“We. Need. To Talk,” she said again slowly, putting the emphasis on each word as if he wasn’t capable of understanding her.

Decebel knew that look. That was the look that said there is nothing on this earth or in any other realm that will change my mind, so change yours or die. He groaned and rolled off of her. He really didn’t want to.

“I didn’t say you had to move,” she grumbled. “I just said we needed to talk.”

“I can’t lay on top of you and just talk. No male could lay on top of his woman’s body and just talk. It’s an unspoken rule. If she’s underneath you, then it’s go time.”

She snorted at him. “It’s go time?” The words came out in a laugh.

“You say stuff like that all the time.”

“Yeah, but coming from me it’s awesome. Coming from you it’s like a medieval Romanian warrior attempting to use twenty-first century military lingo. Sort of like a bear attempting to poop in a toilet and not in the woods.”

Decebel shook his head as he chuckled. “Only you would say something like ‘a bear attempting to poop in a toilet’ and not think that it was a strange thing to say.”

“It’s why you lurv me, babe.” She winked at him. “Now, quit distracting me. We need to talk.”

He let out a sigh. “What’d I do this time?”

Her brow drew together and her lips pursed. “What?” Realizing what he was thinking, she shook her head and waved him off. “No, no. You aren’t in trouble this time—at least not yet. But the day is still young, so there’s hope for you yet. No, we need to talk about Drake and Bethany.”

Decebel almost face palmed. If he had to deal with one more territorial, out of control wolf, he just might kill them all and be done with it. “What’d he do this time?”

“Well…” Jennifer began.

Decebel settled back against his pillow. Whenever she started a sentence with ‘well,’ it meant that whatever she was going to say wasn’t going to be quick.

“Bethany and Drake got into an argument because he won’t touch her and she wants him to touch her. But he’s being this chivalrous butthead about it and making decisions for her.”

“He’s protecting her, as is his right,” Decebel interrupted.

She snapped her fingers at him. “Uh-uh, buddy. You keep those beautiful lips shut. You can say your peace after I’ve told you everything.”

“Fine,” he huffed.

“Bethany is eighteen. No, she isn’t a normal eighteen-year-old, but she’s still an adult. She’s in her right mind and has every right to make decisions for herself.”

“Even if those decisions could be harmful?”

This time Jennifer slapped a hand over his mouth. “Shut. It.”

She waited a couple of minutes before finally removing her hand and continuing. Decebel wouldn’t have minded if she had left her hand there. He could have given it a few licks and let his wolf enjoy her taste. His wolf was wicked crazy about their mate and loved licking her. And he was pretty sure that any other female besides his would be creeped out by that.

“He told her…well actually, he yelled at her that she didn’t even know what happened in a relationship besides kissing. She said something…I can’t remember exactly what… and he threw a lamp at the wall.”

Decebel started to sit up. “He threw something,” he growled.

Jennifer pushed on his chest. “Not at her. I’ve thrown crap when I get pissed at you.”

“You throw it at me” he pointed out.

“Yeah, because a lamp wouldn’t hurt you. You’d hurt the lamp, so it’s not the same. The point is, he wasn’t aiming for her, he was just reacting. Oh, wait, now I think I remember what she said. She might have asked him if—maybe, just maybe—she should perhaps seek out a different male—someone that would be willing to teach her the things that Drake wouldn’t. I think that might have been what set him off,” she finished, raising her eyebrows, pretending to seriously consider the situation.

“She said she’d go to another male? In his presence? To him?”

Jennifer scrunched up her face. “See, I feel like those are the same question. And I’ve already answered that in my original statement. So…we’re moving on.”

Decebel reached over and laid a hand on his mate’s thigh, stopping her words. “You know what we fear most, Jennifer. You know what we endured in the InBetween. Threatening to be with another male, Jennifer? That is enough to drive a wolf to do desperate things, especially one that is already barely holding it together. He might do anything in order to prevent his mate from carrying out her threat.”

“Desperate?” she asked. “Are we talking, ‘gets on his knees and grovels desperate, or take out every available male in a ten mile radius,’ desperate?”

“Option two,” Decebel answered his voice rough with anger.

“Wow. I keep saying you guys are off-the-charts psycho and you just keep proving me right. It’s like you’re afraid to disappoint me.”

“What happened after the lamp?” he pressed.

Jennifer bit her bottom lip as she looked up at him. “I’ve changed my mind. Now that I think about it, I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to tell you,” she said, the words coming out slowly.

His wolf perked up at the challenge and he knew his eyes were glowing as he stared back at her. “Why. Not.”

“It will hit too close to home. You know what,” she said, suddenly sitting up and reaching for the hem of her t-shirt. “I think your idea is better, let’s go with that. You can just climb back on over here and show me this whole ‘can’t lay on top of your female and just talk stuff.’ ”

He reached over and stopped her from pulling her shirt up any further up. It was already high enough to reveal her creamy stomach and that was painfully tempting.

“Do not try to distract me, Jennifer. Tell me.”

“But my distractions are always so much fun and often involve removing clothing. Remember how much you like me to remove clothing?”

“Not happening, female. Now answer the question.”

“Ugh!” she groaned and threw herself back in the bed. “Damn stubborn, fur ball. Fine,” she snapped at him. “She told him that if he didn’t want to touch her, then he’d lost the right to. She forbade him to touch her and told him that his touch was…unwanted.”