Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Luca
“Where are you going?” Sofia asks, her tone sharp, though her eyes betray her.
She’s trying—and failing—to hide the way she’s eye-fucking me in my black button-down shirt and dress pants.
And after her avoiding me for over twenty-four hours, that possessive glint in her eye is exactly what I needed.
I pause in the doorway long enough for her gaze to trail over me before flashing her a grin. “A date with my girl,” I say smoothly, winking. “I’m taking you to dinner. I’ll drop you off with your friends after and not interfere in your fun.”
Her lips part, and for half a second, I catch the flicker of interest before her walls slam back up. “What makes you think I’d want to go on a date with you?”
I lean one shoulder against the frame, casual as I can manage with my wolf prowling inside me. “Could be the way you’re looking at me right now. Could also be the fact that I called ahead and had the chef add peanut butter and chocolate cheesecake to the menu for one night only.”
Her brow arches. I’ve got her attention. She’s been obsessed with peanut butter cups since the first time she ate one at four years old, so I’m praying to the Moon Goddess that hasn’t changed.
“Fine,” she concedes at last, crossing her arms. “But only for the cheesecake. And only if you promise not to act like an overbearing ass when we get to the bar.”
“Deal,” I agree as Sofia goes to start rooting in the bag she still hasn’t unpacked. “I’ll wait for you outside while you get ready.”
Half an hour later, Sofia walks out of the bedroom, and I forget how to breathe.
She has poured herself into a slinky black dress that shows off all her delicious curves.
Her hair is loose around her shoulders, and she’s wearing a little makeup.
Her red-painted lips have my cock straining against my zipper already.
“You look… wow,” I rasp. “You look stunning.”
Sofia smirks at me. “Not too revealing to wear out?” She turns in a circle, revealing the backless design that makes it clear she’s not wearing a bra. My mouth waters, and my wolf surges forward. She’s testing me—poking at my possessiveness to see if I’ll bite.
I force myself to exhale, and rein it in. “Not at all,” I murmur, stepping toward her. “You just need a little something with it.”
I still can’t believe she was the one to suggest I scent mark her. It’s so intimate. Much more so than a simple kiss.
I take her wrist, press my lips to her pulse, and drag my tongue slowly across her skin. Her pulse stutters beneath my mouth. Then I give the other wrist the same treatment.
Her breathing comes in rapid pants when I splay my fingers over her bare back.
I run my tongue up the column of her neck and over her pulse points there too, suffusing my scent over her skin.
I love how tall she is. How right it feels to have her so close in height to me, especially in the strappy high-heeled sandals she’s wearing.
I drop to my knees in front of her, wanting to get my scent on one more point. “Turn around,” I say. My voice is gruff and full of gravel.
She hesitates, then complies—and Goddess, I love her fire and when she pushes back, but the trust in that movement nearly breaks me.
I lean forward, running my tongue over the pulse points at the back of her knees.
So close to her pussy I can feel the heat radiating from it and the scent of her arousal hits me like a slap to the face.
I want to bend her forward right now, bury my face between her thighs, and devour her until she knows exactly who she belongs to.
Instead, I force myself to stand, to pull back. Sofia remains facing away. Her hands braced on the wall in front of her, and her back arched. Almost as if she was thinking the same thing I was.
“Let’s go, Prin—sorry—let’s go, Sofia. We have a reservation to get to,” I say, taking her hand and leading her towards the door and then over to my truck.
My wolf preens when she lets me continue to hold her hand all the way there.
I open her door and lean in to buckle her seatbelt before jogging over to my side and climbing in.
Sofia is uncharacteristically subdued, and it’s starting to feel weird. “You okay?”
She shakes her head as if she’s dislodging a thought. “Um, yeah. Let’s go.”
Arriving at the restaurant, I put my hand on the small of Sofia’s back as we are led to our table. She hasn’t said much since we left my place, and it’s starting to put my wolf on edge. Gnawing at the part of me that already feels such shame.
“Was that too far?” I ask, keeping my voice low so that we aren’t overheard by the mostly human patrons of the restaurant. “With the scent marking? I can stop doing it if you want?”
“It’s fine. I suggested it.”
