Moonlight Run

Twenty-Seven

Isa’s POV

When the fighting was at an end, what remained of Julius’ men were rounded up, placed into silver cuffs, and loaded into the many SUVs that Nikolai had brought with him. I stood quietly from my place outside the medical center down the road, watching, thinking over the lifechanging information Maximus had just given me, while Dimitri loaded him into another SUV that pulled up in front of us.

“Stay here,” Dimitri said as he jumped in beside Maximus. “You’ll be riding with Nikolai back.”

“And my mother?” I asked, cringing as I said the word mother.

“I’m not sure who has her.” Dimitri frowned. “You’ll get a chance to speak with her back home, I’m sure.”

I nodded and he closed the door. The car pulled away and I leaned against the brick wall of the building with a heavy sigh, processing. My momentarily silence was disturbed when two final SUVs that remained pulled up in front of me. The rear passenger door opened and a shiftless Nikolai jumped out. He wore only a pair of red sweatpants that clung a bit too tightly around his midsection, and I averted my eyes away.

“Where’s Pipa?” I asked, offering him his boots.

“She’s in the car behind us,” he said, “with her mate.”

“Her mate?” I said in surprise. 

Nikolai gave a short nod, “Alvis gave up Julius, in return for a life with Pipa in our pack.”

“And you agreed to those terms?” I was shocked.

“Let’s just say there will be a probationary period for a while.” Nikolai clenched his jaw. “But if he’s good to Pipa, and he proves himself useful to our pack… he can remain with us.”

“Hm,” I crossed my arms as tossed his boots onto the floor of the car. “And Julius? What about him?”

“He’s in one of the cars that already left, with Valric and Cyrano.”

“...and when he gets back to the compound?” 

“His time at the compound will last only as long as his usefulness…” He said, motioning for me to get into the SUV as he held the door open for me.

“Nikolai... he’s my brother.”

Nikolai scoffed and shut the door. He stared at me silently for a minute before he spoke. “You know, I might find your capacity for forgiveness, compassion — or whatever the f**k this is — even mildly endearing in any other circumstance, Isadora.” He put his hand on the side of my cheek as he stepped towards me. “But if you knew what your brother had planned for you, you wouldn’t stand here and—”

“I do know.” I said with a sigh. “Maximus told me.”

His hand fell from the side of my face and he stepped back, his face contorting into pain. “He shouldn’t have told you that… Not yet. You’ve been through enough.”

“I would’ve found out in a few days anyway,” I reminded him.

“It would’ve been a few days more so that we could put together a plan…”

“A plan for what?” I swallowed hard. “Are we going to figure out how to lie to your father? You know and I know that the moment he finds out what I am—”

“He won’t.” Nikolai said through gritted teeth.

“We both know he will,” I said quietly. “And when he does, he’ll either have me killed so that someone else can’t use me, or he’ll use me the same way, like Julius was going to."

“Not if you’re my mate, he won’t.”

I scoffed. “Even if it’s true… even if we are… Do you really think, even for a minute, that Phineas Blackburn would let you mark me, if leaving me unmated meant—”

Nikolai stepped forward towards me quickly, taking me in his arms. Both of his hands cradled the back of my head and he pulled me to his chest, his breath hot against my ear as he whispered, “If he tries, I’ll kill him myself.”

***

I slept for most of the ride back to the compound, waking up as we arrived at the manor. My eyelids fluttered open lightly and for a moment I just wanted to sink into my spot, curled up in the backseat of the SUV under Nikolai’s arm. He’d put on a shirt since we’d got into the car, but the warmth of his chest gave me comfort all the same. As I sat up and looked out the window, I saw Julius being yanked from one of the cars in front of us I said, “Stop! Let me out!” and pressed hard onto the door.

“Isa, don’t!” Nikolai called after me, but I had opened the door before the driver could hit the lock button. I was running across the grass to where Valric was standing with Julius, putting a second set of silver cuffs around his ankles. But before I could reach my brother I heard the words, just as quickly as I felt them.

“Isadora, STOP.” And now I was frozen in place, unable to move while under Nikolai’s compulsion.

Julius looked up from his knees as Valric secured his shackles, and he laughed in my direction.

“You’re gonna see real soon, Isa. You were better off with me.”

