“Crap, for a minute there with all the tender loving and what not, I forgot that I was mated to a perv.” Her eyes sparkled with laughter.

“Oh, we can’t have you forgetting something so important.” He grabbed at her playfully. “Come here and let me remind you.”

Laughter filled their room, where once tears had been, as Jen let Decebel heal her heart over and over. Bit by bit he reminded her who he was, and who she was to him.

Q

Fane closed their door and turned the lock. After finally getting her to invite his touch, he helped Jacque undress and into the shower as silent tears slid from her eyes. He had tried to get her to lie down, but she kept insisting that she needed to get clean, that she felt dirty. So, he helped her shower and then dried her off and carried her to their bed. He climbed in next her, pulled the covers up over them, and enveloped her in his arms.

Jacque wrapped her body around Fane’s, seeking the heat from his body, needing to feel all of his skin against all of hers. She didn’t realize that she had been whimpering until Fane started speaking to her softly. He smoothly transitioned from English to Romanian and back again, as he attempted to soothe her.

“Luna,” he pulled her face up to look at him. “Tell me what to do. Please, I don’t know what to do.”

Jacque stared into his glowing blue eyes as she felt the beat of his heart against her chest. He wiped the tears gently from her cheeks and kissed her slowly. When he pulled back, he saw that her eyes were glowing as well. “Sing to me,” she whispered.

He brushed the red curls from her face as he stared into her eyes and began to sing the song he had shared with her on the night before his battle with Lucas, and night that now seemed so very long ago. His eyes softened when she ran her fingers across his lips as he sung.

As his rich, deep voice reached into the broken parts of her soul, Jacque grabbed onto his words like a lifeline. She ran her hands across his shoulders and chest, following the touch with her kiss. Fane’s words trembled slightly as she pushed him on his back and laid her body over his. She laid her head on his chest and tried to melt into his touch as he ran the tips of his fingers from her shoulders to the backs of her thighs. She took comfort in the touch that she knew so well. She pushed away her pain and fear and latched onto the feeling of hands that knew her better than she knew herself and a man who loved her more than any other ever could.

The room was quiet when the song ended. Fane continued to caress her skin wherever he could reach and kissed her hair as he breathed in her scent.

“Fane,”

“Yes love.”

“We’ll get through this,” Jacque made it a statement, needing to hear herself say the words out loud.

“Together,” he agreed.

He rolled her over quickly yet smoothlyuntil she lay beneath him. He stared down into her eyes, as his fingers brushed gently against her jaw. He leaned down, kissed her, and groaned when she yielded to him instantly. Jacque opened her mouth and welcomed the deep kiss as his tongue explored her. She pulled back and smiled at the surprised look on his face.

“You told me touch was healing to wolves, that it brought comfort and security,” she told him.

He nodded.

“I need healing, comfort, and security Fane,” she whispered, against his skin as she kissed his neck, shoulders, and chest in between each word. She pushed his hands, showing him through their bond where she wanted them to be. Fane’s chest rumbled as he felt her need and was surprised when he realized it was every bit as great as his own.

“You need me, my touch, my kiss, my love,” he hovered over her, looking down at her face and body.

There was a time when Jacque would have blushed under his gaze, but not now, not when Fane had shown her just how completely a male loved his female in their world.

“I do,” she agreed.

“Good,” Fane growled, as he lowered his body to hers.

No more words were needed as they clung to one another. Fane met her every need and Jacque took greedily from him, knowing that it pleased him to provide for her in any way, whether it be physical or emotional. She let go completely, knowing that he would always provide for her, always protect her and always love her.

“Always,” she heard his whisper in her mind and felt the certainty of it in his touch as he made love to her.

Chapter 18

“Okay people, so we’ve reached the part in the story that is considered the calm before the storm. Everyone is getting in their “I love yous” and “goodbyes” and blah, blah, blahs because they know that all hell is about to break lose. It’s all very touching, but honestly, it’s time to put on our big girl panties, and I do mean that literally, and batten down the hatches because hurricane Mona is heading our way people. So get your butts out of your mate’s beds, yours truly included, and bring the rain.” ~ Jen

Lilly, Cypher, Thalion, and his warriors gathered around the fire. The night was chilly and the knowledge of what was to come only made the cold harder to endure. Cypher and the elf warriors had been able to kill some rabbits for dinner. Though it wasn’t the most filling meal, it was enough. When they were done eating, Cypher pulled Lilly over into his lap where he sat leaning against a tree. She snuggled into his chest and tried not to worry about her daughter, or Mona, or Cypher, or anything else she had no control over.

“What’s she like?” Cypher asked.

Lilly tilted her head up to look at him. She smiled warmly. “She’s the best person I know.”