26. Gabriella
Gabriella
If that motherfucker finds you, then he finds me. He finds Monster. And finding you will be the last thing he does. I swear it.”
My heart thumps wildly against my ribs at Rowan’s words. Because I know they aren’t empty.
He’s not pretending. He’s not trying to impress me or saying what he thinks I need to hear. He means it.
Every. Single. Word.
I see it in the hard set of his jaw. In the flash of gold burning through his eyes. In the possessive way one big hand remains spread across my hip while the other cradles the back of my head. I feel it too, through our matebond.
Protection.
Possession.
Rage at what happened to me.
And beneath all of it, something so achingly tender it makes my throat close.
He believes me. He sees me. He still wants me. Still picks me.
And God, I am so here for it.
For him.
I know there’s something about being an inherent feminist that should probably have me calling out the toxicity of an overbearing, dominating man.
Except Rowan isn’t just some controlling asshole.
He’s a True Alpha.
And the beast inside him?
Hell, he named the damn thing Monster.
Rowan is dominant down to his bones. Protective by instinct. Possessive in ways that should probably send me running for the nearest exit.
But he isn’t trying to take my choices away.
That’s the difference.
Ethan used his power to make me smaller. Rowan makes me feel like I could take on the fucking world because if I stumble, this terrifying Wolf will be right there to catch me.
And knowing all that power is on my side? I don’t think anything has ever been hotter.
“Rowan.”
His name comes out breathless.
I cling to him as a wave of desire hits me so suddenly and so hard I nearly topple right off his lap.
His strong arms immediately tighten around me.
“Gabby?”
Those golden eyes search mine.
“You all right?”
Am I?
I don’t fucking know.
My vision goes red and gold around the edges. Heat rushes beneath my skin, and my other nature suddenly feels closer than it has in years. Not fighting to escape.
Responding.
To him.
To my mate.
I can feel Rowan’s heart beating beneath my palm. Solid. Strong. A little faster than it was a moment ago.
I spread my fingers over his chest.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
The matebond seems to pulse in time with it. His gaze drops to my mouth. Mine does the same.
Oh, I know that look. And this time? I’m the one giving him kissing eyes.
A nervous little laugh escapes me as I shift on his lap, turning until I’m straddling his hips.
Rowan goes utterly still beneath me.
Not relaxed. Definitely not unaffected.
He’s still in the way a predator gets when something has captured every ounce of its attention.
His hands settle on my hips.
“Honey Girl.”
The warning in his voice sends a delicious shiver down my spine.
Heat pulses through me, radiating from somewhere deep inside until I feel like my skin is glowing with it.
And I can feel him.
Hard.
Big.
Pressed intimately against me even through our clothes.
“Fuck, you feel what you do to me,” he growls and flexes his hips.
Yeah, I feel it.
Fuck, he is hard as steel.
His cock is pulsing inside his jeans, and I swear my pussy clenches on air in response.
My breath catches. Rowan’s fingers flex against my hips.
Once. Twice. Like he’s fighting the instinct to pull me harder against him.
That tiny bit of restraint nearly destroys me. After everything I just told him, he’s still giving me control.
Still waiting for me.
I lean closer.
He smells amazing. Soap and pine and smoke and that warm, masculine scent that is simply Rowan.
My Alpha.
My mate.
I need to be closer.
“Rowan,” I murmur again, curling my arms around his neck.
His eyes lock onto mine. I move against him. Barely. But just enough.
His jaw clenches.
“Gabby.”
“What?”
“You know fucking what.”
Despite the need burning through me, my lips twitch.
“I have no idea what you mean.”
“Liar.”
“Maybe.”
His gaze drops to my mouth again.
“Careful, Honey Girl.”
“Or what?”
A growl rumbles through his chest.
Oh, God. There he is.
Monster.
Except I’m not afraid of him. Not anymore. Maybe I never should have been.
I lean in until my lips hover over Rowan’s. His breath mingles with mine. And that’s when I see it. The exact second he scents me.
My arousal.
My need.
His nostrils flare. Gold floods his eyes.
His fingers dig into my hips before immediately loosening again, and somehow that little correction—his instinct screaming take while the man chooses to wait—makes my need sharpen.
“Fuck, Gabby.”
His forehead drops against mine. For one breath, neither of us moves.
Then another beat passes. And the anticipation becomes almost unbearable.
“You sure?” His voice is little more than a whispering growl. “I was gonna give you tonight.”
My heart squeezes.
Of course he was.
After everything I told him, this feral, possessive Wolf was prepared to sit here and hold me all night without asking for a damn thing.
I brush my fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck.
“I’m sure.”
His eyes search mine. He needs more than that.
I understand. I see it.
So I give it to him.
My choice.
“I want you, Mate.”
