Page 14 of Kiss My Sass

Nica swallowed. A cool Autumn breeze swept in through the open door of the garage and she shivered involuntarily. Thor stood there, eyes glittering darkly despite the fluorescent overhead light. He wanted an explanation from her. But why? Curiosity got the better of her, and Nica couldn’t have walked away now if she wanted to. And she didn’t want to, she realized as the word he’d spoken to her the first night after she woke from her healing sleep echoed inside her head.

Stay.

Chapter7

Fuck. Fuck. FUCK.

Thunder roared in Thor’s brain, and he wanted to hit something just to make it stop. He was angry, furious at himself, at Derrick for ordering him weeks ago not to seek retaliation against those hateful fucking cowards who’d hurt her. Only an Alpha’s order could have stopped him from going after the stain, who so richly deserved the vengeance Thor wanted to reap against him.

Should’ve hit that prick. Should’ve given him a nice shiner like he gave our Nica,his Demon Wolf snarled.

Thor expelled a harsh breath, the growl in his chest never ending as he tried to control his emotions. The second that Crow motherfucker had left the bar with his lackeys, Thor had to use all his strength to stop his beast from going after them.

Oh, he knew what the man really was. King of his Murder to all his cronies, but he was nothing but a coward. A phony with a crown and Thor didn’t give a fuck about his position. His beast was old school when it came to revenge, and he demanded blood for the bruises that asshole had put on Nica’s sweet face.

Weeks wasted, snarled his Demon Wolf.

The animal was right. He’d spent weeks dancing around his feelings, staying away from the only woman he had ever wanted. A woman he’d thought was already mated. But here she was, standing in the otherwise empty garage and facing him down bravely. It seemed Nica wanted answers, too. But he kept his mouth shut until he knew he could speak without snarling at her. Only then did he speak.

“You said your mate hurt you. The day you fell.”

“I did? Well, I mean, we were supposed to be mated, but he already had two mates when he brought me to the trailer park, and, um, I j-just couldn’t.”

“I’m going to need you to explain what you mean by that, Nica. Start from the beginning.”

He watched her process his request, waited until she nodded her head in agreement. Thank fuck. he didn’t know what he would have done if she refused him. Her assent was step one in the quest to find out more.

Of course, it was made that much more difficult since the movement of her head had the long curls down her back and around her shoulders flutter about like magic. She was pretty before, but fuck, right then, she was beautiful. He didn’t know when she’d pulled the elastic band from her hair, but he preferred it this way. All loose and wild and perfect.

He had to work hard not to reach out and run his fingers over it, not through it. Curly hair demanded a different approach. Despite shaving his head, Thor understood her curls worked differently than waves or straight hair, and he would never want to hurt her.

Not ever.

“I guess it started with my mother,” she finally began after some seconds of careful consideration.

“Your mother?” he asked.

Thor was incredulous. How did her mother have anything to do with this? Patience, he reminded himself. Nica was not like the other women in his life, and he would do well to remember that.

“Ravens are different from most Shifters. We tend to live solitary lives, unless paired up. And only then do we live with our immediate families. We don’t gather in groups because there just aren’t very many of us,” she explained.

“Ravens and Crows don’t usually live together?” he asked.

“Sometimes, but not always. There aren’t that many Crows either. Not like Wolves and Bears. Anyway, when Dad died, it was just me and Mama for a while. She worked at a small diner waitressing, and after I finished high school, I worked there too after my community college classes. It was a tough couple of years. Quiet, boring, until the Crows came through.”

“Came through how?”

“Motorcycles. Not like that, though,” she said, nodding towards his hog and he thought he saw excitement light her gaze for a moment. “They aren’t wealthy, and well, I hate to speak ill, but they don’t take care of their things like you all do.”

Thor’s Wolf looked on approvingly, but he needed to reserve judgement for when she finished. So far, it had been nothing but the truth. Even if his supernatural senses couldn’t hear a lie, there was something so innately honest about Nica. Even when she was hiding something.

And yes, there was something else she was trying to keep hidden. He wanted so badly to use his sight, to ferret it out of her. But there was another side of him that wanted her truths freely given.

Wait. Don’t force it.

So he stood and listened to her talk. Her Maryland accent was subtly different from the Jersey girls he was used to hearing, but he liked it. Like her tone and the cadence of her speech. Nica was naturally soft-spoken.

Sweet girl. Pretty girl.

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