Nadine Book 7

77. Done Fighting

Thora shows up a few minutes later. "You're not naked, right?"

"No I'm not naked." She opens the door. "I was thinking about going out the window. Maybe we can drink some." She opens the door further and there stands Mason. "Or not."

He crosses his arms. "I'm going with the or not. You are still recovering. You don't need to drink. I am going to tell the bartender to watch for you girls."

"Fine." I throw myself back on the bed.

Thora sits beside me. "Give it another day or 2, and we'll drink on the boat. It's not that big of a deal."

"Yea, you're right."

Mason smiles. "Thank you." Then he shuts the door.

We giggle, and he flings it back open. Then we laugh so hard. He smirks and shuts it again.

"He is into you. A lot."

"I don't know."

"You never know. Trust me this time around."

"You have been wrong before."

"Barely."

"He's slept in here the last couple nights."

Her eyes about pop out. "Did you?"

"No. He sleeps with me. He's so warm. I don't know how it happened. I think I couldn't sleep. I wake up in the middle of the night, and then he comes in and lies with me. I think he fell asleep too."

"So, that's why you want to stay here." She elbows me.

I giggle. "He is fun to cuddle with. And he's so warm, and I love his skin on me."

"Oh, you're sleeping naked now?"

"In my underwear."

"How did you not get caught?"

"Savannah. She comes in early and sends us to the bath. The first morning she actually threw the sheets, blankets, and pillows right out the window to get rid of his scent."

"I guess that's 1 way to do it."

"That's what I said."

"But no kissing or anything?"

"Nope, I still haven't kissed a werewolf. That's why I don't think he's into me. I think he likes cuddling, but he's trying to help me sleep. And they find their mates too. He's probably hoping to find his at the mating ball. I don't want to make anything complicated for him."

"That is true. Plus, he gets along with the boys. Somewhat decently. Him and Dipak are both hard-headed. But they seem to get along somehow. You should have seen them when you were in that cave. They were both insane, yelling at everyone."

"I'll steal a few cuddles, but I don't think it's smart to go farther than that."

"Yea. So what's going on with Elek?"

"He said he loves me. He told me so much. It made everything make sense."

"Like what?"

"He thought the boys beat me up that day for kissing him."

"Yea, I remember that. But what does it have to do with anything?"

"He was scared to try anything with me after that. He didn't want them to hurt me." Her eyes get so big. "He would kiss Elkie, so the boys wouldn't think he liked me. He had that date, so the boys wouldn't think he was watching me. He liked me the whole time. He was scared to show it. But he wanted to see me. He said enough that I understood."

"I never thought he was scared of them beating you if he kissed you. Imagine how that must have felt for him. Caring about someone so much but being scared they would get hurt if you touched them."

"Yea, I can see why he did some things now. But he told me all that, and he told me he loves me. I told him I love him too."

"Do you?"

"Yes."

"And what about Nik? You 2 were all cuddly today. I haven't seen you like that with him in forever."

I shrug my shoulders. "I think I might be starting to trust him. He seems stable now. He works on his inn and helps with the boat. Him and Elek get along well. It's nice seeing him."

"He does seem happy now. Well, he seemed really happy today. But he's seemed happy a lot lately. He's doing a lot better without his dad around. That's for sure. It seems like he doesn't try to hide anything anymore."

"It really does. I like that. I don't like having stuff hid from me."

"Time will fix you 2. Just like time is fixing you and Tye. You 2 seem really close again. And he seems so happy."

"Yea, we are getting close again. Marcus and I seem to be drifting apart. But a lot of that is in his head. We'll argue about something, then he'll convince himself I'm mad at him. And really I'm not. Like it won't even be a big deal."

"You know, with Marcus, I think little things may help. Like a kiss on the cheek or put your arm around him, give him extra hugs. Anytime you see him, flirt with him a little. I think it lets his mind rest. I imagine it has something to do with him being abused. He's afraid you'll stop loving him. I think you're all he's had."

"I can do that."

"Yea, he was in heaven when you were teasing him on the boat that day. I think when you do anything to him to make him feel good, it reassures him right then and stops any doubts he has. Like when you sat on his lap today. He was all smiles then too."

"I can definitely mess with him more."

We laugh. Then she stands up. "I'm going to the boat. I'll sneak in and tell them I slept here at breakfast."

"I doubt he's coming tonight. I doubt if I'll wake up."

"Never know. I'll sneak."

