Chapter 16
SIXTEEN
LEON
He didn’t know how much longer he could stand it.
Not touching her save the small moments when she forgot to be terrified of him, restraining himself when she remembered.
It was slowly killing him. He’d thought her prime for the taking weeks ago, but she still held back.
Something always happened in the midst of his assault on her, and she would go cold beneath him.
Elena’s heat was imminent, and they both knew it.
Her appetite was waning, he often caught her fussing with the blankets and pillows though she was quick to destroy any semblance of a nest. Her body ran hotter, and she lost herself in his kisses more often than not.
Still, she held back.
It was frustrating to no end, and no matter what he did, it didn’t seem to help. He’d tried being the aggressor, been gentle and tender, even once letting her be on top to give her some feeling of power over the exchange.
That had ended as badly as he could have imagined. She’d cried, being brave enough in that moment to shove at him, twisting away from his touch until she could curl around herself in a miserable ball, flinching each time he’d tried to touch her after.
It made no sense.
Well, it made no sense she’d have the reaction to him.
He’d proven it wasn’t him at the hotel, that he’d never once hurt her like that, yet she still clung to the belief.
Painted him a monster no matter how much pleasure he gave her before he couldn’t stand it anymore and jerked off.
Painting her skin with his come, rubbing it in until she reeked of him and sex.
“Gods damn it,” he muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose before he set his gaze back on the numbers rapidly ticking across his computer screen.
He had work to do. Important things had fallen by the wayside as he let her confuse him at every turn. He’d abandoned his multiple responsibilities to seduce the woman that was already his.
It didn’t help that his family was up in arms about his choice. His mother had heard what had happened through a friend and not his own lips, and she refused to speak to him now. His father was furious he’d allowed such a social stain into his life, let alone mated her.
Only they didn’t know the act wasn’t complete. It was all there on paper, legal as you please, but she wasn’t really his. Not yet.
Soon.
He couldn’t explain why he wanted it this way. Wanted her to come to him, begging for it, instead of high on hormones he’d pumped into her veins. Leon didn’t want the chemicals anywhere near her body. Wanted her pure and on fire for him.
Deserting his desk once more, Leon found his feet taking him up the stairs.
He peeked through the door he’d left cracked open, finding Elena where he’d left her, though she whimpered in her sleep.
Tossing and turning, she tugged and pushed at the blankets.
Unable to find comfort even in slumber as her body slowly betrayed her with dreams she couldn’t resist.
He knew exactly what plagued her, the sugary sweetness of her excitement redolent in the close air of the room. If he snuck in and touched her now, would she recognize him even as she slept, or would she welcome him with open arms, her dreams come alive under her searching fingers?
As much as he wanted to test it, he held back. He wanted her to suffer as he was suffering. Make her want it so that she was as desperate for it as he was.
Still, his steps carried him to the side of the bed, a purr at the ready as he stroked her hair, pushing it back off of her face.
Leon gritted his teeth at her needy whine, the way she arched beneath the heavy covers that hid her body away from him.
He hadn’t thought it’d be this difficult for her.
So intense. She’d been on suppressants, but this wasn’t her first heat without them.
Leon knew the game Alpha fathers played with their Omega children well.
Withholding the pharmaceuticals just enough to tempt even the most steadfast of Alphas who entered their home with that sweet freshness.
Vying for a place at a powerful Alpha’s table with the promise of an Omega ripe for the picking.
Her prescription had been a scant one, the bare minimum needed to keep her from falling into estrous with the slightest provocation.
Valente played a dangerous game allowing that with the Russian courting her.
The man had no morals, as he’d already proven long before Leon caught him manhandling Elena.
For all that Leon might have tainted her reputation by his actions that night, Ivanov would have been a stain that would never come clean.
He dealt in murder and mayhem and would have endangered Elena just with his existence.
The Russian would have seen her dead within the year if he’d mated her.
“He would have ruined you, little one,” Leon whispered as he leaned over her to nuzzle the sweat dampened curls stuck to her cheek. Taking in a deep breath of jasmine sweetness to let it out on a quiet rumble, he carded his fingers gently through her hair.
Elena’s only response was a contented hum as she bared her neck to him, submitting even in her sleep to his presence. For all her bluster and fire when her temper ran hot, she yielded to him beautifully.
“I will ruin you, too,” he murmured against her warm skin, stealing a taste of the salty tang coating her. “And you will be mine.”
Leon purred for her as a line formed between the high arches of her brows, her lips turning down at the corners. Driving away whatever disturbed her as he lulled her back into the sweet dreams she had.