Delilah and Riley by Melissa Nichols (best sci fi novels of all time TXT) 📕

“We’ll get to that later. Right now, I want to know what you meant by a violent upbringing.”

“It’s nothing and this just proves my point. You’re spoiled. You’ve never had to go without anything. You think you can just demand to know my whole life story, all of my woes and wants, and think you’ll actually get it? Well, think again!”

“It’s my right as your future husband to know what you desire, what troubles you and such so that I can make you happy.” Riley retaliated, his voice shooting up a few volume levels.  

“Well, you’re not getting a word out of me. All I will say is that I had a very unusual royal upbringing and it often left me with bruises and broken bones.” I said, stamping my feet and turning around, sticking my nose in the air. Behind me, I heard Riley take a deep breath and let it out. When next he spoke, his voice was calm and even.

“Okay, we can settle all of this after the wedding. Right now, I’m tired and I’m sure you are, too. We have a big day tomorrow. Let’s get some sleep.” And then he phased. I turned around and his black pelt and gold eyes were staring back at me, waiting. I shifted into my other form and followed him through the forest again. Instead of an all-out sprint, we walked at a leisurely pace. Riley slowed so I can walk comfortably. He also kept a respectable distance from me. I think he was trying to help me calm down.

It was a tense run back to the motel, the atmosphere thick with annoyance, anger, irritation and frustration. It came close to being too much to handle and I almost broke away a few times, but I was bound to stay by Riley’s side.

When we got there, a Holiday Inn Motel, we de-phased and Riley slid the key into the slider-thing, which beeped and flashed green. He opened the door and let me inside first, then closed the door behind him. I switched on the lights and took in the room.

It was very simple. A couple beds, a TV, a kitchen and a bathroom with shower. The walls were white with no decorations of any kind and the room stunk of house dog. I crinkled my nose in distaste and went into the shower, cranking the water to full heat.

“Where’s the rest of your pack?”

“In different rooms. This is ours. We’ll be alone.” He said, leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom, arms crossed, eyes staring at me as I prepared the bath. I felt the water, plugged the drain and poured in some salts to soften and cleanse my skin. I wanted to look my best tomorrow, even though I hated Riley’s guts. After all, the wedding day is the biggest and most important day in a woman’s life. More so for wolves like me.

I stayed quiet, focused on adding salts and gels to the steaming water. When the water was at a suitable depth, I turned it off and looked at Riley. He held up his hands and walked away, closing the door as he left. I turned back to the tub, striped off my clothes and stepped in cautiously. After a few minutes of enjoying the heat of the water, I grabbed a washcloth and some body wash, poured the blue liquid onto the cloth and scrubbed every surface as hard as I could until my skin was red and raw. This erased my natural scent, as well as removed dirt collected during the day and left my human pelt soft, moisturized and clean. Then I dropped the cloth, scooped up a handful of salt from the bottom of the tub and scrubbed them over my skin as well, their effects increasing the health and cleanliness of my skin. After rinsing the bubble off my body, I dunked my hair, grabbed the shampoo, applied a generous amount directly to my scalp and scrubbed with my fingertips until I was sure my scalp was bleeding. Then I applied more shampoo to the main part of my hair and worked it into a lather, using my fingers to act as a brush. I worked out all knots and tangles before dunking again to relieve my hair of the shampoo. When I surfaced, my hair completely rid of the shampoo, I did the same thing with the conditioner, only I left it in for a long time. While I let the conditioner soak in, I grabbed a razor and shaved my legs, arms and underarms. After that, I grabbed the cloth again, squeezed some face soap onto the cloth, then scrubbed my face, removing dirt, make-up and the hot water opened my pours, allowing me to clean them out. I also scrubbed my throat and behind my neck to buy my hair more time to soak in the conditioner. Finally out of stuff to do, I ducked under the surface again and rinsed my hair. When I resurfaced, I stood, unplugged the drain, I stepped out of the tub, grabbed a towel, wrapped it around my hair, grabbed another and dried my body. Then I tied a knot in a corner, tucked it in, then set about cleaning up the supplies and drying the floor.

When I stepped out of the bathroom, still wearing nothing but two towels, I found Riley laying on the bed watching TV. But what stole my breath was his lack of clothes. He was wearing nothing but some pajama bottoms, laying with his arms behind his neck. This position showed off his chest and stomach muscles as well as his arm muscles.

When Riley looked at me, he studied me for a second, then lifted a single eyebrow. I broke out of my daze, closing my mouth, shook my head and stepped forward, hands clenched tightly to the towel around my body.

