Page 41 of No Harm No Howl

“Come on in. I want you to feel comfortable here,” he said.

“Uh, yeah, I kind of feel like I need to keep my hands to myself so I don’t break anything.” She tried to laugh it off, but the fear was real. The ornate vases scattered across the foyer were fancy enough to give her hives just thinking about accidentally knocking one of those onto the … marble floors!

“Please, just think of this place as home. I meant it when I said I wanted you to be comfortable here,” Russ said and gave her a quick tour. She’d noticed her bags had already been delivered to the master bedroom. It had thrown her that they were placed in there until she looked down at her left hand once again.

The heavy diamond ring reminded her that she was married to Russ. One brush of her hand over her mating mark reminded her that she was his mate. Why wouldn’t her bags have been delivered to his room? It was a no-brainer, really. Though she still had so many questions without her memories.

“Would you like time to get a shower and just relax?” Russ asked.

“That would be nice. Actually. Yeah. I would. Do you mind?” She wasn’t sure why she was asking him if he minded, but she asked anyway. She supposed it felt surreal to be in his house.

“The bathroom is just through those doors. There are towels in the closet and also a spare robe for you to use. Let me know if you need anything. I’m going down to take care of a few things.”

“Thanks,” Gia nodded and started digging through her suitcases to find something comfortable to put on. Finding her cell phone, she checked her messages and saw three new calls and about twenty text messages from Gerri. She didn’t bother reading through them, opting to call her instead.

“Thank God! I’ve been waiting forever to hear from you. Are you okay?” Gerri asked as soon as she answered the phone.

“Yes and no,” Gia replied before filling Gerri in on everything that had happened over the past several hours, including their hurried flight back to Atlanta on a private jet.

“Oh, I think I know why you don’t have any memories, or rather, how they were taken from you. I’ll be there this evening, and I’m bringing a friend with me. She’ll be able to help us get to the bottom of this,” Gerri said.

“Perfect. I have to figure out why I married him. Why I agreed to be his mate when I swore I wouldn’t do that. Oh, hey. Can you please let Kendall know I’m okay and fill her in? I just can’t right now. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around everything.”

“Don’t you worry about a single thing. I’ll take care of all of it. I’ll see you soon.”

TWENTY-FOUR

RUSS

Russ's phone buzzed in his pocket as he went over the last details he wanted to convey to his security team. He laughed when he read the message from Gia asking how the hell the shower worked. He supposed he should have given her a heads-up. It was kind of high-tech and something most people wouldn't be familiar with.

Darting up the stairs to the master bedroom, he called out to her before entering the bathroom.

“In here,” she replied.

Pushing his way through the double doors, he was surprised to see her standing in nothing but a towel, her long hair cascading down her back. His cock hardened instantly and began throbbing. She was so fucking beautiful it nearly brought him to his knees. He stood there staring at her, his mouth flopping open, trying to remember why she had called him up there in the first place.

“Sorry for bugging you. But I have no idea how this shower works. Can you help a girl out here?” she asked.

“Uhh, yeah,” he said, blinking out of his sex-starved stupor.

“I talked to Gerri. She said she’d be here this evening with a friend to help me get my memories back,” Gia said.

“Good. She was going to be my next call,” Russ cleared his throat. “So, um, the shower. You press this button here and set the temperature to whatever it is that you want. I usually like the mid to high nineties range. I don’t want it to feel like Satan is licking my back when the water first hits me,” he said, brushing against her.

The scent of desire filled the room, his nostrils flaring. Gia turned to face him. The look of hunger spread across her beautiful face. Maybe he should have, but he didn't bother asking for permission when he pulled her into his arms. She gasped as his mouth closed in on hers in a soul-scorching kiss.

Her arms wound around his neck, pulling him closer. It was pure heaven to have her body pressed against his. But he wanted more. He wanted to feel skin-on-skin contact with his mate.

“Russ,” she moaned into his mouth as his fingers slid under her towel, undoing the little piece she had tucked in and the towel puddled around her feet. Her hands flew under his shirt, tugging greedily to get it off him.

Clearly, they were on the same page. Same fucking sentence.

After enjoying Gia tearing his shirt from his body, Russ took over. He kicked his boots off and shimmied out of his pants and boxers. Stepping into the shower, he held his hand out to her. She gladly accepted.

“You are so beautiful,” he said, pulling her into his arms. His lips landed on her mouth briefly before kissing a path down her chest and sucking each of her hardened nipples into his mouth.

“Mmm. You’re not so bad yourself.” Her greedy hands roamed every inch of his body.

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