Page 38 of Warwick

Warwick turned, grabbed something from the bedside table, and held it out. “It’s not the next morning, Cecil. We claimed each other six days ago.” I took the phone he was holding out. “Look at the date.”

I glanced at the phone and saw that it was almost eight in the morning. That explained the early morning light coming through the windows. But it was the date. It didn’t say October fifth. It was the twelfth. How was that possible? I looked at Warwick, confused.

“You went into heat, Cecil.”

The phone and glass both slipped from my hands. “What? No,” I whispered.

Warwick reached for my hand, lacing our fingers together. “Yes. You went into heat. We’ve spent the past six days in this bed. That’s why your head and body ache as much as they do.”

I looked around the room. I didn’t recognize any of the furniture. It must have been Warwick’s from his place. Which was probably a good thing because I was sure he wouldn’t fit in my bed even without me in it.

“No,” I said again. I pulled my hand free and glared. “No,” I said louder. “That’s such a cruel thing to say to me. You know I can’t.” My chest started to tighten up. How could my mate be so mean? I’d told him I didn’t have heats.

Warwick pulled my hand back to him and then yanked me closer. I gasped at the strength, but I shouldn’t have been surprised. He was an alpha, and a large one at that.

“I understand you’re surprised. But you did go into heat. Look,” Warwick said. “Watch, and believe me, you did go into heat.”

Images started flashing through my mind. I shook my head at first, but then I realized that they were Warwick’s memories. They started with him carrying me up the stairs. I saw quite clearly while I rode Warwick, and then he bit me as I came again, and he finally joined me. I watched as he took care of me not even an hour later when his knot released, and I was begging and writhing on the bed, needing his knot again. Warwick showed me over and over how he took care of me, physically, sexually, and emotionally.

I watched as he wiped me down with a damp cloth. I watched as he carefully held a glass to my lips, and I drank from it while he was knotted inside me again and again. He fed me fruit, small squares of food that I figured were cheese and meats. But through it all, there was one constant, and that was Warwick taking care of me. Him telling me how lucky he was and how beautiful I was.

I blinked several times. I looked around the room. Warwick had pulled me to him, and I’d climbed onto his lap. I was straddling him on the bed while his arms were wrapped around my waist, and his hands were rubbing my lower back. “You took care of me,” I whispered.

“I did. But I will always take care of you. You’re my mate. I was gifted you. You’re mine to take care of and protect, and I’ll always do that, no matter who the person I’m protecting you from. I will always be here for you.”

I smiled. “You think I’m beautiful?”

Warwick grinned again, and my heart fluttered in my chest. Why did he have that effect on me?

“I do. Inside and out. You had a shit childhood, and despite all of that, you are this beautiful man who gives to others. You have gone through life thinking you were broken, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. There is nothing broken about you, Cecil. You are exactly as you should be.” Warwick’s hand moved from my lower back to my shoulder. His thumb gently rubbed over my claiming bite, and I gasped at the sensation.

I looked down at my shoulder as best as I could, but I couldn’t really see it. I thought I saw black and red, but that shouldn’t be what I was looking at.

“Our marks are a bit different,” Warwick said. His eyes were focused on my shoulder. His thumb moved over it one more time before he dropped his hand and looked at me. “We bite, but it doesn’t quite heal. Not until our beast licks over the bite. Once that happens, it heals, but the black bite is left behind. It’s circled by the flames of our beast, and I’m not quite sure what exactly it means other than it’s the mark of a hellhound’s mate. Brice shouldn’t have been able to go to our realm with us, but he was. Maybe it will allow for you to travel through that portal, but I’d never take you there. It’s not a nice place, and I wouldn’t want you to see the horrors that you’d find there.”

I placed my hand on Warwick’s fuzzy cheek. “I don’t mind having your bite on me. I’m honored, actually. And if it looks different, then I’m really happy to show it off. Others will see it when I shift, and I can grin and tell them that my hellhound mate gave me the special mark.” Warwick met my eyes. “I could never be upset about your claim on me.”

I thought about what all had happened this morning already, and I’d only been awake for very little time. It had been an overwhelming week for certain. First, my parents, then Warwick, then the move, being claimed, and I went into heat? I didn’t understand that, but what Warwick had shown me through his memories could only be that. I’d had a heat cycle. My very first heat cycle.

“Eventually, we should probably ask to talk to your boss. I’m not sure if he’ll know why you haven’t had a heat cycle until now, but maybe he can give us some information.”

I nodded slowly, thinking about everything. But my mind was racing and always came back to one thing. “Warwick?”

He met my questioning gaze. “I’m going to be optimistic and say that it is a very real possibility that you caught. I know that the goddess said if we wanted children, it could be possible for us. I wasn’t ever supposed to be gifted a mate, Cecil. But that was in my realm. Here, I belong to the goddess, and she’s much kinder than her brother. You want children, and I want to make you happy. And if you want children, I’m more than ready to help with that in any way possible, so yes, I think it’s very possible that you caught and we’ll end up having a baby.”

I took several breaths, but they were shallow, and it felt like I wasn’t able to breathe. I might be pregnant. My dreams of having a family, the dreams that I’d long given up on, might come true. Warwick placed his hand on the back of my head and started rubbing. He pulled me close, and after he gave me a quick kiss, he placed his forehead against mine.

“Just breathe with me. In and out. In and out.”

I did as he’d said, and in just seconds, my body was relaxing. Warwick’s voice and scent surrounded me, both calming to me. I took one more breath, this one deeper than the previous ones, and was able to hold it for a few seconds before releasing and taking another deep breath. When I felt the panic receding, I opened my eyes and found Warwick staring at me. Only I wasn’t looking only at Warwick. There were flames in those eyes. I was staring at his beast as well, and I could only smile. The flames flickering up so closely were mesmerizing, and I wondered how often I’d get a glimpse of that side of him.

“Your eyes are hypnotic.”

Warwick closed them, and when he reopened his eyes, the flames were all but gone. Only the faintest traces of red at the bottom remained, but it was gone with another blink.

“My beast would very much like to meet you again. For longer than the quick meeting I allowed last time. I didn’t wish for you to go through your heat with an unhealed claiming bite though.”

“Thank you,” I told him. I leaned in and pressed my lips to his. A tingle went through my body when Warwick pressed back. His lips were warm and soft, and I was beyond thrilled that he was who I would be spending the rest of my days kissing because despite me being the one who initiated, Warwick quickly took charge. How he knew, I wasn’t sure, but he seemed to know exactly what I wanted and needed.

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