Something flashes across his face.
Shock.
Need.
Possession.
And something infinitely softer.
I press myself closer.
“I need you, Rowan, please.”
His eyes close for half a second.
“Say it again.”
My pulse jumps.
“Which part?”
His eyes open. Pure molten gold.
“You know which fucking part.”
A smile tugs at my lips. For all his power, suddenly I understand.
My big, terrifying True Alpha needs something from me too.
Reassurance.
Acceptance. Compassion.
I cup his face in both hands.
“Mate.”
His breath leaves him roughly.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
The matebond surges between us, hot and bright and alive.
I feel him. Not just his lust.
His relief.
His longing.
That buried vulnerability he probably wishes I couldn’t feel.
And Lord help me, it makes me want him even more.
“I choose you, Rowan.”
His hands tighten around me.
“I know the Fates did whatever the hell the Fates do. I know there's magic between us I don't completely understand yet. But this?”
I touch his chest. Then mine.
“This is me choosing you.”
His stare burns into mine.
“Gabby—”
“And I want you to choose me, too.”
His expression changes instantly.
“Fuck, Honey Girl.”
One hand slides into my hair.
“Do you really think there's a choice left for me to make?”
My breath catches.
He pulls me close until our foreheads touch.
“I chose you before I even understood what the fuck was happening to me.”
My heart trips.
“Rowan.”
“Now come here.”
And when his mouth finally finds mine, there’s nothing tentative about the way I kiss my mate back.
Rowan’s arms lock around me.
Then he stands—just stands, lifting me with him like I weigh absolutely nothing.
A startled laugh catches somewhere between my throat and his mouth, but I don’t break the kiss. If anything, I cling tighter, arms around his neck, legs instinctively wrapping around his waist as he carries me toward the cabin.
There should probably be something alarming about how easily this enormous man can haul me around.
There isn’t. Not anymore.
With Rowan, his strength doesn’t make me feel helpless.
It makes me feel safe. Wanted. Maybe even a little worshipped.
The cabin door opens behind me. Closes.
And suddenly we’re alone.
Really alone.
No birthday party.
No Matteo popping up to accuse us of making kissing eyes.
No Wreck calling Rowan Fido.
No Justin watching everything with those unnervingly perceptive Dragon eyes.
Just me and Rowan.
My mate.
A wave of desire hits me so hard it’s like a tsunami of heat and longing.
“Fuck,” I whimper against his mouth as he lowers me until my feet touch the floor.
His hands remain on my waist for an extra second.
Maybe to make sure I’m steady.
Maybe because he doesn’t want to let me go.
I know which one I’m hoping for. Rowan backs up a step, hooks one hand into the back collar of his shirt, and yanks it off.
Just...
Poof.
One move and it’s gone.
My mouth actually falls open.
Good God.
I’ve seen him naked.
Very, very naked.
And somehow that does absolutely nothing to prepare me for the sight of him now.
I’m practically drooling as I stare at all six-and-a-million feet of his tattooed body, all those rippling muscles and hard planes. Ink swirls across his skin, disappearing around his shoulders and down his arms.
Scars interrupt some of the patterns. Marks left by a life that clearly hasn’t been easy.
I want to know those too.
Every tattoo.
Every scar.
Every piece of the man beneath Havoc.
Because that’s the thing that scares me almost as much as everything I told him outside. I don’t just want his body anymore.
I want Rowan. The thought should terrify me.
Instead, my body answers with another hot pulse.
Only this one feels different.
A pulling, dragging sensation starts low in my abdomen.
My breath catches.
I press a hand against my stomach.
That’s... strange.
But then Rowan reaches for his belt, and coherent thought becomes considerably more difficult.
I lick my lips, needy and aching. His gaze immediately locks onto my mouth. The sensation only gets stronger as Rowan undresses.
His chest rumbles with the vibrations of Monster, that ever-present growl rolling through the cabin.
Once upon a time, that sound might have scared me.
Now? Lord help me, it turns me on.
Because I know what lives behind it.
Possession.
Need.
Protection.
Mine.
And somewhere deep inside me, my other nature answers.
Yessss. Mine.
My breath hitches.
Rowan’s head snaps up.
For one intense second, we simply stare at each other.
Did he feel that?
Could the matebond carry something like that?
His eyes flash brighter gold.
Maybe.
He steps toward me. Slowly this time.
Like he’s giving me every opportunity to change my mind.
I don’t move.
He leans forward, bending his head toward me while I’m still completely dressed, and his lips brush mine.
Once.
My eyes flutter closed.
Twice.
The second kiss lingers. Not quite enough.
He knows it, too.
The bastard.
When he pulls away, I instinctively follow.
His mouth curves.
“Clothes, Gabby. I need your clothes off.”