***

Nikolai’s POV

I stood in the manor lawn, my hands firmly on each side of Isadora’s upper arms, watching quietly while each prisoner was taken through the annex entrance to be locked in the cells of the basement below.

Once the last of my men had cleared out, I said softly, “You can turn around, Isadora.”

The compulsion broke away, and she wheeled around on her heel quickly. I felt the sting across my face follow after.

“Don’t you ever do that to me again!” She said, a finger in my face.

I bit hard on the inside of my cheek as I took a deep breath, restraining myself. And then her scent hit my nose and I turned away from her. But as I tried to control my temper through breathing, she was all that I could smell.

I swallowed hard as she continued to glare at me, and I remembered what my father had said before. How he warned me that Isa, like Pipa, would need to be reminded of who her Alpha was. And it occurred to me at this moment how I might do that very differently than my father. I pulled out my phone and sent a short text message while Isa continued to glare at me. Once I hit send. I scooped her up into my arms and threw her over my shoulder.

“What are you doing? Put me down!” She kicked her feet and her fist placed small angry blows against my back. But I ignored her as I made my way across the parking lot towards my car, opening the passenger door.

I flipped her around placed her firmly in the seat, reaching across to buckle her seatbelt while she continued to struggle. Her elbow came down on the back of my head.

“f*****g ow, woman! STOP.” I felt the compulsion slip out again and I sighed, kneeling on the asphalt beside where she now sat strapped into the car. We stared at each other intensely for a moment, her chest rising and falling in her frustration. I had to avert my eyes from her obvious cleavage, threatening to burst from the neckline of her blouse.

“Are you done?” I asked, releasing her from the compulsion. She continued to stare at me scornfully. 

I stood to my feet and closed the car door. When I settled into the driver side and started up the engine she finally spoke. “Where are we going?”

“Home,”

***

Isa’s POV

We pulled up in front of the red metal garage and I looked to the familiar farmhouse to the left as Nikolai put the car in park. There were two new planter pots sitting on either side of the side door, the entrance to my new apartment. As I unbuckled myself from the car and stepped out, he had already gone to the door and was unlocking it. I was coming around the side of the porch as he pushed open the door.

“Take a look,” he said with a smug smile.

I rolled my eyes at him and walked into the living room, and felt my breath catch in my chest as I glanced around the room. In the corner was a tv stand with an electric fireplace built into it, and a brand new tv on top of it. A dark green sofa with a chaise end and matching ottoman sat diagonal from it. 

“You have a fireplace now,” he said, closing the door behind me. 

“I see that,” I said, swallowing back the tears I felt coming on. “Thank you.”

“That’s not all." He motioned to the kitchen/dining area at the back.

Two metal barstools rested at a new island that had been installed since I’d seen the space last. They were a metallic gray, which matched the brand new stainless steel appliances. 

“You put in new appliances?” I asked. “But I thought you didn’t have the money for—”

“I put my kitchen remodel on pause to focus on your side of the space.” Nikolai said, his eyes shifting away from mine. “I just wanted you to feel like you were home when you came back.”

I looked around the room, smiling when I saw a basket of his clothes pushed against the closet that concealed the washer and dryer. “Still doing your laundry here, huh?”

His elbows rested on the counter behind him now and he tilted his head to the side. “As long as you’re still okay with that?”

“Yeah,” I quickly turned my head away so I didn’t have to meet his smile. “I guess that’s still okay.”

“Good,” he said quietly. 

I was startled when I felt him take my hand and tug me away, through the living room, toward the stairs.  When we reached the top of the stairs he pushed the bathroom door open and I gasped as he led me into the room.

The clawfoot tub had been refinished, with newly installed brass fixtures. I was so preoccupied with the transformed space I hadn’t yet noticed the unopened bottle of wine chilling in a silver bucket next to the tub until Nikolai reached down for it, pulling an opener from the bucket, too. I titled my head at him in confusion.

He smiled back at me, answering my unspoken question. “I asked Phoebe to bring this by,” he said, and he nodded over to the tub. “She handled that, too.”

That was when I realized the tub had been filled with bubbles to the surface. As he popped the cork I noticed the bamboo tray set across the tub. It held a number of soaps, bath oils, and two wine glasses; one empty, the other filled with rose petals. 

Nikolai took the empty glass in his hand, filling it before offering it to me.

