Page 41

FORTY-ONE

Fiona

T he suite Reed booked for us was the nicest place I’d ever stepped foot in. Okay, the dwarven palace was amazing, but this was a very human space, and I appreciated that after how much my life had been turned upside down recently. Even though my tennis shoes were clean—I still felt the urge to take them off, feel the cold marble floors underfoot, almost silky under my bare toes, even though the tile was solid.

Everywhere I looked, there was luxury. Over-the-top things I didn’t even know you could get in a hotel. Forget a mini bar, next to the kitchen there was a fully stocked private bar with a liquor shelf holding bottles I thought were reserved for fancy people, like presidents or kings.

The largest bedroom—of which there were three —had a bed nearly double the size of a standard king, both longer and wider. The back wall of the room was all glass, showing off the other side of the Strip, but with a dimmer switch to turn it opaque with a touch.

The bathroom was like nothing I’d ever seen, all marble, glass, and gold. There was a golden-lined bathtub, for Pete’s sake. It was a freestanding soaker, the inner slip of gold surrounded by a rough-cut hunk of some beautiful stone I couldn’t identify.

Over the top, everywhere.

I was playing with the panel of buttons next to the shower when I felt Reed walk into the room before I heard him.

It was crazy how I could do that now. I hadn’t noticed it at first, but since we’d had sex and the marks had appeared, it was like I’d developed a new sense only for him. My body was somehow more attuned to his, an awareness joining us through our mate marks that I didn’t know I’d wanted until it happened.

“Should I take it you enjoy the place?” The question was low, casual, but my new awareness told me he was sincerely hoping for an answer in the affirmative. Was he hoping to impress me?

I turned to grin at him, turning off the various buttons I’d pressed that made the multiple water jets do cool things.

“It’s the fanciest place I’ve ever stepped foot in. Do you stay in places like this a lot? No—better question—does your house look like this?”

He grimaced, and I held back a laugh.

“I’ll take that as a no?”

“I’ve got a more minimalistic style, so no.”

“That’s good. This is beautiful, but I think for everyday life, it might get overstimulating.” Speaking of overstimulating, I hadn’t taken my seizure meds yet this morning. “I need to grab our toiletries bag. Time to take my meds.”

Reed turned and, spying the bags next to the door, brought me the smallest one. He watched as I popped the essential pill, not saying a word.

“Is it weird to you that I have epilepsy?”

He snorted indignantly, looking no small bit affronted by the question. “Of course not. Why would I find that weird?”

I shrugged, avoiding his gaze as I set the pill bottle next to the sink so I wouldn’t forget it tomorrow morning. “You probably always expected to be mated to a perfect she-wolf, who wouldn’t have a condition like mine.”

“Stormy, you are perfect. And that includes your epilepsy. I want to know about it so that I can better take care of you, but bother me? Absolutely not.”

He smiled, closing the distance between us to wrap me in his arms. Something inside me settled, and I leaned into the hug with a sigh. I was starting to understand why all the mated couples were always touching.

It was like being apart was the strange thing, not being together.

“There is nothing about you I don’t love.”

The deep sincerity in his voice was impossible to ignore, and somehow, a balm to all the jagged edges inside me left by the men who came before him, who saw me as less than. But if I didn’t think about something else, I was going to start crying, and that would ruin the fact that, for the first time, we were really, truly alone in this insane hotel.

“So, this Blaise has garish taste? It’s not every day you see a man in a purple velvet suit.”

He laughed, squeezing me tighter for a moment before leaning back so he could look me in the eyes. “Thank the Goddess. He’s a lot to take in, but I think you’ll find it enjoyable anyway. It’s the nighttime that makes the Zodiaque special.”

“Oh yeah? You going to tell me what’s different or make me wait to see for myself?”

His grin was devious, and I absolutely adored it. “Let’s keep it a surprise.”

“So, do we need to call the vampire, or…?”

“No, I’m expecting a representative of his any time. Any meetings will be set up in person. Carmine is older than dirt, and he’ll send a lackey before he’ll dial a phone.”

That was interesting. I hadn’t thought about the fact that ancient supernaturals might struggle with modern tech, but it kind of made sense. If you grew up in the Stone Age, you’d have seen a lot in your lifetime. Reed wasn’t that ancient, but he’d seen a lot too. Not that you’d ever know it to speak to him.

“So… what do we do in the meantime?”

The kiss he pressed to the base of my throat sent a shiver thrumming through my veins.

“How about some of that practice we talked about before?”

“I… would love that, but I think we need to talk about something first.”

He pulled back, no hesitation. “Anything.”

Instead of climbing into the intimidatingly large bed, I took his hand and led him across the bedroom, opting to settle into a plush chaise longue artfully arranged beside the windows.