“Surely you have a T-Shirt I can borrow for the night?”

“No need. Your stuff was sent over earlier.” He said, and he turned his head and extended a hand to point to many chests in a corner. “The one containing your nightclothes is on the floor away from the others.”

I hurried to it, knelt and opened it. I searched for my Emerald Green floor-length nightgown and hurried to the bathroom to put it on.

“Aww, come on, Delilah. There’s no need to be shy.” Riley called.

“There is no way in hell I’m going to undress in front of you.”

“But you will eventually, darling. By this time tomorrow, we’ll be in Murphy and I will be seeing to your…education.” He growled the last word and I knew it was another innuendo. “And for me to do that, I’ll have to take off all of our clothes.”

I plugged my ears, shutting off his voice so I can ignore him. I dressed slowly, trying to put off going back out there to curl up in bed next to that arrogant son of a bitch who stole every hint of happiness I can ever have the moment I was born.

When I finished dressing, I brushed my hair, put in more conditioner, waited for it to dry in so it won’t get on the pillows, put on lotion and moisturizers for my skin, brushed my teeth thoroughly, grabbed a scrunchy, then went back out into the bedroom.

When Riley saw me, his eyebrows went up, his eyes got big and he whistled real low and slow. I paused for a moment to let him admire, then stalked forward. I thrust the Scrunchy in his hands, turned around, sat down and presented him with my waist-length white hair. “I can’t reach. Please braid it for me.”

“Uhhh…” Riley stuttered. “How?”

I sighed then carefully explained. “Divide my hair into three equal parts.” I said and waited until he had finished. “Hold one part in your left hand between your thumb and forefinger. A second part between your pinkie and ring finger and the third in your right hand.” He adjusted his grip and waited. “Now switch the part between your left thumb and forefinger to between your right pinkie and ring fingers.” He did. “Now, take the part on your right hand and move it between your forefinger and thumb. Do you see the pattern?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Keep it up. I’m going to lean forward to help tighten the braid. You keep braiding and pull as well, but not too tightly.”

“Okay.”

And from there, it was silent. I leaned forward and Riley kept braiding, steadily pulling on my head. When it was finished, he tied the Scrunchy around the tail and I flopped under the covers, pulling them over my head. I closed my eyes and tried to get to sleep, but guilt kept gnawing at me. “Thanks.” I whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear under the covers.

“No problem, Delilah. And I’ll try my damndest to make you happy in our union.”

“Don’t push your luck.” I growled.

It was silent after that and I was soon asleep.

I was awakened by a noise. Riley turned to face the wall, adjusting the covers at the same time, and I thought that was the noise so I closed my eyes. But I was still restless. My instincts warned me of danger, of another person close by. I tried to shrug it off, reminding myself it was probably Riley’s presence that has me on edge, but I couldn’t shake the warning of impending doom. Then a hand clasped over my mouth and I jumped, flailing out with my limbs, hoping to kick or slap Riley awake so he could help me. But all I managed to kick was air and sheets, no skin, before tape covered my mouth and hands grabbed my arms and legs. Then I was lifted off the bed and panic set in. I was being abducted! And I couldn’t warn Riley. I tried to scream, hoping the noise would wake someone, but to no avail. Riley didn’t even move and my kidnapper was carrying me to the window. Then I felt a cloth being pulled over me to tie at my feet, the window opening and my abductor slipping outside. I used this opportunity to swivel onto my knees and make my way back to the bed, but I don’t think I even made it past the TV before those same hands grabbed me by my chest, stopping me. I used my hands to undo the tie at my feet, pull the cloth over me and scratch my attacker to all hell. Then, while he howled in pain, I stood and jumped over the TV to land at Riley’s side. I slapped his face, waking him instantly and before he could raise a hand against me, I pointed to the TV and he tensed, throwing off the covers, got onto his feet on the bed and jumped clear over the fan to land on the other side. A howl of surprise and fear mixed with Riley’s snarl of aggression and rage, then screams of pain as Riley attacked. I scrambled under the bed and waited for the fight to end.

I don’t know how long it was before I saw a pair of feet, but I didn’t wait to see whose they were. I scrambled out from my hiding spot and attacked the guy, whoever he was, but a pair of strong, large hands encircled my upper arms and pulled me away from him. “Delilah, it’s okay. It’s me.” Riley said and my attack instantly ceased. Instead of clawing him to hell, I tried to hug him, fighting against his strength so I can wrap my arms around him. I finally broke through and he staggered backward a step before he balanced, but he went still, probably shocked and trying to understand. I dug into his chest, tightening my hold and trying to stop