Authors: Morgan Fox
Until Megan…
“Sebastian, I’m screwed.” He shook his head, absorbing the silence through the phone. “Megan’s my mate.”
“I figured that much. Glad you finally can admit it, too.”
“It’s not supposed to be like this. I’m not supposed to have a mate.”
“Says who? The elders? I believe it’s fortune-telling, superstitious bullshit.” Sebastian blew out a harsh breath. “Look, I don’t know everything, but what I do know is you can’t fight fate. What’s meant to be will be, and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it. Have you talked to Megan at all about what’s going on?”
No, because she treats me like I’m infected with the plague. She doesn’t want me. My own mate doesn’t crave my touch, need my affections.
“It’s complicated,” Reyes finally admitted.
“Most things that are worth fighting for traditionally are.”
His mouth dry, Reyes cleared his throat. The tightening sensation creeping up his neck felt like sandpaper scraping against the walls of his esophagus. “Well, if I thought I had a chance with her, I’d be all over it, but I’m pretty sure she wants nothing to do with me.”
“You won’t know until you confront her.”
“Oh, I pretty much know.”
“How so?”
He huffed out a breath, the act a cross between frustration and a hearty, sarcastic chuckle. He said matter-of-factly, “She fucked Dominic last night.”
* * * *
Stepping under the warm water of the shower to wash away the memory of her favorite mistake, she wondered what the hell she was going to do now. She had clearly lost her mind. Instead of staying far away from the men that could destroy her heart and soul, obliterate it into nothingness, she had gone and stumbled right into a tangled spider web of emotional hell, letting both men trap her. Not only did she feel the burning union erupting between her and Reyes, but she’d gone and slept with Dominic, a man who already possessed more of her than she was willing to concede.
Resisting Dominic had always been a challenge. He was the reason she never wanted to learn the touch of a mate or embrace the union that was supposed to be picture-perfect. In all honesty, it was everything but perfect. Their situation was more like a complete and total emotional disaster.
After years of craving Dominic beyond reason, he had guided her into the arms of another man. How could she endure that again? As she stood in the shadowy doorway of his bedroom, to her horror, he had once again done just that. This time he was pushing her off into Reyes’s arms. She was a fool to think a man like Dominic could ever change and actually want her for more than a one-night stand. She reminded herself that that was exactly what she had said she wanted from him. Their coupling was only supposed to be sex, nothing more, but somehow her heart had gone and gotten caught up in the what-ifs.
My ridiculously stupid heart…
Gnashing her teeth together in frustration, she let the water of the shower pound against her face until she couldn’t stand it any longer, turning to allow the pulsating beads to massage the tension building in her shoulders and back. The shower wasn’t doing much for her sore muscles, but at least it kept her out of Reyes’s watchful gaze. Facing him today would be the icing on her enormous shit cake. She needed time to think, clear her head, figure things out.
Finishing her shower, she turned off the water, grabbed the towel, and began drying off. Her muscles stiff, she wiped away the fog that had built up on the vanity mirror and stared back at her reflection. The woman gawking back at her appeared unfamiliar. The warm glow that was normally present in her green eyes was no longer there. Instead, her eyes were overcast with worry and perhaps even a little regret. Sadly, everything she had fought to avoid was happening to her again, and she didn’t know what to do.
All she knew was that she could never allow a mate to infiltrate her heart again, not if he could discard her so easily, treat her like she had no feelings and never mattered to him at all.
How could Dominic use me? How could he feel nothing at all for me when I know there is something more between us—a formidable link that’s clearly anchoring us together? How was he able to resist it so easily?
It shouldn’t matter what Dominic did or how he treated her because when she found love, it would be on her own terms. No damn bond was going to tell her what to do or how to feel. To hell with the mating instinct and all the grief it had given her.
Thinking back, Jonah McCarthy had been so easy to let into her heart, so easy to accept. He desired her as no other man had, showed her tenderness and carnal passion. Dominic had left her cold and alone, pushing her into Jonah’s arms, making the decision for her that Jonah was the one she should be with. Jonah welcomed her into his life and bed, and he had been a perfect gentleman to her, especially since everything else in her life at that time seemed so wrong and out of sorts.
At the time, she hadn’t realized that she’d clung tightly to Jonah because he didn’t push her away, and it wasn’t until her work consumed her life that she accepted just how contrastive they were and that their paths led them into entirely different direction. They’d parted with a mutual understanding. Well, mostly, even though a part of her missed the acceptance, the union he was willing to share with her. There was no bonding, no science, nothing but desire and a whirlwind affair. She yearned to experience that again.
A few months back when Jonah called her to help his brother Sebastian find a cure for a mutating virus, she honestly believed Jonah had called her for another reason. She had hoped, deep inside her soul, he reached out to her to reconnect and start again where they had left off. That he’d once again yearned to be with her. She was wrong, and the loneliness inside her heart she’d been trying to hide swallowed her whole. Jonah had already found the one destined to be his forever and that left her staring blankly at the sky wondering what the fuck had made her feel so desperate and lost.
Unexpectedly, Dominic had also been at McCarthy Ranch, and seeing him again after so many years sparked the connection once more. She fought so hard to ignore the changes brought on inside her body and mind, but he didn’t seem affected at all. In fact, he seemed to be just as much of a prick as she remembered. There was no hint in his eyes of his true feelings, and the sarcastic sparring he did with her only made her believe he disliked her more now than ever. Sleeping with Dominic was going to cost her more than she thought she could afford.
