusts until he froze and rode the waves.

Wade held tightly to her hips, keeping her from moving, the hard muscles clenching him as he poured out more than mere essence. All the years he
’d lived wondering about the myths rumored around mates. Poets and song writers proclaimed about a magic that so few seemed blessed to find.

Sweat coated them both, cooling when she raised herself from his chest, her mouth moving slowly, sweetly loving over his. Wade tipped them both to the side, withdrawing from the warmth of her body and leaving the bed. When he returned, she was wrapped in the blankets, settled comfortably into her spot of the large bed. A smile tipped the corner of his mouth, one palm out to stroke over her head.

“Dinner?”

“Not hungry. Tired…” she murmured, burrowing a little further into the blankets.

Taking that as a hint and since he wasn’t tired, he dressed and went back to his desk, a large bowl of the fragrant vegetable soup with him. He was half way through the stack of short comparison papers when the patio door slid open.

“Clothing, shifter,” Wade said with a shake of his head.

Noah looked up from the floor, making sure he hadn’t dragged in all the swirling dead leaves from the yard.

“We share a mate and a bed,” he said dryly, trotting lightly up the stairs and returning with jeans and a sweat shirt in place. He went right into the
kitchen. “Did she eat?”

“Said she wasn’t hungry,” Wade set his pen down. “Anything on her father?”

“Nothing through anything standard,” Noah answered quietly. “She does her best to evade when we talk. She brought up sharing expenses, living with us and refused to answer questions about her family.”

“Maybe we’re not being sensitive enough,” Wade rolled his eyes at the low snort that received. “We don’t know what went on in her past, a reason for her evasion. I sent an email to Seth, asking him for contact information for
Camelia. He hasn’t returned anything yet. I checked her phone…” he met the single arched eyebrow. “I’m equally concerned about her, Noah. And if that means being nosy, so be it.”

“I wouldn’t have thought that went with those ethics I’d heard of,” Noah chided, chuckling and returning for another ladle of the soup. “The budget thing…”

“I’ll print it out and we can talk over dinner tomorrow with Danea,” Wade shrugged. “I’m not concerned about your allegiance or dedication to Danea. Should anything happen to me, this will all be yours and hers. I know you’d take care of her. I’ve made arrangements with my attorney to have papers drawn up. That doesn’t concern me as much as why she’s intent on keeping herself distant.”

“She seems willing to accept the relationship,” Noah continued eating thoughtfully. “I’m questioning why it matters, aside from the annoyance her father could become.”

“Honesty is important for this to work well.”

“Then tomorrow we nail out cute little mate’s ass to the wall and pull answers from her,” Noah said flatly, knowing Wade was right. “I’ll make arrangements to get
both our places emptied. That’ll be one excuse she won’t have. The garage isn’t being used?”

Wade shook his head. “Nothing in there but the lawn mower and a few things on the walls. Experience with my female relatives says put all the things in there and let Danea do what she wants with it. This chamber is more than big enough for the things she uses in her hobbies. There are shelves for your books.”

“I’ll need to have a gun safe installed. Probably one of the bedrooms will work for that. And the few pieces of work out equipment I have,” Noah went on a mental walk through his apartment.

“The garage is finished,” Wade commented, selecting the next paper to read through. “Use part of that for both. It’s more private and just as secure. I just can’t get a finger on what would be so bad that she feels she doesn’t trust us.”

“I hate to go girl on you, but it might not be about us,” he shrugged at the skeptical look. “I got sisters…and pack mates…things they believe are trauma, we shrug at…like I said, we don’t know what caused it to put it into a place in her head that she’s afraid to share it.”

“Sheriff, there are times you amaze me,” Wade chuckled and lifted the warm tea to his lips.

“Logic. If it was us – she’d lock us outside so fast, our heads would spin and she sure as hell would never have ended up in the bed upstairs,” Noah carried the empty bowl to the sink and filled it with water before sliding it into the dishwasher.

“So it might not be us she doesn’t trust…it’s herself,” Wade said thoughtfully.

“We’ll know tomorrow,” Noah said with a nod, lifting the set of keys he’d left on the counter earlier and going out to his car. He returned a few minutes later with a large backpack and went to the lower floor bathroom.

Chapter Sixteen

Neither of them had moved when she slipped from the bed shortly before six in the morning. It was seven when they stirred and stretched.

“How does she sneak out of bed without making it move?” Noah rolled to his back and stared, working to orient himself and force his vision to work. They’d sat up until midnight reading, occasionally talking and sharing a beer.

“I smell coffee,” Wade mumbled, tossing the blanket off and standing up with a tall stretch above his head.

“The daycare is closed today,” Noah shoved his legs over the side, accepting that late mornings just weren’t in his cards.

“I don’t hear anything downstairs,” Wade went to the top of the stairs and listened. “She’s not here.”

That instantly trapped Noah’s attention, both men moving down the stairs quickly. Wade went into the kitchen while Noah did a quick search through the other rooms.

“Her car’s outside,” Noah commented, staring toward the main door.

“Does she run? Jog?”

“No…hell, no, she went swimming,” Noah ran back up the stairs and grabbed a shirt and shoes, aware of Wade behind him doing the same.

“It’s not storming. Should we intrude on her private time?” Wade asked, hopping on one foot down the stairs and following to the door.

“Only if her father…”

Both heads turned to the sharp, loud squawking and pecking at the patio door.

Galileo stood tapping and letting loose with loud noises that made them wince.

“Something’s wrong,” Noah said in a rush, running to the front door and throwing it open.

Neither spoke as they ran down the drive toward the open expanse of ocean spread before them. Galileo flew overhead, squawking as he went.

Red had spilled onto the flat sands, visible before they reached her. She lay on her side, a twelve inch steel bolt arrow through her left shoulder, blood seeping around the edges on both sides.

“I can’t take it out,” Noah was on his knees, a barbed end and a sharp pointed arrow on the other. “We need to get her to the urgent care.”

“Wait…” Wade pulled his shirt off. “Be ready to stuff it on both sides of her shoulder.”

“What’re you doing?”

“I can’t heal her. But I can remove it…” Wade dropped to his knees, his palms held out in front of him as he chanted, reciting from memory. His gaze was locked on the pale features, the faintest of flutter in her eyes holding his attention. He didn’t exhale until the arrow disappeared from her shoulder and fell with a light plop into his palms.