The Werewolf Prince and I (6 page)

“You haven’t asked why I want you to marry me, Misty.”

I can’t take my gaze off his mouth, can’t stop staring at the way he’s sucking my finger, and I absolutely can’t stop my body from responding. There goes my panties, going from newly dried to soaking wet again.

 “Don’t you want to know, Misty?”

“I…”

He doesn’t wait for an answer. “I chose you because I knew---”

I hold my breath.

“I knew you wouldn’t have trouble believing me.”

For more than a few moments, I can only gape at him. I don’t even know if I’m insulted or complimented. Worse, I’m not even sure if the words disappoint me when I know I should have been relieved. But one thing’s for sure: he’s telling me the truth. The way he looks at me and says the words convinces me that he really does mean it.

“You always liked reading about supernatural stuff ever since you were a child, didn’t you? You’ve always believed in what you never see.”

He’s stopped sucking my finger, but he doesn’t let go of my hand.

I am so fracking hopeless. I should be reflecting on what he’s just said, but all I can think of  is I
when
he’s going to suck my finger again.

“Didn’t you used to love hearing stories about things that go bump in the night?”

Yes. Yes, I did, and look where it got me.

Nanette used to tell me all the time how nothing good would come out of my fascination of the paranormal. She used to punish me just for watching reruns of The Twilight Zone and I always had to sneak past her just so I could visit Mrs. Cairns next door. Mrs. Cairns had the most amazing stories to share about vampires, werewolves – she even told me stories about the
Sceleri
, which translates to sin eaters. I scour libraries and bookstores for more knowledge about them but never find even a single mention about Sceleri. Even to this day, I’m not sure if Mrs. Cairns made them up entirely or not.

When I was a kid, I used to wish I could be like the heroines in Mrs. Cairns’ stories. I wished I could fight the evil monsters like
Sceleri
who have succumbed to ennui or angels who have turned their backs on God like
Vidange
. It was incredibly easy to imagine myself brandishing a sword and slaying them because they were monsters I could handle. The monsters in real life, the ones with human masks and fought with lies – they terrified me so much more.

I could never tell Nanette about my dreams and fears, though. Not when she was the most terrible bogeyman in my nightmares.

But I’ve grown up since then.

“You chose the wrong woman,” I say tonelessly. I don’t have the spunk, the zest for adventure that I used to have when I was a kid.
That
Misty was long gone. “I don’t believe in---”

Mr. Moretti’s fingers go back to the buttons of his shirt. “If you need more proof---”

“Okay, okay, I believe you!” I yelp when I see more than half of his bare chest.

Mr. Moretti smirks, fingers stilling on the fourth button. It makes me want to kiss him. God, I’m so fracking hopeless.

“Now, tell me what you want me to do so you’d marry me.”

“Give me a million dollars,” I quip.

“I’ll give you ten. If that’s all---”

“Stop!” I give him a disgruntled look. He wasn’t supposed to take the bait. Doesn’t he know that? “Why do you need a wife anyway? I mean, a wife like me?”

Cocking his head to the side, he says in a musing tone, “I suppose it would be fair to let you know what you are up against. This is a lifetime arrangement, after all.”

“That’s not helping your argument,” I say honestly. Domenico Moretti may be rich, gorgeous, and sexy, but he’s also a
werewolf
. The kind that may – can - kill and feast on human flesh every full moon for all I know.

“I am the future leader of my pack.” He doesn’t bother explaining what a pack is, which just shows how much he really knows about me. When he says ‘future’ leader, I’m guessing that means he’s the son of the current pack leader. That basically makes him a prince. A prince who asked me to marry him.

Oh boy.

I’ve always prayed to God that if he could just make my life the slightest bit more exciting I’d thank Him forever. But I wasn’t asking for
this
! It’s beyond exciting. It’s plain crazy, that’s what it is.

“There are pacts that I have to make, business deals that I have to broker so to speak, with other packs. As someone who is unbound---”

“Unbound?”

“Unmarried.”

I file the term away for future use.

“As I am unbound, other packs would not hesitate to use the pact as an opportunity to forge alliances through…marriage. But if I were to choose one pack over the others, then I also risk alienating the packs I had not allied myself with.”

“Which is why you need a human,” I finish for him. “So you don’t offend anyone with your choice.”

“But not just any human,” he counters and grants my secret wish by sucking my finger again. When his mouth finally releases my finger, I’m
this
close to having an orgasm. It’s the way he keeps looking at me, okay? It’s just…unbelievably erotic. I cringe at the words, aware that my obsession with having sex with Domenico Moretti has reduced me to being
redundant.
It’s the worst thing someone in my chosen career could be.

