Nalini Singh - Wild Invitation

Shuddering, he pressed his palms to the tile, head bent under the spray.

His grip on the simple, inexorable truth of her love a bloodless one, he wiped himself off, and hitching the towel around his hips, he walked back into the bedroom. Lara had put down her reader, turned off the light on her side, and lay on her back with one arm above her head…and he saw what he hadn’t earlier.

She was wearing the nightgown he liked best.

Everything came to vibrant life inside him as he realized she had spoken to him. He simply hadn’t listened well enough. Not a mistake he’d make again.

Throwing the towel over a chair, he slid in under the sheet, switched off his own light, and reached for her. She came, warm and soft, and his . He shifted to enclose her with his body, his forearms on either side of her head. “Did we,” he whispered, “just have our first fight as a mated couple?”

Lara felt every ounce of tension leach out of her at that quiet question. When he’d gone into the shower without saying a word, she’d almost burst into tears. Now, she nuzzled at his throat, taking the clean, male scent of him inside, her wolf’s fur rubbing up against her skin. “Yes. This is the making-up part.”

He shifted his weight to settle more intimately between her legs. “In that case, I’m already looking forward to our next fight.”

He was playing with her, she realized, this man who hadn’t believed he had the capacity for such lightness of heart. Throat thick with emotion, she curved one leg over his hip, stroking her hands across the slightly damp skin of his shoulders—he never dried them properly and she usually had to finish the task.

“I’m sorry I yelled at you then took off,” she said, feeling terrible about how she’d avoided his touch. It had been an unconscious effort to protect herself from pain, but the instant she’d cooled down enough to think, she’d realized she’d hurt him, hurt her mate. It had killed her. “I didn’t mean to deny you skin privileges.”

He nuzzled back at her, kissing the side of her temple. “I know. It’s okay.” His jaw, rough with stubble, rasped over her hair. “Will you forgive me, too?”

Her eyes burned at the unvarnished request. “Always.”

Lips closing over her own, his kiss a reclaiming, the heat and weight of his body a tactile caress. She gave herself up to it, up to him, loved him as he loved her, their limbs tangled so completely at the end that she didn’t know where she began and Walker ended. And then the pleasure crashed over them, their bodies locked together as they fell.

• • •

LARA’S cheek was against her mate’s chest when she rose out of the languid haze of desire, his arm around her and her leg thrown over his body, both of them slick with sweat, hearts thudding. “You’ll have to shower again.”

It took him so long to answer, she was half-asleep when his voice cut through the lingering scent of the pleasure they’d found in one another.

“The shielding, it’s instinctive at this point.” A quiet confession. “I had to learn how to create and maintain it as a young male, when I realized my Silence was problematic.”

Because, she understood, fully awake, he’d loved his siblings—and later the children—enough to fight for them, enough that he’d gotten through to an Arrow and a young girl trained by a Councilor. “You had to hide even the faintest trace of an emotional response.” It was a truth she’d realized the instant she’d broken the stranglehold of her own overwhelming response.

A nod she saw in the dark, her wolf’s night-vision acute. “After defection, I knew I had to give the children, Sienna included, the emotional support they needed to thrive, but the fact is, while I can function with that shield lowered during the normal course of events, I’m not always aware of it snapping up in a high-stress situation.”

“I know—I realized.” Had remembered that her strong, quiet, beautiful mate had scars that didn’t show on the outside, that he made certain didn’t show, in order to provide a stable home for the children. “The way I reacted, struck out…I panicked,” she admitted, shifting to look down into his face. “It was the first time you’d gone so remote, to the point where I could barely sense you, and the shock made my wolf so afraid.”

“I’m sorry.” He tugged her down, kissed the corner of her mouth.

Sensing his distress at causing her pain, she petted his chest. “You didn’t know. I understand the shield now, so I won’t panic.” She’d worry, but she’d hold it together, hold him when he came to her. Because he would always reach for her. As he had today. “Just don’t ever do it on purpose, okay?” She brushed long strands of dark blond off his forehead. “I promise I won’t ever again pull away like I did today.”

Walker’s silence was deep, his eyes holding her own until she felt lost in the translucent green. “Why are you so patient with me?” he asked at last, his tone raw. “It must frustrate you that I’m so unlike changeling males.” Men who wore their emotions on their face and made no bones about their adoration of the women who were their own.

Lara laughed, her delight infectious. “I love you because of who you are, not in spite of it, you wonderful man.” A passionate kiss that marked him as hers, made him want to stretch in pleasure like one of the felines.

“I like everything about you”—she continued kiss by kiss—“your integrity, your ability to love so deep and true, your courage, even the fact that you have a limit on how many words per day you intend to speak—” Giggles erupted as he flipped them, reversing their positions.

“Teasing me again?”

“Maybe.”

Tasting her smile, he rubbed his stubbled jaw against her cheek in punishment. She cried foul, tried to push him away, even as her legs tightened around him…the same instant a knock came on the bedroom door.

Lara went quiet, listening with sharp wolf ears.

Reaching out with his telepathic senses, he found his daughter outside.

“A nightmare?” Lara asked, already out of bed and pulling on her robe.

“No, but something similar.” Having rolled off on the other side, he pulled on the pajama bottoms he’d earlier ignored.

They reached the door at the same time. Pulling it open, he picked Marlee up in his arms. Though his daughter always protested she was too big now, Marlee didn’t do so tonight.

Lara made soothing sounds. “What’s the matter, baby?” she asked as they all took a seat on the bed.

Marlee, who never cried, grabbed hold of Lara’s hand as if to a lifeline, sobbing too hard to speak.

“We’re here, sweetheart.” Lara leaned in to brush Marlee’s sleep-tangled hair out of her eyes. “Tell us what’s wrong.” Her gaze met his, the worry in the tawny depths unhidden.

Wrapping one arm around his mate, he brought her close as he tried to speak to their daughter on the telepathic plane. Marlee?

I’m so sc-scared , was all he got out before tears took over again.

Walker wasn’t surprised when a wild-haired Toby appeared in the doorway. The boy always woke when Marlee was in distress. “I went to get her some milk when I saw you had her,” he said, holding up the warmed-up glass.

Walker nodded at him to come in. Putting the milk on the bedside table, Toby took a seat beside Lara and leaned over to tug on Marlee’s hair. “Don’t cry, Marlee-Barley, you’ll turn into a turnip.”

Marlee smiled through her tears at that ridiculous statement and began to sniff, the sobs abating in slow gasps. She remained locked around Walker, however, and her grip on Lara’s hand was white knuckled. “What happened?” Walker asked as Lara brought Toby into their embrace with her free arm.