Under the Alpha's Protection (9 page)

"Let me explain all this, please, squirt." He willed her to take his hand, but she just stood there, ramrod straight, and for once her usually so expressive face did not portray her emotions. Only her eyes showed such depths of pain and hope, it brought him to his metaphorical knees. He reached out, and cupped her face, and her breathing hitched. Electricity arched up his fingertips, and seared his heart as the bond his bite created worked its sexual spell on them both.

The air heated between them, and time stood still as he waited with bated breath, until she slid her little hand in his, and the world righted itself again.

"You better make this good …
Sir
."

The whispered add on had his wolf howl in joy, and his cock tried to punch itself out of the rigid denim of his jeans, but now was not the time for sex.

He coiled his fingers around her hand and tugged, so that she tumbled into him, and he fisted his other hand in her hair, and inhaled deeply. Nikita trembled in his arms, and then sank against him, her little nipples hard bullet points against his chest, and they both groaned.

****

How they had made it out of that living room and into the relative privacy of the garden Nikita had no idea. From the minute Raoul had touched her, her anger fled. Whether this was just due to some of that mated mumbo jumbo bond thing they now seemed to have going between them, she had no idea. All she did know, was that she wanted to sink to her knees in front of him, audience be damned, and let him take care of everything. She was tired of fighting, tired of being scared, and she'd missed him so damn much.

Every step he pulled her along was one step too many
, and she breathed a sigh of relief when they came across a gazebo. Raoul pulled her inside and urged her to sit down on the stone bench. It was a beautiful spot, the air heavy with the sweet fragrance of the rose garden they had walked through.  Nikita had always loved this garden. Parts of it were left overgrown and bordered on the forest—to encourage local wildlife—or so she had assumed. She knew better now. This was the perfect place to frolic and to let their wolf form roam free without fear of human discovery.

"What does it feel like, when you shift?"

Raoul looked surprised at her question, and in truth so was she. With all the things she could ask him, this is what she thought of first?

"I mean, does it hurt? It looks as though it should hurt. At least it looked that way when Darius did it." She clamped her hand on her mouth when another thought occurred to her. "Oh my goodness, Darius. Is he okay? Is his girlfriend okay? He said they had her. Please, tell me he's okay."

Raoul's brilliant smile lit up his features, and some of her panic subsided. He picked up her hand again, turned it over, and kissed her palm. Tingles of warmth spread up her arm, and she couldn't help her answering smile as his quiet assured calmness transferred to her.

"Have I told you how much I love you, squirt
?" Her eyes widened at the hoarseness of his deep voice and the suspicious moisture she saw lurking in his eyes. "After all you've been through your first question is about someone else, someone who was honor-bound to protect you and didn't, I might add." His voice firmed on the last word, and his expression grew murderous.

"He couldn't help it, I'm sure. You haven't done something to him, have you?"

"No, squirt, I haven't. He missed the birth of his son. That was punishment in itself."

"He has a son? So he's okay and L
ou too?" she asked.

Raoul got down on his haunches in front of her, and the heated emotion in his dark blue eyes took her breath away.

"Yes, they're fine and very happy together, thanks to you. My whole pack are, and we'll never be able to repay you for what you did for us—never."

Nikita smiled and took a deep breath. It was now or never really. She had to tell him.

"I-I didn't do it for the pack. I did it for you." His hold on her tightened, and he slid his hands into her hair and tugged her close. Every cell in her body contracted with need at this subtle shift signaling his dominance, and she blinked back tears. He kissed them away and then slid his lips down to the bite mark on her exposed shoulder. He licked the spot and murmured against her skin.

"Is that so, my sweet girl?"

"Yes, because I love you."

Raoul growled low in his throat
, and her heart turned into a jackhammer when she felt his fangs graze her skin.

"I've already bitten you here once, though I doubt you remember, but I'd like to do this properly. Will you become my mate, the mother of my children, my sub, my everything?"

He pulled away so that she could see him, and Nikita stared into the eyes of his wolf. Raoul's fangs showed in his smile, and her stomach flip-flopped in excitement, only to suffuse with warmth when he cupped her belly. "After all we've already made a start on the children part."

Nikita couldn't have heard him right, but when she searched his face she could see nothing but sincerity shine back at her. Love, lust, hope, and that hint of uncertainty, as though he was still afraid she would run out on him.

"I'm pregnant, really? And the baby is going to be okay?" Nikita could scarce believe it. She was going to be a mother. It was like all her secret dreams having come to life.

"Yes, squirt, the baby is fine. Our pack physician checked you over, but I don't need him to tell me that. I can hear our baby's heartbeat. It's strong, just like its mother."

Tears clouded her vision as the truth dawned on her. She could have it all. The man she loved, and their baby.

"So, does that mean, I'm now like you? Do I turn into a wolf?"

Raoul rubbed his thumb over her lips and smiled.

"Yes, you'll have inherited our shifter senses. One reason why you don't need your glasses anymore, though I will kinda miss that cute little squint you had whenever you didn't wear them."

Nikita punched his shoulder, and he laughed.

"You'll live longer, just like we do, and you'll be immune to most human diseases now, but you cannot shift. Only born shifters, or those with shifter blood in their ancestry somewhere can shift. Our baby will shift and probably scare the beje
esus out of you the first time he does it, but it doesn't usually happen until they can walk, so we'll have some reprieve, before all hell breaks loose."

He winked at her
, and Nikita giggled as a cloud of happiness descended upon her at the thought of having to chase after a cute wolf cub with Raoul's eyes.

"I never thought
… I mean … there is this whole other world out there, I never knew existed."

Raoul simply nodded, and then she forgot to think all together when their lips met. He took charge of the kiss like only Raoul could, and her heart burst into tiny little slivers of happiness each carrying his name.

By the time he broke the kiss, and slid his fangs to her neck they were both panting in need.

"Mine," he growled and then bit down hard.  Pleasure coursed through her veins, and the world tilted, and Nikita knew it would never be the same again.

What's more she didn't want it to be—ever.

The End

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Other Books by Doris O'Connor:

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