Bound

Chapter 19

Taylor moved into the guest bedroom for her second night in his house. The room sat opposite his bedroom, which was why Dean decided to stay in his office until he knew she'd fallen asleep. He wasn't entirely sure why it felt so awkward. Or maybe he did; she was half-dressed, in a bed, in his house, and she was his mate. And she'd had a helpless look in her chocolaty brown eyes all evening that had made him want to pull her into his arms and hug her, or something. Yeah, something. The magnetic pull which had vanished alongside her wolf the previous night had returned—not in full force, but enough to start driving him insane.

Wolves shared a mind-blowing moment when they connected with their mates, wolves plural, not singular. Finding your mate and having the connection abruptly severed as you basked in the event was malicious. In that glorious moment, the second when he'd been about to wake her, enough energy flowing between them to power a small nation, it was as if some sick bastard had gone and yanked out the plug. Just like that her wolf had vanished. It had been so abrupt he'd snatched his hands off her face, leapt to his feet and staggered back. She'd grumbled in her sleep and rolled over, turning away from him as he'd stared at her in shock. It had gutted him.

Even thinking about it now, as he rolled his head in a slow circle, the taut muscles in his neck cracking in protest, it still felt like a punch to the gut. He'd spent the whole of last night convincing himself that as soon as she clapped eyes on him in the morning she'd connect, but when she'd looked at him like he was fit for nothing but a mental institute, he'd been devastated. And when she'd told him—no, yelled—the truth about how she'd had some kind of black magic worked on her, he'd lost it. All he could think was how she'd fooled him, made him feel something that wasn't real, tricked him into believing she was his mate. So he had walked away. He'd ripped into the forest and torn sods out of the earth as he'd pounded his anger out on the forest floor. Enraged wasn't the word for how he had felt, he'd literally been seeing red, so making the decision he wanted her gone hadn't been difficult—until he'd returned to the house.

With his mind made up to send her packing, he'd approached the front door only to hear her soft cries. His wolf had reacted immediately, yapping and howling to get into the house and comfort her. When he'd realised it was what he wanted too, he came to a sudden understanding that their connection was real, and with every hour that had passed since, the initial draw had returned. It wasn't anything as powerful as when he'd first experienced the rush, but enough to distract him into fumbling about like a love-sick puppy.

When Taylor wasn't dodging his questions or flinging a sarcastic glare, she had a way of fixing her attention on him that made him struggle with his train of thought. It was a very intent look, as if what he said was the most important thing she'd ever heard, and she didn't dare miss a word of it.

Then, there was the Hair Thing. A couple of times, while they'd been talking at the table after dinner, she'd done this thing with her hair which was now seared into his memory. She'd gathered it up at the back of her neck, twisted it into a knot, and with her two hands laced together had held it against the back of her head. When she'd taken her hands away, the knot had uncurled and her hair had tumbled down like something out of a shampoo commercial. The innocent sexiness had nearly knocked him off his chair. The second time she'd done it he'd been mid-swallow and had almost choked.

Even now, as his eyes slid shut, Dean could see the knot uncurling and her hair cascading over her shoulders. The image dispersed as he cleared his throat and returned to his study with a warning to focus. Taylor had lied about staying, and while he understood and had expected as much, it didn't change the fact that if she felt their connection, even the suggestion of leaving would horrify her. The only solution was to restore her wolf. It was enough motivation to flip open his laptop.