Chapter 15
Monte
It was the longest movie of my life. All I wanted to do was throw her over my shoulder caveman style and drag her off to the bedroom. Instead, I tried to follow her lead, but there had been no signals or signs of interest.
I was struggling to believe our earlier kiss had no effect on her whatsoever. No way had it been all one sided. She’d eagerly kissed me back, yet every time I glanced her way, she was just staring at the television and whatever stupid movie I’d come across first.
The second it ended I was off the couch and ordering dinner.
Which turned into a quiet, awkward dinner.
What the hell had happened? What changed?
And when dinner was over, she got up, said good night, and then walked to the master bedroom and closed the door behind her. I was already following her like a little puppy dog only to have the door slammed in my face.
I stood there in shock.
Hadn’t I made it clear that I didn’t like that bed because it was too big?
Hadn’t she made it clear there were four other beds for me to choose from?
My wolf was angry.
I was angry.
I was feeling very irrational and knew that if I opened that door it was going to lead to a confrontation and me doing or saying something I was going to regret. Instead, I just paced the living room. Back and forth. I knew I was leaving a trail in the carpet, but I wasn’t caring.
This is what the bond did to people. It was making me insane just like every other mating male.
I knew I should leave, but I couldn’t seem to make my legs do it.
As if she were purposefully trying to torture me, I could hear her taking a shower. Knowing she was naked was pure torment.
I’d already decided that Zoey was mine and I would accept her as my mate. But I’d never considered that she might not feel the same.
After her shower she rummaged around the room and then climbed into her bed.
How did I know this? Because I was curled up on the floor in front of her door like a pathetic dog just waiting to be invited in. Only that invitation never came.
*****
Two more days of no change. We ate quiet meals together. We talked about benign things. We worked on our assignments. We watched more ridiculous movies. She took a shower and went to bed while I slept curled up on the floor outside her room, becoming more frustrated with each passing day.
Hadn’t we started off okay?
Weren’t we in good sync?
Had I really been that far off base?
Every moment I could, I would brush against her, graze her hand, or touch her in whatever way seemed normal or benign. But it was never benign for me. Every touch, even the barest brush, was like a potent shock of excitement. It was torture.
I watched for her reaction, but there wasn’t any. Every now and then I’d think I’d hear her breath catch or see her shiver, but my heart would race and my own body would shake so I couldn’t be sure it wasn’t me.
If we didn’t get out of this place soon, I was going to go mad.
Yet through it all, I could feel our bond strengthening.
I reached my breaking point at the end of our third day as we sat there watching yet another stupid movie. I couldn’t take it a second longer.
“Is this how our life is going to be?” I exploded.
“What?”
“Movies, not talking, complete boredom? Is that what I’m supposed to expect in life from now on?”
There was hurt in her eyes, and then a fire I hadn’t seen since our confinement started.
“Is that what you’re supposed to expect? What about me? I don’t even like movies and if I do waste time watching them then it would be a rom com or a cheesy Christmas movie. Not this.”
I looked confused. “But you’ve been sitting here watching them for days.”
“Spending time with you. I was trying to spend time with you. I’m freaking bored out of my mind.
I’m used to being on the go and working a ridiculous amount of hours, but I’m trying here and it’s driving me insane.
You don’t even talk. You just sit here and watch awful action movies.
I cringe every time you pick up the remote.
I thought maybe we could actually get to know each other or something during this time and make the most of it.
I feel like I know less about you now than I did before we got here. ”
She was on her feet now, red faced, with clenched fists, pacing as she yelled, and it made her look ridiculously cute, like a little chihuahua pretending to be a guard dog.
I couldn’t help it; I burst out laughing.
Here we were apparently both waiting on the other and only going insane in the process. Stubborn? Patient? I wasn’t sure which, but we certainly made quite the pair.
“Oh forget it. Just watch your stupid movie!” she screamed and stomped off to her room, slamming the door behind her.
I followed, just as I did every night, only this time I tried to open the door and barge in.
It was locked.
I growled.
She seriously locked me out after that outburst?