I reluctantly tear my gaze away from the way he’s playing with my fingers when he starts speaking again.

“The woman I choose as bride has to be someone special, someone who fully understands and accepts me as I am.”

Shaking my head with a frown, I say, “I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one---”

“Trust me. You are.” He sounds so certain again that I can only gape at him.

“You are the
only
one who can fulfill the role of my wife.” His gaze turns searing. “The only question is what you want. So tell me and I shall give it to you.”

“I just can’t believe I’m the only one who can be your wife,” I insist stubbornly.

Mr. Moretti sighs. “I started my search by looking over all the resumes of my employees.”

“That’s romantic,” I can’t help mumbling.

He ignores that. “As my employee, it would mean you would already have some of the qualifications I need, such as loyalty and intelligence.”

I think about Janice Rudely and choose to hold my tongue. Whatever. Maybe I just haven’t seen those sides of her yet.

Mr. Moretti is smiling at me knowingly.

“What?” I feel defensive without even knowing why.

“Women like Janice Rudely has her uses,” he says.

My eyes widen. He really does know me! Too well!

He continues, “Based on the report I’ve received, I see that you have the qualities I look in a future queen – one who will rule benevolently or with an iron will when she has to.”

“Are you serious?” I choke out. I think he pretty much described a different woman there.

Mr. Moretti only stares at me.

“I’m a
wimp
.” I hated to say it, but someone has to.

He brushes my words aside with an arrogant wave of his hand. “Nonsense.”

“It’s not nonsense. I’m telling you, I’m not---”

“You are the oldest in your family, yes?”

“Yes, but---”

“Your foster siblings follow you without question even though all of you know that none of you are related by blood, yes?”

“Yes, but---”

“Have you hit any of them?”

I glare at him. “No!”

“You have a brother, Kevin, yes?”

I don’t see where this is going. “Mr. Moretti---”

“He used to have a problem in school. He gets into fights all the time. But it has stopped. You have stopped it, haven’t you?”

“He’s family!” I burst out. “Of course I’d be able to make him see sense!”

“He’s not family. They’re all not family,” Mr. Moretti said. “But you chose to make them your family, and they chose to follow you. You will do the same with and for my pack.”

He looks at me with such confidence – such trust – he makes me want to cry, and for the first time it has nothing to do with lust.

“That’s so unfair,” I whisper, trying to blink the tears away. “If you had tried to seduce me with your body, I would probably have a chance. Barely. But you…what you said…”

“But I did have one more qualification, and it clinched the deal for me as far as you were concerned,” Mr. Moretti says.

“You did?”

A slow, sexy grin forms on his lips. “I prefer to deal with someone I find irresistible.”

If he thinks that’s going to turn me on, he’s sadly mistaken.

Mr. Moretti appears shocked at the stony look I throw at him.

“Why are you angry?”

“You’re making fun of me again.”

“I am making fun of you?” He sounds so convincingly confused.

It just makes me hate him more. Makes me want to cry, too, but I’ll be damned if I’m letting him see how much he’s hurt me.

“I would have believed you if you said you were attracted to me. You’re a highly sexual guy.”

“I think there’s an insult there somewhere, yes?”

I choose to take the safe and bite-proof way out by pretending he hasn’t said anything. “But to say that I’m irresistible---”

He laughs.

A sense of humiliated fury makes me relapse. “
Fuck off
,” I snarl, hands clenching at the effort I exert not to cry in front of him. All these years of never even saying ‘shit’, wasted because of this --- this dog!

He stops laughing right away. Lifting me from the bed, he settles me on his lap with ease even as I struggle.

This is starting to feel familiar
, I think.

He tips my chin up. “Be honest. You feel the attraction between us, yes?”

I can’t stop him from forcing me to look at him, but I can definitely refuse to answer.

“Lyccans---”

My heart jumps at the word. It’s the first time he’s said it out loud, the first time he’s referred to himself like that. For a moment, it resurrects the fangirl in me, and I just
know
I’m staring at him with stars in my eyes.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

I smile sheepishly. “I just can’t believe I heard you call yourself a Lyccan.”

A frown settles on his face. “What else should I call myself? I
am
a Lyccan.”

He sounds so defensive I feel like I have to apologize. “I’m sorry, I know---but it’s just…you know.”

His frown becomes more pronounced. “I hate the way you’re looking at me right now. You make me feel like a freak.”

“No,” I protest, utterly aghast that I actually made him feel like that. “I don’t and won’t ever see you that way!” It feels impossible to explain, but I try anyway. I just want to erase the hurt in his eyes that he’s trying to hide.