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Authors: Suzanne Wright
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around to protect you if you’re not Alpha?”
“It was never anything to do with me being Alpha. It’s a personal thing.”
“Really?” she drawled, skeptical. “And what is this personal thing?”
He’d rather not say, would rather not tell her about that period of his life in case it scared her off. “You know, you didn’t answer me last night when I asked you if there was a guy in your life.”
Thrown off-balance by the complete change of subject, she was silent for a moment. Instead of answering, she hit his question with one of her own. “Is there a female in your life?”
Nick would have insisted on hearing her answer first, but it killed him to see the distrust in her eyes. “There hasn’t been anyone since I first saw you.”
She snorted and turned her head away. “Yeah, right.”
He tugged on her hair, demanding her full attention. “I wouldn’t betray you like that.”
She spluttered. “But we aren’t mated.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“You chose to forsake me.”
“No, I chose to put your safety above everything else. It didn’t change the fact that the only person I wanted was you.”
If that was true, he was going to be seriously pissed off by her answer, and then she’d be stuck in a car with a raging, too-damn-dominant alpha male wolf. That was never a good situation, and her wolf wasn’t looking forward to it. When he raised a questioning brow at her, she averted her gaze as she admitted, “I dated a couple of times.” She braced herself for an explosion. There wasn’t one. Risking a glance at him, she saw him looking calm and cool. Only his white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel betrayed his inner turmoil. “Why aren’t you yelling?”
“How can I?” His words were like crushed rock. “All you were doing was trying to get on with your life.”
And now she felt bad. She shouldn’t. She knew that. If he’d yelled at her, she could have rightly pointed out that if he hadn’t wanted her to date anyone else, he should have claimed her. But although he was undoubtedly angry, he’d turned that anger inward, had directed it at himself, and was taking responsibility for what he’d done. Dammit. She wanted to stay pissed at him, and he was making it hard.
As he smoothly pulled up outside the salon, Shaya glanced at him to find that he still wasn’t looking at her. “I never slept with any of them.” No, she hadn’t owed him that detail, but he could so easily get to her. It wasn’t just because he was her mate, either. It was his eyes…those pools of dusky green had dark shadows there—scarred by a pain that no person would ever want to feel. Any female with a heart would want to reach out and take that away, not intensify it. She was hurt, but she wasn’t bitter and twisted and didn’t relish the idea of making anyone’s pain worse.
Fighting to keep his touch gentle when anger was overwhelming him and putting a sour taste in his mouth, Nick briefly breezed his thumb across her cheekbone. “Thank you for telling me that.”
“I can’t forgive you for abandoning me.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to.”
“Then why come here? Why do this?”
He swallowed hard, squeezing her thigh gently. “Because I’m determined to earn a second chance.”
“And if you don’t get it?” She tensed as a lopsided, mischievous smile surfaced on his face. It promised bad-boy stuff.
He leaned toward her slightly. “What you don’t understand about me, Shay, is that when I really want something, I’ll do whatever it takes to make it mine. Like it or not, you already belong to me; I intend to make sure that’s not something you want to fight anymore.”
Her wolf liked that. Liked his determination. Liked the idea of being the sole focus of his attention. Liked the idea of the chase. To her utter dismay, a part of Shaya kind of liked it too, but anger and betrayal overshadowed that. Besides, she couldn’t trust anything he said or did.
Resisting the urge to kiss
“It was never anything to do with me being Alpha. It’s a personal thing.”
“Really?” she drawled, skeptical. “And what is this personal thing?”
He’d rather not say, would rather not tell her about that period of his life in case it scared her off. “You know, you didn’t answer me last night when I asked you if there was a guy in your life.”
Thrown off-balance by the complete change of subject, she was silent for a moment. Instead of answering, she hit his question with one of her own. “Is there a female in your life?”
Nick would have insisted on hearing her answer first, but it killed him to see the distrust in her eyes. “There hasn’t been anyone since I first saw you.”
She snorted and turned her head away. “Yeah, right.”
He tugged on her hair, demanding her full attention. “I wouldn’t betray you like that.”
She spluttered. “But we aren’t mated.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“You chose to forsake me.”
“No, I chose to put your safety above everything else. It didn’t change the fact that the only person I wanted was you.”
If that was true, he was going to be seriously pissed off by her answer, and then she’d be stuck in a car with a raging, too-damn-dominant alpha male wolf. That was never a good situation, and her wolf wasn’t looking forward to it. When he raised a questioning brow at her, she averted her gaze as she admitted, “I dated a couple of times.” She braced herself for an explosion. There wasn’t one. Risking a glance at him, she saw him looking calm and cool. Only his white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel betrayed his inner turmoil. “Why aren’t you yelling?”
“How can I?” His words were like crushed rock. “All you were doing was trying to get on with your life.”
And now she felt bad. She shouldn’t. She knew that. If he’d yelled at her, she could have rightly pointed out that if he hadn’t wanted her to date anyone else, he should have claimed her. But although he was undoubtedly angry, he’d turned that anger inward, had directed it at himself, and was taking responsibility for what he’d done. Dammit. She wanted to stay pissed at him, and he was making it hard.
As he smoothly pulled up outside the salon, Shaya glanced at him to find that he still wasn’t looking at her. “I never slept with any of them.” No, she hadn’t owed him that detail, but he could so easily get to her. It wasn’t just because he was her mate, either. It was his eyes…those pools of dusky green had dark shadows there—scarred by a pain that no person would ever want to feel. Any female with a heart would want to reach out and take that away, not intensify it. She was hurt, but she wasn’t bitter and twisted and didn’t relish the idea of making anyone’s pain worse.
Fighting to keep his touch gentle when anger was overwhelming him and putting a sour taste in his mouth, Nick briefly breezed his thumb across her cheekbone. “Thank you for telling me that.”
“I can’t forgive you for abandoning me.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to.”
“Then why come here? Why do this?”
He swallowed hard, squeezing her thigh gently. “Because I’m determined to earn a second chance.”
“And if you don’t get it?” She tensed as a lopsided, mischievous smile surfaced on his face. It promised bad-boy stuff.
He leaned toward her slightly. “What you don’t understand about me, Shay, is that when I really want something, I’ll do whatever it takes to make it mine. Like it or not, you already belong to me; I intend to make sure that’s not something you want to fight anymore.”
Her wolf liked that. Liked his determination. Liked the idea of being the sole focus of his attention. Liked the idea of the chase. To her utter dismay, a part of Shaya kind of liked it too, but anger and betrayal overshadowed that. Besides, she couldn’t trust anything he said or did.
Resisting the urge to kiss
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