Page 15 of Meant for Them
“For fuck’s sake, you really don’t have a lot of experience with good people, do you? That’s what people do when they—"
“When they what, Alex?”
His hands land on my hips, his fingers drumming against my hipbone. “When they care about somebody and want to make them happy. I’ve seen you staring at the empty bookshelf in your room. I should have done it sooner; I just got a bit busy.”
I wrap my arms around him and give him a good, full hug, inhaling the slightly sweet scent at his neck. And then I sniff again, because it’s wrong. He smells like perfume.
I instantly feel stupid, because I should have taken the hint when he stopped acting like he was legitimately interested in me.
I take a careful, measured step back, berating myself. He told me he’d feel better when I was under his roof, somewhere safe, where he knew I was comfortable. But he didn’t tell me anything about being exclusive.
Sure, in his own way, maybe he cares about me. But not enough, apparently.
I’m just an inexperienced half-breed that he’ll probably never respect. No wonder he’s not trying to move things forward with me; he’s getting his ‘needs’ met elsewhere.
“I was thinking about throwing some chicken on the grill if you’re hungry,” I say, praying it comes off aloof. I don’t want him to know how embarrassed I am, how much it hurts to know that another woman was close enough to him that he now smells like her.
“What’s—oh. Sorry about that.”
I shake my head. “Not my business.”
I practically dart out the back door with the plate of marinated chicken I prepared earlier, trying to shut it before he can follow me through. Which is dumb, because obviously he can just open it right back up, but I need barriers between us right now.
He’s stumbling after me before I even get the latch in place.
“The books were an apology gift, weren’t they? You remembered me mentioning that flowers weren’t really my thing, so you bought books. You didn’t have to do that. You have nothing to apologize for, Alex. We’re not together.”
“It’s not like that, Morgan. Honestly. Nothing happened.”
I shrug, focused way too intently in scrubbing the grill clean. “Even if it did, you haven’t made me any promises. In fact, one of my old co-workers reached out to me, and wanted to know if I was up for going dancing tomorrow. I think it would be good for me to get out and be around people my age.”
Suddenly he’s behind me, caging me in. He grabs the tongs from my hand that I was about to use for the chicken and places them back on the plate. Then he spins me around and picks me up, carrying me to the sturdy picnic table he’s got set up at the bottom of the beautiful deck he never uses enough.
I don’t fight him because I’m so taken off guard that my body is all mixed up. My signals are crossed. I hate that I want him when he continues to treat me like I don’t matter.
I’m seated on the edge of the table, and he hovers over me until I’m lying flat on it, my legs dangling off. He even crawls on top of the table completely and scoots me up carefully so I don’t get any splinters, not satisfied until I’m laid out fully and he’s holding himself up on top of me. “They weren’t an apology gift. The perfume you’re smelling isn’t from somebody I spent time with. You know I had to go check out the build site for your old apartments today, and one of the project manners was handsy. I kept peeling her off of me, but she was insistent.”
“I don’t want to hear the details,” I tell him as I squish my eyes closed to block him out. If I can’t see him, maybe it won’t hurt as badly.
His lips land on my neck, the unmarked portion that I keep catching his eyes lingering on. “I fired her. If somebody can’t respect my boundaries, they don’t get to work for me. I told her I was mated and that I didn’t appreciate employees that hear no and think it’s persuadable. You are the only wolf I want right now. The onlywomanI’m thinking about. I feel like I’m about to come apart at the seams from wanting you. I know you don’t have an incredibly high opinion of me, but what use would I have for lying about this?”
He absolutely could be lying, but as I reach up to fumble with one of the buttons on his shirt, I want so badly to believe him, so I take a chance. “Okay.”
He tilts my chin up, relief flooding his face. Maybe that should be suspicious, but I’m sick of wanting and not getting. For once, I want to take what I want and damn the consequences.
“Okay? That’s it?”
I nod. “You say that’s what happened, then I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt.”
“And if I were to tell you that I want to kiss this sweet mouth of yours until you’re whining and kiss your neck until you’re begging for my teeth? Would you give me the benefit of the doubt then?”
Fuck.
I feel very much trapped against a table with a massive wolf man on top of me, and the part of my brain that’s human is telling me to run. But the wolf part? The wolf part is panting and sick of waiting for him to make a move.
It’s time to make it happen on my terms.
It's surprisingly easy to give in to my instincts. As soon as I let my wolf flood my system, everything becomes sharper aroundme. I can see his wolf shining through as well, and his scent intensifies.
