The Panther's Second Chance (Book 10 of the Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 8

Natalia Remington-Seely opened her eyes and then closed them again. Today she was eighteen. Today she was an adult. Today, she could possibly find her mate. Her gaze darted to the time, and saw that it was almost noon. Her parents had let her sleep in, but she was surprised she'd slept this long. She stretched. She intended to spend the day doing whatever she pleased.

Natalia climbed out of bed, and slipped on some clothes. She preferred sleeping naked, and had told her parents straight out not to come in her room at night. "If you need me, you can link me."

Her father stayed out. Noelle didn't care. She came as she pleased. "I'm Queen. I'll do what I want."

Natalia had rolled her eyes at that comment. Her mother was something else.

She walked out into the living room and found Norelle sitting on the couch, reading a book. "Whatcha reading?"

"A new book. You should definitely read it when I'm done." Noelle looked up. "Happy birthday Natalia!" She stood up and gave Natalia a hug. "What are you planning today?"

"Food now, and then a hot bath with a good book," Natalia said.

"Nick went down to get us both something to eat and he should be back soon," Noelle said.

"Oh good!" She walked over to the latte machine and set it up to make herself one, and Noelle one as well. She knew her mother would want a latte if she was having one.

Nick walked in a few moments later with two plates of food, and sat them down. "Happy Birthday baby girl." He walked over and kissed Natalia on the cheek.

"Thanks, Dad," she said, looking up at him with a smile. She grabbed the lattes and joined Noelle at the table to eat, while Nick sat on her other side.

Her parents were ridiculously, disgustingly romantic with each other. She hoped to one day have the same thing going on with her own mate. She watched the two of them beneath lowered lashes, knowing they were talking through mind link. Probably something dirty. She internally shook her head. She couldn't blame Malachi for moving out the moment he turned eighteen. Mate or not.

Finally she got up from the table. "I'm going to go take a bath." She shut the door of her bedroom and walked into the bathroom, turning the water on to fill her tub. It wasn't as large as her parent's tub, but it was big enough. She added some bath salts and oils to it, then began to undress. She walked back into her bedroom and grabbed her book, then crawled into the tub, resting her head back on the pillow. She sighed softly. The water felt good.

Normally at this time, she would have already been done with training for the day and up here taking a shower, but today was her day, and she had it off.

She opened her book, but her mind drifted back to the dreams. The ones she'd been having over the last few weeks. Vivid sex dreams, the type that left her aching with need. Always with the same man too.

She'd never been able to see his face in her dreams. He was just some faceless man who showed up naked almost every night. She was disappointed on the nights he didn't show.

But he brought her pleasure on the nights he did, his hands skirting over her flesh, his lips on hers as he mated her night after night. Her mate, she surmised as she knew dreaming about your mate before you found them was pretty common. It didn't always happen though. Her mother told her she hadn't had any dreams about her first mate and she'd only had one about her father.

Natalia had assumed her mate was human. Her family was notorious for mating humans. Her mother was one of the few exceptions to that rule along with her uncle and great aunt. Ironically, both her mother and great aunt had gone through rejections. She hoped that wasn't the case with herself.

But last night, her mystery man had come to her in her dreams again, his lips on hers, his hands touching her, stroking her nipples and moving down between her legs. She'd felt him enter her and then he'd began to move, thrusting in and out of her with a fierce passion that had her screaming with pleasure. But right before she'd hit her orgasm, she'd woken up.

She'd laid there, hot and needy, her body fully aroused as she realized for the first time who the man was that was mating her. Dominic. It had shocked her, and she'd laid there for a long time, trying to wrap her head around it. She knew it had always been him, even though she hadn't seen his face. She still knew it was him.

She's always thought Dominic was hot. She'd be blind not to. He had black hair, and gorgeous blue eyes, and he was just as well built as the other men. His arms were heavily muscled, his chest well defined, and she'd never gotten the chance to see any more of him. She'd never even seen him without a shirt on.

He was occasionally in the gym when she was training, though he never interfered. He usually was lifting or on the rowing machine. She'd watched him some, but he never paid her any mind. He was polite, but that was it. She was too young.

The fact that she was having sex with him in her dreams was a bit mind blowing. Would she like to? She'd be lying if she said no. But she also knew unless he was her mate, he would never touch her, and probably never even think twice about her. But she wanted him to. If it was anything like her dreams.

While she'd found him quite attractive, she'd never fantasized about him, but after realizing he was in her dreams, she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to be mated by him.

Maybe she was losing it. Dominic was quite a bit older than her, and that was putting it mildly. Her father wasn't even sure how old Dom was. But Natalia knew he wanted a mate. She'd heard her brother and Cassidy discussing it one evening. She hadn't said anything, but she'd been listening intently. Dominic Beckham intrigued her.

She really didn't know if he was her mate though, or if she was just having ridiculous dreams that he'd suddenly showed up in. It would probably freak him out if he knew, she was sure. But if he was, she wasn't letting him go. He'd been hurt once, and she wouldn't let it happen again.

Instead, she would offer herself to him, and let him know he was safe with her. She would keep his heart safe and not trample it. She just hoped he didn't reject her. She didn't think he would though. But she also knew she was completely getting lost in a dream and it didn't necessarily mean he was going to be hers.

She'd finally fallen back asleep, and the rest of the night had been dreamless. She could still remember the dream vividly though when she'd woken up this morning. Even now, she could remember it plainly, and couldn't get it out of her mind.

Her thoughts drifted back to the other dreams she'd had of him over the last few weeks. They'd all been good. Of course, she hadn't known who they were of though. Who the man that had mated her nightly was. She licked her lips now in anticipation.

If Dominic wasn't her mate, she was going to have to get over her crush on him. He wouldn't touch her. She knew that. She just didn't understand why she'd been having dreams of him if he wasn't. Erotic sexual dreams that made her desire him.

She finally got out of the bath tub and slowly dried herself off, before she dressed. She needed to get her thoughts off of Dominic Beckham. He would probably be at her party tonight, and she would know for sure then. And she could move on, forget about him and hopefully stop dreaming about him and his hot body.

She shook her head. Good grief, but she needed to stop thinking about him. She turned her attention to her makeup and hair. She was at least going to look good for her own party. It wasn't every day she got to turn eighteen.

She picked out the pink dress she'd chosen for the night and pulled it on, then pulled on a sweater. She slipped her feet into a pair of pink flats, and left the room. She wanted to wear heels, but given the location, it wouldn't be ideal.

"Well you look nice," Nick commented when she walked out.

"Thanks Dad. Where's Mom?"

"Over at Jenna's. I'm to take you over there when you're ready," Nick said.

"Okay, then let's go," she said, slipping her arm through his.