Page 13 of Prey

Chuckling, I shift her just a little bit in my lap. I think my barbs are starting to loosen so they should break away soon. “You can fall asleep on top of me anytime.”

“Does the bond always feel like this?” she asks. “Like I’m lying just under your skin feeling all of your emotions?”

“I honestly don’t know. They say that you eventually learn to be able to share what you want, instead of everything at once. I think it just takes some time to learn and get used to it. I can feel you the same way too, but a little milder since the bond isn’t complete on your side. You still feel a little nervous, but I can also feel contentment. You’re a confusing woman, my Little Lioness.”

She laughs and says, “Hey, even I don’t know how I’m feeling sometimes. I’m just a little nervous about Ethan I guess.”

I grunt and nod my head. Yeah, he’s going to be a problem. He needs to get over his prejudice against all witches. Lumping them all in together, when it was just a select few who did what they did to his parents, isn’t fair to the other witches that don’t practice dark magic. It's also been a long time since it happened. I would never tell him to get over his parents’ death, but the hate has to end soon.

Then, there’s also what Joaquin said earlier about thinking there’s more to Ethan’s emotions than he’s letting on. If he is feeling something for her, he is definitely going to be confused considering his prejudice.

“Don’t worry, I'll take care of it. Joaquin is going to take the first shift in the morning so that I can go home and sleep. We were going to have Ethan come for the first watch, but I think talking to him beforehand is best, now that we’ve learned we are mates.”

Feeling my barbs loosen, I lift Shasta up off of me and lay her back onto her pillows. She whimpers a little as I release her.

“It’s okay, I’m not leaving yet. Do you want me to clean you up or do you want to shower?” I ask, gesturing to her ensuite bathroom.

“Shower, definitely,” she sits up and scoots over to the edge of the bed. “Will you shower with me?”

Will I ever?

“Anytime you want me to,” I say, wagging my eyebrows at her. “Consider me your living loofah.”

She laughs and stands on still shaky legs. Guess she didn’t have a long enough power nap. After the shower we need to have a snack and some liquids because I know we both lost a lot of those just now.

I feel a low level of tiredness in her. She probably works a lot and pushes herself too hard. We’re going to have to have a talkabout that. I will never take her independence from her, but I will make sure she takes care of herself.

Taking her hand, I lead her to the bathroom and start the shower. “Hot hot or somewhere in between?” I ask.

“I want to look like a lobster when I get out,” she says, laughing.

“Satan’s balls it is then,” I say, turning the handle.

It doesn’t take long for the water to heat and we both step inside. We wash each other's bodies slowly, taking our time so that we can learn the different dips and curves. She touches each of my tattoos as if she is trying to memorize them, and I do the same. One of these days we can sit down and talk about what they all mean.

I want to learn everything I can about her, but first, we need to get rid of whoever is tracking her and trying to cause problems.

Getting out of the shower, she hands me a towel and grabs one for herself along with some kind of terry cloth wrap for her hair. After drying off, she wraps herself up in one and pads into her bedroom and I hear a drawer open and then close. I finish drying off and follow her out, grabbing my clothes off the floor as I go.

She has another set of those pajamas she was wearing earlier, except these are silky and cover just a little bit more skin. She’s fucking adorable. Smirking at me, she leans over and pulls the terrycloth towel off her head and rubs her hair to dry it a little more.

I finish getting dressed while she goes to hang her hair towel, and she comes back grabbing my towel and hers and throwing it over the side of the laundry basket to dry.

She walks over to me holding her hand out, so I put my hand in it expecting her to lead me out into the hall. Instead, she turns my hand over and inspects the inside of my wrist. It’s one of the only places I don’t have some part of a tattoo covering it.

“Witches obviously don’t bite for our mate mark. But we do have a symbol we use. It depends on the Coven you’re from or who your family is. My father gave my mother the symbol for togetherness in Sanskrit and I’d like to give you the same one if that’s okay? He died in an accident when I was young and I feel like this is a way he could give his blessing,” she says with tears in her eyes and a small smile.

Pulling her close to me, I hold her for a moment, letting her feel the calming vibe I send her way through the bond. It must have been hard for her when he died. “Shasta, I’ll always be here if you want to talk about it. I’d love to have any bond mark you want to give me, and I will treasure it, just like I will treasure you. Always.”

When she pulls back, I see her swallow as I hold my wrist out for her to take. Pulling in a shaky breath she uses the tip of her finger to draw the symbol. Then underneath it, she also draws an infinity symbol to finish it off.

Gritting my teeth, I look at her to see her giggling under her breath. When she finishes, I snatch her up in a fireman's carry and walk into the living room, spanking her ass all the way down the hall. Little brat. “You could have told me that was gonna hurt like hell, Shas. I can see you’re going to be a handful.”

She laughs and sticks out her tongue as I toss her onto the couch. She sits on her knees and props her head on her arms over the back of the couch as she watches me moving around in her kitchen.

“What are you looking for?” she asks.

“I’m going to make us a snack, but I’m also just looking to see where everything is in here so I can familiarize myself with it,” I say over my shoulder to her.

---