“I’m on birth control.”

“Ahh.”

“Yeah, you seemed weirdly surprised by that information when it came up with Elodie, and I kind of thought we should discuss it before we jumped back into bed. Is birth control not a common thing for wolves?”

He stroked the back of my hand with his thumb, even the innocent touch heating my blood and making it harder to focus on the discussion.

“We don’t really need it.”

“Well, lucky. But I’m going to need a bit more detail than that.”

He smirked at me, briefly glancing up from our hands before settling back against the chaise longue and focusing on the hand massage he was now giving me.

“What do you know about wolves and mating cycles?”

“Not much? I remember reading somewhere that female wolves can’t always get pregnant if their food sources aren’t abundant, but that’s about it.”

He nodded, applying pressure between my thumb and forefinger that made my toes want to curl.

“True. But more than that, wolf shifter mates have heat and rut cycles. They’re infrequent, nothing like the monthly cycle a human woman has.”

“Heat and rut cycles, okay. What’s that like?”

“Heat involves an actual elevated temperature, but it also brings out an insatiable desire for sex. Most last about three days, but if the cycle has been a long time coming, it could be up to seven days.”

I blinked, trying to understand the logistics of a body that could have sex for that long without a serious break. Or, hell, chafing . “Seven days of insatiable sex drive? How is that even possible? Don’t wolves have refractory periods?”

He chuckled. “They do, though it’s pretty short on a normal night. But the female going into heat pulls out a similar response in the male mate called the rut. Basically, the male rises to the challenge to serve his mate as many times as necessary until she’s pregnant, or the heat ends on its own without a pregnancy.”

“Oh.”

He glanced up again, gauging my reaction closely.

“And how often does this happen? You said if it’s been a while, the heat can last longer…”

“Many female wolves don’t have their first heat until they’re over a hundred years old, and almost never before being fully bonded with their mate. We’re not a fecund species anymore.”

My mouth dropped into an o of surprise. “Well damn, I guess you don’t need to worry about birth control, then. But how’s that going to work with us, exactly? Will you go into rut if I’m never going to go into heat? Your sperm works year-round, right?”

“Yes, my sperm works year-round,” he answered drily. “Wolves have had children with other species, no rut or heat required, but it’s not very common. A rut can also be triggered by other things, so, yes, it’s possible I could eventually go into rut even if you don’t ever experience a heat.”

My brain briefly short-circuited over the idea of Reed—calm, collected, controlled Reed—thrown into a mindless sex frenzy that lasted for days. Hot damn, that had me resisting the urge to rub my thighs together over a suddenly needy pussy.

“Not going to expound on that, huh?”

He pressed harder on the tendon he was working on my other hand, making me sigh. “The rut also comes with a strong urge to bite your mate, but it’s controllable if the receiving party isn’t willing to accept another bite.”

Interesting.

“So, if wolves don’t expect to have babies right away anyway, can I ask… Did it upset you to find out I was on birth control?”

For the first time throughout the conversation, he paused in the middle of my massage. “It came as a surprise, though logically, it shouldn’t have. You’re a beautiful woman operating on human reproductive terms. It’s logical that you would protect yourself against the possibility with other partners.”

It wasn’t lost on me that he’d tacked on with other partners . I didn’t detect any hints of jealousy, but… that was another important conversation we’d skipped over in the headlong rush into becoming mates. He resumed rubbing my hand.

“I was single and had been for more than a year before you and I met. A few casual dates here and there, but nothing serious for a while. In case you were wondering.”

“My wolf prefers to think you’ve already forgotten everyone before us, actually.”

It was my turn to chuckle. “He’s not wrong.”

That got his undivided attention. “Is that so?”

“Mmm,” I hummed, not wanting to stroke his ego too much, just enough to let him know I appreciated him and how well he took care of me.

Disappointingly, he didn’t take the bait to move that sensual rub somewhere else on my body a little less innocent than my hands.

“There’s one more thing I need to tell you.”

“Anything.”

“Male wolves have unique anatomy.”

I stayed silent, thinking back to our night together and the fact that while it was excellent, I hadn’t noticed any unique features to his anatomy.

“During a rut.”

“Umm, okay.” Rut was sounding more and more interesting all the time, and I’d have been lying if I said I wasn’t curious about what other things brought it on.

“It’s called a knot. It helps ensure pregnancy. When the time comes.”

The image of a knot tied in a long, straight rope that came to mind was… intriguing. My brain was doing a lot of mental gymnastics with that tidbit, sidelined only by the fact that my big strong alpha was blushing .

It was too fucking cute. I laid my free hand over his, stopping him mid-rub so I knew I had his full attention.

“If it’s part of you, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. You’ve accepted all the parts of me. This is no different.”

