Page 20 of An Unending Claim

Shifters weren’t shy about sex and some even got off on voyeurism. It had never been something I’d found particularly appealing—in fact, with Peyton, I’d been overly jealous and possessive of her body. But for some reason, this time, when we’d heard a couple of wolves in the forest behind our cabin, it had heightened our lust. As if we were teenagers and the possibility of being caught, of having illicit sex, elevated every sensation. She’d ridden me with wild abandon and after we both exploded with release, I’d picked her up and, without withdrawing, I’d walked to the back wall and fucked her up against it. And I hadn’t let her come until she submitted and begged for it.

Damn, it had been amazing. So fucking hot and satisfying.

We’d worked for a bit after that, but the mating urge got the best of us and we’d spent the rest of the night devouring each other. I grinned to myself as I remembered Peyton’s fit when I—

“You want to rein that in, Nate?” Tanner snapped, making the daydreams fully dissipate.

“What?”

“I know the mating instinct is riding you hard”—I couldn’t help smirking at his unintentional pun—“but I’m practically choking on it.”

“Sorry,” I shrugged. “It’s not really in my control.”

“The adrenaline from this morning is still wearing off,” Tanner muttered while stalking to my door. “You should’ve just taken the day off. Go home, work some of this out of your system before you suffocate everyone in the building.”

“Wait,” I called before he left. “What did you need?”

“I can handle it,” he shouted from the hallway. His voice was further away, closer to Peyton’s office, when he said, “Take your horny-as-fuck mate home and give it to him good, would you?”

I growled loud enough for him to hear it, my wolf and I both pissed at him speaking to our mate—his Alpha female—like that.

“Then at least go on a fucking date!” he shouted before the I heard the swoosh of the elevator doors closing.

Peyton’s laughter floated from her office, but his words reminded me of the conversation with my parents. Perhaps now was as good a time as any. Especially after our fight the other morning. The sex had helped to defuse some of it, but when the high wore off, a little tension still hummed between us. It didn’t help that we were both on edge over what the fallout would be from the Geoff situation. I’d have to deal with Ephraim soon, but I was still too angry. I couldn’t promise I wouldn’t tear his throat out. But I would need to handle it sooner rather than later because the more time I let go by, the more I lost control of the situation, and that was always unacceptable to me.

I shut down my computer and gathered my keys and wallet. As I walked to the door, my phone started ringing. I picked up immediately when I saw it was my assistant calling from the Council headquarters. With all the trouble brewing, she’d stayed behind to work from the HQ, stepping in as my liason so I didn’t have to be there as often as I had before.

“Willa. Everything okay?”

“Peachy,” she groused.

I had a hunch I knew what had caused her to be this out of sorts. “Aubrey came by?” I asked. The asshole couldn’t just call?

“He’s agreed to the meeting with Lucien and Phillipé.”

“But…?” It was never easy with the Fae.

Willa sighed. “For one thing, Lucien mentioned that they hoped you’d be mediating and now Aubrey’s saying he won’t do it without you there. I tried to explain how important it is for you to be home right now, but it was difficult to do that without telling him about Peyton. And I certainly wasn’t going to do that.”

“Absolutely not.”

Fae were notorious for stealing things that other people wanted. Peyton and I were mated, but I wouldn’t have put it past Aubrey to take her just to piss me off since he was salty over the situation with Fenn. I understood his anger about one of his people being tortured and nearly killed, but I’d done my best to find him alive, and we had. But, in the absence of the real culprit, Aubrey needed someone to blame and apparently he’d chosen me.

“He demanded that the meeting take place in Silver Lake, if not here.”

“The fuck it will,” I growled. I wouldn’t allow Aubrey anywhere near my mate. “Just tell them to set the date and time, then let me know. We’ll see what’s going on and if I’m unable to make it, I’ll tell them myself.”

“Will do.”

“And, Willa, if he mentions setting foot on my land again, you tell him—council position be damned—I will kill him.”

“Okay.” She actually sounded gleeful and I nearly laughed. Apparently, Willa enjoyed the prospect of threatening that pompous jackass. “Also, Phillipé called with the name of their new Council member.”

I grunted in acknowledgement. At least the French were playing ball, for the moment. “What do we know about them?”

“Next to nothing. His name is Chréstien Allemand. Lisa did some digging, but the most we could find was a parking ticket, which had been promptly paid. No birth records, medical, employment, nothing.”

That wasn’t unusual for vampires, especially anyone involved with the De La Coeurs. They viciously guarded their privacy. But something about the man’s name struck a chord and it took me a minute to recognize it. “Allemand?”

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