Chapter 114: Inseparable

Daphne

I rushed through breakfast, which, despite the ice cream on my waffle, tasted like sawdust, and then I hurried back to my room to change my clothes. It was my first time seeing Nash again, I certainly didn’t want to show up wearing yesterday's rumpled office clothes. Especially not after I had dribbled strawberry juice down my boob.

I eyed my closet, half way wishing I could borrow a little black dress or something equally sexy and alluring from Pilar Larkin’s closet. Yes, I was vain enough to want Nash to get a good eyeful of what he had walked away from. However, I had no time to look for a hot dress, so I settled for a blouse, liberally unbuttoned to the top of my cleavage, and a pair of black slacks that hugged my butt and thighs.

As I pulled at them to get them buttoned, I realized that my body was already starting to change shape. Although they were form-fitting by design, they had never been quite that snug.

Soon enough, I thought, I will have a baby bump.

I brushed out my hair and left it loose, and dabbed on a little make, and hoped I looked respectable and dignified. I put a necklace around my neck, and earrings in my earlobes and then walked back out into my little sitting room, where Louis was pacing nervously.

“Do you want me to come in with you?” Louis asked, for the third time.

I had the feeling that he was more anxious about Nash Turner’s arrival than I was.

“No, thank you,” I said firmly. “This is something I need to handle myself.”

“Yes. Yes, I understand,” he said, a little morosely. “Come, let me show you to the meeting room.” He took my hand and clasped it in his, and I couldn’t help but notice that his palm, usually so dry and warm, felt a little clammy.

Or was it my hand that felt gross?

“Listen, Daphne,” He stopped just outside a set of gilded double doors. “There are alarms hidden in this room. One under the desk, just along the edge of the left-hand drawers. Another one is on the bookshelf under the horse statue. Just lift the statue and it will activate a silent alarm. And another one in the reading lamp near the window. You pull the chain. If anything goes wrong, if you need assistance, just trigger one of those alarms. I’ll have my men on standby.”

“Jeezus, Louis,” I spoke under my breath, not knowing how soundproof the meeting room was. “I’m meeting my ex-lover, not Satan himself. Even if he’s pissed off, he’s just a human.” I smoothed my hands down my blouse nervously. “Besides, Nate would never hurt me.”

Louis grimaced, “You mean Nash. You didn’t even know his name. You have no idea what he's capable of.”

“Minor technicality.” I sucked in a deep breath. “Okay, I’m ready.” I left the safety and security of Louis’s side, and eased open the door just wide enough to pass inside. I paused to shut it securely behind me before I turned and faced him.

My heart faltered.

There he was, standing in the center of the room. Nash Turner, the man I’d known as Nathan Straight. Tall, lean, dressed all in black, from the t-shirt that looked like it had been painted over his muscles to the jeans that hung low on his narrow hips. His hair was still cut short and neat, and he had his hands stuffed in his pockets like he didn’t know what to do with him. He looked exactly the same, but not. He looked older. His eyes looked tired and shadowed, like he hadn’t been sleeping. A shadow of a beard was darkening his jaw. There was a certain sharpness to his face, like he had lost a few pounds since we last met.

But, oh my goddess, he looked good enough to eat. Every fiber of my being wanted to run to him, jump on him, and take a bite.

“Daphne,” he said my name, as if it hurt him to say it out loud.

I reminded myself to have some dignity and self-respect. This man had lied to me. And then he had disappeared without a trace. I forced my wolf to sit in the back of my mind, ignored her whining, and crossed my arms over my breasts so he wouldn’t see the way my nipples hardened just at the sight of him. “Hello, Nate. Or I should say, Mr. Turner, right?”

“Yes,” He didn’t even look embarrassed. “My real name is Nash Turner.” He let out a ragged sigh. “I’ve been looking for you, everywhere.”

“Hmph,” I made a doubtful noise. “Well, you’ve found me.”

“Yeah,” He took his hands out of his pockets and raked his hands through his hair. “Can we sit down?”

I eyed the sofa beside him. I did not think I could trust myself to sit down next to him. I could already feel that magnetic pull, that damned compulsion to touch his skin. It was like it was even stronger than I remembered. “No, thanks.” I saw the desk, and presumed it was the one that was rigged with an alarm. I strode over to it and sat on top. I gripped the edges with my fingers tightly to keep myself glued to the top.

Nash sat down on the couch alone. “I guess I should start by explaining.”

“I guess you should.” I tried to keep my voice cool and even. I was a professional. I could do this.

“I was at the university on an undercover assignment. In order to protect myself and my client, I assumed a false identity. I’m sorry, really sorry, that I couldn’t tell you my real name.”

“Okay.” I waited for him to continue, and the silence stretched out awkwardly.

“That’s it, that’s all you have to say?” He seemed frustrated.

“You left.”

He blew out a breath. “Yeah, I left. Once the bear was identified, the assignment was finished.”

I swung one leg, my internal irritation made it extra hard to sit still. “It must be pretty easy for you to walk away.”

“It wasn’t easy,” he barked. “But I thought it would be best for everyone.”

“No, you thought it would be best for you.”

“It wasn't that simple Daphne!” He shot off the couch again and started to pace. “It should have been that simple, but you know it's not! I took an overseas assignment, tried to put some distance between us…” He stopped pacing right in front of me. “I came to your graduation.”

My fingers were beginning to cramp. “I thought… I thought I felt you there.”

He took a step closer, his sweet, spicy scent teasing my nostrils. “I looked for you. I went to Valiant Mountain, but they wouldn’t let me past the gate. They wouldn’t even give me any information about you.”

I growled deep in my throat. My brothers. My stupid, meddling brothers. When I saw them again, I would beat their asses.

“I couldn’t find you, so I was following leads on the bear…" he started speaking quickly, like he was in a rush to get the words out. "I don’t know why, really. A distraction. A connection to you, no matter how far removed. I went to New York. I spoke to a woman there, an Alpha… and her kid. She had this creepy little kid! And that’s how I found out that the bear-shifter escaped.” He took another, brave step closer, his body now just a mere foot from my knees. “And that’s how I found out where you had gone. How I knew you were here.”

“So…” I felt myself leaning toward him, despite myself. “You drove all the way to Canada to tell me Kodi is on the loose again?”

“Yes,” his breath was coming fast. “And no. I just… I just needed to see you again.”

It felt like his words wrapped around my throat and tightened, choking me. “I’ve been looking for you, too.”

His eyes seemed to brighten, like that piece of news made him happy. “You were?”

“Yeah well, you didn’t exactly make it easy, did you?” I snapped. I had so many questions I wanted to ask him, like why the hell was he dead, according to official military reports. I saw his damned death certificate!

“Why were you looking for me?” He was so close now that his breath was fanning my face. His voice sounded wistful, hopeful. My lips tingled at his nearness, and I felt a wave of dizziness sweep over me.

Focus… focus Daphne.

He was so near. I needed him to back away. And I knew I had the weapon that would send him back… not only back across the room, but back to the United States, back to Vermont, back to his secret, undercover spy-security life.

I’m sure there was a good way to ease into the conversation, but if I didn’t get it over with, I was going to lose my nerve.

And if Nash walked out of this room, I might never see him again. This might be the one and only chance I had to tell him.

“There is something I have to tell you.” I started.

“We’re mates, aren’t we?” Nash blurted out, interrupting me.

“What? No! I mean, I don’t know, maybe! But that’s not what I had to tell you!” I gritted my teeth together against the urge to close that gap, to give in to that seductive pull, to slam my lips against his.

“I’m pregnant, dammit!”