Page 68 of Bad Moon Rising (Dark-Hunter 17)
He let out a deep breath. "You've found a whole new way to torture me. Damn, and I thought Misery was bad."
Laughing, she danced with her mop while he admired the fluid way her body moved. It awoke the wolf inside him and made it howl.
How could he be hard again?
This was getting annoying. Trying to distract himself, he looked around the empty bar. Apparently, they were the only two left down here.
"Where's everybody?"
"We never work the humans past 2:00 A.M. just in case something really weird happens the last couple of hours of the night. As for my family, the guys always bail as soon as they can. They think it's funny to leave me here to clean up by myself."
"Why do you?"
"I don't want to hear Maman complain. She comes in like a drill sergeant and white-gloves the place every morning."
The jukebox switched to Badfinger's "Day After Day." Fang paused at a song he hadn't heard in forever. He'd always liked it for some reason.
Aimee danced around while she worked, singing to it.
Enchanted, Fang lost himself in her graceful movements. Before he even realized what he'd done, he was in front of her, holding his hand out for her to dance with him.
Putting the mop aside, she smiled before she accepted. He twirled her into his arms and held her close as they swayed while the music floated around them. They were in perfect synchronization. Her arms felt so good around him as her scent filled his head.
She placed one gentle hand to his cheek. "I give my love to you," she sang, her voice bringing a swell of emotion high in his throat.
He laid his cheek against hers so that he could savor the feel of her in his arms. This was what had gotten him through the hell of the Nether Realm. Her warmth and tenderness.
Her scent.
Aimee twirled her fingers in his hair. "I like your hair longer. It suits you."
He didn't answer as he picked her hand up and led it to his mouth so that he could nibble her fingers. "I want to make love to you so badly I can taste it."
She dipped her hand down to cup him. "Me too."
His cock twitched, demanding she touch him without the denim barrier. It also reminded him of the fact that he had no right to her. That they couldn't be together, no matter how much he ached to have her as his own.
"So how did it go with the other bears?"
She gave a short laugh. "Disastrous. One made a move on me and I coldcocked him so bad for it that they're having to do a testicle retrieval."
"Ow!" Fang laughed, cringing at the mere thought of that. "That'll leave a mark."
"He wasn't quite as respectful of my virgin ears when it happened."
"I'll bet. Want me to go finish what you started? I'll be more than happy to geld him . . . any asshole messing with my girl-"
She silenced his words by placing her hand over his mouth. "Careful, wolf. Anyone hear you say that and you'll be the one gelded."
He nibbled her soft fingertips. "I know. It's just hard on me having to let every hairy-ass bear in the universe come on to you while I can't even make eye contact."
"I know, baby." She kissed him gently on his lips.
Fang leaned his head down and let the peace of this moment wash over him while they danced. He would sell his soul to stay like this.
It's too late. You already sold it to protect her.
Yeah, he should have put another stipulation on that bargain. One that left him in her arms forever.
I am such an idiot. . . .
Trying to distract himself, he changed the subject. "I was briefly talking to Justin earlier tonight and he said something interesting."
"That is?"
"That Dev and your father were trained Strati."
She gave him a look so guarded it could protect national security secrets. "Why is that strange?"
Fang started to divert the conversation, but it was something that had been bothering him about the Peltier bears and it was something he wanted to see if she'd trust him with. "They're Arcadian."
Aimee stumbled at the word. Her heart pounded in fear. How could he know that? No one had ever suspected it. "I don't know what you're talking about."
He stopped moving to stare down at her intently. "Don't lie to me, Aimee. I'm not stupid. I've been here long enough to figure it out and I protected an Arcadian too long in my life not to know the signs of one hiding in the middle of a Katagaria pack. If you want me to pretend I don't know, then I will play along. But I wanted you to know that I knew."
And he was placing his life in her hands. If her family ever suspected he'd figured that out, they would kill him without question. Forget eirini and Omegrion law, he would be skinned alive.
He leaned down to whisper. "And I know your secret too."
She trembled as a cold sweat broke out on her body. How had he guessed the one secret she'd been protecting all these centuries? A secret not even her own family knew. . . .
No doubt he hated her for it.
"What secret?"
"That Kyle's an Aristos and you're helping him train his powers."
Nauseated, Aimee started to move away, afraid to hear any more.
