Reluctantly His

Chapter Nine

Garrick slapped the steering wheel while he cursed up a storm inside his head.

So much for spending the day with Nika. The situation had gone from being exceptionally enjoyable to fucked up hellishly fast. If only she hadn't pushed him to tell her the truth about himself. He had wanted to wait at the very least a few more days, preferably a week, before he told her. Now he had to tell her tomorrow or risk the chance of her shutting him out. Not that he didn't expect some kind of reaction from her when the truth finally came out.

The lousy thing about it all, he saw where Nika was coming from. Her ex had cheated on her before he'd bailed on her and the pub. No wonder she was hesitant to trust another man. He understood that, but his telling her he was an immortal werewolf warrior was far different from his cheating on her. He couldn't exactly sit her down and say he was well over a thousand years old, and that an Anglo-Saxon god had chosen him to fight the bad werewolves that liked to stalk mortals at night. And he doubted she would react well to the news she was his mate, and that Tiw would grant her immortality as well once she fully accepted Garrick.

He drove around for a bit before he went home. The next twenty-four hours, spent without Nika, would be hell. Every time they made love, he fell for her harder. He wanted her near him, and hated when he had to leave her. For someone who had never known if he was capable of actually falling in love with a woman, Garrick was finding out he could. After over a century of being alone, he yearned to share his life with the woman who was worming her way inside his heart.

Finally arriving at the house, Garrick parked his car in the detached garage. He headed for the front door, but when he heard the sound of feminine voices coming from the back garden, he turned and walked in that direction. Both Lexi and Kamryn sat at the wrought iron patio table. They looked in his direction when he approached.

"You're back a lot earlier than I expected you to be," Lexi said.

He pulled out the chair next to hers and sat. "My plans for the day took a bit of a wrong turn." Garrick looked at the women. "I need both of your advice."

"Something happened between you and Nika," Kamryn said.

"Yeah, it did." He blew out a breath. "She knows there is something different about me."

Lexi chuckled. "I'm going to take that to mean that you've slept with her, and she's noticed some of your wolfy traits. Such as what happens when you reach your climax."

He nodded. "For awhile, I had been able to avoid answering her questions, but my luck ran out today. We ended up having a bit of a tiff because I refused to tell her the truth about me."

"And did you tell her?" Kamryn asked.

"No." Garrick blew out another breath. "I promised her I would tomorrow night, not that she has any clue as to what I'm going to say to her. She just knows I'm keeping something from her, and she doesn't like it. She told me I can't keep secrets from her or we're through. Her ex screwed around on her, and Nika has trust issues because of the wanker."

"So you want Kamryn and me to give you advice on how to tell Nika the truth without scaring the crap out of her," Lexi said.

"Correct. You took the news fairly well, Lexi. No offense to you, Kamryn, but you completely freaked out. I want to avoid that with Nika as much as possible."

Kamryn had indeed freaked when Algar had told her what he was. Only here at Norwich for a holiday at that point, she'd screamed at Algar to stay away from her.

She'd had Lexi drive her back to her hotel, where she'd stayed hidden for a week before Brand had dragged her back to the mansion to put Algar out of his misery, and everyone else's since he had been driving them all nuts with his pinning over Kamryn.

"No, I can see why you wouldn't want that happening," Kamryn said with a laugh. "I didn't take the news all that well."

"So how should I break it to Nika so that won't happen?" he asked.

Kamryn spoke first. "First of all, and I can't stress this enough, don't shift into your werewolf form to prove to Nika you're not feeding her a line of shit about you being a werewolf. Algar's doing that to me wasn't such a smart move on his part. Your wolf form is so much easier to handle."

"All right. No werewolf form until she accepts the truth, and is ready to see me like that."

"I know it may be hard for you," Lexi said, "but tell Nika what she means to you.

Don't just demand she accept you as her mate without letting her know you truly want her by your side forever."

"I told her that I would never leave her the day after I met her."

"And did she believe you?"

"Well, not really, I don't think."

