Half-breed’s Bargain by Samantha Wolfe
22
HARLOW
I awaken, cocooned in warmth, with Van’s body pressed against my back and his hand trailing feather-soft caresses across my skin. I don’t move, enjoying the dance of his gentle fingertips along my hip, my belly, and between my breasts. Fuck, it feels so good, and I doze in and out of sleep for a while as he continues caressing me. I think about all the times we fucked since that first time last night, and how each time was better than the last. Thank fuck I’m on birth control, or he’d have knocked me up for sure. It was well after dawn by the time Van wore me out, and I had to beg him to stop. After that, I slept like a damn rock without a single nightmare or waking up once. I dare say it’s the best sleep of my entire life. I drift toward full sleep again until Van nuzzles against the back of my neck and desire unfurls inside me, aching between my legs. He breathes in my scent, and his aura brightens with lust and wraps more tightly around mine.
“Harlow,” he murmurs. “I know you’re awake.”
I grin to myself with my eyes still closed. I know he wants me as much as I want him. I can feel it. I’m suddenly very much aware of his hard cock nestled between my ass cheeks, and hope his hand moves farther south to my pussy. A little more sex sounds pretty damn good to me. I could really use another epic release.
His lips move to brush against my ear, making me shiver. “Tell me what you’re hiding from me,” he whispers.
I still. Shit, shit, shit. My guilt over conspiring behind his back last night must have given me away. He can feel how much it’s eating at me even now. My first instinct is to lie my ass off, but that would be pointless considering our soul bond. He’ll know the instant I do. I need to tell him enough truth that he won’t question me further. He can’t know I’m going to kill his mother or the bargain will force him to either tell her or, worse, try to stop me. I can’t let either happen. His freedom is at stake, and I won’t risk losing my shot at giving it to him. I suck in a breath and sigh, then roll onto my back so I can meet Van’s eyes. I probe at his aura, and I’m relieved that he’s not upset with me, just concerned and a bit wary. Well, here goes nothing.
“Last night Ethan and Mercer didn’t take me straight home,” I say, hating narcing on the two werewolves. But what choice do I have? “We stopped at Haven Hall to talk to Anson.”
“About?” he asks with narrowed eyes.
“I asked him to help me steal the ring from Móira,” I say, taking the fall on my shoulders. I won’t throw Ethan and Mercer under the bus by telling him they had the same idea before I even mentioned it to them. I tense for his reaction.
Van’s brow furrows as a wave of hurt passes through him, making me feel even worse. But it’s quickly followed by a burst of affection. It makes me feel a little better.
He sighs, then reaches out to brush a lock of hair from my face and gives me a poor excuse for a smile as silver flashes across his eyes. “I know you only did it to help me.”
I nod. “I’m not sorry for trying to help you, but I am sorry for going behind your back to do it,” I say, the words feeling foreign on my tongue since I don’t usually apologize for anything.
“Don’t be,” he reassures me. “What’s done is done. What matters now is that we’re all on the same page now.”
“We are?” I ask.
He nods. “Whatever you have planned for tonight, I’m in.”
Fuck, if he only knew the half of it. “So Móira’s order to do whatever it takes to get the ring supersedes the bargain?” I ask.
“It’s a gray area I’m willing to tread if we can get the ring away from her and destroy it.”
“But what about Lynch?” I ask with a frown. “He’s going to be pissed as hell if we don’t hand the ring over to him.”
Van sighs. “We’ll cross that bridge when we have to.”
Well, that sounds like a terrible plan, but I don’t have any better ideas besides taking that bloodsucker out permanently. However, I’m not telling him that for fear he’ll suspect my plans to kill Móira. I nod instead, then lean in to the soft caress of his knuckles along my cheek.
“Last night…” I begin, ready for a subject change as I reach up to trace his jawline with my fingertips.
“Was perfect,” he says with a soft smile, finishing my sentence as affection and contentment flare across his aura. His gray eyes glimmer with brilliant silver again. That’s twice it’s happened in the last few minutes and far more than I’ve ever seen happen before.
