Chapter 12 The Chase
The Chase
TERRANCE
On Sunday morning, I woke up to the drumming of rain outside. Rain two days in a row in Ardaine? That never happened.
I rolled over on the bed and stretched my arms. Something was off, and it wasn’t just the weather. Where was Lothair? The side of the mattress he’d slept on felt warm. I could still smell him.
“Lothair?”
My chest squeezed with anxiety even though I had no reason to worry. We were at his home, and the property was guarded.
My senses were on high alert, but aside from the raindrops, I couldn’t hear anything out of the ordinary. The trees whispered outside, the highway buzzed in the distance, and a siren wailed in the valley below. Somewhere in the house, I could distinguish the low hum of the air conditioning.
I sat up and looked around the empty room.
Lothair was supposed to be here.
Annoyed with myself for feeling clingy, I got up and went to pee. Then I nipped into my room to change into some old jeans and a T-shirt.
The house was eerily quiet as I walked down the stairs and into the living room area.
“Lothair?”
Nothing.
I swallowed, my throat dry. I hated how my heart pounded with fear. Where was he?
“Lothair!”
The kitchen was empty, the study, the home theater, the gym…
I spotted him outside by the pool. My relief lasted only a heartbeat. He was sitting on the edge of it, hunched over and naked. In the rain.
I pushed the glass sliding door open and ignored getting soaked as I ran to him.
“Lothair? What’s the matter?”
He looked up and squinted as the drops of water ran into his eyes.
“Hi, Terry.”
A small, insecure smile spread across his face. What the hell? Lothair didn’t do insecure.
“What are you doing out here? Come inside.”
“It’s not like I can catch a cold,” he said softly.
“You’re naked, sitting in the rain. It looks creepy. Come on.”
I was getting more freaked out by the second, but he chuckled as he caught my wrist. “Sit down.”
“What? No. It’s pouring.”
“Sit down, Terry!” The suddenly harsh tone of his voice made me gape at him. He pulled hard, and I sat on the wet tile. My feet slid into the tepid pool water.
“I’m wet all over. Happy now?”
“I don’t know. Depends.”
“What’s going on, Lothair?”
He guided my hand between his legs and cupped my face before leaning close for a kiss.
Not comprehending anything, I opened my mouth on instinct, letting him in. He sighed and kissed me deeply, stroking my tongue with his while his cock grew hard in my hand. With his fingers over mine, he stroked up and down, then he squeezed, and my fingers closed under his cockhead.
He broke the kiss and hissed. “It’s so fucking sensitive.”
My mind reeled. I’d sensed something was off this morning, but now he was acting downright crazy.
He nuzzled my face, breathing hard. “You’re killing me, Terry. Say something. Please.”
Me? Was I supposed to say something? I had no idea what was happening. He’d been sitting here in the rain like someone had died, and now he wanted a handjob?
He nipped at my upper lip. “Please, baby.”
And then I felt it. His cock in my hand. The ridges. Firm, distinct ridges under his cockhead.
I looked down. Mesmerized, I stroked his dick lightly, watching the soft skin glide over the bumps that most certainly hadn’t been there yesterday. I would have noticed something like that since I’d sucked his cock about ten times during the past twenty-four hours.
When I lifted my eyes to meet his, he was smiling tenderly at me.
“It explains a lot, huh? Why I couldn’t stop thinking about you.
Why I couldn’t bear the thought of you leaving.
The longer you stayed, the more I needed you.
I’ve had tons of sex in my life, but nothing compares to what you do to me.
The taste of your cum, your cock in me…” He exhaled. “This is why.”
I shook my head. My hand opened by itself, his dick bobbing as I let go of it.
My cock had been oversensitive yesterday. I’d almost knotted into him when I’d come. Had my body changed too?
“We’re both alphas,” I breathed.
“So?”
“This isn’t how it works.”
Lothair stiffened, squaring his shoulders. “How does it work, Terry?” His anger hurt, but I barely knew why. “I woke up this morning, my lungs full of your scent, clinging to you like a fucking limpet, and my dick has ridges on it. This is it.”
It couldn’t be. He was an alpha. I was into omegas. I was going to have a mate who’d go into heat for me and give me children…
His expression crumbled, his lips curling into a painful grimace.
“See, this was why I came out here. I was afraid you’d react like this. I needed to clear my head and prepare so I could face you with some dignity.” He scoffed. “But it’s not like I can change anything, can I?”
The rain was getting heavier. Water beating down on my neck, I stared at the anger in his features, how it merged into sadness and then anger again…
“Fucking shifter bullshit!” He shot up and strode inside the house.
