by Quinn Loftis
Bethany sighed. The exhaustion she’d been plagued with for the past couple weeks only made her more frustrated with the situation. She turned back to the book she’d been reading. Bethany could feel his irritation through their bond, but she didn’t address it. She knew he would say something if she continued to pay her book more attention than him. Drake had learned that one thing Bethany didn’t handle well was lack of communication, which made her feel guiltier than she already did about the suspicion she hadn’t shared with him. Though she was still in denial, which could be another reason she hadn’t said anything to him.
“How long will you be gone?” he asked, taking a seat on the coffee table in front of the couch. He leaned forward so his elbows rested on his knees, which also brought him closer to her.
“A couple hours, maybe three.”
“You’re going at midnight?”
She nodded.
“So you won’t be back until three in the morning?”
At the sound of annoyance in his voice, Bethany finally looked up from her book and met his eyes. His jaw was clenched as though he was biting back words he knew he wouldn’t be able to take back. Over the past few months as they adjusted to living together, many things had become apparent to Bethany. Two thing of those things were that Drake did not like her being away from him for extended periods of time, and he wouldn’t sleep without her in the bed beside him. Basically, an hour was about all he could handle before he would come looking for her. It was cute in the beginning. And most of the time she didn’t want to be away from him either, but the longer he withheld himself from her, the more she wanted to put distance between them. She loved him and that love grew every day, but his bullheadedness made her want to bang her head against a rock until she knocked herself unconscious.
“Yes, Drake. That means I won’t be back until two or possibly three. Is that a problem?” Bethany asked as she continued to meet his stern stare. Her emotions felt out of control at times, and she found herself being a little harsher than normal. But in this situation, she wouldn’t back down.
“And if it is?” he asked.
She could feel his frustration through their bond. She also sensed his desire for her, which only ticked her off. She was almost indignant about his desire. How dare he want her so desperately but refuse his wolf and her. Bethany knew he was aware of her need of him, but he didn’t acknowledge it. “Then you will simply have to get over it,” she finally answered. Her tone was curt. Bethany raised her brow at him, silently challenging him. When he didn’t respond, she returned her attention to the book … not that she was actually reading. Her eyes had run over the same sentence at least twenty times, and she still didn’t know what it said. His nearness, his scent, and the heat coming from his body were too distracting.
Drake surged to his feet as he snarled and stomped to the kitchen. Bethany heard the loud banging of cabinets coming from the other room.
She smelled a delicious aroma and realized he was cooking dinner. Her mouth watered. She was starving, which was too bad, because she really wanted to refuse to eat with him. Super mature, Bethany. But food had become something she constantly craved. This worked out okay because Drake had a thing about feeding her. He even liked to literally feed her the food he prepared for them. She humored him … sometimes.
After twenty minutes, he returned and set down a plate containing a grilled cheese sandwich, accompanied by a bowl of tomato soup. It was one of her favorites. He was thoroughly annoyed with her and yet he still cooked for her, thinking about what she would want instead of what he would prefer. His thoughtfulness warmed her, but it also made her want to growl at him. She didn’t want him to be sweet when they were having a tiff.
“Thank you,” she told him as she set the book aside and moved to the floor in front of the coffee table. The only noise was the sound of their spoons clanking against the bowls. She forced herself to eat slowly, instead of like a ravenous beast like she wanted. When they were done, Bethany stood up and took their dishes. She placed them in the sink and turned. Her face was met with a broad, naked chest. She hadn’t heard him move. For a brief second, she considered leaning forward and sinking her teeth into his flesh. Drake sucked in a quick breath, and Bethany knew he’d picked up on her thought. What did he expect when he walked around looking perfect and bitable?
She tilted her head up to look at him and tried to back up to put a little space between them, but only air was able to fit between their bodies.
Drake placed his hands on the counter on either side of her, effectively caging her in. He leaned down so his mouth was next to her ear. His warm breath on her skin, just over his bite mark, was enough to make her shudder and her skin flush with heat. Maybe if she thought about doing laundry she’d be able to shut down her desire. Nope. That just made her think about removing clothing. Not helpful. Rabbits. Yes, rabbits would distract her. Fluffy, cute, fury, and hunted by wolves. Like the way her mate hunted her, slowly, with unending patience. Mother of pearl, would anything not drag her thoughts back to him? Jell-O. No. No way. Moths. They’re drawn to light. Just like she’s drawn to the heat from Drake’s body.
She let out a frustrated growl and was rewarded with a deep chuckle next to her ear. He was listening to her thoughts. Fur butt, she thought, knowing he’d hear that too.
Bethany felt his teeth scrape against her neck. I will not groan. I will not groan. I will not … shut the front door, I groaned. Her thoughts were swirling through her mind as her mate continued to kiss, bite, and suck on her neck over his mark. Her skin was especially sensitive lately, and she attempted to chalk it up to the fact that she was sexually frustrated.
When Drake’s mouth finally left her skin, he whispered in her ear, “If you stay with me tonight, there’s more of that in store.”