Why was the mating bond so effortless for Dominic to brush off? How had he been able to disregard the conjunction that practically rendered her unavailing for anything but thoughts of him? If Jonah had not been there to ease her ache in college, she never would have survived. He had offered a place of protection, a comforting embrace. Not Dominic, her chosen mate.
The worst part was that sex with Dominic had been exactly what she expected. Everything about it had been earth shattering and beyond amazing. Granted, she’d never be able to tell him that. His growing conceit could barely handle his self-centered awesomeness. Any more compliments and his ego would be too large to fit anyone else in a room with him. Besides, he’d only tease and taunt her each chance he got, and Lord knew he didn’t need any more ammunition to use against her.
She’d been right all along. Her instincts about Dominic had been correct. He was her mate, but for reasons she couldn’t understand, he was able to forgo accepting her as his. Then again, wasn’t that what she really wanted, to be able to choose her mate for herself? Truthfully, at this point, her brains were so scrambled she didn’t know. Then there was Reyes, a man among men who brought out the same instinctive connection she had been forced to avoid for years because of Dominic.
What was she going to do now? With both these men guarding her twenty-four-seven from an evil, virus-infected freak that might or might not know she even existed, how could she avoid the chemical response brought on by just being in the same room with them? How could she resist two men when it was already killing her slowly to resist one?
Chapter Four
Dressed in her pale blue scrubs, Megan grabbed her keys off the counter and tossed her purse over her shoulder. She didn’t need to sneak a peek at Reyes to know he was sitting on the couch with one ankle resting on the opposite knee as he read some kind of political magazine. She also didn’t need to glance over at him to know he was watching her every move. Her skin tingled as she felt his gaze drifting over her body, warming her deliciously.
Her belly quivered the way it always did when he was near her, watching her, studying her. She closed her eyes momentarily and groaned at the assault of all the sexy images that overpowered her thoughts. Reyes was heavenly built, and he sure as hell didn’t appear like a man nearly ten years older than her. His strong physique accompanied by his dark military-cropped hair, shadowed beard, and solid black goatee made him look ferocious and menacing, but it was his piercing crystal-blue eyes that lit fire to her soul with each stolen glance.
If only it wasn’t the mating instinct driving me to feel this way about him.
“Where are you going?” he asked. The baritone rumble of his voice sent a wave of warm tingles rocketing through her body.
She squeezed her eyes shut, praying that she could escape before she did something rash, like jump on him and demand he fuck her, but not before she ripped the clothing from his delectable body and licked every inch of his taut, bronzed skin. “The office,” she replied causally, opening her eyes, not bothering to meet his gaze for fear that he would see the hidden desires exploding inside her, or worse yet, react to the lust-filled thoughts he surely could sense overwhelming her.
“Fine, I’ll drive,” he told her, standing and quickly moving up behind her.
The warmth of his body seeped into her clothing, saturating her skin like a heat-seeking missile. She swallowed hard. “That’s really not necessary, Reyes. I can drive myself.”
“You’re right, you can, but you’re not going to, because until you find out more about this virus, I’m not leaving your side.” Smirking, he added, “Alpha’s orders.”
I’m afraid to be close to you…afraid of what will happen to me if I do.
Clearing her throat, she reminded him, “Sebastian merely said you had to make sure I was safe. You can do that from your own car. I would really like a little privacy.”
She turned, not realizing just how near to her he stood. His chest was hazardously close to hers. One deep breath and her erect nipples would surely brush against his rock hard chest. Looking up into his illustrious eyes, she said, “I’d really like the opportunity to feel like I’m not a prisoner.”
“You’re not,” he said sharply. “But if you feel as if you are a prisoner”—he arched a dark eyebrow—“then perhaps you should consider your little jail break last evening to have been your failed opportunity for escape, because as your warden, I’m not letting you out of my sight.” He crowded her, and she would have taken a step back, but the counter was already pressed against her spine.
“I don’t like being babysat,” she bit out.
Reyes smiled curiously. His gaze drifted all over her face, lingering briefly on her lips before returning to her eyes. “You’re being ridiculous, Megan,” he whispered in a very deep, husky tone. He leaned in close, his breath on her face. “You are not a prisoner. You have plenty of privacy. I merely want to keep you safe, and that is exactly what I’m going to do whether you like it or not.”
He reached to snatch her keys away, but she whipped her hand away from his before he could grab them, but not before his firm chest brushed against her sensitive breasts. Her heart raced as anger and arousal flooded her system. Damn, this man smelled like cinnamon raisin bread and warm winds on a crisp spring day.
She choked back her thoughts. Her eyes narrowed into thin slits. She met his blue gaze and said coldly, “I’m not your mate, Reyes. You don’t have the right to protect me like I am.” She had to stand her ground, refused to be a victim to her unruly hormones.
He had cornered her, given her no other course for defense. Her chest ached the moment those words left her lips. Denying Reyes the right to protect her just seemed wrong. Everything and nothing made sense as unsettling emotions lingered over her. Telling him what she knew was a lie felt far beyond wrong. The sentiment twisting at her heart and belly seemed an awful lot like betrayal.