Werewolves of New York: Nathaniel (9 page)

Panting, they quieted and he kissed the back of her neck and buried his face in her hair. “Marry me.”

She froze. “What?”

He pulled out, taking his time and lowering her to the bed so that he could face her. He held himself up on elbow and searched her eyes. “Marry me, Michelle Nero. Be my wife.”

She chuckled and closed her eyes, looking at him again after an incredulous moment. “You’re serious.” He nodded. “It’s our first date.”

“So?” He shrugged like that meant nothing.

With a fluttering heart she pushed back a fallen lock of hair from his forehead, looking into his eyes. “I don’t believe in divorce,” she whispered. “If we were to do this, it would be for good. We’d be a team and best friends. Do whatever we had to in order to keep it strong, and not lose the love.”

He gave her a calm, knowing smile. “I have no problem promising I can do that.”

She paused, her blood racing so much she could barely speak. The crazy thing was, she believed him! Everything about the way he was looking at her told her instinctual self that this was right, and that he would keep that promise. “God help me,” she whispered, unabashedly amazed.

“You won’t need God’s help. I’m not going anywhere. When I make a decision, I keep my word.” His voice grew huskier as he rolled on top of her and played with her hair that had fallen back on the pillow. “Working as a team is something I know how to do. I have that with my pack. We are one unit. Even when we fight, there is love and loyalty always behind it. It’s how we’re able to be honest.”

“Your pack?” It dawned on her what he meant and she asked, “You mean your friends are also…” she trailed off with understanding. “So that’s why they interrogated me!” She gave an incredulous laugh as she pieced the pieces together. “You were all protecting a secret, a secret you’ve shared with me? I am so honored, Nathaniel. Thank you for trusting me.”

He kissed her and whispered against her lips. “You’ll have to thank them, too. Can you handle that?” he teased.

She laughed and held him tight. “I think I can manage.”

He grinned at her. “Be my wife.”

“This is very fast, Nathaniel.”

“Say yes.”

“Yes,” she smiled, unable to believe this was happening. “I will.”

He crushed her lips in a kiss that sent shivers down her spine, and she felt him hardening against her leg. The stiffness of his length beckoned her body to open to it and her legs moved of their own accord as he continued to kiss her. With just a small adjustment of his strong hips, he pressed himself inside her and slid into the slick cave, groaning against her lips, “You’re so tight.”

“I’m a little sore,” she murmured, pleasure overcoming her. “But I don’t mind.”

“I’ll go slow at first,” he breathed into her ear, the heat warming all the way down her neck. She threw her head back as he filled her. “My wife,” he whispered.

Michelle felt her heart open up. He stepped into it to stay, claiming it as his forever. For good reason she felt safe with this man. Or could she even call him that? He was a creature feared by those who did not understand, and here she was committing her life to him, knowing it was the best decision she would ever make.

He met her eyes and his glowed pale green. He moved in her with a growing rhythm and their breathing synchronized with the motions, sweat mingling on their chests and legs. He stiffened inside her and the muscles in his neck went tight, the veins showing as his head craned up and he moaned, pushing in as deep as he could, his spine stretching up. He exploded inside her and she came with him, harmonized. When the throbbing subsided, he lay on top of her and traced her arm with his fingertips. “I love you,” he murmured.

Stroking his hair, she whispered, “I love you, too.”

He rolled off her but kept one arm and leg over her body. She turned on her side so she could see him, and rested her hand on his thigh. He closed his eyes and she kissed both his eyelids, making him smile. She couldn’t take her eyes off of him and soon his breathing changed to sleeping breaths. She didn’t know when she fell asleep, but at some point…she did.

T
he sound
of his phone ringing in the other room woke Nathaniel up. That stupid ringer was hardwired into his body’s alarm system just like as it was for the rest of the world. He blinked around the room and saw the lamp still lit. Looking at Michelle, he found her sleeping with her soft lips parted and her dark hair messy, thanks to him. He climbed out of the bed with care so as not to wake her and padded into the living room where he’d ditched his pants. As his feet enjoyed the journey across the cool hardwood floors, images and memories from a few hours ago made him smile. The ringing stopped, but he was coming for the phone anyway because at this hour, he knew his pack was checking in, as they did every night.

