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Moxie found some clothes with tags on them in their condo and assumed they were for her. She changed and went to sit in the living room where Rada sat in joggers. That had to be new also; she’d never seen him in anything that relaxed.
“I like that look on you.” She swept her eyes over him with a broad grin.
“Thanks.” He stood and gave her a bow.
She lifted a brow. He would sometimes do something that seemed out of touch with the times they lived in. Not as much as his younger brother, but she’d seen that in all of them as if they forget what century they’re in. She liked it when he did that. It made her feel special.
“What are you thinking?” He moved from the armchair he was sitting in to sit next to her on the couch.
They weren’t touching, but she could still feel the heat he threw out. It made her feel safe, comfortable in the changing tides that became her world.
“The longer I lived at the compound, the more I realized that safety was an illusion. There is no such thing.”
“There are only those that would give their lives to keep you safe.”
She looked at him and swallowed hard. Rada would give his life to keep her safe she believed that. Why? It was the question that went through her head. When she was poisoned by that demon he stayed with her night and day, sleeping in that stupid chair when he could have been lying next to her. He took care of her and didn’t flinch when he saw the poison being dragged from her body.
There’s another world on the other side of the painting. He steps through without a word of complaint. Why? He finds out that she might have a child that she thought was dead. He vows to rescue the boy even if he’s not her biological child. She remembered the look of the child. That had to be her baby, right?
“Why? You don’t have to be here playing a game with a male who didn’t even tell us his name. Why are you here?”
“You are here.”
“That’s not a good enough answer.” She moved over taking her time until she was next to him. He reached out and drew her in tight, wrapping his arms around her.
Safe, that’s how she felt when close to him. It might be an illusion, but it was one she didn’t want to end.
“I feel safe when you hold me.” She was inside a picture. The possibility that they might not get out was enormous.
“I feel strong, but not because you're weak.”
“Then why?”
“On the chessboard, the queen is the most powerful piece, but the king protects her. You’re powerful, Moxie, but I want to protect you.”
“I’m not powerful,” she whispered.
“You need to see yourself through my eyes.”
She closed her eyes to keep the tears from coming. Power had nothing to do with her ability to cry. He saw a woman who was more than the circumstances she was raised in. That he could look through the façade she showed the world to see a bit of her soul unnerved her. It also made her want to crawl up on his lap and never leave.
“Let’s get some sleep.” They walked into the bedroom and found it resembled the room where he slept as a beast. He changed forms, and she lay down next to him, sighing when he wrapped himself around her. It wasn’t just the male who won her over, but the beast too.
_____
Moxie woke to find herself lying in the arms of the male. She was snuggled against him, her head on his chest. When she felt his fingers tangle in her hair, she closed her eyes. He made her feel safe, but she also burned when he was touching, looking at, or smiling at her. Hell, she burned at the thought of him. This was a feeling she told herself would never be hers. Now, there was no way to escape what he did to her. She didn’t want to escape it.
Opening her eyes, she looked to find he was peering at her. Why had she stopped kissing him? It had been too soon. She didn’t know what she wanted. Part of her wanted the fairy tale with white knights on giant steeds and maybe a fairy godmother. The little girl in her still looking for her prince charming, the one who would keep her safe.
Instead, she found Rada, a hell beast who thought she was powerful and could keep herself safe, and yet he wanted to protect her. She had been in the wrong fairy tale. She didn’t want the prince. She wanted the wolf.
Her head lifted with puckered lips. He met her, pressing his mouth against her before licking her lips, seeking entrance. When she opened, he ravished her taking away her control. Her arms went around his neck as she rolled onto her back, bringing him with her. She tangled her legs with his loving the feel of him on top of her.
He tore his lips away, allowing them to take a deep breath. “What’s happening here?”
“What do you want to happen?”
“I want you to think.” He rolled off her lying on his back.
She almost choked on her laughter. What man ever stopped when it was laid out for him like a tempting treat? She knew he was being unfair. The world wasn’t filled with assholes, just her world.
“Think about what?”
“I’ve spent my life as a hell beast. Maybe sometime in the past, I walked as a man, but I’ve long forgotten that time in my life. I may look like a man. I’ve even learned I can fight in this form, but I am and will forever be a hell beast. I change into the form at times not because I have to, but I want to.”
“What else do you want?”
“What do you mean?”
