Mace smiled. "Just a shower. I'll be right back."
I nodded, settling in, and letting my body sink into the plush mattress. I must've fallen asleep because it seemed like in the next moment Mace was crawling into bed beside me, all his glorious and tattooed skin on display in the gray light of the morning.
He had closed the blinds enough that the rising sun was only muted light beyond the windows. As soon as he settled in, I rolled toward him, molding myself against his side with my head on his chest and my arm wrapped tight around his torso. He held me back just as tightly, pressing kisses into my hair and onto my forehead until I tilted my head back and sealed our lips together. We kissed for a while, slow and steady with an edge of quiet desperation that hadn't been there before.
We broke apart and he turned toward me, pulling me in until my head was tucked under his chin. We lay there for long moments pressed as close together as we could be. I’d never had someone’s skin feel so good, so soothing against mine.
When he spoke, his voice was low. “Remember when I told you my dad was an abusive asshole?”
I nodded.
“I’m almost certain he killed my mom, and even if he didn’t do it directly, the way he treated her would have done it, eventually.”
I held on tighter. “I’m so sorry, Mace.”
“She wouldn’t leave him. I begged her over and over. Even set up an apartment for her here, but she wouldn’t budge.” He took a deep breath. “That’s why I swore off relationships. Because if that was love, then I didn’t want any part of it. I didn’t want to end up like either of them—the monster that was killing his wife bit by bit or the prey so far into my delusion that I’d stay even when I could easily save myself.”
My heart was pounding in my chest and my eyes filled with tears. I couldn’t blame him, not at all, for how he felt about relationships, and I couldn’t imagine the pain he’d been through watching helplessly as that scenario played out between his parents.
“Anyway, that’s when I decided that I was going to go through life on my own. A lone wolf.”
Just as my tears spilled over, he slid down, bringing us face to face.
“I didn’t know about the family I’d find in the Marines then, or the Heretics. Didn’t know that people that aren’t my blood relation could treat me better than my family ever had.” His voice lowered to a whisper, his lips brushing against mine as he spoke, “I didn’t know about you.”
“I didn’t know about you, either. Being an orphan, I didn’t know anything about love of any kind until I met Vivian and she brought me in off the street. Then I got this skinny roommate named Arden and my life changed.” I met his eyes. “But not like this. I’ve never felt anything like this for anyone. Never had someone take care of me the way you do.”
I sniffed, my hand moving up so I could run my fingertips over the wolf running across his chest. The lone wolf.
“I’m thinking it’s time to get his mate tattooed running beside him.”
My eyes snapped up to his.
“I love you, Pax.”
I choked out a sob and buried my face in his neck. “I love you, too.”
“Pax, you’ve got a delivery,” Vivian said from behind me. It’d been two weeks since the fiasco with Vector’s brother and slowly, life was starting to fall back into its normal rhythm.
It was my first official day as assistant manager, and while I was nervous, I felt prepared. The past two weeks had been filled with training and spending every possible moment with Mace.
We hadn’t spent a night apart and he told me he loved me every single day. Sometimes, I felt like my heart would burst. It’s rusty seams weren’t used to that much affection, but I was adjusting.
Some things weren’t all sunshine, though. Leith still wasn’t up for coming back to work or having visitors. As far as I knew, he hadn’t left Axel’s room at the clubhouse at all. All of us at Spritz had sent him a big bouquet of flowers, his favorite chocolates, and a card signed with well wishes. Of course, it wasn’t common knowledge what had happened to him. Most of the Spritz employees thought he was ill, and would be back with us before we knew it. I hoped he’d be able to come back, but I wasn’t so sure.
“What is it?” I asked Vivian as I turned around from where I’d been straightening the stools at the lounge’s bar. I gasped when I saw the vase full of beautiful pink peonies in her hands. I stepped forward, my eyes dropping from the flowers to the satin pink ribbon tied around the vase. There was something wrapped in the knot at its center.
“There’s no card. Not that it needs one,” Vivian said with a wink.
Rolling my eyes, even as a pleased smile pulled at my lips, I took the vase from her hands and set it on the bar. Carefully, I untied the ribbon and a wooden figurine popped out.
Two wolves. Running side-by-side.
Mace said he was going to get a second wolf placed next to the one already on his chest. It looked like he’d settled on a design. Pulling the little wolves close, I tucked them against my own chest and turned my head to catch Mace’s eye.
He was standing off in one corner in his security uniform. He winked at me and lifted his hand to press over the spot where the wolf tattoo lived above his heart—
where I was going to live for the rest of my life.