It was Eli whose name was on the missed-call notice. Calling him back, Nathaniel sat down on the sofa and relaxed.

“Hey! I was just leaving you a message.”

“Sorry. I didn’t get to the phone in time.”

“No worries. You’re not home so…I’m guessing your date went well.”

He reached over and picked up a copy of INC. Magazine, thumbing through it. “The cops asked me questions about the animal who got loose from the zoo.”

Silence. “Wait, what? When? Where are you?”

Nathaniel laughed and tossed the mag back onto the table where it landed at a perfect angle. “Sorry. I’m in such a good mood, I thought I’d fuck with you.”

“So, they didn’t?”

Knowing he was on a cell, he was careful with what he said, in case Uncle Sam was watching. The four of them had that habit well ingrained into their conversations where they could be overheard. “No, they did ask me. I was driving down there that night, on my way home, you know.”

“Riiiight?” Eli said, stretching the word.

“And they caught the license on a camera so they asked me if I spotted the wolf.”

Silence. “They’re saying it’s a wolf now? They haven’t said that on the news.”

“Probably trying to keep the city calm. I told them if I saw a wolf I would have told everyone. Can you believe it, Eli? A WOLF escaped from the zoo.” A real smile accompanied the fake wonder in his voice.

“We should be more careful at night around here,” Eli quipped.

“We should. You never know what’s out there.”

“It’s a scary world.” Eli paused. “Get over here so I can hear about your date!”

“What are you, a girl?” Nathaniel chuckled, kicking a foot up onto the table and leaning back.

“Get over here. I’m dying to know.”

Nathaniel reminded him with forced sobriety, “And this from the guy who vowed no dating.”

“Darik tell you about that?” Eli asked, on a low chuckle. “Precautionary measure so I keep my fucking sanity. Are you coming?”

With his sensitive aural cavity, Nathaniel heard Michelle roll over in bed. He listened for a moment to her breathing. It didn’t take much in the silence of this pre-dawn hour to know that she was still out. “Nah, I’m staying here. It’s Saturday. I’m going to spend the day with my future wife.”

“What?! Your future WHAT?!” Eli shouted.

“I’ll call you later,” Nathaniel grinned and hung up as Eli yelled at him not to. He stared at the screen, half expecting his roommate to call back. He didn’t, but Nathaniel knew he wanted to.

He walked back to her, switched off the bedroom floor lamp, and climbed back into the covers. The room smelled like the two of them now and it made him proud. He’d marked her with his scent, though only a wolf would know that.

In her sleep, Michelle cuddled up to him and he wrapped a possessive arm around her, looking down at her pretty face. There was a small smile on it and she peeked at him through sleepy eyelids. “You’re awake,” she whispered.

“I am. I’m nocturnal by nature.” He traced up and down her curvy side with his fingertips. “But I’ve become accustomed to normal human hours.”

She kissed him. “Still want to marry me?” Her smile said she just wanted to hear him say it again.

“I still want to marry you. You look like you’re waking up. Want to go for that walk now?”

Burrowing into his chest, she laughed. “In Central Park? Really?”

“Yeah. My wolf needs some nature around him. You’ve awoken something in me, my love.”

She kissed his chest and peeked up at him, looking so beautiful as her eyes twinkled. “I’d love to go for a walk in the park with you. I just need a coffee! Or twelve,” she laughed then glanced downward. “Don’t you want to do something about that,” she smiled, motioning to his hardening length.

“Later. Let’s get you that coffee.” He planted a kiss on her forehead and smirked at the disappointment on her face. “I want you.”

She laughed and climbed out of bed. “I know.”

He grinned and padded back for his clothes. “I feel you staring at my ass.”

She giggled and ran into the bathroom. He could not wipe the grin off his face if he tried.