Silence stretches on again and fates, I hate that I’ve done this to us. We used to talk so much before.
“So, do you come here often?” she asks eventually, and a laugh bursts out of my throat. She narrows her eyes at me, and my wolf is conflicted between feeling bad for annoying her and being happy she’s jealous of the idea of me on other dates.
“No, I haven’t really done the whole dating thing. Not like this. I never wanted anything serious before.”
“Me either,” she admits, and neither my wolf nor I are conflicted on that in the slightest. I fucking love the opportunity to be her first anything.
The waitress stops by and takes our orders. We both skip starters and order the biggest steaks on the menu, rare—the only way it should be cooked.
“So, I’m not sure how this works exactly, but how about we try to get to know each other again? What’s going on in your life?”
“Hmmm,” she hums, tapping her chin with her index finger. “Well, recently I found out my mate was this asshole I used to have a crush on.”
“That must have sucked. Is he at least hot?”
She laughs, and, fates, it’s the best sound I’ve ever heard in my life. “Yeah, he’s pretty hot. If only he weren’t so sure of it,” she teases, and I beam at her. For the first time in years, we’re having a conversation without animosity. Without barbs and insults. Relatively speaking.
I need more of this.
Sofia leans back and takes a sip of her wine and grins at me. “What about you? What’s going on in the life of Luca Taylor?”
“Oh, that’s easy. I met my mate, and she’s amazing. Breathtakingly beautiful, full of fire and smart as a whip. I’m trying to figure out how to get her to give me a chance, but I got this crazy idea, and I’m gonna give it a try.”
“Oh yeah? And what would that be?”
“I’m going to shut up and listen to her when she tells me what the problem is. Then I’m going to do whatever I need to so I can show her how much she means to me.”
Sofia’s eyes shine bright. A hint of her wolf’s gold flickering in the brown.
“That sounds like a good place to start,” she says, her voice a fraction above a whisper. I reach out for Sofia’s hand and take it in mine. Something has shifted in us, and I need to build on my words with actions. I need to show her, not just tell her, how sorry I am.
Walking into the bar a couple of hours later, I feel closer to Sofia than I have in years. I offered to carry her rather than her walk in her heels, and when she said no, I listened and backed off. Progress. I think.
Emily, Jackson, Mike, and Simon are already in a booth when we walk in, and Sofia shoots me a glance. Like she doesn’t know what to expect now, but she’s ready to fight me if needed.
“I’m going to chill at the bar,” I say before dropping a kiss on her forehead. “Have fun.” I take a step away, but Sofia grabs my hand and pulls me back.
“For appearances,” she mutters. She wraps her arms around my shoulders and presses her lips against mine.
It takes me half a second to realize what’s happening.
To start kissing her back. I lick along the seam of her lips, and she opens up to me.
Fates, she tastes delicious. Peanut butter, chocolate, and cream mixed with something uniquely Sofia.
She pulls back, winks at me, and waltzes over to her friends. Leaving me with another raging case of blue balls. Jackson moves out of the booth to let her in beside Emily and then comes over to join me.
“Thought I’d leave the kids to it,” he says, signaling to the bartender for another drink.
“How do you… let her go like that?” I ask, already itching to cross the room and wrap myself around Sofia. To make it clear to everyone that she’s mine.
“It gets easier,” he says, slapping me on the back and adding, “once they wear your mark,” through the mindlink. “You and Sofia look to be getting along better?”
Are we? Goddess, I hope so. It feels like we are. But that doesn’t mean Sofia won’t push me away again. That I won’t fuck it up again. The sound of a roar of laughter rises, and I look over to see Sofia knocking back shots.
I force myself to stay seated. To trust her. Fuck, this is going to be torture.
I have to keep my hands hidden under the bar so that no one sees the claws that push out through my nails over and over again.
Sofia is drunk.
She dances with Emily, hips swaying, hands running up her curves, hair wild around her face.
Every eye in the bar is on her. She fends off advances with ease—even breaks one guy’s fingers when he gets too handsy.
Fuck, I forgot humans wouldn’t be able to smell me on her.
I need to get her a ring. Something with an obnoxiously large diamond.
