Page 94 of Brody
“Ready?”I asked, holding up the vial of luminescent blue liquid.The COL water and moss extract had been refined through dozens of iterations, each adjustment bringing us closer to what I hoped would be the cure for pre-feral symptoms.So many lives depended on this working.No pressure.
Brody nodded, his eyes reflecting the vial’s glow.He pressed a kiss to the sensitive spot where my neck met my shoulder, right over my claiming mark.The simple touch sent shivers racing down my spine, a reminder of the bond we’d forged beside that otherworldly pool.The COL had changed us both, perhaps more than we yet realized.
“If someone had told me a month ago that we’d be here, mated,” he murmured against my skin, his thoughts seemingly aligned with mine, “working together on a cure that could change everything for shifters…”
I leaned back into his embrace, allowing myself to savor the solid warmth of him.“You would have laughed at them.”And I would have demanded a psychological evaluation for anyone suggesting it.
“Or you would have shifted into your cheetah and run for the hills.”His chuckle vibrated against my back.“Instead, here we are.The genius Dr.Dhahabu not just tolerating my presence, but wearing my mating mark.”The pride and possessiveness in his voice made my inner cheetah purr with satisfaction.
“More than tolerating.”I turned in his arms, slipping my fingers beneath the collar of his T-shirt to brush against the edge of his claiming mark where it peeked out just above his collarbone.The scar seemed to throb under my touch, warm and alive.I couldn’t resist leaning forward to press my lips against it, reveling in the way his entire body tensed in response.The power I had over this powerful man was intoxicating.“Though I’m still deciding about your loud snoring.”
His pupils dilated, nearly eclipsing the gray of his irises.“I don’t snore, woman,” he growled, backing me against the lab counter, his hands gripping my hips with an intensity that made the heat pool low in my belly.My cheetah stretched languidly inside me, enjoying his dominance display even as I raised my chin in challenge.
“You absolutely do.”I slid my hands up his chest, feeling the rapid thunder of his heart beneath my palms.“Like a freight train.”I traced the firm line of his jaw with my fingertip, marveling that I was allowed to touch him like this now.That this powerful, gorgeous man was mine.After all the years, I had someone who belonged to me.Someone I belonged to.“But I’ve decided I like it.Reminds me you’re really there when I wake up in the middle of the night.”
Something vulnerable flashed in his eyes, a glimpse of the boy who’d been abandoned by everyone he’d ever loved.“I’m not going anywhere,” he said, his voice rough with emotion as he pressed his forehead to mine.“Not ever again.”
“I know.”And I did know, with a bone-deep certainty that still amazed me.The mating bond hummed between us, a tangible connection that transcended words.I could feel his emotions now—not just guess at them, but actually feel them.His love for me, his determination to protect what we’d found, his lingering fear that somehow, someway, fate would rip us apart again.We’d both been shaped by loss and abandonment.Perhaps that was why this second chance felt so precious.
“I love you,” I whispered, needing to say the words, to watch his face transform with joy each time he heard them.“All of you, the brooding alpha, the talented brewmaster, the man who makes ridiculous brewing jokes when he thinks no one is listening.”And who laughed harder at them than anyone else.
His expression softened, eyes darkening with an intensity that still took my breath away.“Logan should be here any minute.”But he didn’t move away.Couldn’t seem to break contact any more than I could.
“Are you nervous?”I asked, noticing the subtle tension in his shoulders.My hands instinctively moved to massage the knots there, my body already learning how to comfort his.
“For him?Yes.”He settled his hands on my hips, thumbs tracing small circles through the fabric of my lab coat.“For us?No.”He brushed his lips across mine, a featherlight touch that promised more.“There’s not a challenge we can’t face together.”
I felt the familiar flutter in my chest, the part of me still adjusting to this partnership, to not facing everything alone.We’d worked nonstop since returning from the COL, turning our findings into something that could save lives, could save the seventeen unmated males whose humanity was in the balance.Four days of barely sleeping, of translating mystical properties into solutions, of learning each other’s rhythms in the lab and beyond.Four days of stolen kisses, passionate nights, and the surreal experience of waking up tangled in each other’s arms.
“Cautiously optimistic,” I replied, though my rapid heartbeat betrayed my anxiety.“The simulations look promising, but…”
“But nothing replaces real-world testing,” he finished, tightening his arms around me.“I know.That’s why we’re starting with volunteers who understand the risks.”
I tugged gently at the collar of his shirt, exposing just the edge of his claiming mark where it connected his neck and shoulder.“They trust you.All of them.”It still amazed me, the respect the Ridge’s shifters had for him and the Bane pack.The loyalty he inspired without even trying.“And they know you’d never let me experiment on them if you weren’t certain.”
His eyes softened as they roamed my face, committing each feature to memory as he’d done countless times since our mating.The pad of his thumb traced my lower lip in a gesture so tender it made my heart ache.“Have I told you today how much I love you?”he asked, his voice dropping to that register that made me so wet.God, what that voice did to me should be illegal.
“Not in the last fifteen minutes.”I grinned, rising on tiptoes to brush my lips against his.
What was meant to be a brief kiss detonated into something wild and urgent.He fisted his hand in my hair, yanking my head back to expose my throat, which he attacked with lips, teeth, and tongue.A moan escaped me as he hit that spot just below my ear that made me melt.My hands clawed at his back, desperate to feel skin, to be closer, to merge until we couldn’t tell where one of us ended and the other began.
His mouth found mine again, the kiss hard and demanding.His tongue invaded, stroking, teasing, driving me to the edge of sanity.I bit his lower lip, not hard enough to draw blood but enough to make him growl.The sound vibrated through me, primitive and possessive.Mine,it seemed to say.
Mine forever.
The lab counter dug into my back as he pressed me against it, the solid length of his arousal pushing against the junction of my thighs.Even through our clothes, the contact sent electricity racing up my spine.My hands found their way under his shirt, nails raking down the ridged muscles of his stomach, feeling them contract under my touch.
“Rozi,” he gasped against my mouth, his voice nearly unrecognizable with desire.“If we don’t stop now…”
A knock at the lab door interrupted us.I pulled away reluctantly, my lips tingling and swollen from his kisses.Brody looked equally affected, his breathing ragged, eyes molten gold with desire.He smoothed my hair with gentle hands, then pressed a final kiss to my forehead before going to answer the door, shooting me a heated look that promised we’d continue this later.If that wasn’t motivation to finish this experiment quickly, I didn’t know what was.
Logan stood in the doorway, looking both nervous and determined.His left hand trembled visibly, the same symptom Brody had displayed before our claiming.Logan’s nostrils flared as he caught our intermingled scent.No hiding what we were to each other now.Not that I wanted to.
“Doctor,” Logan greeted me with a nod, then turned to Brody with a knowing smile.“Congratulations are in order, I see.”
Brody’s hand found the small of my back, his touch both possessive and proud.The simple contact sent warmth radiating through me, a reminder that I belonged to this man as surely as he belonged to me.“Thank you for volunteering,” he said, deflecting the attention from our newly mated status.“You’re helping more shifters than you know.”
“Thank you,” I added, gesturing toward the examination chairs we’d prepared.“Before we begin, I want to review the protocol one more time.”