He nodded but didn’t say anything else about it, and I decided to let it drop for the moment. If it only happened during rut, we had plenty of time to discuss it in more detail when this wasn’t all so new.

His phone beeped in his pocket, a tone I hadn’t heard before. He pulled it out to check and sighed.

“Carmine’s lackey is in the lobby sooner than I expected, requesting to see me. Word travels fast in Vegas. Stay here and relax? Then we can resume our practice after I deal with him.”

“Absolutely.” My words were languid, my body boneless from his ministrations despite the awkward topic of conversation. It was a lot to take in, but I’d meant what I said. If he could accept me for all my differences—many would say flaws—I had no intention of judging him for his differences. It sounded like I’d enjoy them, actually.

“Excellent. This shouldn’t take long, but the fridge is fully stocked if you get hungry.” He kissed me, barely more than a brief, firm press of lips, but I was still panting when he walked away.

I stayed on the lounge for a while, languidly considering all the new information Reed had just shared. But as time ticked by, I got bored even with the stunning view. And then it hit me.

I had an empty suite, an insanely cool shower to provide all the water I could need, and a theory to test with the mystery book.

Anticipatory tingles raced along my skin as I rose, tugging the book free from my overnight bag, and carrying it into the enormous bathroom.

There was the giant golden tub, two sinks in the vanity, and the enormous shower.

The tub was too risky; the water thing was just a theory, and if I was wrong and dropped it into the bath, I could ruin the book before I learned anything from it. The sink was hard because dunking it under the faucet or splashing it also seemed stupid.

The shower, though, had a steam function. I could turn it on low, get it steamed up, and then just sit inside with the book. Water in the air, but not so much as to pose a huge risk.

It was the best idea I had, so I quickly poked the control panel for the shower, turning on the steam function, plus the fun twinkle light show I’d discovered earlier.

May as well have fun with it, I thought with a grin as I stepped inside and shut the glass door behind me.

But once the decision was made, I found myself hesitating as I sat cross-legged on the cool shower floor with the book on my lap. The gentle steam in the air was already making me feel flushed, my hair curling around my face in the increased humidity. But when it came right down to it, the book was supposed to be a tool to help. The first time I touched it, nothing bad had happened other than a blue arm.

Given we were in a warlock-owned hotel surrounded by magical security, this seemed like the safest place around to do the experiment.

I flipped open the book with my unmarked right hand, remembering the book’s preference. The strange symbols inside were still a mystery, and I gently thumbed the pages to the right. Other than a slight tingle zinging up my arm at the contact, they still didn’t budge.

Blowing out a breath in the steamy air, I laid my hand back over the blank spot inside the cover, and closed my eyes to focus on that blue stream of power I’d used to communicate with the book the first time.

To my surprise, it came quickly, almost eagerly. When I blinked against the sudden burst of blue, I saw that my arm had fully turned, blue skin disappearing under the short sleeve of my T-shirt.

Okay, so either the water was helping or now that I’d called the powers on purpose in Neftheim, maybe I was just getting better at it? Hard to say. Whatever caused it, the blue ripples of power had practically leapt to answer my call, which was as gratifying as it was terrifying.

“But how do I open you, little book?” I murmured the question aloud, staring down intently at the symbols on the front page.

Before my eyes, they changed. Strange shapes melted into recognizable letters, as if an invisible hand was dragging the ink into a new form with a paintbrush.

Elemental Magic was spelled out on the first page when the ink stopped moving.

Excitement buzzed through me like a live wire. I resisted the urge to pump my fist and break contact with the paper, in case that messed up whatever connection I had going on. Although, I’d have to pick it up at some point to try turning the pages again.

I kept my movements slow, trailing my fingertips across the paper to the edge, careful not to lose contact with the book at any point as I used my pointer finger to lift the edge of the page.

Holy shit, it worked . My thoughts raced as I carefully turned the page, the steamy heat surrounding me completely forgotten.

The first page appeared to be a table of contents, those same strange symbols, some of which melted and molded into readable letters—but not all.

The first three lines stayed unreadable, but the fourth line had transformed to English.

Rivers, Streams, and Oceans … P. 47

A little further down, there was a second line that had also been translated.

Typhoons, Hurricanes, Waterspouts, Snowstorms, and Thunderstorms … P. 192

I didn’t know how, but the book seemed to be responding to me specifically, though, it still didn’t tell me what I was . It had to know, to give me such specific guidance, though, right?

Although… was it possible I could work with other elements besides water? Perhaps that was what all those other lines and chapters were—different elements I hadn’t figured out. We’d just been assuming my gifts were tied to water.

