12
KNIGHT “You know, you didn’t have to do this.” She watched me clean the dishes while helping me put them into the dishwasher.
“You don’t have to help me, Nirvana. I can do it myself.”
“If you say so. Anyway, if you wish to stay, Kailin’s room is open. Some sheets and blankets are clean. You can stay there. It’s all yours.”
“I’m good with the couch.”
“I think that’s too small for you. Bed is better, but it’s up to you. Knock on my door if you need anything.”
“Thanks.”
“I suppose you’re not gonna wring my neck in my sleep?”NôvelDrama.Org content.
I could do many things, but definitely, it didn’t involve wringing the neck. If there would be, it should be a kink. I held that thought.
She left the kitchen. When I told her I liked her, she didn’t react. I didn’t know if she decided not to respond or didn’t believe me. After that, we didn’t talk about it anymore.
After cleaning up her tiny kitchen, I brushed my teeth. Then I grabbed two pillows and Kailin’s comforter and arranged them on the couch.
I grabbed my laptop and ran through the spreadsheets I received in my email earlier.
“Onlyfans?”
“Yeah.” I chuckled as I showed her the screen of my laptop.
“So you already set up here?”
“Do you mind?”
“If you feel more comfortable here.”
“Yeah.”
She went to the single sofa. “Kailin booked a suite for herself while you’re here enduring the possible neck pain or backache.”
“I have a penthouse but wanted to talk to you.”
“Well, you can always pack your bag and leave, but don’t get me wrong, I’m not kicking you out.”
For a moment, I hesitated, but curiosity got the best of me. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Why were you with your ex earlier?”
“How do you know? What made you think he’s my ex?” She arched a brow.
“Kailin told me.” I ignored my wolf stirring and the pang in my chest. “If you’re my girlfriend, I open the door for you, send you to your door, and kiss you goodnight. He didn’t do it, and he’s supposed to be threatened when I helped you out of the car.” And that fucker was a werewolf, and Nirvana didn’t have any idea what kind of person she was dating.
He dated someone other than his mate. One thing for sure was Nirvana was not his end game.
“Well, you’re right. He wanted me to give him another chance. When he called at lunch, he wanted to speak to me. Hence, he offered to send me home, and my car was still with Kailin.”
“He’s not good for you.”
“Right.” She winced. “Like I’m so special. Grandpa doesn’t like him that much, but he respects my decision.”
“You are, Nirvana. You are special.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yeah? Do I produce diamonds or heal the earth?”
“You don’t have to have that kind of gift to be special.”
“Whatever.” She rose from the chair. “I’ll leave you to yourself. Enjoy your Onlyfans.”
“Goodnight.” I smiled.
“Night.”
I just couldn’t control myself. I had to turn and watch Nirvana as she went to her room until I noticed a birthmark on the back of her neck. I didn’t notice it before because she was wearing her hair down. “Wait.”
She paused and turned to me. “Yeah?”
I got up and went to her. “You have a birthmark.”
“Birthmark?” She looked surprised. “Not that I know of. Unless I grew one. Where?”
“At the back of your neck. May I?”
“Sure.” She gave me her back.
I pulled her hair to the side to expose the mark, and it looked like a crescent moon upside down and something like the shape of a diamond. It was just the size of my thumb, but my vision was better than 20/20 for humans.
“Here.” I ran my thumb on the mark, and it burned my skin, the same effect as silver. I hissed in pain, but it wasn’t all. It somehow glowed against my touch.
What the fuck?
“I don’t know. I have one.” She put her fingers on where I touched it, and it didn’t hurt her, and the glow was gone. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I checked my finger. It had already healed, but it didn’t change the fact that it seared me, and that birthmark just glowed against my touch as if protecting itself. “Goodnight, Nirvana.”
“Goodnight.”
When she closed the door to her room, I was mind-blown and puzzled at the same time. I picked up my phone and sent a message to Zarah.
KNIGHT: I need you in her apartment early in the morning.
She replied right away.
ZARAH: What’s the emergency?
KNIGHT: Have you heard about a birthmark that burned when someone touched it?
ZARAH: I knew it.
I let go of a shuddering breath before I typed my reply.
KNIGHT: Tell me more.
KNIGHT: Please?
ZARAH: Have you told her about you?
KNIGHT: I can’t do it alone. I need you, Kailin, and Case with me tomorrow.
ZARAH: Then start texting them. I’ll be there.
KNIGHT: See you. Thanks.
“Shit.” I shut the laptop off and lay down, but my mind was still on the woman inside the room. I didn’t know how I could fall asleep when I had so many unspoken words I wanted to tell her and how to drop the bomb on her tomorrow.
It might freak her out, but she needed to know who she was.
I barely got a sleep, but I was already up early. I checked the time on my phone. It was only three in the morning.
I went to the kitchen to get some water. When I came back to the living room, my curiosity and the desire to watch her sleep took the best of me, and I lost control.
Either she intended to keep her door unlocked or forgot about it. She slept in the dark, only the light from the lamppost illuminating inside.
In her pajamas, Nirvana looked so beautiful, young, and innocent, and I was going to corrupt her because of who I was. And she would be exposed to the cruel and dangerous world I lived in.
She suddenly giggled in her sleep. She must have had another dream, and she looked so cute.
When I couldn’t take it anymore, I took the risk and stepped closer to her bed. I pulled her blanket from her feet and covered her.
My stupidity and our mating pull was getting harder and harder to resist. I swiped the hair on her face, caressing her cheek with the back of my finger before I left.
I woke up to smell butter, bacon, and freshly brewed coffee. She was an early riser. It would be great for her as she could go out for a run when she finally turned into a werewolf.
I got up and went to the kitchen. I could get used to her image messing in my house, and I was glad she knew her way into the kitchen.
“Morning. How’s your back?” She sounded enthusiastic while taking a waffle from the maker.
“Morning. How’s your sleep?”
“Better.” She poured another batter and closed the lid. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course. Anything.”
“I had another weird dream. Before you call me crazy, I know this could be my stupid imagination, but I dreamed of the same wolf again.”
Fuck. Zarah was right.
“What?”
“What?” I asked back.
“You got that weird look again.” She whirled the spatula before my face.
“Do I?” I came closer to her and helped her plate the bacon and the waffles as she poured the eggs into the skillet.
“Yeah.”
“Maybe you watched movies before you slept.”
“I didn’t, but this time, he was cute and funny and licked my face.”
I chuckled. “A cute wolf? That’s something.”
“Yeah. That’s weird, but I had that feeling that I could trust him.”
“You keep saying he and him. How do you know it was him?”
“I didn’t see his genitalia, if that’s what you were asking. I just felt it was a male wolf.” She divided the scramble and put it into two plates. “Anyway, Kailin will be here soon, and so will Grandpa. He told me to wait for him here. I don’t know what it’s all about. Do you?”
“Maybe he wants to convince you to come with us.”
“I can’t, Knight.”
“It’s worth a try.”