“But can we do something about this first?” He flexed his cock inside her again, grinning wickedly at her loud moan.
“Oh yes, we certainly can.” At that moment, there was a knock at the door. “Or not.”
“Who is it?”
“I just need a quick word,” called Trey. “Of course if you’d have just answered your phone, I wouldn’t have had to come here.”
Frustrated in every sense of the word, Dante carefully pulled out of Jaime, dabbing a kiss on her mouth. Once he’d buttoned up his fly, he opened the door. “What?” he griped.
Trey arched a brow at his tone, but his expression was amused. “I didn’t want to interrupt,” he said quietly. “I just thought you and Jaime should know something.” The way Trey’s expression quickly became serious made Dante’s hackles rise. He stepped into the hallway, closing the door behind him. “What is it?”
“Shaya’s leaving in an hour.”
“Leaving?”
“You must have seen this coming.”
Yes, he had, and so had Jaime. It didn’t mean this would be any easier for either of them, particularly Jaime, as she had grown quite close to Shaya.
“Taryn thought you and Jaime might want to stay in your room all day doing that reconnecting thing. I wanted to tell you about Shaya so that you at least left the room to say good-bye to her. Plus, I figured Jaime would do better with the news if she had prior warning.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you soon.” When he reentered his room, he saw that his mate was gone from the bed. He found her in the en-suite bathroom, lying in a bath that wasn’t even a quarter of the way full. Approaching with a smile on his face, he asked, “You couldn’t wait until there was some water in it?”
No, thought Jaime, she couldn’t, because then he would have seen the tattoo that she’d had done as a surprise. He’d been so distracted by their reunion that he hadn’t noticed yet. “Shh. I’m trying to relax.” When he squatted and dipped his hands into the shallow water, skimming them over her legs, she guessed, “You’re not going to leave the room, are you?” Nope, not at all. Maybe it was unreasonable, but Dante didn’t want to be away from her. He’d only just got her back, and the fear of losing her was still fresh in his system. Feeling her skin against his and smelling the unique smell of their combined scents were the only things keeping his anxiety at bay. He couldn’t let her out of his sight yet. Didn’t want to.
“So what did Trey want?”
He breezed his thumb over that mouth he loved. “I’m sorry, baby, but Shaya’s leaving today.” It had only been a matter of time, hadn’t it? “When?”
“In an hour.”
“Okay, I’ll make this bath a quick one. Could you go get me some clothes and lay them on the bed for me?”
“I’d rather wash you,” he said with what he knew was a devilish smile.
“So would I, but then we wouldn’t get out of here for a while.”
“True.” Still, even leaving her to go to another room was hard.
“I’ll be fine.”
“I believe you. I just don’t want to be away from you. I want to be able to see you and touch you and smell you. I’ve missed you.”
There was that talented mouth again. “And I’ve missed you.” Jaime moaned when he mashed his lips with hers, knotting a wet hand in her hair. The kiss was slow, wet, and almost like liquid. “I promise I’ll be quick.”
Getting dressed in front of Dante without him noticing the tattoo had been a lot easier than Jaime had anticipated. He’d been so distracted staring at her breasts that her lower back hadn’t held any appeal to him. Once in her black denim jeans and red cashmere sweater, Jaime dragged a brush through her wet sable hair and tied it up into a ponytail. Then, with his arm curled around her, they proceeded through the tunnels toward the kitchen.
Occasionally he’d kiss her hair or temple, driven by a need to keep touching her. Jaime could feel the strength of that need through their bond, and tears stung her eyes as she once again remembered him saying that he loved her. Sure, it could have been just one of those things people say in desperate moments, but Jaime would prefer to believe that it was true. In any case, she was resolved that she would give him those words back later today. After the way he hadn’t given up on her or her wolf, he had earned them. It was selfish to hold them back any longer.
Just as Dante had expected, no sooner had they entered the kitchen than Shaya was wrapped around his mate like a clinging vine. Dante released several impatient sighs as each of the pack—
other than Greta, who was holding Kye—hugged Jaime and told her how glad they were that she was fine.
Dominic’s hug was extra tight. “We missed you around here.” He studied her face and sighed, smiling. “You’re so beautiful you’ve made me forget my line, but I was thinking—”
“Dominic,” bit out Dante, shaking his head.
The pervert’s shoulders slumped. He smiled again at Jaime. “I know, I know: lines are for people who are sad and pathetic. Let’s just fuck.” Dante whacked him over the head, but Dominic just laughed.
“Can’t breathe,” rasped Jaime as her brother practically folded his body around her.
“Sorry,” said Gabe, but he squeezed her even tighter. “You have no idea how worried I was.
My wolf was going insane because your wolf wouldn’t respond to him.” He pulled back and scrutinized her face. “How’s she doing?”
“She’s not healed, but she’s healing. She’s fully accepted Dante and the bond, and it’s anchoring her.”
“Just like I said it would,” Dante chipped in before he took Jaime’s hand in his in a possessive hold and pulled her to him. “Okay, okay, you’ve all had your moments with her.” As he’d told her, he didn’t want to have to share her yet.
Jaime rolled her eyes affectionately at her mate’s behavior and allowed him to lead her to the table. To her delight, Shaya sat at her other side. “I wish you didn’t have to go.” The words were so heavy with emotion that they came out in a whisper.
Shaya smiled; it was sad, but there was no hint that she was at all torn about her decision. “I needed to stay long enough to know you were okay. But now…”
“Where are you going to go?”
“Don’t worry about me. I know exactly where I’m going, and I’ll be fine.”
“You have to keep in touch.”
“I will. You guys definitely have to come visit me—slyly if it turns out that Nick doesn’t react too well to not knowing where I am anymore. If he does explode over this, don’t let him intimidate anyone into telling him where I am. He can’t know. He can’t find out, Jaime.” Jaime gripped her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I promise you, he won’t. I understand why you feel you need to go. But if something happens, Shaya, if you need any kind of help, you call me. Okay?”
“I’ve already made her promise to come to us if she needs anything,” said Taryn, giving Shaya a pointed look that said she was holding her to that promise.
Shaya raised her hands in surrender. “I will, I swear.” Turning back to Jaime, she squeezed her shoulder. “I’m so glad you’re okay. I can’t believe baby Kye’s a healer.” Greta, who had obviously been eavesdropping, huffed. Her scowl was solely for Jaime. “If you think you’re going to use my great-grandson as some sort of safety blanket, you’re wrong.”
“Greta, could you not go hatch somewhere else?” Jaime gestured to her plate. “I’m trying to eat here.”
“I see you’ve still got that bad attitude.”