"I wouldn't think so. If she has trust issues like you've said, and she really didn't know you at that point, I can see her thinking you're just feeding her a line of bull."

"I tried to convince her that I was telling her the truth."

"How did you do that?" Kamryn asked.

"By telling her that I had proof that she was the one meant for me, but I couldn't show or tell her about it yet."

The women shook their heads and chuckled.

"Oh, Garrick," Lexi said. "No wonder Nika is pushing you to tell her the truth.

Saying something like that would have any girl wondering what she'd gotten herself into."

"Okay, I'll admit I haven't exactly gone about this the right way," he said. "Let's face it, back when I was mortal, I didn't have to worry about dating. And the usual women I tend to associate with are only interested in a good time for a night or two. I've never had to work this hard to win over a woman. Add the pressure of having to tell her what I am, it makes it that much more difficult."

Lexi reached over and patted his hand. "You just have to get it over and done with. Like I told Algar when he was going to tell Kamryn about our world, it's sometimes better to do it quickly—like ripping off a bandage."

Lexi drew in a sharp breath, stiffened, and put her free hand on her distended belly. Garrick looked at it and watched it move while her baby shifted inside her. "Lexi, are you all right?"

She smiled. "I'm fine. Junior here decided to give me a big kick to the ribs. He or she is running out of room. The midwife thinks I may deliver a little bit earlier than my expected due date."

Since Raed was a werewolf and Lexi was now immortal, it was out of the question for her to give birth in a hospital. So they had gone the home birth route. Even then, they had to be watchful of the midwife. They all had no idea whether the baby would take after its father's werewolf side or just be immortal, a trait it would receive from both parents. Raed had told all the warriors they needed to be at home when Lexi went into labor. Tiw may protect the mansion from Fenris' get—they literally couldn't step onto the property without running into an invisible shield—but Raed didn't want to take any chances while his mate and child were so vulnerable.

Lexi sucked in another breath. "Oh, there's another good one."

She put his hand on her hard stomach, and the baby gave a kick against his palm. This wasn't the first time Lexi had let him feel the baby move. She'd let all of them do it. Since this child would be the first one born from one of the mated couples, they all felt as if it was their baby as well. All the warriors would lay their lives on the line to protect Lexi and Raed's precious new life.

"I'm glad it's you and not me," Kamryn said. "I'm not ready for a baby yet."

Algar and she had only been mated for four months. Unlike Lexi, who had gotten pregnant shortly after meeting Raed, Kamryn hadn't. But Garrick figured Kamryn and Algar would be following Lexi and Raed's parenthood footsteps soon enough.

When the baby shifted, visibly moving Lexi's stomach again, Garrick knew he wanted to see Nika in this condition, large with his child.

Gently pulling his hand out from under Lexi's, he stood. "Thanks for the advice, ladies. I think I'm going to do a little sword practice to help me figure out how to go about handling Nika."

He willed his sword into his hand and walked out into the center of the garden.

Swinging his sword, he soon fell into the practiced movements. With the familiar stretch and pull of his muscles, Garrick let his mind wander. He was going to dread tomorrow night.

Nika served a pint to one of her regular customers and went back behind the bar.

It was Tuesday afternoon, and tonight Garrick would return and tell her what he'd been keeping from her.

After a full twenty-four hours apart, she missed Garrick, a lot. She had thought she wouldn't to quite that extent. The fact she did showed what she felt for him was a lot stronger than how she'd felt for David. She'd thought she'd loved her ex, but looking back at it now, she didn't think it had been love, love. After the short time she'd known Garrick, her feelings ran deeper than they had for David after over a year. Could she love him already? How could that be possible? They hardly knew each other. She didn't even know where he lived. They hadn't shared much of their personal lives, either.

She hoped that would change tonight. Nika really didn't want to dump Garrick, not with how she felt about him. During the long day that had been yesterday, she'd decided she would try to be understanding and not be judgmental about whatever he would tell her. This was just a small speed bump in the road to them having a closer relationship.