I hesitated. “Nikolai… what is this?”

He drew back, almost nervously, and he set the glass back down on the tray before turning back to me. “I just wanted to welcome you home,” He took a step back towards me, “and help you relax, feel safe… taken care of.” 

I found myself stepping backwards, as he extended his arm past my head. As my back hit the bathroom door, it shut with a thud behind me, and I gasped as he leaned over me.

His hand again found its way to my cheek and he cupped it gently as he let out a slow breath. He drew his finger in a slow motion along my jawline, lifting my chin to look up at him. My gaze fell briefly on his lower lip, which he was biting cautiously, before my eyes met his.

“Would you let me do that, Isa… take care of you?”

I felt my pulse quicken and my breathing become shallow, and I inhaled deeply to steady my breaths. But there was that scent again. I closed my eyes, trying to will the instinctive urge from my mind. It was useless. As if involuntarily, my hands quickly moved from the place where they had each been pressed against the wall to meet his chest, and found their way to the collar of his t-shirt, yanking him towards me with need.

As our lips met, he moved his hands to the small of my back, his thumbs massaging the set of dimpled spots above my hip bones intently. Meanwhile I let the fingertips of my right hand sink into his beard while my left continued to hold tightly to his collarbone. I let out a slight gasp as his hands both moved down to cup me just where the back of my thighs met my denim shorts, and then a small yelp as he lifted me without warning, each of my legs finding their way around his waist. He gave a small chuckle before we kissed again, and he pressed into me harder into the bathroom door, palming my behind in his hands while our kiss deepened. My lips parted in another gasp for hair and he introduced his tongue, searching for mine. We were lost in our kiss for minutes more until he lifted me higher against his waist, and stepped away from the bathroom door, placing me to sit on the bathroom counter instead. 

Nikolai stepped back from me, and appraised me with a dangerous grin for a moment before turning around to the tub. He took the cup of rose petals and sprinkled them across the bubble bath, which was still steaming. As he opened a bottle of some kind of oil, I reached down to the hemline of my shirt and lifted it over my head, tossing it to the left as I hopped down from the counter and took a step towards him.

He whipped around, eyeing me again with that smile. “I wasn’t done with you,” he said. His eyes landed on my breast, still concealed in the bra Pipa had Julius purchase for me. Nikolai let out a sound of approval as he grabbed me around the waist again. He leaned me back against the bathroom vanity, and my hands gripped each side of the counter behind me as he dropped to his knees in front of me, pulling urgently at the buttons of my shorts.

I took a sharp breath as he yanked the zipper down, pulling the shorts to my ankles in the same motion. He looked up at me from where his head met my belly button and began planting little kisses along the line of my underwear. A small whimper escaped my lips and I caught his hand in mine as he hooked a finger into the top of my panty line. His eyes met mine again and he paused, taking my hand in his, placing a small kiss atop of my knuckles. His other hand ran up and down the side of my waist, sending chills along my spine. With his hand firmly back on my hip bone, and his other still holding mine, he spoke, 

“I can stop, if you want me to…” But the way he smiled up at me said it all; and I knew that he knew I didn’t want him to stop.

“No, it’s just… that I’ve never…”

He sunk back onto his feet, looking at me puzzlingly. “I always thought you and Dimitri—”

“No, we…”I brushed my hair behind my ear nervously with a shrug. “We did that. He just never… I guess he just wasn’t the type to…”

“That selfish prick,” Nikolai shook his head with disbelief for a moment before he sat upright on his knees again. “I can’t imagine why that would surprise me.”

With both hands now on my hips he placed a kiss at each side, one over each of my hip bones. I could feel my whole body trembling nervously in his hands. His eyes met mine again, “It’s up to you, babygirl.”

I felt myself melt as the word babygirl emitted from Nikolai’s lips and I bit my lip thoughtfully before giving a short nod. Without a moment of hesitation more he’d hooked each set of his fingers into the elastic of my underwear and pulled them down around my ankles, joining my shorts.