I was pissed and took to pacing the floor once more until my anger subsided and I felt deflated as I sunk to the floor and curled up in front of her door.
I was still frustrated, but the emotions had changed. Clearly, she hadn’t been as calm about everything as she’d appeared, and that gave me sick pleasure to realize.
Much to my surprise, a lot of the tension I’d been experiencing waned, and I started to doze off as I listened to her shower running. My mate was definitely a creature of habit.
Light snoring woke me up a few times before I realized it was me.
The room had not fully grown dark yet, so I knew I had only snoozed for a little while. I was contemplating getting up and doing something . . . anything, but the door flew open and Zoey tripped over me as she marched out of the room. I wasn’t sure which one of us was more surprised.
“What the hell are you doing on the floor?”
I scowled. “Trying to sleep.”
“There? Why aren’t you in your room?”
“Because I didn’t think I was welcome,” I admitted.
“Seriously?” she muttered before stomping off to each of the other bedrooms only to find that none of the beds had been slept in. “You’ve been sleeping on the floor like this every night?”
I didn’t respond. I didn’t want to confess how badly I wanted to be near her, even if this was all I could get.
Her voice softened. “Why?”
“I told you when we first arrived here that I prefer the smaller bed.”
“To cuddle,” she whispered.
“Yeah, but you insisted on the big one.”
“You could still have slept in there,” she blurted out while blushing furiously.
I shook my head. “You shut me out every night. I’m just trying to respect that.”
Her mouth opened to protest and then promptly shut as she considered my words. Then she took a deep breath, like she was trying to work through what to say. I didn’t give her the opportunity to reply.
“You kissed me back, and then after we were interrupted, you went cold.”
“Uh, no, I didn’t. You went cold. Instead of getting back to where we’d been interrupted, you put on a stupid movie.”
“I was trying not to pressure you. And you sat there and watched the entire thing with your arms crossed over your chest making it perfectly obvious you wanted nothing more to do with me.”
“No, I was pissed thinking you wanted nothing more to do with me.”
I considered that for a moment and tried to see things from her side.
“I guess we were both wrong,” I finally conceded.
“I guess we were,” she said.
Finally, we seemed to agree on something again.
“Wait! That means you really did want more of this,” I whispered as I closed the gap between us and kissed her like she was the air I needed to breathe, because I was pretty sure she was.
There was no resistance as she kissed me back.
I wanted to swoop her up into my arms and carry her off to bed, but I was still determined to follow her lead, even though I’d clearly failed at that the last few days.
As my tongue danced with hers and I held her tightly against me, I couldn’t help but feel all was right with the world.
This woman infuriated me, drove me mad, tested my patience, and made me crave a life I never knew I wanted.
Mine, I growled.
Last time we were here, I hadn’t allowed myself to touch her.
My hands had been planted on her hips and I hadn’t dared move them.
I had patiently waited for her to make the first move, but her hands had never roamed beyond my shoulders or neck and honestly, I’d gotten too caught up in the sensations of kissing her that I hadn’t even cared.
But now, as my body buzzed feeling her pressed against me and her lips exploring mine, I had to touch her.
Leaving one hand planted at her hip, I let the other move up her back memorizing the shape of her as I caressed her gently.
She moaned against my mouth, spurring me on. My stationary hand dipped lower to cup her ass and give it a good squeeze. Her hips involuntarily thrust forward, and I was suddenly harder than I knew possible.
Zoey gasped, then rolled herself against me.
Shit! Even though it was such a slight motion, it nearly brought me to my breaking point.
Not sure I could stand there making out with her like this without pressuring her for much more, I swooped her up in my arms and carried her to the couch as I gently set her down and slid onto the cushion beside her. Our lips never left the other’s.
I reached for her hand, needing her to touch me too.
She jerked away, breaking our kiss as she glared at me.
“If you touch that remote right now, I swear to God, I will punch you.”
I burst out laughing.
“I was reaching for your hand, not that damn remote.”
“Oh. In that case . . . continue.”
I gave her a quick kiss, taking her hand and guiding it to my chest.
