Chapter 26 #2
I frown as he tells me nothing I don’t already know. It is strange, and I’ve no doubt Odette somehow has a hand in all of this, but that still doesn’t change the effects or reaction I’m having to Bernadette.
“Thankfully, you don’t need to shove shit up your nose to get over her or lather up your gigantic forehead with lotion.
Just woo the woman. Show her what you’re interested in, that’s how you gain a woman’s trust,” he says, as the phone slips off whatever he’s propped it on, and I get a full view of the overhead lights hanging from the lab ceiling.
It’s laughable that Jekyll, a man who’s spent most of the last century holed away underground, is trying to lecture me on mating advice. “What do you know of mating?”
“I know you lack empathy and can’t let go of that wall you’ve got around your big heart. Plus, you’re a bit of a control freak,” Jekyll mumbles.
“I’d have killed you ages ago if you didn’t still make me money,” I snarl.
“I’ve had to turn on the generators twice because of the squalls and heavy storms popping up out of nowhere. Not to mention I heard her entire wardrobe is outfitted with tracking devices,” he snorts, laughing aloud.
I growl into the receiver, the lighting overhead buzzing as the electricity goes haywire, sending them blinking again.
“Don’t get pissy, Frank. Since when do you pay attention to a human? Want me to pop over and kidnap her away from you for a spell? It may lessen the mating bond, right?” he says, reminding me of how that’s what I forced Vlad to go through.
“Fuck you, Jekyll. Can you make up something that will repress my reaction or not?”
“Fine. Fine. I’ll try to put together something, but don’t get your hopes up.”
I groan as the line goes dead, and the video call ends.
Woo her, he says.
He doesn’t even know her. She’s abrasive, opinionated, and as headstrong as she is gorgeous.
I can’t see her being able to follow simple directions, and she’ll drive me to madness within weeks I’m sure of it, but none of it matters.
This feeling of possessiveness won’t dissipate, and the level of intense longing to be near her can’t be denied for much longer.
The gnawing pit in my stomach won’t stop expanding.
I’ve already tried letting off steam in the electric chamber, but the walls are too close, the cocoon it creates around my body is too much for my overloaded senses to handle right now.
I couldn’t stand to be in my bedroom either, not with soaked sheets still on my bed. Although I’m sure by now the ghoul maid service has already changed them.
Just the thought of her sends an arc of electricity pulsing down my arm and settling into my palm. I flex my fingers and will it away. Annoyed with myself even more, I move to take a seat on the bench outside the electrical draining pod.
This is ridiculous, I think to myself. Here I am yet again in trying to keep my surges of power under control. I assumed mating with her would prevent this from happening. Instead of calming the beast within me, it’s even worse.
Or perhaps it was her rejection of me that have set this about, but for whatever reason, no matter what I try, my power levels will not subside.
Cursing my inability to focus on anything other than what transpired earlier and her essentially noncommittal response, I get to my feet and make my way over to my walk-in closet and grab up a gray T-shirt and a pair of riding boots.
I grasp for anything to help get rid of this incessant and altogether unusual predicament I currently find myself in, mated to a human that I’m keeping hostage in my house. I put on the new shirt before making my way to the steps that lead back into the mansion.
A long ride on Brom ought to help. At the very least it’ll get me out of this house and away from her.
My nostrils flare as my boot heels sound across the parquet floors, making my way to the front door.
“Hey, what’s going on?” Bernadette calls out, her sweet voice echoing loudly.
I pause just before leaving and turn around to find her only a few short feet away on the stairs, her brows pinched on her expressive face.
She shudders, frowning at the flickering light of the chandelier. It hums and crackles with energy as she makes her way down the steps, and I can sense the worry within her.
I glance up at the muted green walls and massive chandelier hanging above the grand staircase, willing the energy to stabilize before my gaze lands back on her breathtaking form.
She looks beautiful, standing there in a sweatshirt and pants, her blue cat eyeglasses hanging precariously on the top of her nose.
She is altogether adorable and far too tempting. “Would you like to join me for a ride? I was on my way to see Brom,” I ask.
“Are you nuts? It’s about to storm out there,” she says, coming down the staircase, her gaze above me as she looks out the windows.
She looks like a dream wrapped in a wish and poured into a pink sweatsuit with tiny white socks on her feet.
With each step closer she takes, I can sense my power levels returning to an acceptable level.
When she gets within reaching distance of me, she reaches for my hand absentmindedly and a surge of possessiveness rocks me to my core.
She gasps, yanking her palm away from me in shock before lifting it to her face, and I notice an arc of electricity dancing between her fingers before it snakes up her wrist. “Oh my god, you’re doing this, aren’t you?
” she states, tilting her head to look out the window before her narrowed gaze snaps back to me, her pretty face a snarl.
The storm outside quiets almost instantly, my erratic powers calming from her touch.
“Doing what?” I ask, my voice deadpan as I realize Bernadette is grounding me.
“You know what. I’m not going anywhere with you until you start giving me some answers,” she says, tossing her arms over her voluptuous chest.
I gaze down at her, a small smile playing on my lips. “Then you’ll get them. Come with me and I’ll show you something you’ll never see anywhere else,” I tell her, deciding I might as well try to woo her after all.
I’m hesitant to tell her of the mate bond as something tells me trying to force Bernadette into anything, even a fated connection, could send her running for the hills.
But perhaps if she has all the facts first, she won’t have cause to run in the opposite direction, because if she does, I’ve no inkling of what my reaction will be.
I’ve several properties I could outfit to hold her, and many of them she may even enjoy visiting, but it’d be easier if she wants to come instead of my having to constrain her.
“Fine, I’ll come with you. But you better start explaining soon, Frank. Let me go get my shoes,” she says, sounding suddenly excited as she scurries back up the steps.
A warmth spreads through my chest as feelings of elation course through me.
My gaze locks on her ample hips that sway as she bounds up the stairs, and my teeth grind in my mouth.
Sharing anything with a human is never a choice I thought I’d be making, but it’s becoming resoundingly clear that I won’t be able to do without her.
One way or the other she will be mine.