“Your eyes keep turning silver,” I say. “Is that because of anam amháin?”
He shakes his head with a pensive expression. “I don’t think so,” he answers. “I think something more happened between us last night. I think my werewolf half bonded to you as well when we fucked.”
“Like a double mating bond?” I ask with a furrowed brow. “Is that even possible?”
“I don’t know,” he answers. “I’ve never heard of anam amháin and a werewolf mating bond happening simultaneously. We’re in uncharted territory here.”
Well, isn’t that the very essence of our relationship from the get go? Hell, our entire lives have been that way too. “What does it mean for us?”
“I don’t know the answer to that either, querida,” he answers. “I guess we’ll cross that bridge when we reach it too.” He smiles. “All I know for certain is that I’m glad I’m bonded with you.”
A surge of joy rises inside me at his words and his emotions that accompany it, too. An urge to tell him I love him falls over me, but I can’t bring myself to say it. It seems too big, too much too soon, no matter how real and intense it feels. I mean seriously, who says that to someone after knowing them for a mere handful of days? Certainly not me, even if I am a crazy ass bitch. Besides, I’m sure he can feel it through our bond. Instead, I cup his face in my palms and pull his lips down to mine, intent on showing him how I feel about him.
Our kiss quickly turns hot and devouring, and the next thing I know we’re urgently fucking with our sweat-slicked bodies writhing together in my bed. Our orgasms crest in unison and we cry out as one in raw, unbridled ecstasy until we’re both sated and spent in a tangle of limbs and mussed up bedding. We’re both a sweaty hot mess when we get up, and we wisely decide to shower apart for fear we’ll just end up fucking for hours instead. If that happens, we’ll never make it to Haven Hall to meet up with Anson and our boys. Yeah, that’s right. I called them ours. I’ve become as fond of Ethan and Mercer as I have of Van. Well, minus the fucking, of course.
I let Van get cleaned up first and drowse in bed amid the arousing scent of sex until he emerges from my tiny bathroom across the hall. I hurry past him, trying my best to ignore how hot he looks, wrapped in only a towel with a few water droplets still scattered across his ripped upper body. I shower quickly since we’re running late, though I may have taken the time to ease a certain ache between my legs with the hand-held shower head. What can I say? I’m still horny.
I exit the bathroom, fully dressed since I took my clothes in with me so I wouldn’t be tempted to throw my naked body at Van as soon as I saw him again. I enter the bedroom to find an already dressed Van in front of my closet door mirror, finger-combing his still damp hair. Is it just me, or does he seem a bit pale? I study him from the doorway for a moment and frown, noting a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead.
“Did you sleep at all?” I ask, thinking maybe he’s just tired and overheated from the hot shower. I’ve yet to see him sleep in the last few days. I know the fae don’t need to, but Van isn’t full-blooded.
“Some,” he answers with a wan smile, still staring at his reflection as he straightens the lapels of his suit jacket, “but I rarely sleep more than an hour or two at a time, if I even need to at all.”
“So you just laid there while I was sleeping?”
He turns his head toward me with a sexy little smirk, his eyes searing down the length of my body. “Believe me, it wasn’t a burden.”
My face heats along with a sudden throb between my legs. Oh my God, I’m blushing like a virgin for this man. What the fuck is happening to me? Mortified, I hurry over to my bed and kneel to pull a large black plastic case out from underneath. I open it to reveal my extensive knife collection and my only pistol. Guns aren’t really my thing. I prefer a blade or my bare hands in a fight, but some foes are just begging for a bullet. You know, like certain immortal pieces of shit that are fucking with my man. I’m not taking any chances with that fae bitch, and pull on my shoulder holster with my gun on one side and a large sharp blade on the other. I strap on my forearm holsters and shove a knife into each, then push a sheathed knife into each boot.
“Got enough knives, querida?” Van asks from over my shoulder with amusement coloring his voice.