"I won't tell anyone, Aimee. I swear it. And it's not because I'm afraid for me. I could care less about that. It's you I would never hurt, not in any way."
And because he was trusting her with his secret, she wanted to give him one back. He had placed his life in her hands. The least she could do is return the favor.
"Are they the only ones you've spotted?"
"I think Zar may be one and possibly Quinn."
Aimee swallowed as fear ran rampant through her. Maybe she shouldn't tell him. What if he rejected her just based on that alone? Arcadians had killed his sister. Granted they hadn't fired the Taser that ended her life, but she would have died anyway because they killed her mate.
He'd shoved her away before. He might this time too and this time he would have the power to destroy her.
Oh, gods, she wanted to vomit. This was something she couldn't even tell her own mother or father. Yet he had a right to know. It wasn't fair to keep this from him. . . .
Taking a deep breath, she looked up at him. "I'm one too."
Fang pulled away to look at her as those words rang in his ears. No. It wasn't possible. Surely he'd have known if she was one like her brothers. How could she have fooled him so completely?
"What?"
He saw the fear in that clear blue gaze that didn't waver at all from his. "I'm Arcadian. Like Vane, I changed at puberty. It's something I've never told anyone in my life. Not even my family knows."
"Why would you tell me?"
Her eyes turned glassy from restrained tears as she showed him the Sentinel markings on her own face. "I just thought you should know what you're involved with."
Fang cupped her cheek where the ancient Greek design spiraled, marking her as one of the most hated groups to his kind. He saw the fear in her eyes and the fact that she would trust him with this . . .
She did love him. She'd have to because only a fool with a death wish would lay this in the hands of a Katagari who knew how Nicolette Peltier felt about Arcadians. The fact that Aimee had kept it from her mother said it all.
Aimee had laid herself completely naked and open to him. No wonder she was trembling.
"You know it doesn't matter to me."
Aimee choked on a sob as she pulled him into her arms and held him close. "You have no idea how scared I've been all these centuries. I think it's why I've been so afraid to even attempt mating with a Katagari. Can you imagine what they might do to me if they find out?"
Kill her at best. Mutilate her at worst. She was right, it wasn't something to be shared lightly. "You were brave to tell me."
"I trust you that much, wolf."
"And I will never betray that trust. I swear it."
Aimee felt a single tear slide down her cheek. Fang brushed it away.
The tenderness in his eyes melted her. He wouldn't betray her, she knew that. But it still couldn't bind them. This was the most hopeless relationship ever devised by the gods.
"So where does this leave us?" she whispered, too terrified to even contemplate an answer on her own.
His look turned to steel. "Come away with me. Just the two of us. Let's forget about all the differences and prejudices. Let's just leave and be together."
How she wished it were that simple. But it wasn't. "I can't do that, Fang. My brothers died protecting me. But for Bastien, I would never have learned to use my powers. He tutored me when I couldn't trust anyone else. Now I'm the only one who can train Kyle to use his. And Maman would be shattered to lose me too. I'm her only hope at maintaining our legacy. The Peltiers have been on the Omegrion since the beginning. You know how rare that is."
His look turned cold. "Is that really more important to you than me?"
"No, but you can't make me choose between you and my family."
Fang winced as he realized she was right. He was being selfish. "Yeah. It was a stupid idea."
And he was a fool for thinking, even for a second, that she would put him over them. No one had ever done that before. Why should she?
His heart broken, he pulled away. "We better finish cleaning up. As you said, I don't want Nicolette yelling at you."
Aimee watched as he returned to stacking chairs. She'd hurt him and she wasn't sure how. But she could tell there was a wall between them that hadn't been there earlier.
When they were finished, she led the way upstairs. She paused outside his room. "Good night, Fang."
"You too." He didn't even look at her before he vanished and left her in the hallway.
Sighing, she headed for her own room.
Fang didn't breathe until Aimee was back in her room. He stripped his clothes off, grimacing at the soreness he still had from his fight with Fury. That little SOB could punch like a sledgehammer.
He fell into bed, exhausted, but still couldn't sleep for thoughts of Aimee.
In his heart, he knew he couldn't stay here forever. And if she did start mating with other men, he'd have to leave or kill someone. The thought of anyone touching her spun him into the galactic outer rims of pissed off.
I'm going to have to leave. Because every day he stayed here and didn't have her, he died a little more inside.
