Page 18 of Knot a Tie
ChapterEleven
Rayne
I’m shoved, not so gently, into a front room, with Tree-man right behind me.
“No, I’ll stay with her. You guard the outside,” Richard says to him firmly, leaving no room for doubt that he will back up his words with his fists, if he has to.
It shouldn’t, it really, really, shouldn’t, but it makes me feel a bit fuzzy inside.
Richard slams the door shut and I look around. Threadbare carpet, which was once not that expensive anyway. White, peeling wallpaper walls. About the size of my bathroom at home, but I’m not so entitled that I can’t understand it’s a good-sized room for this house. There is no furniture in it, which makes it impossible to sit down, unless it’s on the floor.
I grip the handle of my bag, which is slung over my shoulder and glare at the alpha who has gone over to stare out of the window covered with a dirty white voile.
Several minutes pass in a silence which I don’t know how to break. I chew my lip awkwardly and wonder what Richard is staring at. I start to move over, but stop dead when he speaks.
“I’m very confused about this.”
“About what?” I prompt when he doesn’t say anything else.
“You.”
“Oh?” The word comes out as a small squeak, and I clear my throat.
More silence.
“There’s this thing with me,” he says quietly, contemplatively. “It’s one of several reasons why I left my family pack, but a big one.”
“You don’t have to tell me…”
“I want to. I want to explain, because I can see you know what I am, and I want you to know.” His bewildered tone leaves me slightly breathless.
“I feel things, a lot of things, mostly disgust at myself, but one thing that I have never managed to feel is a sexual attraction to any creature, male or female. It repulses me when people touch me and when I have to touch them, it makes my skin crawl.”
“Uhm…” I wipe my hand on my joggers trying to get rid of the imprint of his hand in mine. I feel insulted and slightly sick that he found touching me so gross, even though another part of me knows it’s notme, per se.
“I have to participate in the rut. If I don’t, it’s bad. Really bad. Have you had a heat yet, Rayne?” he asks this wildly personal question, turning to look at me over his shoulder with a curious look on his face.
I shake my head dumbly.
He nods and looks back out of the window.
“It’s difficult to explain, but the need to knot overpowers my need to stay away from people. I hate it. I wish it wasn’t the case, but it is, so I do it.”
“I think you’ve explained that fine,” I murmur as silence descends again.
“Hmm. You have confused me, Rayne. You have made me feel something that I didn’t think was there.”
“What’s that then?” I can’t seem to keep my mouth shut. My heart is beating quickly, and while this conversation is distracting me a little bit from my predicament, I’m still in deep shit here and I wish he would crack on, so I could try to figure out my next move.
“Desire. Sexual attraction. It’s strange and sudden and I’m not sure what to do about it.”
“You fancy me?”
He turns his whole body around to face me, hands behind his back. His blue eyes are dancing with amusement, thankfully. This conversation is a bit heavy for someone I’ve just met and who abducted me, for fuck’s sake.
“Yeah, I fancy you. I have never fancied anyone before. I know what I feel, even though it’s new to me and I think I know why?”
“Why?”
