Page 62 of Pride
“This isn’t your fight, Parker.”
“When it involves my mate, it’s always my fight.”
“It’s not!” she shouted. “You can’t win every battle.”
“Try me.”
“Argh!” She threw her hands in the air. “You’re impossible.”
“You know that word is made up of the words, I’m possible.”
She laughed bitterly. “There’s no beating you, is there?”
Golden eyes softened.
“No,” she said, pointing at him. “I don’t want your pity.”
“Fine.” He held up his palms in surrender. “You don’t have to tell me now, just… don’t leave. Stay.” His look of earnest gave her pause, and then he added, “It’s safer here.”
She rolled her eyes. “I can take care of myself. I don’t need a savior.”
Alice walked to the door. Parker rushed to catch up with her.
“Alice, I mean it.” His fingers splayed on the door, blocking her. “Stay.”
Another order? She folded her arms and gave him a look.
“Please,” he gritted out.
She relaxed. “Now, was that so hard?”
His grin flashed sharp teeth, not entirely human, and if he was a dog, she was sure he’d have wagged his tail. His happiness was infectious, more so because she’d never seen him like this.
“I’ll finish preparing the food.” He started toward the kitchen. Paused. Looked back at her from over his shoulder. “Unless you want to order in?”
So that was it? He would give her the best oral sex of her life and then just order takeout like nothing had happened? She sensed his attention pulsing in the air. He wanted this. And she did too.So stop being so guarded.
“The food I made is fine.”
“Good. I like your cooking.”
* * *
Alice couldn’t sleep.At first, she thought she couldn’t drift off because Parker had insisted he sleep in the same bed.Hisbed, which he continued to callourbed. Somewhere over the past few days he’d decided they belonged together, and now he only saw that. She had to admire his focus and supposed this tenacity was what made him the success story he was today.
Failure was not a word in Parker Lazarus’s vocabulary.
And then there was the fact she was his mate—his sin’s biological opposite, which was complete bullshit. She wasn’t proud of herself for a good reason, but she wasn’t humble. She wasn’t a pillar of virtue in the community. She wasn’t a real nun. None of the Sinners truly believed they were. How could they be if that belief ended with a fate in the fires of Hell?
So they pretended.
Parker wasn’t pretending. He never did. Needing a mate was as intrinsically woven through his being as the ropes on the wall would inevitably wind around her. If she stayed here, truly gave herself over to this life, then it would be final.
It would also be devastating if she left him, whether intentionally or by accident. Alice had heard the story about what happened to Sloan when she was separated from Max for too long. Sloan had blacked out and gone berserker, attacking anyone who felt sloth. Parker had already put his fist through a body to get to her. He might tear the world apart if their mating bond couldn’t keep him sane.
For the first time in her life, she doubted her true mission—to be the last stand against the Deadly Seven should the mating bonds fail. Her weapon had been violence, but maybe it should be something else. Maybe it should be love.
Maybe she couldn’t sleep because of the thoughts churning about the need to protect Parker from the executives who wanted his company. She clenched her fists at the memory of the one who’d caught Parker’s identity beneath the cowl of his hood. That smug smile on that man’s face.