I was suddenly very relieved that I'd been able to shower and shave today, and in the same moment became very aware of my exposed lower body. I curled my right leg over my left and he shook his head at me with a chuckle as he took my foot into his hand and kissed me above my knee, working his small kisses a short way down my calf while he pulled the shorts and underwear off, and my socks along with them. He stood back up and maneuvered himself in between my legs. I opened my mouth in surprise, but my lips were quickly covered with his again. As we kissed once more, Nikolai’s hands went to my back, making quick work of my bra strap snaps. He hooked my left shoulder strap in his finger and tossed the bra to the side with the rest of my clothes as he released me from the kiss. Nikolai stepped back and appraised me for a moment. I felt myself blush as he took a look and he chuckled at me.

He turned back over to the tub, taking the glass of wine in one hand, and the bottle in his other. I was still processing my sudden and complete state of nudity when he handed me the cup. "Here, for the nerves,"

I laughed as he began to chug straight from the bottle. I took a small sip of my own glass and went to put it back down, but he shook his head at me, encouraging me to take another drink. This time he put a finger under my glass, tilting it up at me. I got most of it down but it was coming out so fast that some of the wine came out the side of my glass, dripping down my chin and neck, onto the top of my chest. When I handed him back the glass he laughed as he set it aside with the bottle.

I went to wipe the wipe from myself, and he caught my hand, shaking his head at me again. He cupped my backside in his hands once more, lifting me up onto the bathroom vanity, my bottom resting at the edge of the sink. Our eyes briefly met again, and I could see the bright blue change of color in his iris; his wolf was begging to come out and play. 

Nikolai brushed my hair from my neck and his lips met my collarbone, kissing along my neckline, licking at every spot the wine had ran down my neck. His left hand landed softly on my breast and he cupped it gently, giving a drawn out grasp, massaging it in his hand before the other hand joined him at my other breast. I moaned softly against his ear as his kisses and small licks continued along my neck and chest. His lips closed over one of my n*****s, his tongue gently flicking over it. I felt my back arch against him, and his left hand steadied me at the hip, keeping me from sliding right off the counter. Nikolai firmly held me in place while he made sure to give attention to my other breast, and when his teeth grazed over my nip and I shivered in his grasp, I felt his palm grind into my hip in response. 

“You like that?” he asked as he straightened up before me, both hands now pressed against my hips.

I felt my cheeks redden and I could only nod, turning my chin into his shoulder. I continued to work my hands over every part of his muscular upper body before I took the bottom of his t-shirt into my hands and begin to lift.

He nuzzled his face against my cheek and said, “No, no... my clothes stay put tonight.” He had removed one of his hands to catch mine, and pressed it back against the counter, chuckling as I protested. This time when he returned his hand to my hip, he readjusted me. When he seemed satisfied I wouldn’t fall off the counter’s edge, his right hand released my hip from it’s hold and he began to trace his fingers along the inside of my thigh.

When his hand was just inches away from my apex I took in a nervous breath. His other hand grasped my hair at the base of my neck, angling my face towards his. He was smiling down at me. “This is where you relax, Isa.” 

Nikolai’s eyes continued to stare into mine and I felt his hand cup me between the legs. I jerked slightly under his touch and he let out a ‘shhh’, his thumb finding the sensitive top of my womanhood. He began to make small circles and I felt my legs twitch at his touch and closed my eyes, very aware he was intently watching my face, measuring my reaction. His fingers grazed my folds after a moment, and I felt them part as he inserted one inside me. I moaned softly, biting my lip to contain myself as he became more deliberate with his motions.

“Mm,” His lips were against my ear. “I like the noises you make, little wolf”

After a few minutes more, I felt his finger slide out from me and he let his hand rest on my thigh while his mouth enveloped mine again. His kiss was hungrier this time, and his scent was stronger than ever. My hands were in his beard and on the back of his neck, wanting more of him.

His other hand grasped me gently around the throat and I moaned into his mouth. Nikolai gave a short squeeze and my back arched in response as he maintained his grip. When he released his hand I felt slightly out of breath, hungover from the brief sensation. 

Nikolai chucked, “You like that, too?”

“I guess so,” I admitted with a small laugh.

“Hm,” He took my face in both his hands, cupping me gently. “Let’s see what else she likes…”

And then he dropped to his knees before me. His right hand remained firmly on my thigh, and he wrapped his left arm around my torso, scooching me closer towards his face at the edge of the counter. I gave a small gasp as I felt his breath hot against me, and he looked up at me with a devilish grin.

“Just relax, babygirl… I’m here to take care of you tonight,”