Total pages in book: 203
Estimated words: 199654 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 998(@200wpm)___ 799(@250wpm)___ 666(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 199654 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 998(@200wpm)___ 799(@250wpm)___ 666(@300wpm)
She shivers.
“We both know you’re primed,” I say, moving in that little bit more so I can pull more of her scent into my nose. Shampoo with coconuts. Laundry soap. Bailey… that smell from my dreams that I’ve been preparing to recognize for much of my life. What did she smell like to me before? She sure didn’t smell like this. As much as I’m an alpha who knows the scent of everyone in my pack, strangely I can’t describe what she smelled like before Italy.
Her body straightens up. “Don’t be crude,” she says.
But she’s feeling it. She’s aroused. She wants me. Or, at least her body does, even if her head is telling her to hold onto this= grudge.
“I can’t wait to touch you. To taste you. Forty-eight hours to go, isn’t it?”
Her gaze narrows. But I smell her readiness. And her cheeks are flushed. I’m affecting her more than she’ll admit.
“Not if I get my way,” she fires back, angry little creases between her eyebrows.
And now her expression drops. The fire is out and what’s left is… sadness? Her bottom lip trembles and she looks like she’s fighting tears. My stomach bottoms out at the look on her face.
“Don’t do that to me,” I rasp. “Don’t do it to yourself. Don’t keep denying this just to make a point. You’ve made it. I fucked up and I’ve said I’m sorry. Let me off the hook. Give me what we both want, Bay.”
“I don’t want what you think I want.”
“Tell me what you do want. What you want the most. Beyond the bullshit you’re spouting about wanting me to go away. Tell me what you want and I’ll bust my ass to give it to you.”
“You can’t give me this.”
“Try me.”
She huffs. “I didn’t want a future with you out of it being a biological reaction for you. But you never saw me.” She puts her hand to her heart. “You didn’t, did you, Jason? It’s too late. You only want me because I suddenly smell a certain way.”
Fuck. The look of devastation on her face is making my guts churn.
She goes on. “I wanted a life with someone who can’t imagine doing life without me. Not because it’s an urge, like a bodily function. I deserve to be with someone who’s unable to imagine their children being born to anybody but me. And I knew you’d been with other females, trust me, I’ve swallowed that humiliation too many times to count. But I don’t care about the past as much as everyone thinks. I need to believe down to my soul that a male can’t fathom being pressed naked against another female ever again. If I wanted you, maybe I wanted you unable to imagine choosing anyone else. I don’t have that, can’t ever have it, and I want not one fucking thing to do with being bound to you like this.”
“I’ve never imagined anyone else, Bay.”
“Oh, you never imagined fucking Dani?”
“I never envisioned a future with anyone. Never got serious with anybody before. I knew I’d identify my fated mate eventually, so I intentionally kept things casual. And you’re asking for something that goes against an alpha’s biology. We don’t know until we know. And you know that, Bailey. So what you’re saying makes it sound like you’d prefer a beta male and we both fuckin’ know that’s not the truth. We both fuckin’ know you wanted me.” I slap my chest.
The library door opens and she takes the opportunity to slip past me.
Danica Young.
My lip curls and I don’t try to hide how I feel about this witch waltzing in here like this.
My mate walks right up and hugs her.
Danica wraps her arms around Bailey and singes me with a dirty look.
I need air. I need to shift. I need to rip a fucking hole in the sky with my bare claws.
Fuck! I can’t shift and run. I’m not walking away from Bailey. So I guess I’ll drop my clothes, shift, and pace the fuckin’ parking lot.
20
BAILEY
I blow out a hard exhale once he’s cleared the second door.
“You good?” Dani asks. “He had you cornered.”
I blow out another breath. “He’s…”
She waits.
I give my head a shake and move back to my desk and jam one of Stacy’s stuffed white chocolate and macadamia cookies into my mouth and take a big bite, the gooey white chocolate center oozing into my cheeks like sweet lava. I hold the opened box in Dani’s direction.
She takes a cookie and bites it. “Mm. Holy crap!” She seeks a chair like her knees have buckled before she takes another bite.
“Right?”
“Mm!”
“I know,” I agree after swallowing. “My awesome sister-in-law. Your awesome cousin-in-law. Coffee?”
“Please.”
After I’ve made her a coffee in my mug that has a book cart on it with lettering that says this is how I roll, we’re sitting together at my desk.