She sighed, then frowned as she lunged forward right into my lap and cursed under her breath when she reached under where she’d just been sitting and pulled out that stupid remote.
“Gah! I hate this thing.” Then she chucked it across the room. “You know it would have made more sense to continue this in the bedroom.”
Before words even left my lips, she was back in my arms as I excitedly rushed us to the bedroom. This time I wasn’t being sweet and romantic carrying her in my arms. Nope. I picked her up and ran caveman style while she giggled, then flopped her down unceremoniously on the bed before joining her.
I kissed her again without letting it fully escalate. It already felt like I’d won the lottery just being invited into her bed. I could handle taking things as slow or as fast as she desired.
“I do believe you’re right. This is much better.”
When I went to kiss her again, she held her fingers over my lips and lightly pushed me away.
I groaned. “You were only teasing, huh?”
“No. This is far more comfortable than that stupid couch. I never want to sit on it and watch a movie again.”
“Me either.”
“I really thought this wasn’t what you wanted though, that I wasn’t what you wanted. And I don’t want to screw this up, Monte. We both know what will happen if we continue on like this.”
“I know.”
I rolled to my back, feeling truly grateful to be stretched out on a soft bed instead of balled up on the hard floor. I pulled her to me so that she lay beside me and her head rested on my chest. I held her hand with my free one rubbing circles into her palm and enjoying just being close to her.
“Have you thought about this yet?” I finally asked her.
“Yet? It’s all I think about. I’ve barely slept in days just tossing and turning thinking about this.”
“We can probably break the bond with minimal pain still, but if this progresses any further it’s gonna be hard, like really hard. If I’m being honest, that’s probably already bullshit because I’m struggling to see a future without you in it.”
“Even after these last few days?” she asked me, sounding a little surprised by my admission.
“I slept on the damn floor just to feel closer to you. I’m pretty sure I’m already a goner. So if you want to break this bond, I’ll try my best to respect that, but losing you will hurt like a sonofabitch even now. But if we take this much further, and you change your mind, it’ll kill me.”
It was the absolute truth. I was all in.
“But we don’t even really know each other yet. How can you be so sure that I’m what you want?
I smiled and kissed the top of her head.
“If I stop to think about it, it makes no sense. We don’t make sense at all to me if I’m being logical about it.
But there’s more to it than that. For some reason we are fated to be together, Zoey.
I’ve never been a big believer in true mates, but I can’t deny its existence, I never wanted a mate this young.
I wanted to live my life before settling down.
But apparently the universe has other plans, and I can live with that. ”
“So that’s it? Fate’s decided our wolves should unite so therefore we must?”
“Just because I am willing to accept fate’s call, does not mean you have to. That’s a decision only you can make, Zoey.”
“It’s all happening so fast.”
“I know. But if this might not be what you want, if I’m not what you want, then I don’t think we should be any more physical than we’ve already been.”
Her mouth dropped in surprise.
“Trust me. I’m as shocked as you are, but I guess I’ll just call it self-preservation. I’ve already showed you my cards. The rest is up to you. But also, if it’s okay with you, I’d still like to stay close.”
“Your wolf’s on edge?”
“Guess you haven’t noticed the bare path I’ve left in the carpet, huh?” I smirked, trying to lighten the mood.
I wanted her in a way that scared me. I needed her in a way that damn near undid me. So we had to slow this down—because if she wasn’t just as certain, she would break me beyond repair.
It would be so easy to just let nature take its course and see what happens, but if she rejected me now, I knew I wouldn’t survive it. She had to be certain.
“Okay, so what now?”
I shrugged. “I guess we get to know each other. Decide what’s best for us, and see from there?”
She actually looked disappointed but then smiled.
“I like that. Why don’t we just completely start over.
” She held out her hand, and I took it in mine.
She gave it a little shake. “Hi. I’m Zoey Rey.
I’m from a small pack in Montana. I love the color blue.
I’m a business major at Archibald Reynolds College and also pursuing a minor in social media.
I run a decently successful social media platform already.
And I’m not overly fond of heights, but rock climbing wasn’t as bad as I expected.
I think I have my trainer to thank for that. ”