Assassin's Honor

Chapter 22

Honorera shivered, half in fear, and half in excitement. She didn't even know what that meant, but it sounded intense. She wrapped a towel around herself, tucking the loose ends between her breasts before grabbing another to towel-dry her hair. She wrapped it around her head like a turban and escaped from the steamy bathroom and the impossibly tempting vision of Gabriel covered by only a scant length of terrycloth.

She pawed through her newly purchased clothes but she had only the maroon baby doll nightgown to wear to sleep. She hadn't really had time to think about practical pajamas during their shopping spree. What would he think of her provocative night clothes? Would Gabriel think she was deliberately teasing him?

Did she want to deliberately tease him?

She put it on the skimpy negligee, and then looked at herself in the mirror that was mounted beside the closet door.

Good lord, she thought, I look like a call-girl.

"Uh... Gabriel? Can I borrow a t-shirt to sleep in?" Her high and squeaky voice immediately and unintentionally alerted Gabriel to her anxiety.

He stepped out of the bathroom in a billow of steam. "Why, what’s -- Oh!" He stopped dead in his tracks.

Honor tried to hide behind the closet door, but too late, he had seen her.

"Wow, baby girl... what is that?" She flushed so furiously, she nearly matched the lingerie in color.

"The saleslady... she said you would like it. But it's... no." She shook her head helplessly and peeked around the sliding door. "Please just loan me a t-shirt."

He stalked toward her like the predator that he was. When he was right in front of her, he reached out to test the silky fabric between his fingers. "Oh no, I like this. I like it a lot."

Gabriel leaned over her to grab his bag from the shelf in the closet and pulled out a pair of clean boxers. She averted his eyes when he whipped off the towel, even though she had already seen (and touched) every inch of that body. Suddenly she felt painfully shy again.

He finger-combed his damp hair and then reached for her, pulling her body against his warm, hard chest. "You are so beautiful,” his voice was low and husky with emotion. “I can't believe how lucky I am."

For a moment she closed her eyes and leaned into him, basking in his sweet scent and letting the unfamiliar compliments roll over her like a gentle wave. She was pretty sure that she was the lucky one.

When he released her, she dashed over to the bed, pulled back the covers, and jumped inside, yanking the sheets up to her chin to cover her body. She felt more exposed in the sexy nightgown than she had fully naked in the shower.

Gabriel chuckled and turned out the lights. He slid in next to her and dragged her near so that he could bury his nose in the juncture of her neck. "Come close, my love. Snuggle with me. Nothing more, I promise."

She eased up against him, and relaxed by degrees, slowly getting closer, and more comfortable, until she was laying on her side, her head pillowed on his shoulder, her arm curled over his chest, her small hand resting over his heart. She could feel it beating, and it seemed like her own heart was mirroring his rhythm. She grew bolder and draped her leg over his thighs. "Are you always this hot?" She asked, and then blushed, and was thankful that her face was hidden in the darkness. "I mean your body temperature... you are so warm."

"Yes ma'am. That's normal for a Were." He answered sleepily, his southern draw sounding deeper and more pronounced. Gabriel’s breathing slowed as he dropped off to sleep, but Honorera stayed awake for a long time, still puzzling over the mysterious man, and the unexpected turn her life had taken.

*********

They had shifted around in the night and changed positions until Honorera’s backside was snuggled up against Gabriel’s. His arms were wrapped possessively around her, and one hand had slipped under her nightgown to cup her breast. He woke up aroused comfortable with the female in his embrace... as if she truly had been made to fit perfectly against him.

His morning wood was straining painfully in his boxers, and his wolf was whining pitifully in his head, begging him to be allowed to mate her and mark her, but Gabriel forced down the thoughts. He had already waited ten years, he could be patient a little while longer. He would not rush her or force her into anything. He was confident that she would soon accept him, and his mark willingly and fully. Until then, he would be taking a lot of cold showers.

He slipped out of bed and was gratified when she whimpered and reached for him, already missing his body heat even though she wasn’t fully awake. By the time he stepped out of the shower ten minutes later, she was sitting up in bed looking adorably mussed and sleepy-eyed.

“We better get going, before my family comes looking for us.”

The mere mention of his family effected her like a splash of cold water. She shivered and hurried to get dressed. “What is your family like?” She asked timidly as she pulled a brush through her long, sleep-tangled hair.

