Page 28 of Missiletoe
“You may know about my life, Gareth, but you don’t know me. Only I can decide what kind of man I am and where I belong.”
The intensity of Gareth’s energy doubled, and I nearly stepped back. Then I remembered the incident with Vale earlier today, and I let his energy roll through me. I told it without words that I was no threat to it unless it made me one.
I backed my not-words with my feelings, and I did the emotional equivalent of stroking his energy the way I would a spooked horse. The energy receded, and Gareth stared at me like I’d whipped off my underwear and thrown it in his face.
Vulnerability peeked through the cracks in his impassive mask and for a split second, I felt like I could see the real Gareth. The glimpse I saw showed me a man worth knowing.
Then the cracks closed up and the room plunged into silence.
Then there was a loud snort, and Vale said, “There. See? I told you so, Gareth.”
Gareth didn’t respond.
The loud crunch of Apple eating popcorn filled the silence. Baz hopped off Gareth’s desk and made his way over to Apple, joining him in eating the popcorn he’d claimed to not want.
Apple and Baz took down half the bag before Gareth said, “No harm will come to you from us.”
I didn’t relax my stance. That wasn’t Gareth conceding and giving me what I came there for. “But?”
“But you don’t belong in my household.”
So I’d gained Gareth’s respect, but he still refused to let me see Vix. Was it because he was personally invested in my bunny? My eyes narrowed, and I dug down deep inside myself. When faced with an animal that won’t back down, you have to show it who’s in charge.
If Gareth was claiming Vix as his, I would be forced to make him submit. The deep sense of self that I relied on to get me through troubling times stirred. I let Gareth see in my eyes that we either came to an agreement or I would make him.
Baz sucked in a sharp breath, and I saw Apple sneakily try to close the distance between us. I glanced at him and said, “Stay.”
Apple stayed.
“I belong where I say I belong.” I tightened my grasp on my center, ready to bring Gareth and his pack under my will. “It doesn’t need to be this way, Gareth. I don’t want your pack.”
“No, but you want something that is too precious for us to give away.” Gareth didn’t pull a weapon on me, but he didn’t need to. Gareth was the weapon, and he was seconds from striking.
Vale did nothing, but his energy was off-the-charts aggressive. If Gareth attacked, I had no doubt that Vale would be right beside him, backing him up.
“Paris!!!!!”
Suddenly I was hit by the warmest, sweetest bundle of human fluff imaginable. “You came! I knew you’d come back.”
I took in the sudden change in the energy of the room. Gareth had gone from a human weapon to a cool, collected leader, and Vale had gone from pretending to be lazy, but seconds from going for my throat, to actually lazy.
Like, seriously, Vale looked like all the energy drained right out of him and he couldn’t be bothered to care about the drama anymore. I could swear he was actually considering taking a nap by the way his eyes glazed over.
But I didn’t care about anyone else in the room anymore. I turned around so I could see the person attached to me.
“Bunny,” I said softly. “How are you feeling?” I stroked his mop of red, messy curls, and he melted right into me.
“Are you kidding me?!” Apple shouted. “None of this is going your way, Gareth. Honestly, I don’t even know why you brought me here. I’m totally bouncing out of this shitshow.”
Gareth threw a sharp look in Apple’s direction and snapped, “Stay.” Then he scowled and added in a softer tone, “Please.”
Apple stayed. He tried to look like Gareth hadn’t just scared him, but I could tell by the way his small hands shook that, as spoiled as he seemed, Gareth wasn’t someone he could easily disobey.
Vix ignored them, tilted his head, and turned the prettiest blue-green eyes up to greet me. That was when I lost track of the rest of the room. They were no danger to me now that I had their treasure wrapped around me like a second skin.
“I’m okay. Are you?” My bunny asked, reaching up to touch my face, but he stopped himself and drew his hand away before making contact. Then he froze, looked embarrassed, and moved back two carefully calculated steps. “Sorry! I get carried away sometimes. I know I’m supposed to ask first before touching strangers.”
I frowned.