Stupefied, I sat there, trying to comprehend what had just happened.
I looked at my palm, raindrops pattering my skin. I’d held his cock in my hand. A mated dragon’s cock. The ridges had been there.
Last night, when we had sex, we both half shifted. Hugging his tail, watching his wings burst out of his body, I couldn’t hold back. I didn’t want to hold back.
Nothing compares to what you do to me…
I scrambled up, pool water dripping from my jeans and rain soaking my T-shirt. Almost slipping on the tiles, I followed the wet footprints Lothair had left.
I found him in his bedroom, the closet door open. Dressed in cream slacks and a damp blue polo, he was throwing random clothes into an open duffel on the bed.
“What are you doing?”
“Packing.”
“Why?”
“I need to get away from here.”
“You have to be on set tomorrow.” The words fell out of my mouth automatically as I scrambled for a way to stop him from leaving.
He paused with a hoodie in his arms and glared at me. “That’s why I should stay? Because I’m supposed to be on set tomorrow?”
It hurt. Physically. Having him look at me like this, fuming, disappointed, miserable… My chest ached and my stomach turned.
I needed to soothe him.
Hold him.
Because he’s your mate, silly.
Breathing hard, water dripping from my hair and clothes, I wavered. I spread my legs to stand more stably.
Violet eyes gazed at me, determined yet vulnerable. He was so beautiful. So very alpha.
I gulped.
This man, this dragon with his loud presence, his quick mind, his restlessness, his massive body, his strength, his crooked smirk, and that damned attitude… Was he now tied to me?
Bonded. Forever?
“I’m sorry. I’m…in shock, I think.”
Lothair sighed and placed the hoodie on the bed. With his hands outstretched as if he were approaching a wild animal, he stepped closer to me.
“This isn’t what you wanted, I know. I’m not what you wanted. I get that. I just… Dammit, Terry. I can’t have you reject me. So if that’s what you’re about to do, I have to leave, okay? This fucking hurts enough as it is.”
No, it wasn’t what I’d imagined happening to me. Not in my wildest dreams.
But it was happening.
“If I go now, maybe we can stop it.” His eyes glittered, and his mouth curved down. “The bonding has only just started. I’m sure it’s weak.”
“Reject you?” I mumbled. I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t push him away. I was barely holding on to my composure now, watching him struggle.
“You don’t want me,” he said, gritting his teeth.
Nothing compares…
I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing came out.
This man was now my mate. Overnight, we were bound for life.
Out of nowhere, my eyes flooded with tears. I wasn’t even sad. I had no idea what I felt.
Lothair’s expression hardened. “I don’t actually need to pack,” he said in a low, suspiciously calm voice. Then he walked out of the room.
I glanced at the mess of clothes strewn about.
It was so typically him, jumping from one course of action to another.
Everything in me screamed to follow him, but I needed a moment to think.
It was all starting to make sense. How I couldn’t quit even though he was driving me nuts.
How I missed him on Sundays after I’d been following him around for the entire week.
I was ridiculously attracted to him, more than to any omega I’d ever dated or fancied myself falling in love with.
And the taste of his cum was enough to make me want to fall to my knees and beg. For what, I had no idea.
He was such a fucking handful. A high-maintenance brat. And he was also lonely, hurt, and hiding grief under the playful, cocky veneer.
I would never have imagined that someone like Lothair would be in any way good for me. Yet holding him in my arms, kissing him, fucking him, had been perfect.
However much it pained me to admit it, Lothair had brought me out of my shell. I’d never had so much excitement and plain old fun before I moved in here. I could pretend he irritated me no end, but in reality, I couldn’t wait for the next stupid shenanigans he invented.
When he wasn’t next to me, I felt empty.
Blinking awake from my stupor, I darted down the hallway and toward the stairs.
“Lothair!”
At that exact moment, an engine roared outside.
That stupid orange convertible. I could tell by the absurdly loud rumble.
“You fucking hothead!”
Spinning around, I ran to grab my car keys and phone.
Then I flew down the stairs as fast as my shifter body could. Lothair’s ridiculous toy car was just disappearing down the driveway when I jumped into my vehicle.
It was pure luck that the neighborhood was busy for a Sunday.
Lothair was a hothead, yes, but he wasn’t as reckless as to endanger kids on tricycles.
He drove reasonably slowly through the residential areas, and after a few red lights, I caught up with him.
Where was he going? Was he just driving around to clear his head, or was he actually trying to get away from me? He must have noticed me following him.