Navarro's Promise - Lora Leigh [79]
Now there was a load of shit if Navarro had ever heard one. He slid a look in Callan’s direction, expecting to see a warning in the Feline Pride leader’s gaze to hold to the lie. Rather than the warning though, what he saw was somber confusion and, amazingly, pity.
“And you, Navarro?” Dash asked then. “Would you tell me if Mica had mated?”
Navarro’s brow lifted.
“Dash, Navarro doesn’t carry the mating scent. I give you my word on it if that’s what you’re questioning,” Callan spoke up.
Navarro was careful to show no reaction. No surprise, no confusion. He’d never known Callan to outright lie in such a way, especially in front of witnesses. It was such a gross disregard of the agreements between Sanctuary and Haven that even Navarro questioned the decision.
“There are rumors he mated her, Callan.” Dash frowned back at both of them. “I can’t disregard those whispers.”
“We’ll figure it out on our end and get back to you,” Callan promised. “Would you trust me to do that?”
Dash stared at the pride leader for long moments before turning back to Navarro to give him a probing look. Finally, the other Breed rubbed at the back of his neck in irritation before giving a tight nod. “I’ll trust you, Callan. But remember if you will, Mica is family, and she’s an only child. Her parents . . . worry.”
Yeah, they worried their little princess would end up getting fucked or worse yet, horror of all horrors, mated by a Breed. It wasn’t that they were prejudiced or even disapproving of the Breeds. It was simply that they believed their daughter deserved better.
And with that thought came a surge of possessiveness Navarro barely caught in time to tamp it down and dispose of it. The night before had been relatively comfortable. The agonizing arousal that had marked the time since he’d first mated her had eased.
The realization that he’d taken her as an animal beneath the trees had shaken him to his soul. He’d wanted nothing more than to push her to her knees, press her shoulders to the forest floor and fuck her until she was screaming for him, begging for him as he rocked into her from behind.
The image of that, even now, had the power to slip past the walls he had built around it and cause his dick to harden with need.
Hell, he was getting tired of sitting here. The more he listened to them talk about Mica, the harder it was to deny his need for her.
Thankfully, the conversation ended, the vid-comm darkened, and then, uncomfortably, all eyes turned to him as the door to the conference room opened and Josiah walked into the room.
Anger spilled from the Breed in waves.
His eyes snapped with steel gray blue flames as he raked his fingers through his shaggy dark blond hair and glared at Navarro.
“Did you know the presence of the mating hormone in you is now negligible?”
Surprising. Hell, the day was just getting more interesting by the moment, wasn’t it? Negligible? That meant Mica would no longer be his mate soon. That had happened only once before with Callan’s pack sister Dawn and her mate, Seth Lawrence, but it had taken ten years and the complete removal of Seth from Dawn’s life during that time for it to happen, not ten fucking hours.
Should he regret it?
He could feel the need to claim her once again trying to rise inside him and he fought it. Mica didn’t need this. If the heat was receding, then it would be a blessing for her. She had dreams, plans, desires that he knew did not include a Breed. It didn’t include the hell their lives could become if public sentiment turned against them.
“You’re acting as though it’s a crime,” he stated as the others continued to stare at him as though he had somehow deliberately caused this.
It felt like a crime against nature.
He hadn’t neglected her as the need burned between them. He’d taken her, satiated her, stilled the hunger raging inside her until last night, just before going to her, he’d realized he felt . . . normal.
He wasn’t iron-hard