Shaya smiled a little. “I can’t say I’m surprised.”

“It would make you an Alpha female, if you mated with him. Would you want that? Don’t say you couldn’t manage that position. You could, and you know it.”

“I don’t really know how I feel about that yet.”

“Then I guess that’s something else for you to think about. And now I hear my son crying.”

“Go. We’ll talk again later.” As Taryn skipped down the stairs to tend to Kye, Shaya trailed after Nick, knowing he had gone into the bathroom to retrieve some of his pills from the cabinet. To her surprise, she found him lounging in the bathtub, eyes closed. His lids lifted when she shut the door behind her.

“Hey, baby.” Nick tried to play it down as he always did, but his pain was even in his voice, which was undoubtedly what made Shaya wince.

“You should have let Amber heal you,” she admonished quietly, knowing his hearing was always sensitive when he had one of his headaches. Having kicked off her stilettos, she crouched beside the tub and dipped her hands in the hot water. “I admit I don’t like her touching you. But I prefer that to you being in pain.”

Yeah, well, he preferred the pain to her being upset at seeing another female touch him, especially Amber. “The headache’s already fading.” When she began massaging his temples, he groaned and closed his eyes again. “Now I understand why my dad used to lock himself in his room when he had one of his headaches.” Every little noise was like a hammer to his head.

“I don’t like how many pills you take a day. It can’t be good for you.” The feeling of helplessness plagued her and her wolf. “What can I do?”

“Come here. You’re better than any pill.” Slipping a hand behind her head to tangle in her curls, he gently brought her face to his and slowly took her mouth, sipped from it, licked at it, and sucked on her bottom lip. Tightening his hold on her hair, he tugged hard and, without breaking the kiss, slid deeper into the water, effectively urging her inside the tub. She compliantly followed as he’d known she would, coming to straddle and drape over him. Needing her skin against his, he slid her top up and over her head and removed her bra. Then he flattened her upper body to his, feeling her pebbled ni**les stab his chest. Releasing her mouth, he ran a hand through her curls. “So beautiful.” She blushed cutely.

Massaging his scalp with both hands, Shaya lightly kissed him. Hoping to distract him from the pain, she said, “May I just note for the record that it would be great if you could stop leaving bite marks all over my br**sts? Most of them are in spots that are easily visible to others.”

A self-satisfied smile spread across Nick’s face. “I was marking them as mine. And I like looking at your br**sts and seeing my brands right there, just as I like knowing that if anyone else dares to look at them, they’ll know you’re taken.”

The latter word sounded so final and absolute—a balm to her lingering insecurities and her worry that he would leave her alone again. “It would also be great if you could give the dozens of marks on my inner thighs time to fade before leaving any more. I can hardly wear a bikini when I look like I’ve been assaulted.”

“You won’t be wearing a bikini unless we’re alone. No, baby, I’ve seen how skimpy your bikinis are. As much as I approve, I’m not going to deal well with other guys drooling over you worse than they already do.”

“There has been no drooling. That’s just you being paranoid and possessive.”

She really didn’t see how beautiful she was, and Nick didn’t understand it. “Believe me, they look, and they drool. Not that I can blame them.” He skimmed his hands up and down her back, clutching her close.

“I’m too thin and pale,” she contradicted, echoing Paisley’s claims. They weren’t insults she hadn’t heard before—her mother informed her of this on a regular basis.

Nick gave her a stern look. “No, you’re perfect. The most perfect thing I’ve ever dared to touch. Every single inch of you is delectable, especially this.” He slid his hands inside her cutoff shorts to cup her ass. “It’s every guy’s fantasy.” So many females these days didn’t seem to have an ass; there was nothing to hold and clutch and squeeze. But the one in his hands…Perfect.

“The one who gets drooled over is you,” she insisted. “And it’s freaking annoying.”

“I wouldn’t know about that. My attention’s always on you.”

That would have sounded like a pathetic, kiss-ass comment if it wasn’t for the fact that Shaya knew it was true. His focus was always on her. When he did notice another female was ogling him, he would touch Shaya or pull her close, as if to reassure her that she was the one who mattered to him. She hated that she needed that reassurance so much, but a part of her would always be locked away until she felt she could totally trust him.

As she started to shift away, Nick could feel her emotionally withdrawing a little. “Why do you hold so much of yourself back, Shay?” he asked softly, tightening his arms around her to keep her close. It was another thing he had come to learn about her. “You don’t just do it with me. You can bond so easily with people, but you never give them all of you. Why?”

It was disconcerting just how well he could read her. “When I was sixteen, I met this guy, Mason. He was ten years older than me.”

His wolf growled, not liking another male’s name on her lips. Nick didn’t like it much either, but this was important. “Go on.”

“He had all the right words, said exactly what a sixteen-year-old girl with an empty space inside her would want to hear. If I hadn’t felt so starved of a connection, maybe I wouldn’t have fallen for it, maybe I wouldn’t have let him convince me we were mates. I wasn’t the first girl he’d done it to. The weird ass**le had a thing for virgins. When I realized I’d given my virginity to a complete ass**le, I hated myself and I swore I’d never be that naive again. I became pretty distrustful and wary, not intending to give so much of myself again unless it was my true mate—someone I was confident wouldn’t betray me.”

As guilt and shame slithered over him, Nick’s eyes fell closed. “I don’t know who I’m angrier with—me or Mason.” He kissed her neck. “As much as you avoid deep connections, it’s what you really want, isn’t it?”