T
hey took
a cab to the local coffee house since she insisted she only patronized small businesses if she could help it. Then the cabbie dropped them off in Central Park where they took their time walking the night-cloaked grounds, holding hands. It really was a well-made landscape and that someone thought to put it in the middle of the most compact urban landscape outside of maybe Japan’s, was an inspired decision.

She plucked a red leaf from a tree branch and fingered it as they continued onward. He enjoyed watching her tell him stories about her college days, and further back about her childhood. Her voice soothed him, it’s register pleasing. “Do you miss the country? You said your wolf needs nature.”

“Sometimes I do. But we travel up a couple times a year to run free in the woods. I’ll bring you next time.” He smiled at the excited look on her face. “And you and I will go and live there when our cubs are at puberty age.”

She stopped walking. “I’m sorry…cubs?”

He laughed. He was enjoying shocking her and Eli now that his secret was out and he felt the weight lifted from his overly responsible shoulders. “Don’t look so scared. They’re born normal babies and will remain so until they hit puberty. Then we’ll have to take them away to teach them to control the shifting, or we’ll have a public outcry on our hands.”

Thunderstruck, she stared at him. “We’re talking about children already?”

“Don’t you want them?” he asked, genuinely hoping she did.

She nodded without hesitation, and slowly began to walk away from him, soaking in what he’d just told her like it was even more overwhelming than finding out he was a werewolf. That amused him to no end. Catching up with her, he took her hand. “You look like I just told you you’re already pregnant.”

With wide eyes, she whispered, “I’ve never met a man who so freely talked about…wait. No, that’s not true. A couple of my boyfriends wanted kids badly. I almost forgot about that.”

His gut clenched at the thought of her past men. “Oh?”

She glanced at him and smiled when she saw the jealousy he could not hide. “I have had boyfriends you know. I’m twenty-eight. I’m not a child.”

A huff escaped him. “I wish I’d met you before.”

She swung his arm lightly as they journeyed up a dark, stone path. “Things happen when they’re supposed to. I wouldn’t have been ready before now. In fact, I didn’t think I was even looking until I met you!”

He relaxed, feeling gratified by the distinction that he had changed her mind in some way, just by his appearing in her life. “Did you want kids with these men?”

“Boys. They were boys. And no. That’s one of the reasons they didn’t last.” She gave him a sideways glance.

He had to ask the burning question. “Do you want them with me?”

She walked on for a bit before answering, and dropped the leaf from her hand. “I didn’t want children with them because I didn’t want to marry them. And since I want to marry you…that goes to say that I do want your children. Wow. Can you be patient with my getting used to this?” Her eyebrows lifted with curiosity.

He squeezed her hand and brought it to his lips. “You’re not the only one I’m going to have to be patient with. My…friends…they will need some patience as well.”

Her face fell. “They don’t approve of me?”

He thought of Dontae. “They do. But as I mentioned.” He stopped abruptly, the sound of two heartbeats beating abnormally arresting his attention.

“What is it?” she whispered, looking in the direction he stared.

“Shh…” he warned in a low volume. Flipping around, he led her quickly in the direction they’d come from, hoping to avoid a confrontation. After what had happened last weekend, he knew where her protection was concerned it was difficult for him to control his wolf. The thieves waiting for them in the shadows below the stone bridge had no idea who they were about to fuck with.

Nathaniel heard them decide to attack and he stopped walking, knowing there was nothing to do but deal with the problem. “Shit,” he muttered. “Michelle, stay back.” With worried eyes, she did as she was warned. Glancing to her with a calming hand raised, he told her silently that she was safe. To wait for him and not be scared.

He listened for more people, making sure they wouldn’t be ambushed with her off behind him and unguarded from that direction, but these two were alone. From the disgusting scent that drifted on the breeze into his nostrils, there was crack cocaine seeping out of their pours. They were needing their next fix and weren’t about to take no for an answer. When addicts need money, they’ll do anything to get it. Nathaniel had enough experience to know that to be a fact.

He turned to face them, seeing them in the darkness. They wore dark clothing that bore the scent of their lifestyle, and a silver knife gleamed from one young man’s fist. “Give us your wallet!” They glanced shiftily to Michelle, their greed searching for but not finding a purse. “Now!” they ordered Nathaniel. His temper caught fire and he squared off against them forming a human barrier to his mate.

