He closed his eyes and groaned at the juicy, creamy flavor of chicken, garlic, and mushrooms. When he could open his eyes, again he saw that she was smiling brilliantly. She was so beautiful it made his heart hurt. "I haven't had anything this good except at a restaurant before."
She pouted, her brow furrowing. "You're just saying that." She turned to her plate and picked up her knife and fork as if they were made of heavy iron.
"Hey, hey," he said, cupping her delicate wrist in his hand. "I meant it. I'd hire you on as my personal cook if you'd let me." She smiled at him as if he just told her she won the lottery. He had trouble forming the words over the desert in his throat, but it was worth it when he saw her expression. "You're beautiful, Alison, especially when you smile. I'd like it if you did it more for me."
Chapter 9
"So now why don't you tell me about your past relationship with Conlin?" Rome asked, putting the last of the dishes away.
Alison pulled her feet up under her. "Listen, why don't you just stay out of my business."
He dried his hands and sat across from her, leaning forward with his elbows resting on his thighs. He was invading her space like he was about to conduct an interrogation. And he probably was.
"Nope, that's not how this works, baby. You're under the protection of the Kategan pack. If you're going to stay here and use our people for protection, then we have a right to know what's going on." She balked at his words, but he didn't relent. He hated being firm with her, but it was necessary. "Whatever your past hang-ups are with Conlin they’re finished, right? So tells me what's going on. Why's he after you now when you stopped dating over two years ago. What set him off and what happened two years ago that has you so scared?"
Alison pressed her head into her hands, squeezing her eyes shut to stop the flow of tears that was desperately fighting to get out. I will not cry in front of him. She'd always been a crier, a fault she most heatedly despised about herself. It did nothing for her, yet in moments of stress or high emotion, she couldn't stop it.
She hated him so much for making her do this. She wanted to just get up and leave the protection of the Kategan pack. But she wasn't that stupid. No matter that he wanted her to relive memories she was still trying to forget. He was right though, it wasn't fair for them not to have the whole story, or at least some of it.
She turned her head to rest her cheek on her knee and stare out the kitchen window. "I met Conlin at a Pride party nearly three years ago. He approached me, talked to me, flirted with me. I couldn't believe it, he was so handsome, so, famous. Plus I was a bit of a flirt. He just made me feel so good. I'd never felt anything like that before. Of course, with all things good there's the bad. However good he made me feel when he wanted to, he would just as quickly turn. It was like he had two faces, both beautiful, but one was the face of a monster." She laughed and it sounded bitter and hollow.
"Anyways, we dated for several months. I only saw the bad side of him a few times, he always covered it up quickly. It was after we started having sex that the other side, or maybe it's started coming out more and more. God, I used to cringe when he'd call me or not answer the phone. Of course he found out I was doing that too." A warm tear fell down her cheek, and she wiped it on her arm discreetly.
Just hold in there, I can do this. She couldn't turn to see how Rome was taking this. She didn't want to see his pity, shame, or anything that might be there. She was the stupid one who was so caught up in his nice smiles and handsome lies that she didn't see the warning signs. If she hadn’t been too busy trying to fall in love, she might have seen it.
The tight grip on her arm, the furious anger when she'd talk to another man, and the shiny glint in his eyes that he'd get when she'd say or do the wrong thing. The same look that made her beast cower inside her.
She saw all that but downplayed it to just one of his faults in light of his many wonderful attributes. Or that he was just having a bad day everyone had those. No one was perfect. And everyone was caught being a fool sometime.
"I suppose I should get to the point. Um, the sex got stranger and soon afterwards, I told him that I didn't want to see him anymore. He was fine with it too. He even smiled and hugged me, said he understood, said he still wanted to be my friend. That was the first night since the first day I met him that I actually felt one-hundred percent good. So I told him I was going to go get my things. I probably shouldn't have broken things off while I was at his place, huh?”
“I went to his bedroom to grab my toothbrush and a few pieces of clothes I had there." She stopped and took a deep, shuddering breath. "I'm not going to go over the rest but, he beat me and tried to rape me. It was the most terrifying experience of my life."
She hugged her knees tighter and stared unblinking at a tree branch through the window. Wetness pooled in her eyes and she focused until they dried up before continuing. "Anyways, he's an asshole. For a while after that night I stayed with my parents. They didn't understand, hell my dad didn't want to hear anything about it. For about a month after I got home I started receiving phone calls with no one on the other end. It was him. I knew it. I could feel it. But that was two years ago. It was a few weeks ago, before the break-in, when I started receiving the same kind of phone calls. Only this time with nasty letters."
"Why do you think he's trying to...reconnect with you?" Rome's deep voice was harsher than usual.
"At Sarina's wedding, I said something to distract him when he had her. It worked but I think after he saw me it reminded him that I exist or something. I don't know." She stood a little too quickly and teetered as blood fought to rush to her legs. She made herself sound cool and unaffected, it was pretty convincing in her opinion. "I have to go now. I need to get back to my café and make preparations for my busted apartment and so on." She stared straight ahead and moved to walk past him.
He didn't let her. He stood and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her to him. She stood stiff as a board in his arms. When he tried to tilt her face up to his, she fought it, but finally gave in when she realized that doing what he wanted would speed her escape along.
She lifted her face toward his but shut her eyes. She didn't know what she was going to see there, but either way didn't bode well for her. If it was pity then she'd knife him, if it was a smile she'd slap him, if it was indignant anger for her she'd run from the room.
His words made her look at him. "Look at me, lumara," he said gently. Bondmate, he'd called her, the most intimate term for a loved one, a close one to a lykaen, and she was mush in his hands.
She opened her eyes and looked at him, her eyes tracing over his face taking in every line, point, and expression. His mouth was flat with anger and contempt, his eyes blazing with possession. She should want to go right now, run, and hide in her room, but she didn't. His hands stroked her arms, then her back in long reassuring strokes that soon had her falling against him.
She lost herself in his eyes. For the life of her she couldn't remember why looking at him was so bad to begin with. His eyes were a grey with a thin white rim on the outside holding in all that stormy color. "Beautiful." She didn't realize she'd spoken aloud until his features softened and his lips curled into a smile. Not the grin that said he was laughing, but a genuine, happy smile.
His head bent and stopped right before hers. She knew what he was going to do and her heart pumped faster, her breeding cycle spun inside her at the obvious willing male; it wanted her to lie down, spread herself, and let his seed fill her.