But he didn’t want to think of that when he’d just looked death in the eye and was still breathing.
He gently massaged her scalp and tried not to let his gaze go lower. Layla was in the middle of an emotional crisis; it was his job to soothe her.
“I can teach you the things I couldn’t show you before because you don’t have to hide anymore. They know you’re their Luna. No matter what happens now, they have to respect that.”
“I don’t see how accepting me as your girlfriend changes anything,” Layla said.
His hand stilled in her hair, and he met her gaze. She didn’t know.
He hadn’t thought of that. He’d told her she was his mate before, and that had flown over her head. A part of him was relieved because he didn’t want to put that pressure on her when she would be left alone in the end. But another part, a considerable part, wanted her to know who she belonged to. Who he belonged to. Completely, with no reservation.
“It changes everything, Layla,” he said gruffly as he closed the space between them.
He tipped her head back under the shower spray and started to rinse the shampoo out, hopefully for the last time.
“Well, you’re their king, and people don’t seem to give a shit about that. They still attack you.”
He chuckled at her accurate assessment.
“Well, that’s true. But trust me on this one. I think they like you more than they like me, anyway,” he said with a smile.
It felt odd to smile, especially in a building swarming with Hunters. The Circle was going to lose their shit over this and probably make their decision about his punishment for killing one of them. They were probably considering wiping all the packs out to protect all their kind.
But that, again, was a problem for another day. They had to get out of the hotel alive first.
He looked down at Layla, and the smile slowly left his lips. Their bodies were touching. It had been months since he’d been with her, but now her naked body pressed against his.
Her emerald eyes flashed as if she had just realised that, too.
“How long does it take wolves to heal after childbirth?” she whispered. “You know what, it doesn’t matter. This could be our last night together. Make love to me, Jackson.”
The words broke down the walls holding back everything he had been trying to spare her from. Sex and war came hand in hand for wolves, especially for Cain. They hadn’t killed any Hunters, but surviving them was close enough.
His eyes hooded over as he became drunk on the lust that flooded his body. He stiffened, his erection pushing against Layla’s stomach in seconds.
“You’ve already healed,” he whispered as his gaze landed on her lips.
Her wolf was phenomenal, and once he started openly training her, his pack would know it, too. Diedre would start begging him to mark her again. But coming out was for the best. Layla would have to rely on her wolf’s strength to survive being hunted, and if he exiled all the traitors, maybe the remaining pack members would accept her.
A big maybe.
Layla put her arms around him and went on her toes to bring her lips just a breath away from his.
“I won’t be gentle, Layla.”
Layla’s eyes started to glow at his warning, and her body trembled in reaction. And then she was the one who closed the small distance between their lips. She was the one who demanded entry with her tongue and then started to take what she wanted.
There were no masks anymore. Nothing was hidden. Her love, his love. Her wolf, his wolf. The lust. The bond pulled tighter and tighter now that he had fully accepted it. He knew she could feel it all, even the dark parts of him that he kept hidden.
In seconds he slammed her hard against the shower wall and hooked her legs around his waist. Another second, and he was deep into her heat, ramming hard into her as his teeth scraped her neck.
Minutes later, her muscles were squeezing him, milking him, as he roared out her name.
He didn’t pull out as he carried her out of the shower but didn’t make it to the bed. His head was swimming as he lay her on the carpet and thrust deep into her again.
“Yes,” Layla moaned.
Her nails dug into his back. No, not nails. Claws. He had been clawed enough times in his life to know the difference. He hooked her leg over his shoulder and didn’t hold anything back. It was different again. Every time he got close to the point of no return, something changed. And yet he continued to drill into her as if his life depended on it, giving Layla everything she begged for.