Bethany felt as if cold water had been poured over her body and through her veins. She reacted so fast he wasn’t prepared when she shoved him as hard as she could. It gave her enough space to slip out from between his arms, and she made a break for the living room where it would be harder for him to corner her.
“You’re trying to get your way by seducing me?” she asked, the speed of her breathing increasing even as her blood began to heat. She growled, baring her teeth at him as her hands fisted at her side. Maybe if she kept them locked at her side, she wouldn’t act on the desire to choke him.
“My advances make you want to choke me?” he asked, he eyebrows drawn together as he folded his arms across his chest. The pose made his impressive size seem to occupy even more of the space, like a peacock puffing up his feathers to appear larger.
Bethany didn’t retreat from what she felt was an intimidating stance. Instead, she placed her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at him. “No, you overgrown puppy. I want to choke you because you think you have the right to seduce me.”
“You’re my mate!” he snapped back, cutting her off.
She ignored his statement and kept going. “Especially when you have no intention of taking it any further than a teenage make-out session. How would you like it if I teased you?” She pictured her suggestion in her mind, letting those thoughts filter through the bond and into his brain. She was very thorough about how she would drive him crazy only to then walk away, leaving him breathless and wanting.
“I’m not trying to leave you frustrated like that. I don’t mean to. But we need to touch even if we do nothing else. Especially in this early part of our relationship. It will build a strong bond between us and our wolves. There’s no way I can be around you and not touch you.”
He took a step toward her as if he was going to act on his words, but Bethany held up a hand to stop him. “Then maybe you don’t need to be around me until you get things under control. You keep saying that you won’t make love to me because you’re afraid of losing control and hurting me.”
“Again,” he added through clenched teeth.
“You say it’s hard for you not to touch me. Well, did you stop to think
about how hard it is for me to feel your touch and desire and not be allowed to act on those wants and needs? I’m mated to you. I tied our souls together with you for all eternity. You’ve spouted off about rights we have to one another because we belong to one another, and yet you deny me my rights.” Bethany paused and closed her eyes, forcing a halt to the tears that threatened to fall. Once again, she was losing control of herself and felt as if she’d implode or explode, not sure which, at any moment. “Look, we knew being together would be difficult. We both have traumatic backgrounds, and they fuel our insecurities. I honestly don’t know how to deal with this. We’ve talked but we are at an impasse. I just need some space.” She knew her words were going to anger him, and his wolf would probably throw a fit worthy of a two-year-old. She wasn’t trying to make him angry. She was trying to figure out how to work through this obstacle that Drake was unwilling to remove.
“No,” he said, and though he sounded calm, his body was shaking, and his eyes were glowing with his wolf.
“Excuse me?” Bethany said, her forehead raising so much she felt as if her eyebrows were touching her hairline.
“I said no. I will not give you space.”
Bethany was at a complete loss. She could turn around and simply walk out, but he would just follow her and bring her back.
“You’re damn right I would.” He growled, agreeing with her thoughts. “As many times as I have to.”
An idea struck her like a bolt of lightning, and she shut the bond down in a heartbeat to keep Drake from hearing it. “Fine. I’ll stay. And as petty as it is, I am going to have to return the favor of the frustration you have put me through.” Bethany grabbed the bottom of her shirt, pulled it over her head, and tossed it on the back of the nearest chair.
“Bethany, what are you doing?” His words sounded as if they were being pulled out of him against his will.
“I think it’s obvious but if you need a run down, I will oblige. I’m getting naked. If I’m going to stay here with you because you refuse to give me space, if I’m going to have to continue to endure my unsated desire for you, then, my dear mate, you are going to endure the same. I will remain naked until you get over your ridiculousness and stop refusing me.” A minute later, her clothes were all piled on the back of the chair, and she stood before her mate in only her flesh. This idea was probably a product of her newly acquired irrational emotions, but she was rolling with it because nothing else had worked.
Drake’s wolf was practically foaming at the mouth as his body shuddered and fur rippled over his arms only to disappear again. “Put your clothes back on, female. Now.”
There was a knock at the door before she could respond to his demand. Bethany turned and reached the door in two strides. She turned the knob and opened it, standing with one hand on her bare hip and leaning her other arm against the door.
“Holy gypsy babies, you are naked,” Jen said as she stood wide-eyed, taking in Bethany’s body. Jen turned quickly to the side and held up a hand. “STAY.” She was, no doubt, speaking to her mate. Jen turned back to Bethany and opened her mouth to say something else, but she was cut off by a loud roar.
Jen was jerked back by large hands just as the door slammed closed in her face.
Bethany stumbled as she lost her balance from the loss of the door’s support and turned to find Drake staring at the door with crazy, glowing eyes and a mouth open in an elongated-tooth snarl.
Okay, so maybe opening the door naked had been unwise.
“I don’t know what’s going on in there, but I approve, Bethany. You’re my new hero. And way to go on those curves. You don’t look like a twig anymore,” Jen called through the door.
Bethany emitted a small laugh and then slapped her hand over her mouth as if to capture it back.
