Page 46 of Psycho

I drifted through a few stores, including the popular intimates store, to get some sexy underthings that I may or may not want to wear for Shep later. Maybe. I also went to the other side of that store to get some workout pants and tank tops. After getting a tour of the compound, I’d been quite impressed with the gym they had onsite. I hadn’t been impressed that they’d named it the Demon’s Lair, but I’d ask about that later.

I was tired of carrying these bags around, so I put them in the SUV and put the GPS in my phone to head back to the compound. It was odd how safe and comforted I felt being there. Seemed like a place like that, ran by the sometimes scary men and women who lived there, shouldn’t feel comforting, but it did.

I pushed the start button and put the car in drive, heading out of the parking garage and toward the roads that would take me back to LaPlace, Trigger trailing me.

As I drove, I thought about what I had in Tampa.

I shared a two-bedroom apartment with a woman I barely knew. I was sure she had already rented out my room and dumped my stuff off with my family, as per our lease agreement since I obviously wasn’t paying rent anymore.

My family—who had weakly attempted to look for me. My mom, aunt, and brother. All witches. Why hadn’t they tried to locate me? Did I mean that little to them? Were they even worried?

The urge to come out and let them know I was okay was strong. To go to the police and expose that I was no longer a missing person grew by the day. After all, I couldn’t keep living like this. I needed my driver’s license and bank accounts reactivated. I needed a life. Did that life involve Sheppard and his wolves?

I put my blinker on to get off the exit and smiled when I thought about the look that would show on my mom’s face when I told her I was dating a wolf. Fucking one even, because sooner or later, we would have sex. She’d be mortified, and that amused me.

I was wildly attracted to Shep, but my fresh, raw trauma was holding me back. I knew I’d need to enter therapy sooner or later, but I wasn’t the type who really thought it would help. Just stuff the bad memories down so far they wouldn’t resurface unless I was triggered. And when I was—just move on. Life would keep moving by whether I wanted it to or not. And I did want it to. I wanted to feel normal—as normal as I could—and have a happy life.

Did I want a husband, children, and the white picket fence? I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that when I looked at Sheppard, I wanted him to touch me. To put his hands on me. To feel and taste me. To know the real me.

I had never been attracted to someone this strongly before. I had a couple of exes I’d dated for a few months at a time, but I had no desire to go the long haul with any of them. To live with them. To bear their children.

Wow. Could I have Shep’s kids? Wouldn’t they be werewolves? Half witch, half wolf? How did that work?

I’d have to ask. Just not today.

But would he still want me after I ran out on him last night? After our brief but somewhat awkward conversation this morning, I thought he would. He was a man. They were simple-minded in most things. Keep them fed and fucked and you’d be happy. Right?

I sighed, driving down the dirt road that led to the complex. As soon as the Audi hit the sensor, the massive black wrought-iron gate opened up without me having to put my code in the little keypad machine.

There must be a sensor on this car.

What else was on it? A tracker?

I decided I didn’t care. Even if there was, I couldn’t blame him. He’d had Trigger following me all day, and sure enough, there was the Humvee about a quarter mile behind me, getting ready to enter the compound.

I smiled, feeling loved and protected instead of stalked.

Was that how I was supposed to feel? I wasn’t sure, but as my aunt always said—you can’t control how you feel, just your actions because of it.

She was wise if nothing else. She sure didn’t care that I was missing, that was obvious.

I shoved those bitter thoughts aside and parked the white Audi SUV into the same space I’d found it.

After picking up my bags from the back, I headed inside. The smell of food cooking hit me and I realized I hadn’t eaten all day. Food seemed to be one of the last priorities for me these days.

Just a taste…

I decided those words belonged to Shep, not the asshole vampire bastard.

He could have another taste, all right. I’d love to see how well he used that huge cock of his. The thought got things stirring down south. Perhaps I should have bought myself a “shower massager” today at the mall…

“Hey, Nera!”

I looked up to see Chaos sitting in the loungers. He had a large cigar smoldering between his fingers, and his bright white charming smile was aimed my way. He stood, raking back some of his long hair from his face. I remembered Psycho said there was no smoking allowed in here, but obviously this guy didn’t give a shit about the rules.

“Need some help with those?” He used the cigar to point to my bags.

I didn’t think letting a wolf anywhere near my witch supplies—especially since there was a pinch of wolfsbane in it—was a good idea.

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