“They are great. Don't worry baby girl, they are excited to meet you." He kissed her nose before he finished buttoning the front of his shirt.

"Ok, but what are they like?? What is your mother like?"

"Mum? Well, she's..." Gabriel watched her expression flicker with worry and realized she'd never had a mother, not that she could remember at least, and she'd never really experienced the love, comfort, and safety of a loving family. Her loss made his chest ache with sadness. But he was happy that he could give her that experience now. His family would step in and fill that hole in her life. He smiled fondly as he described his mother in detail. "She's very sweet and kind and generous. And kind of nosy. And a little pushy. She likes to cook, and feed people. And she always, always knows when someone is lying."

Honorera nodded as if she understood, but she still chewed her bottom lip and wore an expression of uncertainty.

They ate breakfast at the hotel and then got back on the road. The miles sped by and Honorera was mostly absorbed in her own thoughts and worries. Every time Gabriel glanced at her, she was staring out the window.

He wished he could know what was going on in that pretty little head of hers. She was thinking so hard he could almost smell the smoke. Her face was guarded and expressionless, and he didn’t like that. He didn’t like it when she retreated inside and hid from him. He’d never been uncertain or insecure about anything in his life, but the silence of his little mate unnerved him.

“Hey, beautiful…a penny for your thoughts?”

She signed and leaned her forehead against the window pane. “If you paid a penny for each I’d be a millionaire.”

“So talk to me,” he pleaded gently.

She glanced at him with a furrowed brow. “I was thinking about Uncle Tanner. I wonder why he always hated me so much. And I wonder how he’s coping now, with nobody to cook for him, nobody to wash his clothes. Nobody to take care of him.”

That was not the answer Gabriel was expecting. Leave it to Honorera to be worried about the man who had abused her. Gabriel frowned at the road, “You took care of him every day, even when he was bad to you. Why?”

She shrugged and shifted restlessly in the seat. "He’s the only family I have.”

"Exactly. You were his niece. It was his duty to love you and take care of you. He should have treated you like a daughter. Not a housemaid." Gabriel gripped the steering wheel harder. He should have killed the Tanner Talbot for what he put her through, for ever laying a hand on his mate. It was only because Honorera had pity on the man that Gabriel had spared him. For Honorera's sake, he let the man live.

"I had nowhere else to go. I have nowhere to go now." She said her voice low, her expression lost.

"Honor... you do not need to go anywhere." He reached across the seat and took her hand. "Don't you understand? You have a home now. Your home is with me. My house is your home. My family is your family. My pack is your pack."

"Your pack?" She looked confused and mystified. "Like a wolf pack?"

"Yes.” He could see she required an explanation. “We live together, like a family. For protection, and security. We have a very organized social structure, and we take care of each other."

"It sounds..." her voice trailed off as her eyes grew distant. "Too good to be true."

"Oh, it's not always perfect," Gabriel admitted easily. "Sometimes there are fights or squabbles, just like in any family. Sometimes packs have feuds and fights with other packs. Sometimes rivals fight. "

They lapsed back into silence, with only the music to fill the empty air between them. Gabriel was startled when his phone rang. It was connected via Bluetooth to the truck’s audio system, and he answered it with a button on the steering wheel.

“Hey Todd,” Jericho glanced at Honorera with a grim expression when he saw the caller ID pop up on the dashboard display.

"Holy Hell Gabriel, where have you been?" An aggravated male voice growled through the speakers.

"Busy." Gabriel scowled at the tone of the caller. This was not a conversation he wanted to have in front of Honorera, but it was too late to fumble for his phone.

"There's a job-"

"I told you, I'm done. I'm retired,” Gabriel cut him off. Todd Valentine was one of the dispatchers for King’s, his former employer.

"That's what Peter said, but I didn't believe it. You can't just up and leave the business!" Todd was outraged.

"I just did," Gabriel smiled at Honorera, who was watching him and listening to the conversation curiously. "I have better things to do now."

"Abe's going to be furious,” the other man warned him.

"I don't care. Abe doesn't own me." Gabriel's voice grew hard and cold. "I'm out Todd, and I don't want any more calls. No amount of money in the world will change my mind. I will not take any more jobs." He cut the call before Todd could say anything more.

Honorera swallowed and fidgeted with the seatbelt before she rubbed her palms across the top of her thighs. There was a slight edge of accusation and suspicion in her voice when spoke. “Why do I get the feeling he wasn’t looking for a substitute English teacher?”