Drake’s head snapped around to her, and she froze under the intensity of his gaze. To her surprise, his eyes never left her face. Bethany wondered briefly if maybe she should jump up and down and see if that broke his resolve but quickly dismissed it because she wasn’t quite that confident in her own body. Being naked she could do, but jiggling stuff on purpose? Not so much.
“Get. Dressed. Now.” His voice was guttural, and his words were a tad garbled because his teeth were no longer those of a human.
“Get. Bent.” Bethany turned on her heel and strode to their bedroom. She’d have to thank Jacque for that come back.
“Where are you going?” Drake called out, his voice still growly.
“To take a shower and get ready for my girls’ night.”
“You’re not going to hang out with your friends, naked.”
His switch to speaking in her mind surprised her, but she recovered quickly. “I’m sure the other three won’t be naked,” she responded, purposely misunderstanding him.
“You are not going to be naked and walk out our door.”
“What are you going to do, Drake? Spank me?” Bethany paused for a moment as she retrieved a towel from the cabinet and a revelation hit her. She was holding her own against a male Canis lupus. Maybe it was because she’d lost her ever-loving mind. Regardless, she had to admit she was proud of herself. When she’d been rescued from the vampires, Bethany had wondered if she’d ever regain her confidence and, because of Drake, she had. They had spats quite often—his fault—because he was pigheaded, but never did he belittle her or make her feel unimportant. He listened to her, even when he disagreed. He always wrapped her in his arms once the argument was over. But he did deny her make-up loving, so she had to knock him down a peg for that.
Bethany climbed into the shower and enjoyed the hot water pouring over her body. Showers had been something she missed dearly while in captivity.
As soon as she was dry, she exited the bathroom and was ambushed by her mate. He wrapped her in a sheet like a burrito so fast she didn’t even have time to get her arms up to keep them from being trapped. When he was done, she looked down and watched him fasten seven safety pins—she counted—to hold the sheet in place. She wanted to ask where he’d gotten the safety pins, but her jaw was clenched too tightly to speak.
He stood up, appearing way too smug. Drake turned and picked something up from the bed, and she realized, as he wrapped it around her shoulders, it was a shawl. He fastened it in front of her neck and then stepped back to look at his handiwork.
“Now, you may go,” he said.
She did. Bethany began her slow shuffle toward the front door, her back ramrod straight as she attempted to keep her pride intact. She was unable to speak because she was worried she’d say something she couldn’t take back. When she got to the door, she stood there staring at it, willing it to open.
She heard Drake’s chuckle as he stepped beside her and pulled the door open. “I love you,” he said as she shuffled past him.
She didn’t look at him as she responded. “This means war, wolf.”
Chapter Ten
“Just when you think you’ve seen it all, Bethany walks in wrapped up like Hannibal Lecter, but without the creepy mask.” ~Jacque
* * *
“She was legit naked?” Jacque asked as she leaned forward on the couch, clutching a pillow to her chest.
“Is there a way to be illegit naked?” Jen asked.
Jacque shrugged. “Lots of ways. She could have been wearing body paint. She could have been wearing some type of skin suit. She could have—”
“Okay,” Jen interrupted. “You made your point. Yes, she was legit naked, like from her bare piggies up to her pretty face. And I’m secure enough in myself to admit the girl’s hot. Honestly, I’m not sure how on earth Drake didn’t have her bent ov—”
“Stop,” Sally yelled as Jacque shook her head at their outspoken friend. “Thinking about Bethany being naked is bad enough. We don’t need a description of that other stuff.”
“Was Drake even there?” Jacque asked.
Jen frowned. “Do you think she was just prancing around their suite nude because she liked the feel of the breeze o
n her bare skin?”
“OMG.” Sally groaned as she dropped her face into her hand.
“Yes, her mate was there. He made his presence quite known when he slammed the door in my face. If my supernatural mate hadn’t moved me back as quickly as he did, I’d probably be sporting a broken nose right now.”
“Then what happened?” Jacque was on the edge of her seat. She loved it when Jen told a good story, even if she did have a tendency to exaggerate just a bit.
“I yelled my approval of her wickedness through the door, and then Dec hauled me off. I suggested we stay and listen, you know, just to make sure Drake didn’t lose control. But the mate vetoed it.”
“I’m sure that’s why you wanted to stay and listen,” Jacque said dryly.
Sally snorted. “Only you would make up an excuse to hang around outside the door of a newly mated couple.”
Jen grinned unrepentedly. “I’m just a teacher checking up on her student,” she said, blinking her wide eyes like an innocent little doe.
There was a muffled banging on the door. It sounded as if someone was kicking it weakly. The three girls looked at one another questioningly, then Sally got up and opened it.
Jacque’s eyes widened, and then she covered her mouth with her hand as she unsuccessfully tried not to laugh. Bethany shuffled in, her feet scraping tiny steps over the carpet as she wiggled along. She was wrapped up tightly in a cotton sheet. A shawl was draped over her shoulders, and the girl looked madder than a newly castrated bull.
“How would you know about angry, castrated bulls?” Jacque’s mate’s soothing, deep voice filled her mind.
“I saw it in a documentary. Seriously, they get snorting mad.”