Page 30 of Depraved
She admits, “I was destroyed when I thought you were gone. If you could have been inside my head, it was a wasteland. The apocalypse. If you could have crawled inside my head, you’d know how much I love you.”
Our eyes connect, and my chest doesn’t just stop aching. My heart glows. A single tear drips down my cheek.
I believe her. My hand stills. And I realize we must have reached the end of the command. The end of our punishment—something that doesn’t quite feel like a punishment at all anymore.
I don’t feel so misshapen and disjointed anymore. The bond with Elena feels sturdy once again. The situation with Black might be confusing and awkward, infuriating even, but I don’t feel like I’m floating alone on a raft through the sea any longer.
Mate,my wolf says, trotting out to sit near Elena and nudge her with my nose.
Yes, mate.
I smile at her, and I can tell by her radiant grin that she can read the calm sort of happiness settling over my face.
Smack!
Black’s hand hits her ass so hard that her entire body tenses up for a second. “That’s thirty,” he growls before releasing her from his hold.
“Motherfucker!” she curses.
He straightens back up, ignoring her fury as he fixes his suit jacket and cuff links. He doesn’t look at me as I wipe away a tear. Instead, his gaze is fixed firmly on Elena as she struggles to right herself on the bed, red-faced and ready to spit fire.
“Elena, Jonah needs four orgasms before you can leave this room. Give them to him.” His tone drips with iron-hard alpha command.
I’m floored.
No. Shocked.
No. I’m flattened like a penny on a railroad track.
What just happened?
Did Black just orchestrate some kind of weird, fucked up bonding exercise? Was this all a plan? How could he have known …?
I watch with a bit of awed shock as his posture relaxes as he walks towards the door. He’s not even going to watch? He’s going to give me time alone with Elena. Gratitude comes over me as fast and hard as any of the slaps I gave my mate.
She, of course, doesn’t feel the same. She’s vibrating in fury as she leans up on her knees and yells after him, “I’m gonna blow him because I want to, not because you told me to!”
“Fine. Don’t come out until you’ve done it four times,” he reminds her.
“Maybe I’ll make it six.” She can’t help her smart mouth.
He just chuckles as he unlocks the door. “I’ll be back to collect you after four. We have an appearance to make and a flight to catch.”
Flight? What flight?
I open my mouth to ask but then all sorts of things happen at once. Black closes the door. Music starts playing through hidden speakers in the walls. Strip club music, stuff with a hard beat that makes your heart speed up.
“I don’t need mood music, you fucker!” Elena screeches.
The intercom clicks on, and Black’s voice comes through it. “I’ve noticed you don’t have the best rhythm. Hopefully, this will help.”
I can’t help chuckling. But surprisingly, it doesn’t hurt. My ribs don’t shout in protest, and my lungs don’t spasm in pain. My hands travel down my chest, and the aching pulse that was there is nearly gone. The rest of me doesn’t seem to hurt quite so much either.
Strange.
I don’t know if mate bonds can heal you—I’m not into studying all that shifter crap because most of it is old and wordy. Magic doesn’t have pieces I can take apart and put back together with my hands, so it’s never been something I really tried to figure out. But, somehow, I feel a little bit like a faulty engine that Black diagnosed and fixed.
I still don’t know my place within the pack.
