Astrid Cielo (4 page)

"Let
me carry you."

Aspen's
pupils dilated as she took in his scent and he knew the moment she knew.

"Mine."

"Yes,
sweetheart, let me carry you."

Aspen
bit her lip as she looked toward the petite brunette.

"It's
up to you, sweetie."

Aspen
took a deep breath and her grey eyes returned to his.
 
He'd never believed in love at first sight,
even with Skylar he'd fallen in love weeks into an intense courtship, but with
Aspen something inside him shifted into place, something he'd not realized he'd
been missing.
 
He was undeniably in love
with this woman.

Xavier
slipped into the backseat of Sky's Tahoe and tightened his hold on Aspen when
she made to scramble off his lap.
 
Aspen's eyes widened, but she stilled.

"Don't
worry, Aspen.
 
I won't hurt you."

"Who
are you?"

"Xavier.
 
I'm Skylar's mate."

Aspen's
eyes widened."I...I-"

Xavier
cupped Aspen's cheek and rubbed his thumb over her smooth skin.

"It's
okay, Aspen, because you are my mate, too."

She
bit her lip and he longed to kiss her.
 
Smooth pale skin, a heart-shaped face with black hair tumbling around
her shoulders, and beautiful grey eyes completed a beauty that Skylar didn't
possess.
 
Xavier thought Sky was damn
sexy, his tawny blond hair usually in disarray all over his head, green eyes
and a hard body he could lick all day.
 
But Aspen's beauty was different, feminine where he and Skylar were
definitely male.
 

Xavier
settled his hands on the curve of Aspen's waist and schooled his smile when she
gasped.
 
Her body went rigid, but slowly
relaxed against him.
 
The buzz of conversation
reached his ears and Xavier listened as Skylar spoke, his body tensing at Sky's
obvious defense of him.

"He's
not going to hurt her, that man is her mate and would kill to protect
her."

"He
won't hurt her?
 
That's why we're going
to the hospital now, because he yanked and threw her.”

Xavier
turned to look out the window and see the male that had once held Aspen poke
Skylar in the chest.

"I
caught her," Skylar growled.

The
petite brunette placed herself in between the two, the once bare-chested male
hissing as her body came into contact with Skylar's.
 
Aspen's hands grabbed his and Xavier wound
their fingers together.

"
Shhh
, he can take care of himself," he whispered into
Aspen's ear.

The
petite brunette pushed the two males apart.

"I
swear this is worse than when my kids get into an argument.
 
We'll blame each other at the hospital.
 
Now some one get in that truck and drive,
Caleb will take the passenger seat and me and Andrew will hop in the back with
Aspen and..."

"Xavier,"
Skylar said.

"Right,
thank you..."

"Skylar."

"Ah,
now let's go!"

The
door opened and the rest of Aspen's tenseness drained, leaving her relaxed
against his body.
 
He looked up praying
it wasn't the male who'd held her--Andrew--and relieved to see that it was the
petite brunette.

"Hi,
Xavier, I'm Miranda."

"Nice to meet you."

Xavier
looked over to the other side of the Tahoe when the door opened and
growled.
 
The sound of the slap reached
his ears before a slight pain welled on his shoulder.
 
His anger forgotten he looked back over at
Miranda.

"That's
enough of that, Xavier.
 
Get in the
truck, Andrew.
 
You two will play nice,
do you understand?"

Xavier
found himself nodding before he knew what he was doing.
 
Aspen's laugh pulled him from his
confusion.
 
He loved that sound and knew
he'd spend his whole life just to hear her laugh again.
 
She dipped her head when Xavier looked back
at her.
 
He placed his fingers under her
chin and brought her face up to his.
 

"She's
an elementary school teacher."

Xavier
nodded and dipped his head placing a small kiss on Aspen's lips.
 
Her face turned a beautiful shade of
red.
 
She rested her head on Xavier's
shoulder and he sighed.
 
Maybe this was
what he and Skylar had been missing.
 
Why
their relationship had seemed strained lately.
 
Of course the past three months had been trying, but even before that
it'd not been entirely blissful.

There
was nothing to do now but wait and see.

***

"The
baby is fine, Aspen."

Aspen
breathed a sigh of relief at Dr. Sanchez's words.
 
She felt even more relieved when the alien
picture of her growing baby graced the screen.
 
Miranda squeezed her hand and Aspen tried to smile, but more was
weighing on her than just the welfare of her unborn child.
 
It was almost as though she was caught in a
nightmare and she couldn't wake up.
 
Had
she actually been witness to the mate who'd left her kissing another man?
 
More confusing still was the instant
attraction she felt for that other man.
 
It was like meeting Skylar for the first time all over again.
 
Her body, soul, mind and cougar wanted him
instantly.
 

Xavier.

But
how could this be?
 
Was her connection to
Skylar false?
 
Had she spent the last
three months pining away for a man that wasn't even her mate?

"Can
I come in?"

Aspen
gasped.
 
Skylar filled the doorway, his
presence making her heart beat a little faster.
 

Well,
there goes the false connection theory.
 
Aspen looked into familiar green eyes--green eyes that haunted her every
dream and fantasy--and nodded.

"We'll
talk later, okay," Miranda said before releasing Aspen's hand and walking
toward the door.
 
She stopped in front of
Skylar, barely reaching mid-chest on the male and pointed her finger at
him.
 
