Maybe, just maybe, Michael was a man who could control his aggression. If such a thing was possible.
He regarded Cole. “I think I told you to run.”
Cole grunted as he got off the floor and ran out the front door, slamming it behind him. The room was still so quiet she could have heard a pin drop.
Michael let go of her hand as he looked around. His voice was low when he spoke to her. She knew everyone in the room could hear him anyway thanks to their wolf senses, but she appreciated the effort nonetheless. “Any of these shifters here ever rape you, Scarlett?”
She shook her head. “Not here, no.”
“Okay.” He glanced back at the group. “Who’s next? Who wants to go at me?”
No one moved. Then, within seconds of one another, the thirty-two wolves in the room hit the ground, shifting as they went. One by one they assumed their submissive poses, head down, eyes pleading at Michael.
He turned around to regard Scarlett. “Tell me they didn’t all just do that.”
She bit down on her lip, which hurt, trying not to laugh. Michael’s expression was priceless. His eyes were huge, his mouth gaping open as if he’d just tasted something bad. His body was totally naked and the sight of it made her stomach tighten.
He was an Adonis brought to life. If he hadn’t been holding her hand, she might have taken a few steps backward into the wall just to support herself.
“They’re all offering you their submission.”
Michael looked up at the sky for a second before exhaling a long breath. He spoke to the group of wolves.
“Shift back.”
One by one they obeyed.
Turning back to Scarlett, he spoke. “Is there a place here I can shower?”
“Upstairs. You can use Cole’s room. It’s the nicest.”
Nodding, he smiled at her, but it was tight and she could see the tension in him radiating from his clenched jaw and his tense stance. “Okay.”
She watched as he scanned the room. Finding who he sought, he stared at Todd.
“Good job taking care of her.”
Todd beamed like he’d just been told he’d won some kind of lottery. “Thank you, Michael, it was my pleasure.”
“Uh-huh.” Michael took two steps toward him. “I want you to do me one more favor.
I want you to tell all these people here what I told you about how a pack should work, about mates, about the Alphas taking care of everyone else. Can you do that?”
Todd’s neck strained as he swallowed. “I can.”
“Good, Barge and Seamus can help you.” He walked toward the stairs and held out his hand to her and she followed, taking it.
Michael was full of surprises. Why had he wanted them to explain how a pack should work?
* * * *
While Michael showered, Scarlett rummaged through Cole’s drawers until she found some shorts and t-shirts that she thought might fit her magnificent mate. It had to be shorts. There was no way Cole’s pants wouldn’t be high-waters on Michael. Finally, the shower stopped and Michael came out of the bathroom, holding the towel around his waist like he had the night before.
His seemed looser, as if the warm water had helped to calm him down. She held out the clothes. “This was the best I could do. If you want, I could go down and see if any of the others have clothes that might fit you.”
“Not without me you’re not.”
She knew some women might bristle at being told what to do by their mate but not Scarlett. It was a … relief. The truth was, she would go down if he needed her to, but she definitely preferred not to have to.
“Okay.”
He took the clothes from her hands. “Thanks for finding them.”
She nodded, pleased that she’d done it on her own and that he was happy with her.
“You’re welcome.”
Michael stepped forward invading her personal space. Heat radiated from his body and warmed her up from the chill of the air-conditioning.
“Scarlett, I could feel your eyes on me through the whole fight. I could smell you. It was hard to concentrate.”
His voice was low, husky, and before she could stop herself with worry, she reached out and stroked his bare chest with her fingers. His hair was soft, his muscles well defined and he shuddered under her hand.
She looked up to meet his eyes. Had she just done that to him?
“You liked it when I was fighting Cole.”
He said it as a statement, not a question. She wasn’t sure how he knew, but it was probably one of those wolf qualities she would never have. He’d heard her heartbeat pick up or smelled her excitement or both. There was no point in denying it.
Her lips trembled when she spoke. “I think I might be a little screwed up.”
He shook his head, his eyes hard. “No, this whole place is awful, like something out of a horror movie. Even my father wouldn’t have tolerated it before he went nuts.
Probably not even after.”
She lifted the other hand and ran her fingers down his strong arm. Again, she felt his body shake from her touch.
“Why does my caressing you create that response?”
“I like how it feels.” He leaned down and kissed the top of her hair, not moving his mouth from its spot after he finished. His voice sounded slightly muffled. “It gives me pleasure to feel your fingers on me.”
“Oh.” She swallowed. So far he’d made no move to carry her to the bed and push himself inside of her. “Can I keep doing it?’
“Yes. Please.”
Her hand shook with nerves as she explored Michael’s exposed skin. She had to get on her tiptoes to touch the top of his chest since he was so much taller than she was and she could hardly get her hands around his waist to feel his back. His skin was so smooth; surprising for such a tough man.
He stayed absolutely still except for the occasional shudders she felt when her hands touched him some place new.
Finally after a few minutes, he spoke. His mouth moved off the top of her head slightly and he rested his chin there instead. “I’ve been alone a very long time. Having you do this, it’s such a gift.”
She was confused. The first part she understood but the second confused her.
“Having me touch you is a gift? But you haven’t even taken your pleasure from me yet.”
“If you think I’m not taking pleasure from you then you don’t know the meaning of the word.”
He moved slightly forward and she could feel his hard cock pushing through the towel he still held onto.
“Um…”
She needed to be brave. It was important, desperately important that she not lose Michael, that he not change his mind about her. She knew he had told the others that mates were for life, that you didn’t get to pick, you just accepted with gratitude who you were given. Still, it was hard to reconcile that with what she had always known.
Pushing her fear down into her stomach where she knew she’d have to deal with it later—usually by getting sick—she finally spoke. “Do you want to, you know, go to the bed?”
“Only if you happen to be tired.”
Maybe she hadn’t made herself clear. “Don’t you want to…”
“Yes.” He backed up from her a few steps and crossed the room to put on his clothes.
“More than you can imagine, but I want to do it when we’re both ready. Not because you think you have to.”
“I want to be your mate.”
He pulled on the shorts over his naked rear end and when he turned around he raised one eyebrow. “That’s good considering that we are, in fact, mates.”
“Michael.” She looked at her feet. “Are you deliberately misunderstanding me?”
He shook his head. “No, here’s the thing.” He sat down on the bed and ran his hands through his hair. His shoulders were curved over like he was tired. “We will have sex when you want to and not a minute before. Even if it takes years.”