Chapter 22
Sliding the curtain closed, Darien turned and went over to the bed. Why the hell am I still awake? After last night, and this morning he should be passed out, oblivious to the world around him. He should want to be unaware, just a short reprieve from reality.
Could things possibly get any more fucked up than they were? The staff were all paranoid and would be getting cranky if the restrictions to not traveling alone weren’t ended soon. Once they got through the aftermath of the full moon, Darien wanted to talk to Remi about letting some of the staff take some time off. He didn’t know if that would keep them safe, but he thought giving them an option would be good. All of it was for their safety, they all knew that, but not many in the para world liked confinement. With another body being found that involved someone from their world only made it worse. If it had been some normal human with a grudge that would almost be acceptable because the gods knew that happened more often.
Dropping down onto the bed, he let out a deep sigh. His whole room smelled of Remi. Of their scents mixed, of sex, Remi…
Inhaling deeply, he closed his eyes. His wolf was pacing inside him. He wasn’t at all happy that Darien had mated Remi but hadn’t marked her. It was the typical archaic were thought process, one Darien didn’t agree with. It had been hard, the desire to not sink his fangs into her flesh and mark her as his had taken a lot of control, but he did it and would until she knowingly consented. Fifty years ago, that would have been unheard of. If a were found their mate, they claimed them, consent or not. He tried to imagine what Remi would have done back then. Grimacing, he knew the answer. He’d be gutted by her hand. One of the many reasons he was a lone wolf, not tied to the laws of the pack. Sure, some clans thought in more modern terms, but his hadn’t been one of them. His own sister had been claimed without any consideration. She said she was happy with her mate, but there had always been something in her eyes that told him it was a lie.
Taking a deep breath, he tried to let some of the tension ease away. Remi’s scent filled his system again. Opening his eyes, he glared up at the ceiling. Finally being with her after all the years had been…he didn’t know how to describe it. He had been engulfed with need. After years of picturing how it would be when they were finally together, he’d been so consumed he couldn’t have gone slowly if his life depended on it. The way her body responded to him broke his control and he thought he was going to go up in flames if he didn’t have her right then. When he started, he thought she would stop him, but she didn’t. By the time he realized it had actually happened, the damn phone rang and it ended before he could talk to her.
He had to tell her, there was no choice. Holding off his wolf was harder than ever now. With the council coming, things were going to get even more unpredictable. He knew who was on the council, and he was dreading that almost as much as Pascal was. His uncle had been selected to be on the para council forty years ago. It was a great honor to serve the community that way, or so he was told. Given the option, Darien knew he’d pass on taking something like that. It wasn’t that he wasn’t for the community or justice, he just didn’t agree with most of their methods. The only good side to them coming is the killer would be found and stopped from hurting anyone else. The bad meant he was going to be reminded of his clan and the way he should be living, according to his uncle. Maybe he and Pascal should make a pact to watch each other’s back throughout this visit. In all the years he’d known Pascal he’d never seen fear in his eyes, until this morning. Whoever this woman was from his past, she had done what Darien always thought was impossible.
Flipping on his side, he stared at the door. He needed to get some sleep, yet all he wanted to do was go back to be near Remi. Snorting, he closed his eyes, all he wanted was not give her time to think about what had happened and regret it. If she did, he had no idea what he was going to do. The very thought of having to leave Remi left him with an ache inside his chest. He’d always known it was a possibility if she denied him, which is why he refused Doyle’s offer to own half of Serenity but knowing and living with it were two totally different things.