"Ok. Good night."

"You too."

I throw the dress off and lay down. I hope he comes. I fall right to sleep.

Sure enough, I wake up in the middle of the night. I put the dress back on and step into the hallway. He didn't put any damn books here. I didn't want to throw myself down the steps. I'll see if there's anything in the kitchen to munch on and go back to bed.

I find some bread and fruit. I get myself a little plate and turn around.

There's a large dark shadowy man standing in the doorway.

I gasp and throw the plate at him.

"Just me." He dodges the plate.

"Mason, why are you... what?.. Ugh." I scratch my head. "You scared the hell out of me."

"I'm sorry. I was sitting in the dining room when you walked by. I was seeing what you were doing."

"Why were you in the dining room?" I throw a grape in my mouth and put my hands on my hips.

"I couldn't sleep. I got some food and milk."

"You need to go to bed. Milk sounds good." I throw another grape in my mouth and look around some more.

"You need to go to bed. It's the middle of the night."

"Well, I can't sleep. When are we leaving?"

"Like 5 hours."

I nod.

He carries me to my room. "Let's sleep. I'm done fighting."

"Ok. I'm tired."

He lays down. I throw dress off and lay on top of him. I fall asleep so fast.

"You know, I expected this today. It's normal now. Both of you go. I'll go get her bath ready." Savannah walks out.

I roll off him and stretch. He's so damn sexy. I love touching him.

He smirks. "I love those dark eyes." Then he kisses my head and leaves.

I get ready and Thora is sitting on the couch. "I thought it would be really weird if I wasn't here in the morning. So here I am."

"Thanks." I sit by her.

"Did he show up?"

"Yep." We both giggle. Then we fall asleep on the couch.

"Are you 2 ready?"

"We're awake and not drunk, Dipak. Don't push us."

I stretch. "It's too early."

"Go to the beach over by the boat girls."

We fly out the hole in the wall.

Dipak and Mason beat us there.

I stretch. "Good morning."

Dipak looks at Mason. "Nadine is going to fly you over. She's the most experienced with people. However, if you fall off her. Don't panic. I know you can swim. Hold still and put your arm up. I'll grab you by your wrist."

Thora nods. "At least 1 of us falls off the boat every day. We're used to plucking people out the water."

"We're very good at it."

"Can't you turn into a dragon?"

"Dragons can't swim. We have to turn human and get pulled out. We'll sink and waddle around on the bottom."

Thora nods. "That would be a really long waddle out."

Dipak laughs. "These 2 are not awake. Sweetheart, take him over. We'll be right behind you."

I put my back to them. "Wrap your arms around me."

He steps up against me and wraps his arms around my waist. I smile and move them up around my shoulders. I can feel his breath on my neck and he is so warm. He pulls me in tighter to him.

Thora's eyes are about to pop out. I don't dare look at Dipak.

I turn into a dragon and lift us up. I wiggle around and he seems fine. I take off.

I land on the boat perfectly. Kane smiles from the wheel. Then Dipak and Thora land. Thora grabs me so fast and pulls me below deck. We go all the way to her room.

"What the hell was that?"

"What?"

"You were... Well. He pulled you against him. He is definitely into you. What happened last night?"

Someone knocks on the door.

She opens it and Dipak walks in. "Woman, did you kiss a werewolf?"

"No. I will succeed though. Just maybe not in Mason's village."

Thora nods. "We'll probably find another village at some point."

"I'm hoping."

Dipak walks out and shuts the door.

"Even Dipak noticed it now. Ok, what happened?"

"I couldn't sleep again. I went down to the kitchen to get some food and he was doing the same thing. Said he couldn't sleep. Then he picked me up and carried me up the steps. He said he was done fighting. He laid down on my bed. I threw the dress off and laid down with him. Went right to sleep."

"Fighting?"

"We were arguing about being awake."

She starts laughing. "Yea, he wants you. And now Dipak is going to be all over watching you."

"Good. Maybe that'll give me some time with Elek."

"That's true. But there is some serious heat between you and Mason."

"He is sexy. We woke up this morning, and he told me he liked my dark eyes."

"And he still didn't kiss you?"

I shake my head. "Well, he kissed my head."

"Probably because the boys keep asking if you've kissed a werewolf. He knows they'll ask."

Someone knocks on the door.

She opens it for Tre. "You girls are late for breakfast."

I launch myself at him. "I love you."

"I love you too, baby. Let's go eat."