Midnight Lies (Shifter Island #2) - Raye Wagner Page 0,62
why she was my bestie. Pulling me in for a tight hug in the hallway, she murmured, “Go take a few minutes. We’ve got two hours on your ticking save-Honor-clock. I’ll come get you if hell breaks loose.”
I pulled back with fresh tears in my eyes. “Promise?”
“Pinky promise,” she said with a wink, but her eyes glistened too—as if she could feel my pain. The smile slipped from her face, and she whispered, “I’m sorry, Nai. I can see you’re hurting … and I wish I could fix it, but I probably can’t—and I don’t even know the right thing to say, so … I’m sorry.”
She tugged me back into her embrace, and letting the tears fall, I choked out, “That was pretty much perfect.”
The dam of emotion burst, silently at first, but instead of waning, the emotions I’d stuffed away for the last few days all bubbled up. When the first sob tore from my lips, I felt Kaja move, and then Rage’s warmth enveloped me.
“Come on, love,” he murmured, guiding me down the hall toward our room.
Nothing says romantic quite like a sob fest.
I bawled into his shirt, already wet with my tears, and clung to his chest, and still, he held me, giving me time to mourn two people I barely knew—and yet I existed because of their love, for each other and me.
“At least everyone you love deserves it,” Rage said as we slipped inside the door and he closed it, his voice rumbling through his chest and into my body. “It’s super shitty to find out the man who raised you is the worst person in existence. What does it say about me that I wanted to be like Declan for a time?”
He walked us over to the bed and lay me down on it. Patting his chest, his very nice firm chest, I sighed and snuggled closer to him. He smelled of cedarwood and sage and … sadness leaked through our bond, and I rushed to comfort him. “Every child wants to make their family proud. I think it took a lot of courage”—I poked his muscle—“to go against Declan at the mid-year games and what you thought was the truth your entire life.”
He said nothing, so I sat up, leaning back to take him in. His gaze captured me, his eyes misting and his voice raw with emotion when he said, “That’s very kind of you, but this entire time, I thought your father killed mine…”
“It’s all forgiven. Declan lied to everyone,” I said with a shake of my head. “You shouldn’t bear the fault of his deceptions.”
Rage stiffened at his uncle’s name.
Note to self: don’t talk about the d-bag unless it’s to plot to kill him—which I knew my dad was discussing with the pack right now.
Determined to chase that haunted expression off my mate’s face, I walked my fingers up his chest and looked up at him through my lashes.
He swallowed, but that tortured look still remained.
Scooting closer, I climbed onto my knees before settling on his lap, straddling him. He lay backward so that his body was beneath me and my hair fell around us in a white curtain. Pressing my body harder into his, a thrill raced through me when he gripped my hips and inhaled sharply.
Leaning forward, I ran the tip of my nose up his neck, scenting him before licking his skin.
Oh my mage.
My thoughts fritzed as my tongue pressed against his pulse. I moaned, pushing my fingers into his hair before nipping him lightly with my teeth. Another thrill as his heart rate picked up and heat began to work its way down my body.
“Nai,” Rage growled, clenching his fingers into my hips. His chest pressed into me as he sucked in a ragged breath, and he trembled as if trying to deny him—me—us—this.
Every moment we stayed together was a moment that our mated bond wanted to be sealed. It was starting to hurt to physically keep myself from this.
I wanted him. I was ready.
Pressing kisses up his neck, I then traced the outer rim of his ear with my tongue. His grip tightened on my hips, and I pushed my pelvis forward before sucking his earlobe between my teeth. Slowly, I grazed the soft flesh and then whispered, “Kiss me.”
He slipped his hand under the hem of my shirt, and I gasped at the heat on his skin.
“You want me to kiss you?” he asked, slipping his other hand beneath the hem, teasing me.