Noctisardor Bypass Be my rest, be my fantasy

His touch elicits a sigh and all over again she’ll ache to surrender to him in their amorous way. She laughs when he asks about her pack- how can she possibly bring Fig home when she can’t even keep herself off him? That in itself would be a true test of her willpower.

“Um,” a small voice rustles, summoning a little sense but mostly distracted by his mouth. “Kvarsheim is the oldest pack in the valley. Gunnar and Taktuq are the alphas. Hard-working. Sincere. We used to be small, only four of us. Now we’re growing. Rapidly.”

There’s some distaste with that. The truth is she didn’t like how congested the pack had become, and she wasn’t chummy with all who walked among them, only that didn’t suit her sales pitch so she kept her mouth shut.

Though most importantly, there was Skáld. Someone she couldn’t keep quiet about, even when she had no idea how to broach the subject to a man who hadn’t wanted children, and who could very well be frightened off by the knowledge that… she already has one. Her throat tightens, averting her eyes as she whispers, “I’ve got a kid at home.” Her draping arms stiffen across his shoulders. “He’s been abandoned by his family and everyone he’s ever loved. I’m not going to do that.”

It’s a lot. She knows it is. A week ago they were hardly more than strangers, now they’re trying to figure out the potential of their lives working in tandem and laying plans for a future they had never prepared for. It was bewildering. Terrifying. But she was completely enamored with Fig, and somehow everything felt possible with him. Including being honest.

“Skáld and I, we’re sort of a packaged deal,” her voice quivers, but it’s spoken plainly: he’s a non-negotiable. Anyone who was in her life, would also be in Skáld’s.

She hesitates but raises her eyes to look back into his, searching but unsure what she expects to see there.