Hunted

Chapter 16 - The mate that won't quit.

We made love then, again, against the blanket, snow riding up as the blanket was shoved aside. We ended up with him behind me, bent over me, and I had to laugh when it was over, when we were panting, legs too weak to hold me up anymore. Nick collapsed onto his side beside me, yanking me down, arms wrapping around mine. The flimsy string was still holding our hands together.

"Do all werewolves like that one?" I tried to tease. Tried. I had clearly liked it too. My shoulder hurt and when I glanced at it, I saw where he'd bitten a little too hard, tiny drops of blood against the pale skin. Somehow that didn't bother me either.

"It's not a tradition. Still- " He kissed the place where his teeth had dug in a bit too much, fingers squeezing my palm, "-I think we could try that one again."

"Now?" I thought he meant now. His hips were already grinding up against mine again. I wondered how long it'd take before he was ready for another...

Nick laughed, shaking his head. "Not on Christmas morning. The kids will send out search parties." Teeth came to graze my ear as he murmured, soft, "We've got all afternoon though."

"I'm cooking dinner. Remember? I think Reece said you'd been boasting about that."

"Fuck."

We lay there, reality seeping back into our foggy minds, the light getting stronger. Then he sighed, gently unwrapping the string that had held our hands together, careful not to tear or rip it. I stood up as well, my legs shaking a bit.

Our clothing was there. Nick's was still where he'd left it, a few minutes walk away from my stuff, so he took off into the snow, muttering and stumbling as he tried to navigate the cold wet white stuff in the nuddy.

I waited for him and we headed back together, his warm hand clutching mine through the mitts, shoulders bumping against each other on the unsteady ground.

"You're beautiful too." He muttered, after a while, as the house came into view. Several new cars were parked around and the smell of food hovered around the house. Nick paused, yanking me back out of view of the house, behind a tree.

"Uh huh." I flushed, trying to shrug that off, not even entirely sure it was true.

"No, you are. You're a little too bony now," He pinched my arm, my wrist, hand sneaking under my waist to where my hip was, but Nick's mouth pressed against my mouth. "But you're beautiful. And you're mine."

That word again. I shuddered, the word stirring up something insecure, something young. Afraid. I remembered what Jeremy had said about him earlier. "One of your many?"

Nick blinked. He hesitated, glancing towards the house, and yanked us back a bit further. "I've had lot of lovers. I'm not going to lie about that. I love women, I love a good time, and I've been having a good time for thirty years."

My face tensed, heart sinking, arms crossing, feeling a kind of strange sadness at his words. I knew that, somehow, he knew my body better than I did. It sounded like he was making excuses for having a good time.

"This is why I wanted strings attached." I turned, moving around the tree and making for the house. A hand grabbed me and yanked me backwards.

"No, come back here. I'm not done." Nick shook his head. "Clayton was my brother but he didn't see the human world the same way. Didn't want to date anyone, didn't want to drink, didn't like parties, and I kept trying to get women for him, for years I tried, thought he didn't know what he was missing out on."

"Random sex partners with no morning after?" I muttered.

"Not that. Well, yes, something like that, but that's not the point. The point is, then one day I go to visit him, surprise him, and there's this blonde girl standing there with a giant diamond on her finger. Elena. I didn't even know she was in his life and he'd proposed to her." He laughed softly. "I didn't guess that was it, at first, I accused him of messing with someone engaged to someone else. The last thing I expected was for Clayton to be engaged."