Read Online Becoming the Alpha by Ivy Sinclair - Free Book Online

and was doing things to me that I had only dreamed about. But that wasn’t enough. At least, not yet.
    “Lukas, stop,” I said. My breath came in short gasps as I turned my head away from his lips. “Please.”
    His hands stilled, and then his body was gone from mine. My hands floated down from the wall. I looked in his eyes, and I saw that primal part of him still there.
    “I’d never take advantage of someone who didn’t want me,” he said flatly. “If you’re telling me no, then I’ll accept that.”
    “Lukas, you’re not listening to me. I’m telling you I am confused,” I said. “I never said I didn’t want you.” There. My secret was out in the open. I was exposed for him to see. “But I need to know that this is something different than before. Jesus, you’re asking me to make a pretty big decision. I’ve barely gone on more than three dates with a guy in my entire life. If I’m committing to something bigger than that, it can’t just be for lust and a good story.”
    “Tell me what you want,” Lukas said. “What do I need to say?”
    “Lukas, if I agree to spend the rest of my life with someone, I want to be in love with him and for him be in love with me. I want to be so crazy in love that I do stupid, irrational things to be with him. I want to be able to trust him with every part of me. I want to know that he’d never leave me.” The only thing that I didn’t say was that I was already in love with him. It didn’t matter that ten years had passed. I wanted to throw myself into his arms and let him have his way with me.
    “You want to take things slow,” he said. “You need to trust me.”
    My heart withered then. For some crazy reason, I thought that Lukas was about to profess that he did love me, that he had always been in love with me. It should have made me feel better about my decision to stop him, but instead it made me feel worse.
    “I can’t throw my life away for you,” I said. I wasn’t going to cry in front of him. “When you’re done playing house with me because you got what you wanted, I need to be able to walk away.”
    His expression was unreadable. He opened his mouth, and then the doorbell rang.
    “Guess I am about to be saved by the bell,” he said. Then he turned on his heel and left the room, leaving me with my mouth hanging open at his gall.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    When I heard Billy’s voice coming from the direction of the foyer, I quickly settled myself back on the sofa and smoothed my skirt and hair. I had forgotten that Lukas had summoned Billy to the house before the evening festivities got into full swing. Then I frowned and looked at my watch. If I was going to the gala that evening, I needed time to get ready too.
    I threw my stuff back in my bag and stood up just as Lukas escorted Billy into the living room. Judging by the look on both of the men’s faces, this was one conversation that I felt okay sitting out.
    “Where do I need to be tonight?” I asked after giving Billy the briefest nod. I could tell by Lukas’s expression that he didn’t want me to leave at all. “I should start typing up these notes, and I need to change.”
    “Meet me back here at six,” Lukas said.
    “Fine.” I brushed past him and showed myself out before he could try to convince me otherwise. Once I was back in my car and headed back toward town, I had a good pep talk with myself well underway. I was doing the right thing. I was glad that I hadn’t given in to Lukas’s seduction play. Using my tape recorder, I started lining up my questions for our next interview. I had to stay focused on the job. I wasn’t going to let Lukas railroad my heart again, and I sure in the hell wasn’t signing up to be some alpha bear’s mate if it meant there was no exit strategy.
    As I navigated my way down Main Street, I saw my dad’s car parked at the Greyelf Gazette’s office. Even though it was Saturday afternoon, he was working like he always did. I considered not stopping,