Sofia smirks at me when she realizes I saw her deflecting the last guy.
My wolf howls with pride and jealousy in equal measure.
But I hold back. She’s safe. She’s capable.
When she finally stumbles over, flushed and glowing, she leans close and says, “Wanna get out of here?”
I breathe out a sigh of relief before taking her hand and guiding her to walk ahead. No way I’m taking my eyes off her. I wouldn’t, anyway. But especially not drunk.
“You can carry me now,” Sofia declares, her arms outstretched as soon as we leave the bar.
I chuckle and scoop her up bridal-style.
She giggles into my chest as we walk through town.
Shifters don’t get drunk easily, but I’m pretty sure she drank an entire bottle of tequila, and that’s enough to let her guard down.
“Can I tell you a secret?” she asks, glancing around to see if we’ll be overheard as I walk down the main street of the human town nearest our pack, carrying my drunk mate.
“What’s that?”
“I know I said not to, but I kinda miss you calling me princess.”
She giggles to herself and shushes me even though I’m not saying anything.
I want to say so much. But she’s a drunken mess right now.
Not the time. When I get to my truck, she’s already nearly asleep, but I rouse her to make her drink some water.
I think that’s supposed to help with hangovers. Then I buckle her in and drive us home.
She must have found a new lease on life because she chews my ear off the whole drive home.
It’s amazing. Telling me about how she wants to open a self-defense class for human women when Ryan finds his luna, and she has more free time.
She talks about Emily and how close they are.
She even tells me she thinks she doesn’t hate me anymore.
And I listen. I soak it all up, grateful to tequila for helping me to get this invaluable insight into my mate. Drunk-Sofia is fun and carefree. She’s still a smartass, full of sass. But she’s freer.
I want to drive forever. To keep listening to her. But she needs sleep.
I pull up towards the pack house—where all the cars are parked—and walk around to Sofia’s side of the car. I unbuckle her and lift her again into a bridal carry for the short walk home.
Fates, having Sofia in my arms so much tonight has been everything I needed. It feels so right. She feels so right. I adore her solid weight. How she’s not petite and tiny. Sofia is tall and curvy and toned. Not at all breakable.
“Any chance of you wanting to skip the couch tonight?” I ask when we arrive home, and I put her onto her feet.
Sofia wobbles a little, but she’s already sobering up.
Her hands sneak up the outside of my arms until they land on my shoulders.
Slowly, she raises her gaze, raking up my body until she reaches my face.
She’s the same height as me in those heels, and her face is only a breath away from mine.
“Want to hear another secret?” she asks as her fingers move towards the buttons of my shirt. I inhale a sharp breath when she opens them and runs her fingers along the grooves in my abdominal muscles.
“Not tonight, Princess. You already gave me so much,” I say, cupping my hands over hers when she drops them down to my belt. Fates, it’s killing me to stop this, but I can’t have her regretting it when she gives in to our bond.
Sofia’s eyes go wide. Hurt flashes across her face, raw and sharp. She jerks her hands back as if I burned her. “I’ll sleep on the couch,” she snaps as her cheeks flush. “You can go now.”
Shit. The last thing I wanted was to reject or embarrass her. But I can’t let her do something she might later regret.
“Sofia, wait—”
“No,” she says, silencing me with a raised hand. “You go to bed; nothing happened. You just happened to be a warm body here. Don’t read into it, Beta.”
She turns away from me, and my wolf snarls, pushing me forward.
“Sofia,” I say, my voice more stern. “Don’t do that. Don’t push me away again.”
“Just go!” she yells, her voice cracking at the edges.
I freeze. I want to grab her and force her to listen to me. I want to bend her over that couch and spank her ass until the truth comes out. But for once, I obey. I walk to my room with fists clenched so tight my knuckles ache.
My muscles strain against the force of my frustration.
How the hell did I fuck that up so much?
The familiar sting of rejection pierces me.
My wolf howls in pain. Looking back, I see her wrap her arms around herself and sink onto the couch.
Her sweet citrus scent takes on a bitter edge of embarrassment, and everything she’s doing screams of a past hurt, a wound that I can’t seem to stop reopening.