CHAPTER 3
Rudgar
I stared after my mate, my gaze riveting on her full, round ass. I passed a hand over my mouth, my fangs dripping with the need to bite her there—to mark her the way I wanted to. Exhaling an impatient breath, I grabbed a pair of sweats out of the closet—that was far too big for just me. My clothes fit into a tiny corner of it and if I’d ever needed a symbol of my lonely existence, this closet represented it.
I was also mostly empty on the inside. The important pieces of my life—like my family, my friends and my company—filled only a tiny portion of what felt like a giant, gaping hole. I’d always known what I needed to fill that space.
And she was sauntering out of my bedroom as if she hadn’t turned my world upside down. When my older brother Dristan had explained what finding his mate had been like, I’d always assumed I’d experience the same thing. A slow awakening. Subtle but certain. Instead, I was beginning to realize that every mating was different.
I didn’t know if it had anything to do with the fact that she had been on a different plane, but from the moment I’d seen her, our mating bond had slammed into me like a freight train. I lifted a trembling palm, squeezing my hand into a fist to stop it.
I needed to get control over the urges that were overtaking me. She might look at me like I was the sweetest snack she’d ever seen, but the stiffness of her shoulders was telling me the exact opposite. She wasn’t ready for what was going to happen between us.
And I understood that—I truly did—but my instincts and libido were screaming at me to throw her over my shoulder and mark her as mine. It didn’t help that my female was surrounded by unmated males. The three of them had tried to protect her from me when she’d come through the portal, and it was everything I could do to not fight them where they stood.
And I’m the reasonable one.
Scrubbing my palms over my face, I followed my female out into the living area. She was tiptoeing to peek inside the cupboards above the stove. I hid a smile as I surveyed her from head to toe.
My mate was tall for one of her kind, but compared to me, she was tiny. Her curves were a delicious bundle under her flowing clothes. I watched as her dress rode up her calves and even that small peek of skin made me salivate.
Yep. I’m done for.
Her scent was unlike anything I’d ever experienced. Roses and crisp air. I tipped my head back to take a deep breath, filling myself with her. My rumble of pleasure must have startled her, because she spun around, unsteady on her feet.
She wasn’t the most graceful, but I would always be there to catch her, so it didn’t matter. I watched as a crackle of magick appeared at her fingertips, the crisp air scent getting stronger.
My Gul-ar. My little witch.
“I see you decided not to put on a shirt,” she huffed, but her hungry gaze skimmed over my exposed chest like a caress.
I grinned at her, spreading my arms wide in welcome. “I can be naked for you at any time, but you seemed a bit… preoccupied with my lower half,” I explained.
“Well it was waving hello,” she muttered, rolling her eyes and turning back to her cupboard exploration. “Thanks so much for letting me stay, by the way. But I’m feeling a lot better and I need to head home.”
My easy grin fell, and the first warning alarm went off inside my head. “Home?” I asked, narrowing my gaze on her. “And where’s that exactly?”
“My mom left her house to me… well, my coven,” she explained, poking around inside the other cupboard until she gave a cry of celebration. She pulled the hot chocolate from the back of one of the shelves and tugged down two mugs.
I watched with awe as she moved around my kitchen with confidence and excitement—almost as if even she knew she belonged here—fixing the drinks until we both had steaming mugs in front of us.
“Do you have those tiny marshmallows?” she asked, holding up her fingers to indicate the size she meant. I shook my head, adding it to the ever-growing list of things I’d need to fill the apartment with in order to lure her into staying.
“I’ll grab some later,” I told her, my lips curling with contentment. She couldn’t know what this meant, and I wasn’t going to tell her yet.
Preparing anything for a mate after the first night spent together was an offering of acceptance. It let them know that you were grateful for them and you wanted more. While it hadn’t been the passion-filled night that I was sure we’d have in our near future, it was still our first night .
I took a long draw of the sweet drink, releasing a happy sigh. She didn’t know it yet, but she was going to be mine. I just had to figure out how to woo her. In the meanwhile, I’d take a light approach.
“Where’s your mom’s house located?” I asked her, feigning a curious tone when I wanted to interrogate her instead.
“I’m not sure where we are,” she answered with a frown after doing a tiny happy dance with her first sip of hot chocolate. The little dance made her breasts jiggle and I released another contented sigh. “But it’s in Taljer. Is that near here?” she asked, and that was probably the only thing that she could have said that would have dragged my eyes away from the gorgeous display in front of me.
“That’s near here,” I said with a displeased growl, and her brow furrowed for a moment before it smoothed over as she grinned.
“Really?” she asked, excitement filling her voice.
“It’s a suburb off of Grebath. We’re in the main city,” I told her and she hopped up and down, those incredible breasts bouncing with her.
“Yes! Grebath! I’d go to the big park here all the time!” she enthused.
I nodded, pointing toward the bank of windows in the living area. They were in the bedrooms as well, but I’d had the blinds closed so she wouldn’t be woken up by the sunlight.
Her eyes widened and she hurried toward the windows. My gaze skimmed down her body and I had to admit that I was in love with the way she moved.
There wasn’t anything self-conscious about her. She moved with enthusiasm in whatever she was doing and her body moved with her. That ass that I would find a way to take a bite of, those hips that would bear the marks of my fingers from when I held her down to fuck her, and the curls of her hair that bounced with her. They’d make a perfect fistful when I tugged her head back to bare her throat.
She spun to look at me, her white teeth flashing in a grin. “Your view is amazing,” she gushed, turning back to press her hands to the window. I made my way behind her, bracketing her in against the cool panels of glass, tucking one of her tiny hands under mine as I pressed it into the pane.
“It’s one-way glass,” I told her, dipping down to take a deep inhale at her shoulder. She shuddered in front of me, but I kept our bodies separated to ensure that I wasn’t making her uncomfortable.
She didn’t tug her fingers away, flexing them against mine instead, as if testing the fissure of electricity that arced between us. I knew—without a doubt—that there was no way it was going to go away. That same current between us would only grow with time.
I’d seen it with my parents, and I was seeing it with my brother and his mate. Time didn’t erode a mating bond. It strengthened it.
“That must come in handy,” she said with her tongue in her cheek, turning to smirk at me over her shoulder. “When you have female visitors.”
I shrugged, my fingers tightening around hers. “I wouldn’t know. You’re the first female that I’ve brought here.”
Her eyes widened and I watched as the delicate skin of her throat moved as she swallowed. “That can’t be true,” she whispered, and I quirked a brow at her.
“One thing you’re going to need to know about me, Gul-ar . I won’t lie to you. We won’t have lies between us,” I whispered. “I knew this was where I’d want my mated home to be. I respect my mate enough to never bring other females here.” I didn’t expand on that statement.
From the widening of her eyes, I knew she understood what I was trying to tell her. She could do whatever she wanted with the information. But she had a right to know.