“Nathaniel,” she whispered, fear in her voice.

“Stay back,” he repeated. In a menacing voice, he told them, “You should walk away now.”

They snickered and exchanged a conspiratorial glance between them. “Yeah right.” The one with the knife lunged forward, swiping the sharp blade at Nathaniel’s middle section. The werewolf narrowly avoided the cut on purpose, to keep the man close to him. He deftly grabbed the offending wrist, bending it back until it buckled and broke. The thug screamed out in pain, the knife clattering to the hard ground at their feet. The other man attacked with a shout as Nathaniel threw the injured man away as though he were a piece of garbage he’d pick up later. Nathaniel’s arm thrust out faster than the shouting man could see, throwing him backward onto the grass off the path. He grunted as he hit earth and the wounded man jumped onto Nathaniel’s back, yelling and groaning with pain as he tried to strangle the wolf’s throat, his own wrist hanging loosely and not doing its job. They were high and logic eluded them. Nathaniel bent forward and using his own strength and the thugs weight with gravity, he threw him so hard the man screamed out as he hit the cement. The other leapt up from the grass, his surprise at the spectacle now gone. He wanted that wallet and he wanted it now. With a human snarl he lunged at Nathaniel but was thrown back again. Nathaniel jumped on top of him and punched his face so hard and fast that he felt his wolf gaining control, the violence increasing.

“Nathaniel, stop!” Michelle screamed from behind him.

The fear in her voice stayed his hand, his wolf called off instantly. He rose up and saw the man he’d beaten was unconscious, breathing but barely. The other was grunting and holding his right leg. It was broken just like his right wrist. “It’s time to change your way of life,” Nathaniel growled, turning to retrieve and soothe his mate. He could smell her fear and the thought that he’d frightened her, sickened him.

Panting and struggling against his guilt, he took her hand and led her away. “Let’s find a pay phone and call the police. They’ll pick them up, take them to the hospital.” She nodded, and Nathaniel walked with purpose through the park with her silently at his side. He’d beaten up guys like these before, but just like the other night in the alley, having her involved had intensified his reaction. He didn’t like that. He’d have to be more careful. “I’m sorry. I almost got out of hand.”

“They were on drugs! You couldn’t have reasoned with them!”

That wasn’t the point, he wanted to say, but he didn’t. They still had payphones in the park for emergency, a fact he was glad of. On one, he placed a call to 911 and gave a fake name and number. They always wanted to know who was calling, a nuisance to him and his friends when they wanted to handle the low-lifes of society. He explained to Michelle that they should take the subway. “Taking a cab can be traced. I don’t need the attention.”

“Of course!” she agreed, following him without question.

When the subway doors opened, he guided her on first and stepped in after her, taking both her hands in his and kissing them. “Are you alright?”

She smiled up at him and nodded. “Yes. You?”

He didn’t want to tell her that she made him lose control just by her very presence, that his instincts to keep her safe overrode all others. That the self-discipline he’d formed over the years would have to be fine-tuned to say the least. Maybe his packmates could come up with a sort of obstacle course. He’d think of that later. The truth was he liked this feeling; wanting to protect his mate felt very right to him. He just wanted to have more control over himself, that’s all.

“I’m fine. We sometimes do these kinds of things when we hear robberies happening, stuff like that. But this is the first time I wasn’t alone.”

“Except for last Saturday,” she gently reminded him.

“Right. It’s just got me a little on edge.” Changing the subject, he asked, “What would you like to do today?”

She chuckled and ran her thumbs over his raw knuckles. “Are you hurt?”

He smiled and kissed her. “No.” The C train started south down the tracks and their bodies swayed with it’s rolling speed. “Let’s go to my place. I’d like to shower and change clothes.”

“Okay.” She leaned into him and he wrapped her in his arms, the steady movement of the train calming them both. There were more passengers aboard than one would expect at only six in the morning on a weekend, but this was New York…the city that never sleeps.