Nope, there would be no avoiding the question or answering with another question. “We either communicate with each other, or we don’t. If not, then I understand whatever you want isn’t me.”
“It’s not that easy.”
“Why not?”
“You live in a transitory world where people take and discard each other like yesterday's leftovers. I don’t live there. Maybe once in that fabled land where I walked as a male. In this time, I’ve spent too many years being a hell beast. I’m possessive of it. You told me that you couldn’t keep anyone or anything because it would put their lives in danger. Nothing has changed if you thought about keeping me; I would put your life in danger.”
“I can take care of myself. You just said so.”
“I believe that.”
“Then this isn’t about my ability to stay alive. It’s about expectation. Oh hell, I get it. It’s about reality vs. perceived reality. I fucking get it!” She jumped up and started doing a dance around him.
His eyes got bright as a smile took over his face. She threw herself against him, and he caught her with an exaggerated groan.
“Don’t confuse me with the woman who came here weeks ago. You’re right, when I came I would have run hard and fast if you and I were lying on the floor, which doubles as a bed, and you kissed me like tomorrow wasn’t coming. I’m not running. Rada, if you want me to promise tomorrow, I can’t do that, not yet. I don’t know if we will make it back to our plane. All we have is now. I can offer you today and hope for tomorrow.”
He pulled her down for another kiss. “It’s more than I’ve ever had.”
They spent the next minutes kissing before someone entered the condo. They both jumped up.
“Don’t mind me.” The male from last night yelled. “Keep kissing. That’s why I brought you here.”
“What’s your name, old man?” she sneered. He wasn’t old, not that there was anything wrong with any age, but he made her angry by interrupting them.
“You can call me uncle.” Her knees gave way, making her fall. Good thing the floor was heavily padded.
“Uncle?”
“Your mother's brother. Am I old now?”
“Heck yeah. My mom?”
“Get ready. I’ll make breakfast.”
She turned to Rada. “We’ll figure this out together.”
She went into the bathroom. This is what they agreed to when they kissed. Together, no matter what happened, they would deal with it. That meant as one, right?
She didn’t really know her mom. The few pictures she had of her showed that they looked a lot alike. There were a few scattered memories that yellowed around the edges and faded as she got older. Her mom loved her. When she thought of her mom, feelings of being engulfed in love flooded her. Those were more real than any memories she had of her. That and the fact that her dad would tell her about her mother’s love.
This man she met wanted her to believe they were related. That was impossible. Her mom was human. It was also impossible to walk through a picture like it was a door to another plane. She ignored that thought and went back to thinking about her mom. Why now? If he was really her mother’s brother, why did he wait all these years to reach out to her?
She put on a clean outfit while her anger ratcheted up with every thought pinging around her brain. How dare he? She would make him regret using her mother to his advantage. She went to throw open the door. Rada caught her by her arm, spinning her around. He pinned her to the wall kissing her.
She gave in doing the only other thing that appealed to her.
“We don’t know if we are with friend or foe.”
The need to go out there with guns blazing was still in her heart, but she pushed it down. He was right. Until they knew what was happening and where they stood, she needed to play this smart.
“I think you might be good for me.” She gave him a peck on the lips before wishing for her gun.
They walked out to find the male in the kitchen.
“Breakfast is almost made; take a seat.” The kitchen had a round table with four chairs arranged around it. The appliances were modern, and the wall was done in happy yellow.
Right now, she was not happy. “You never gave us your name.”
“Zeek, you can call me Uncle Zeek.” She frowned, looking at him. “Does it ring any bells?”
It did, not that she was about to tell him that.
“I guess it doesn’t matter. I hoped your father would have told you about me. When your mom died, I didn’t know it. We were on the outs—a stupid silly fight over your father of all things. I’d get over it, and so would she. I wasn’t worried, I just hated missing out on seeing you grow. When I finally got the message that she passed away, it was too late to set you free. I could grab you or your father, but the other would die. I couldn’t do that to either of you.” He placed the food on plates and brought it to the table.
“I’ve been looking for you since you fled captivity. That’s why I used the picture to bring you here. It created a doorway that the demons in your plane wouldn’t be able to sense.”
“Are you trying to tell me that my mother wasn’t human? That I am not human?”
“I always find it strange that humans think only they possess humanity.” He stopped to eat. “Your mother was from another plane, but she was human. Your father was from the plane you were born on, and he was human, too. That makes you a human from two different planes with the power of both planes. It means you have a special gift.”