Nika broke out of her musings when she noticed one of the few patrons lifting his empty beer glass in her direction to indicate he wanted another. She nodded to let him know she would bring him one. Once she had the same dark ale he'd ordered before poured into a clean glass, she put it on a tray and walked around the bar to bring it to him. Just as she reached the table, the man's friend pushed back his chair and slammed into her. She jerked in surprise, and the beer wobbled on the tray. Nika made a quick grab for it, but that only resulted in her knocking it completely over. The beer spilled down the front of her shirt.

While the man apologized, Nika righted the glass to stop more of the beer from soaking into her T-shirt. "I'm so, so sorry," he said.

"It's all right. Accidents happen. I'll just get your friend another beer."

With the spilled beer soaking right through to her bra, Nika quickly poured another pint. Once she'd safely delivered it to the table, she went to the kitchen. "Lee, can you watch the taproom for a few minutes while I go upstairs to change my shirt?"

He looked at the condition of her T-shirt and chuckled. "Had a little mishap, did you?"

"Yeah, just a little."

"Go ahead. I'll go out there in a few seconds."

Assured Lee would cover for her, Nika went back out to the taproom and up the stairs that led to her flat. She went to her bedroom and hurriedly stripped out of her soaked tee and bra. She grabbed clean ones from her dresser, but she didn't put them on. The odor of beer still wafted around her. She definitely needed to wash off.

Once inside the bathroom, Nika grabbed a clean cloth off the shelf on the wall and stuck it under the running water in the sink. She wrung it out and swiped it across her chest and breasts. Turning to reach for one of the towels, something on the right side of her back, high up near her shoulder, caught her attention.

Nika angled into the mirror and leaned in for a better look. A patch of skin about the size of her hand looked to be bruised. Gently, she touched the blackish mark, but much to her surprise it didn't hurt. She had no idea how she could have gotten a bruise that size and not remember doing something to cause it. Whatever she had done, she must have really hit it hard to have the bruise going that color.

She shrugged. She needed to get moving. She dried her off, and then put on her clean bra and T-shirt. She couldn't waste too much time up here. Not that Lee would be inundated with customers while she was gone.

After Nika returned downstairs, and Lee went back to the kitchen, the rest of the day seemed to pass a little more quickly. A few more customers came and went, with a little increase in business once night set in.

She'd come back to the bar after serving a customer when a man walked into the pub and sat on one of the barstools. As Nika went to see what she could get him, a sense of uneasiness washed over her. There was something about him that she didn't like. Outwardly, he seemed like a normal guy. His looks were pleasant enough, but then he smiled, and she noticed it didn't reach his eyes. They were cold and flat.

Pasting a smile on her lips, she asked, "What can I get you?"

"A pint of your best ale." He looked her up and down. "You're an American?"

"Yes, but I call Norwich my home now."

Nika moved down the bar to pour him his drink. When she returned, she put it in front of him and told him how much it cost. Giving her another of his cold smiles, he fished some pound notes out of his pocket and put them on top of the bar.

As she went to pick them up, he stroked his hand down the length of her arm, caught her by the wrist, and said, "Keep the change. From the number of empty tables here, I can see you need it."

She pulled her arm away. "It's a slow night."

"Do you run the pub by yourself?"

"I'm the owner, but I do have an employee who is the cook." Nika felt the need to let him know she didn't work here totally alone.

"I guess I'll have to come back sometime and try the food."

"Lee is a great cook."

Not liking the way he continued to look at her—as if he was the hunter and she the prey—Nika left him to drink his beer. Keeping herself busy by wiping down the bar top, she felt his gaze following her every move. Unlike when Garrick did the same thing, this guy's stare made her edgy. Even though she welcomed the sight of new customers, she wished he'd hurry up and drink his beer so he could leave.

Luckily, he did just that. Once he walked through the pub's front entrance, Nika retrieved his dirty glass and found a large tip sitting next to it. She picked up both and pocketed the money. At least the man had tipped well.