Series: Werewolves of Wall Street Series by Renee Rose
Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94820 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 474(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
“Uh huh. With my name. Or maybe a picture of my face?”
I press my face between her breasts and inhale her scent. I kiss her breastbone. “You came back.”
“For future reference, the next time I walk away, I want to be chased.”
A third laugh comes out of my mouth. I’m so buoyant, it’s a wonder I don’t just float up to the ceiling.
“There won’t be a next time,” I growl and carry Aubrey to the couch. I sit with her straddling my waist. “I’m going to claim you, Silver. I’m going to mark you as my mate, so every wolf knows you belong to me. And if you leave me again, there will be consequences.”
“What kind of consequences?” She waggles her brows, her full lips stretching into a megawatt smile.
“The kind that involve you naked over my lap for a good spanking.”
Aubrey’s eyes grow dark. The scent of her arousal reaches my nostrils. “Mmm.” She squirms against my dick. “Maybe you should show me.”
“I will. After you tell me why you left.” Some of the heaviness descends again, like a cinder block on my chest. “Was it the violence?”
Aubrey holds my face and leans her forehead against mine. “No,” she says softly. “I mean, it scared me, but I understood. Your dad sort of assaulted me. It triggered you.”
I study her face. I don’t want to say these words. They physically pain me to speak, but there’s so much that’s been unsaid between Aubrey and I. We need to get it all out on the table now. “I have a violent side. Shifters are more physically violent in general, but I was forced to fight for my life throughout my childhood. I…didn’t want you to see that side of me. I was ashamed. I am ashamed.”
Aubrey pulls her forehead away from mine, and her eyes brim with tears. They alarm me. I tighten my grip on her hips as if afraid someone might try to yank her off. Take her away from me.
“I shouldn’t have chosen that moment to ask you if I was your mate. It’s just…I overheard you and Brick talking about it in Monaco. About wiping my memory.” Her lips tremble.
“Fuck.” Self-recrimination rips through me. “Fuck, I’m so sorry. I would never let a leech wipe your memories. I don’t know why I couldn’t bring myself to admit to Brick that you’re my mate. I knew it. Every one of the guys knew it. My behavior was so erratic. I started an international pack incident when the Monaco king insulted you. I worked from home to be near you. I co-parented a puppy, for fuck’s sake.”
Aubrey gives me a reluctant smile.
“I guess I subconsciously knew marking you would force things to a head with my dad. Things I’d put off for far too long. So I stalled and pretended I didn’t know for sure. But I did, baby.” I stroke her cheek with my thumb. “And I’m so fucking sorry I hurt you and made you feel like you weren’t good enough. That was never it. I was the one who wasn’t good enough for you. Not yet. But I took care of it. My dad and those assholes from Sentience will never threaten you or your friends again.”
She studies my face. “What did you do?” she whispers.
I hesitate. This is the violent side I don’t want her to see. But if she’s my mate, she needs to know who I am. What I’ll do to keep her and our family safe. “I put my dad in the ground.”
She sucks in a breath.
“As long as he was alive, you and our pups would be at risk, and I could not have that.”
Aubrey’s eyes mist again. “Our pups?” she chokes.
My throat closes, too, but the words are flowing now. I can’t hold them back any more. “Please marry me. Let me protect you, provide for you, and be your family.”
Aubrey breaks, clapping her hand over her mouth to stifle a sob.
I hold my breath, watching her. Bracing for her reaction.
“Yes.” She nods. “Okay. I’m in, Billy White, the one and only. I’m all in.”
I fall back on the couch, limp with relief. I’ve been a zombie for the last twelve days, barely living, barely breathing, barely keeping my shit together.
But it’s over.
Aubrey’s mine.
I know we still have work to do. I have to learn to make her happy. Keep her interested. Please her in ways beyond the bedroom. I have to learn to open up. It was my silence that made her walk away.
“When you didn’t contact me, I thought you were relieved that I ended things,” she tells me.
My heart squeezes painfully. “Fuck. I was just trying to honor your wishes.”
“Yeah, don’t do that again.” She flashes a sad smile. “Tonight Madi took me over to Sentience and showed me what you did for me. I realized you must still care.”