Page 58 of Bonded

She takes a breath, hesitant to react. His sudden declaration takes her by surprise and looking him in the eyes they stare at each other. Her body’s buzzing with electricity in exactly the same way it did that first day she laid eyes on him.

“Ryan, I don’t know what to say.” She smiles, kissing him, “Except… Can we eat cos I’m starving?”

“Yeah, sure. Here, let me pour you some champagne.”

“Wow! Champagne? Hell, you went to a lot of trouble.”

“Yeah… Oh, and I got those strawberries, the ones dipped in pink chocolate—the ones you said you liked on that TV show. Oh and… smoked salmon and… Okay, I’ll hold my hands-up, Bud took care of the food. I kinda wasn’t sure what you do for a picnic. But I did buy the strawberries.”

“It’s okay. It all looks amazing. I can’t believe this whole idea was yours?”

“Yeah, well… I’d more say I have ‘Jack Daniels’ to thank for it, but yeah… it was my idea. I just wanted to show you I could do other things, other than… you know. Though just so you know, I’m not rulin’ that out. I mean, if you want to do that too?”

“Hey, don’t spoil it,” she smiles, “you were on a roll there.”

“Okay, I’m keepin’ it zipped. Though you brought my surprise, right?”

She nods and then unfastening a couple of buttons of her shirt, flashes him a tease of the lace bodice underneath. It immediately sends his cock into rampant overdrive. “Holy fuck! Okay… so let’s eat!”

Pouring two glasses of champagne, Digby opens a box and takes out one of the chocolate strawberries and feeds it to her. She leans forward, the fruit still in her mouth, and kisses him. The juice of the sweet berry drips down her chin and he licks it from her lip; she tangles her hand in his hair, staring into his bright blue eyes.

“Hmm… that was delicious.” She sniffs him, his scent making her body tremble with excitement as the electricity between them sends a pulsing throb to her clit. Each touch of his hand on her body sends a wave of pleasure riveting through her breasts, down her stomach, and into her fiery core. “Ryan, I’m sorry, for what I said. I didn’t mean it. I just… well, I struggle with this. The whole wolf versus woman thing. But I know now… I have to accept what I am. It’s just hard.”

“It’s okay, don’t say nothin’. Let’s just draw a line under it. We both did things I’m sure we regret,” he smiles. “Now… you eatin’ the last of that salmon, or am I?”

She picks it up and puts it between her teeth and leans in to kiss him. “Why don’t we share?”

***

The afternoon disappears, and as darkness surrounds them, the air becomes much cooler. They sit quietly. Kat nestled between his legs, her back leaned against his chest as they stare into the dark forest. She’s feeling drunk, having consumed most of the champagne—Ryan, content to let her finish the bottle, while he sticks with the beer.

“This is nice,” he whispers, stroking his fingers gently against her neck; her nuzzling against his shoulder as they both enjoy the peace.

“You know, I can’t believe you have a twin brother and you said nothing. What I don’t get is why you aren’t close? I mean, I thought twins had a strong blood-bond?”

“Rhys went his own way. He always wants to be the center of attention—like I mean all the time. He likes fast cars and hard partyin’. He was always a rebel and left home as soon as he could because he didn’t want to live under strict rules in a… well, he didn’t wanna stay where we lived. Rhys liked to push boundaries, in a less than positive way. Oh sure, I wanted to be a rebel too, but… my brother’s selfish. Kat, trust me, the best thing is to keep away from him. You know I couldn’t care less if he dropped dead tomorrow.”

“I’m sure you would. I mean twins, that’s helluva deep connection—blood is blood, and yours and his are the same.”

“Well, you wouldn’t think so, not the way he acts. Hell, I feel closer to Zak and even Darius than I am to him. I don’t owe Rhys anythin’.”

She nods, then leaning back she listens to the faint sounds still echoing in the dark forest. “Ryan, can I ask you something? That story, you told me, about the Luna wolf? I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately and it just keeps going around my head, so I have to know…” she can feel him tense and shift awkwardly. Turning around, she kneels in front of him, and with her hand on his cheek, stares him in the eyes. “Was she your mother? Was your mother the Blood-Luna?”

Digby sighs and drinking the last of the beer, he takes another and pushing the cap off he guzzles some back and cocks his eyebrow. “You know sometimes, Lieutenant Morgan, you think about things too much. But yeah… yeah, she was my, our, Mother.”

“So, what happened?” She can feel his muscles tighten and hear the grind of his teeth. “Ryan, talk to me. Please, tell me. I want to know. I wanna know about you. Inside you, what you feel, not just this alpha bullshit. I want to know about the man you are.” She kisses him gently on the lips, the taste of beer lingers on her tongue.

“All right, so ask me. What do ya wanna know?” He leans back, resting on his elbow, staring at her. His hand stroking the top of her thigh as she lays her head on his chest.

“Anything. Just tell me anything about you.”

He takes a deep breath—hesitating. “About my mother, the story. Well, she um… she gave birth to me; to us, Rhys and me, in the woods alone. Yeah, she shifted for her pregnancy. They believed back then it made a wolf pup stronger, more dominant. Hey maybe it did?” he smiles. “My foster mom, she said that my real mom was a loner. She wouldn’t commit herself to a pack—to any pack. And she wouldn’t submit to any of the alphas that courted her.”

“Your mom sounds like a feisty chick.” Kat smiles. “Sorry… Go on, tell me more.”

“They all wanted her, the alphas, they all wanted her as their Luna because she was special, she was rare. They also said no Wolf—or man, could resist her.” He strokes his hand against the smoothness of Kat’s hair, smiling as he kisses her head. “But with no pack, she was vulnerable. She had no one to protect her, and so one of the other pack alphas decided he would take her for his own. The next wolf-moon he forced himself on her. They knotted and with her in pup, he thought he’d be able to claim her—that she’d submit to him. But she didn’t. She wouldn’t commit to being in his pack.” Digby takes a deep breath and drinks more of the beer. Hesitating in silence.

“So, what happened? Where did she go?”

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