I’m really starting to like it when he calls me that pet name, especially considering how much I hated it at first.
I turn and shoot a wide grin up at him. “Never,” I say, then wave a hand at the remaining knives in the case. “You want one?”
Van opens his suit jacket, smiling back at me as he reveals a shoulder holster similar to mine, holding his Colt pistol and a large knife. “I think I’m good.”
“I suppose,” I say, smirking as I close the case and shove it back under the bed. I guess I was too distracted by him undressing to notice what was in his holster when he took it off last night. I stand and glance at the wall clock. Shit, it’s creeping up on two o’clock. “We need to go.”
“What’s on the agenda?”
“We need to meet Ethan and Mercer at Haven Hall to talk to Anson.”
Van frowns, and I’m immediately worried about the two mated werewolves’ relationship with him. I don’t want it damaged because of me. “They only agreed to it because they care about you too.”
“I know,” he says, his eyes turning sad. “I just don’t want them to get hurt or killed over me.” He shakes his head and glances at me. “Or you either. All the horrible things I’ve done…” He trails off and looks away, the blank mask that I now fucking hate falling across his features. “I’m just not worth that kind of sacrifice.”
Hell. Fucking. No. He did not just say that. Livid, I lunge at Van, grabbing his lapels and forcing him backwards until he hits the wall so hard he grunts at the impact. I’m surprised he didn’t dent the drywall.
“Say something like that again,” I snarl right into his face as rage sears through my veins, “and this time I will shoot you in the fucking balls.”
Well, I got my wish. His face isn’t blank anymore. He’s staring at me with wide eyes as I scowl at him, his body going slack.
“I’m sorry,” he says as his aura reaches out to touch mine, showing me his remorse is legit. “I didn’t mean to imply that your experiences were any less horrible than mine. But you didn’t have a choice like I did when I agreed to Móira’s bargain.”
Now it’s my turn for a wide-eyed stare. “You think that’s what I’m angry about?” I get my answer when his brow furrows in confusion. I shake my head, my anger draining away into exasperation. “You dense and clueless man,” I say as I loosen my grip on his jacket a bit. “I’m not angry about that. I’m angry at that ‘I’m just not worth that kind of sacrifice’ bullshit you were spouting.” I give him a little shake, my voice rising in anger again. “You don’t get to make that determination. The people who care about you do.” I give him another shake. “Those boys love you. I l…” I trail off before the L-word slips out of my mouth. Nope. Not saying it yet. “I care about you,” I correct myself as one corner of Van’s mouth twitches into a ghost of a smile at my near slip up. “And I know that Ethan and Mercer would agree with me when I say, you are worth it.”
Van’s eyes soften. “I care about you too, Harlow,” he says in a soft murmur. “And I’m sorry if my words upset you.”
I narrow my eyes at him, realizing he contradicted nothing he said, but I suppose a few words aren’t going to change that kind of negative thinking right away. Rome wasn’t built in a day and all that.
“Well, don’t say anything like that in front of me again, and your balls will remain intact. Understood?”
“Yes, querida,” he answers with a tender expression as he reaches up to cup my cheek in his hand.
His sweet affection coils around my aura as his eyes move down to my mouth. It heats into something carnal and lustful as our faces drift closer and his eyes glitter silver. If we don’t get the hell out of here soon, we’ll be fucking like bunnies again all afternoon. It sounds like a damn fine way to spend the rest of the day, but there’s too much at stake to give in to the raging lust between us. I step away from Van with a disappointed sigh, letting go of his suit jacket and hating it when his hand leaves my cheek. I snatch my black leather jacket off the bed where I tossed it before going to shower, then pull it on.
“No time to fuck, babe,” I tell Van with a smirk as I step closer to him. “We’ve got shit to do.” I hold a hand out to him. “Are you with me?”
He spares a quick glance at my hand, then smiles. “Always.”
Then he twines his unbelievably warm fingers around mine and we walk out of my apartment hand in hand, ready to take on whatever comes next… together.