Chapter Ten #3
The heat in his words galvanized her. “I didn’t think I’d freeze up like that.
I thought I was over it. If I had an idea that I would, I would have stopped you before things went too far.
But, according to Gage, you aren’t willing to give me another shot at physical anyway.
You’re willing to just toss me away the way you did ten years ago because someone let you believe it was a bad idea to come after me. ”
“Kim, I—”
She held up a finger at him. “No. Don’t start. I don’t care what bullshit excuse you have this time. You’re going to let me talk.”
Too shocked by her verbal spanking, Shane waited and listened, mouth shut tight. His wolf nearly whimpered in response to her harsh tone. The woman didn’t need dominance to make another shifter shake in his boots.
“I know this whole mess probably hurt you. I’m sorry for that, but I’m not sorry for what I did.
I know you probably expected that our history gave you the right to know everything.
It doesn’t. We aren’t kids anymore and those old promises are gone.
You broke those promises. What happened in the last ten years is my business and I disclose the details at my own discretion.
It’s my life, and you are just a guest in it.
A temporary guest, I might add. We can hang out, we can talk, we can mess around, but I will draw boundaries, and you can either deal with it or fuck off … Why are you smiling?”
Shane hadn’t realized it, but he was smiling. He couldn’t help it. “The neighbors will wonder what the hell I did to earn such an ass-whippin’ from you. You’re yelling loud enough that the people two floors below will hear you.”
Kimberly stomped her foot. “Then let it show for the record that Shane Snyder is an asshole for wanting to dump me because I chose to keep something to myself for once in my life!”
This time, he chuckled. “Are you done?”
Her face went red. “No! I’m not! You should know that anything I do or don’t do has nothing to do with you.
If I choose not to tell you something, I’m not scheming behind your back.
I’m not plotting against you. I’m not Kevin, and I’m not my father.
Just because I choose not to tell you something doesn’t mean I don’t care about you or that I don’t trust you.
It means I’m still healing, and I don’t want to bleed on you.
It means I don’t want anything to change.
It means I don’t want to ruin what little we have, and I expect you to respect all of my reasons, whether I vocalize them or not.
I don’t belong to you, and because of circumstances that you are well aware of, I likely never will.
Therefore, you don’t own me, you don’t get to control me, and you don’t get to make those decisions for me.
And if you thought, even for a minute, that you could just throw your alpha weight around with me to get your way like that, you’re a fucking idiot.
If you want to get to where you have some say in my life, then you don’t ghost me or ignore me.
You talk to me like a man and we work this out … For fuck’s sake, stop grinning!”
Shane covered his mouth. “I swear, I’m not laughing at you. I’m just so damn proud of you.”
Kimberly propped her hands on her hips. “Why?”
Shane composed himself with a deep breath. “Because you’re standing up for yourself. You’re putting your foot down like an alpha. It’s hot.”
Kimberly groaned and rolled her eyes. “Only you could get turned on at a time like this.”
It was true, though. Kimberly’s fierceness was enough to obliterate his doubts about their future.
Nothing she said suggested that they were done.
She, metaphorically, grabbed him by the balls and told him that she laid down her new boundaries and expected him to follow them.
It wasn’t a rant about everything he did wrong or why they couldn’t make a relationship potentially work for them.
There was a forward, not an end. Kimberly came to him to water the parched soil of what they had, not throw salt on it.
“Too bad this discussion can’t continue.”
Panic touched her expression. “What do you mean?”
He gestured to his bedroom door and the bag on his mattress. “I was about to head out when you got here.”
Kimberly glanced over her shoulder and stared at the bag. “Where?”
“A town about eight hours away. Scouting for a new territory. I planned to drive through the night so I could have all of tomorrow to look around.”
Kimberly turned back around and found him much closer, as Shane had charged into her space without a sound.
She met his gaze, all fire doused in an instant at his nearness.
He listened to the rapid thud of her heartbeat and watched her silky lips part to eject a tiny, startled breath.
But he didn’t smell fear in her, only excitement.
“I’m going with you,” she suddenly declared. “And if you so much as try to tell me that it’s not my place or you don’t want me with you, then you can—”
Shane wouldn’t let her finish that sentence. His hand swooped behind her neck and pulled her up to press his mouth to hers. In that kiss, he told her exactly what he thought about her little tantrum.
She was wrong, but only about one thing.
Kimberly was his. His wolf knew it long before he did, but her tirade sealed the deal for him.
She blasted him like no other shifter or alpha ever did.
Not even his father gave him such a neat and vicious scolding that he rightfully deserved.
There might not have been a speck of dominant power in her, but Kimberly stood in his apartment, in his territory, and wouldn’t take no for an answer.
What Gage had done didn’t ruffle even a bit of his fur the way Kimberly’s reprimand did.
As stupid and ridiculous as it seemed, Shane knew at that moment that he had to have Kimberly. All of her. He’d steal her from Gage’s pack one way or another, if that was what it took to make her his mate one day.
He gradually walked her backward until her shoulders hit the doorframe of his bedroom.
He palmed the slope of her waist and curved his fingers to feel her flesh in his hand.
Kimberly gasped against his mouth and a low murmur of approval told him this was okay.
Their bodies pressed together, sharing warmth and vibrating energy.
He wanted nothing more than to feel every inch of her, to rip at the delicate fabric of her dress until she lay bare before him in every sense of the word.
He wanted to feel her underneath him, on top of him, in whatever way she wanted, as long as her skin was hot on his.
In that rush of predatory lust, he forgot about her triggers. Nothing mattered but having her all for himself. The wolf wanted it, too, but human reason snapped back into place when her hands fell on his chest and gave a gentle, but firm push.
He let go of the kiss that didn’t seem to last long enough. He didn’t even get the chance to taste her, much less feast upon her the way he wanted.
He didn’t know how to interpret that subtle push. Slow down? Stop? Was she on the verge of another break or was she just not ready to go further?
His golden eyes opened and met her green stare. She looked at him through her dark lashes, her eyes soft and limpid, as if she was in the midst of pulling herself out of deep sleep, skin flushed. Not a bit of fear, even while he had her trapped against the doorframe. That had to be progress.
“I’ll always want you with me. How long will it take you to pack?”
Kimberly blinked hard as if she struggled to remember where she was and what he asked. “Not long.”
Shane smirked, thinking about how it would be to go on a road trip with her. “Ready for an adventure like the old days?”
She smiled, the first she had graced him with since she strutted into his apartment. “Always.”