Aspen wanted to laugh at the way
Miranda transformed from friend to alpha female before her eyes.
 

"And
you, whoever you are, better not hurt Aspen.
 
She is a member of my pride and I also consider her my best friend.
 
Consider yourself warned."

Miranda
nodded at Aspen before turning and walking out of the room.

"And
with that, I'll get all the paperwork filled out so you can be discharged,
okay, Aspen."

"Thank
you, Dr. Sanchez."

"My pleasure, Aspen.
 
Oh, and do me a favor and tell Theresa
hi."

Aspen
laughed.
 
"Of
course."

Then
Dr. Sanchez left and the tension in the room reminded Aspen of a dense
fog.
 
She took a calming breath when
Skylar took a hesitant step toward her.
 
She could do this.
 
Couldn't she?

"I
missed you."

"Then
why did you leave?"
 

Aspen
slapped her hand over her mouth.
 
Skylar's lips curled into a small smile and her cougar went crazy at the
sight of their mate's sexy grin.
 

"I
didn't leave...well, I came back and you were gone."

"You
left me without a word.
 
What was I
supposed to think, and before you tell me I should have stayed and waited, I
know you left me with the intention of never coming back."

Aspen
fisted her hands, her claws digging into her palms.
 
The pain was a welcome distraction to keep
her from tears.
 
She would not cry in
front of this man.
 
He wouldn't know how
much his leaving had hurt her.
 
Skylar hung
his head and sighed, his actions confirming what she'd always known.
 
He'd never planned to return, but biology had
overridden his own desires.
 
And though
it felt as though she were ripping a piece of her heart out, she knew how badly
this would end.
 
Hell, weren't her
parents’ proof that sometimes fate got it wrong?

"Skylar,
sometimes fate doesn't get this mate thing right-"

Skylar
covered the distance between them in the blink of an eye.
 
His hands framed her face and forced her to
look into his beautiful green eyes.
 

"I'm
not letting you go, Aspen.
 
You are mine
and I don't care if that other male is your baby's father, I am your mate and
you belong to me."

His
words were like a slap in the face.
 
Aspen bit her lip and pulled away.

"Go,"
Aspen said between tears that could and would not be stopped.

"I
said that I wasn't leaving."

She
swiped her tears and her cougar rose to the surface, the familiar ripple of fur
erupting over her arms.

"GO!"

Skylar
bent into her face, an obvious challenge for her cougar, his green eyes going
wild.

"No,"
he said between clenched teeth.

"I
believe my patient has asked you to leave, sir.
 
Don't make me call security."

Aspen
shifted her attention to the short and curvy female standing in the doorway,
her eyes cautious but firm as she regarded Skylar.

"I
won't leave my mate," Skylar said.

The
female smiled sweetly.

"I
believe you don't have a choice, sir.
 
Now, mate or not, my patient has requested that you leave, so you can
leave or I can make you leave."

Skylar
closed his eyes, his whole body shaking.
 
He leaned down and took her mouth, his tongue invading on her gasp.
 
She wanted to hate that he kissed her, wanted
to push him away, but her traitorous body relaxed for the first time in months
and basked in his dominance, the way he was rough until he got her
acquiescence.
 
How he gentled his kiss,
dueling his tongue with hers.
 
She hated
that she wanted him so badly.
 
Hated that
she'd soaked through her panties with wanting him, and she was so confused
because all she could imagine was Xavier joining them.

"You're
mine," Skylar said before turning and leaving her alone with the curvy
female.

"Are
you okay?"
 

Aspen
nodded and touched her lips with her fingers.
 
The curvy brunette smiled.

"My
name is
Destini
and I'll be your nurse.
 
We just changed shifts, so I'll be taking
over your discharge."

Aspen
nodded.

"You
need to follow-up with Dr. Sanchez next week.
 
I know your previous appointment was next month, but in light of your
visit to Pinewood Creek ER Dr. Sanchez thought it would be better if she saw
you next wee...Are you even listening?"

Aspen
jumped when a hand touched her shoulder, pulling her from varying thoughts of
clawing Skylar's pretty face and kissing him senseless.
 
How dare he even think this baby was anybody's
but his!
 
She looked up into
Destini's
face and sighed.

"I'm
sorry."

Destini
sighed and
looked at her watch before taking a seat on the stool sitting beside Aspen.

"Okay,
spill it.
 
What's bothering you?"

"Not-"

"Don't
give me that crap, girl.
 
I may be
twenty-five, but that doesn't mean that I'm naïve.
 
Pfft
! I’ve been a
nurse since I was twenty.
 
Seen and heard
it all...Ok, maybe not all, but a lot...so spill."

Aspen
bit her lip and stared at the curvy brunette.
 
She leaned forward and took a deep whiff of the female's scent.

"I'm
a platypus."

"Huh?"

Destini
smiled.

"You
were sniffing me to figure out what I was, well I'm a platypus."

"Okay."

Destini
laughed.
 
"Okay, now that you've determined
It
is okay to talk to me about super secret shifter stuff, tell
me."

Aspen's
tenseness slowly eased when she realized that if she told this person who
didn't know her at all she could relieve a lot of the stress she'd felt for the
past three months.

"Skylar's
my mate...or at least I think he is..."

"You're
not sure?"

"Well,
I was the night...the night we-"