Page 40 of Claimed By the Werewolf Boss
“We need to get inside,” Valentino whispers to us. “And you have a wedding to get dressed for.”
He and Andrea usher us back into the house, splitting us in the foyer as Junelle goes to get cleaned up and to continue all her wedding prep. Valentino picks me up bridal style at the base of the stairs and carries me all the way to the shower in his suite.
Even as he turns the water on, he doesn’t put medown.
“You’re going to have to let me go so we can clean up,” I say.
He grumbles but does it. Valentino removes my clothes carefully before pulling the shower head down. Blood melts from our skin as the warm water cascades around us. He does all the work: rinsing, washing, shampooing, conditioning, washing again to make sure there isn’t a speck of our last twelve hours on us. His touch is gentle as he dries us off, he even applies lotion to my skin. I feel like a whole new person by the time I’m sitting with my back against the headboard.
“Your neck’s bruising pretty badly,” he mutters. “Let me get you some ice.”
“Ibuprofen too, please.” I yawn.
Valentino doesn’t leave the room. Instead, he leans his head out the door and shouts. Within moments he has what he asked for.
“Were you raised in a barn?” I take the water and pills offered to me. It’s harder to swallow than I realised it would be. There’s a very disturbing part of me that wants to take notes on these feelings. Write everything down even though I will remember what this feeling is like for the rest of my life.
“No,” he huffs, scowl firmly set on his face. This might be the grumpiest I have seen him all vacation, which feels insane given that he beat the shit out of a guy. This should be the time when he smiles, right? Isurvived and he successfully rescued me. Happily ever after acquired.
Valentino gently places a towel filled with ice at the base of my neck. I suck in a sharp breath as a chill runs down my spine. He keeps staring at me, eyes unwavering as I slowly adjust to the cold. He holds my hands in one of his while he watches me. For a long while, I stare back at him, waiting to see what he’ll do or say. When it feels like an eternity has passed and icy droplets dribble down to my navel, I break the tension.
“So, are you born that way?” I ask.
“No,” he grunts.
“Does it hurt?”
“Only the first time. You need to rest your voice, Cheyenne, and try to sleep.” His tone suggests I listen, but I take it as what it is, a suggestion.
“What came first? The mob or the wolfie?”
“The wolf, but we’ve been in this business for a very, very long time.”
“Stability is good.” I crack a smile. “So, is it like the meme? Do you have two wolves inside of you?”
“Fuck’s sake, sweetheart.” He shakes his head, but I can tell he’s trying not to smile. “It’s still me when I’m in my wolf. I’m just bigger and hairier and more myself, I guess.”
“Is everyone but me and Junelle a wolf?” I settle down at his insistence. Definitely making a mental note about bondage though.
“No, all the mates here are still human. It’s a weird magic biology thing. When we bite our mates, they become tied to us instead of turning.”
“What’s a mate?” I think I know the answer to this, but I want him to tell me, anyway. No more secrets.
“It’s a fated, celestial bond between a supernatural creature and a human. Werecreatures know our mates by scent. The night you arrived at the villa, I was in the woods, and I could smell you. I knew you were mine right then and there.”
“There are more than just werewolves?” My eyes become heavy with exhaustion, but my curiosity is begging me to stay awake. I want to know everything. A new layer of the world has revealed itself to me. The analytical side of my brain wants to discover it all.
“Close your eyes, and I’ll start listing them off,” Valentino whispers, a smile finally cracking on the corner of his lips. Once my eyes are closed, he pulls the covers up over me and starts to list them softly. “Wolves,bears, bison, gators, boars…”
I wake with a start, my body locking up as a warm arm pulls me in tighter. Valentino hums behind me until my brain has caught up with the fact I’m not in a cage anymore. The abyss I felt hours ago threatens to swallow me whole again. My body aches with an emptiness, a need to feel claimed and reclaimed.
“I’m right here, sweetheart,” Valentino whispers.
There are blankets between us though, soft and warm, but the opposite of what I need. I want his skin on mine. I want his rough hands to grip the parts of me I haven’t learned to love yet while he tells me I’m his. I want to have all of him crush me into his bed until he is the only thing I can see.
“Should I be more scared?” I ask, trying to push my heated thoughts to the side.
“What do you mean?” Valentino cups my cheek as I roll to face him. He’s still naked, but from the dark circles under his eyes, he hasn’t taken a nap like I have.