It was going to take forever to turn the pages with only one hand, so I held my breath as I gripped it with my marked hand, hastily flipping until I saw the page marked forty-seven and an English header. Thankfully, the book didn’t zap me or turn back to illegible nonsense. I sensed a hint of indignation, but nothing more, so I kept holding it with both hands to make things easier.

The top half of the page was a beautiful illustration of a peaceful river, winding between trees on a sunny day. It reminded me a lot of the little garden pond with the bridge we’d wished on in Italy.

The bottom was written in blue calligraphic ink.

Water is fluid, always changing, as are the elementals who call its power. Expect the power harnessed with water to be ever changing, unsteady, and capricious, much as its source element.

Interesting, yes, but not terribly instructional. Harnessed how? Was an elemental a species? I had more questions than answers as I skimmed the rest of the page, which was mostly just more flowery descriptions of water sources and how unsteady water was as an element.

Not a single useful mention of how it worked to be an elemental or if I could use other elements.

A soft knock on the doorframe jarred me out of my focus, and I had to scramble not to drop the book in the misty puddles in the bottom of the shower.

“Reed!”

“Stormy. Everything okay? You’re blue.” He was studying me so intently, it made me blush. I wasn’t doing anything wrong, yet still it felt like being a kid caught with her hand in the proverbial cookie jar.

“I wanted to test your theory.”

“Any luck?” He strode in, and I realized he couldn’t see what I was doing through the massively fogged glass door, so I swiped away a spot of steam and held up the open book.

“Looks like it opened, but I can’t read the symbols. Pretty illustration, though. Watercolors seem fitting given what you had to do to get it to cooperate.”

“But this page is in English!”

He squinted, getting closer to the glass so he could peer through. “No, looks like the same gibberish on the spine to me.”

“Okay, well, I can read it.” I rattled off the first three lines, and he rocked back on his heels.

“So, you’re on the right track. That’s good.”

“Kind of? It keeps referring to elemental magic, and elementals. But… what is an elemental? Is that even a magical species?”

Reed pursed his lips, then leaned against the bathroom vanity. “I think elementals usually refer to broader talents than one particular species. There can be warlocks or witches with an elemental affinity, but other species also can manipulate elements. Mer, for instance, can move and breathe seawater based on the books we found, and also dragons have elemental talents. Breathing fire, ice, et cetera.” He waved his hand, indicating there were more he didn’t care to rattle off.

I stood and opened the door, turning off the steam from the panel next to the shower door.

“So what you’re telling me is, I’ve still got bupkis?”

“No, not at all. The more you know, the better. But we don’t have to figure it all out in one day.” He reached up and swiped away a piece of stray hair that was plastered to my sticky cheek.

He was right, but it was still frustrating. I could feel the dark tug in my chest to unleash my power to vent that frustration, but I shoved it down. Time to let it go, be back in the here and now.

“How did the meeting with the vampire go?”

His expression was hard to read. “It took a little longer than I expected because Carmine’s right-hand man, Darick, came instead of an underling.”

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” I set the book down on the counter and twined my fingers with his. Leaning against his chest helped settle the itch to wreak havoc, and the power begrudgingly quieted inside me. A quick glance down showed the blue slowly receding back down toward my fingertips.

“It’s an unexpected thing, which is usually bad when dealing with vampires. The best I can say is he’s suspicious and taking my sudden appearance seriously.”

“Well, you said he’s old and powerful. It makes sense that he got that way by being cautious.”

“Very observant, and accurate.” He kissed me on the forehead, releasing my hands to wrap his arms around my shoulders. “He offered us a chef’s table at his most upscale restaurant, right in the heart of the Strip. I’m afraid we’ll have to go, or else we risk offending him. I could go alone, if that makes you uncomfortable.”

I leaned back, checking his expression. No judgment, just giving me an option. “No, I’ll come. We’re in this together. Also, I’ve never had dinner at a chef’s table. It sounds fancy .” I couldn’t help my grin as I said it.

This might all be old hat to Reed, who clearly was used to the finer things in life, but the one and only time I’d been to Vegas, it was a drunken blur for a friend’s bachelorette party. There had been male strippers, too much alcohol, slots, and wicked hangovers for the rest of the bridal party on the flight back to Philly a mere forty-eight hours after we arrived.

There wasn’t anything upscale about the experience. Way too much puking when half the bridal party couldn’t handle their liquor.

“What’s the dress code?” I pulled back, already mentally rummaging through my suitcase. I had one nice dress I’d worn to my client’s wedding, but it still might not be suitable.

“Why don’t you let me surprise you? I haven’t had much chance to spoil you yet, and I’d like to.” The way he looked me up and down had me shivering and imagining him peeling me out of whatever he picked at the end of the night.

Yes, please .

“Deal.”

“Good. We’ll leave at seven.”