Poison

Chapter Eleven

"Not now," she said eventually. "Will you stay with me?"

"Of course," he agreed.

Talon held his mate in his arms for several moments until he sensed she had started to fall asleep. As gently as possible, he lifted her in his arms and carried her back to the bed, laying her down softly and covering her with the blanket. He watched her for a second and then turned to go back to his spot on the floor, but a hand on his wrist stopped him.

"Talon," Melanie murmured, half asleep. "You said you'd stay."

"Yeah," he said. He remained motionless for a while, not sure what to do. He didn't want to break his promise to her, but he also felt like he was taking advantage of her frightened state. In the end, he gave into his desire to be close to her and laid down next to her, wrapping his arms around her.

As she fell asleep, Melanie mumbled something, and even with his sharp hearing, Talon couldn't quite make it out. But he thought it sounded a lot like, "I love you."

Talon woke up with Melanie still snuggled into his chest, and he couldn't help but smile. At that moment, everything felt simply perfect. It was just too good to last. As he lay there holding his mate, he felt himself becoming aroused. He tried thinking of anything besides Melanie, but it was of no use. With her scent surrounding him and body pressed against his, he couldn't get his mind off of her. Slowly, he started to pull away from her, doing his best not to wake her, but almost as soon as he started moving away, she opened her eyes.

"Go back to sleep," he said softly as he inched a little further away.

"Where're you going?" she asked.

"I'm, uh, just getting up," he answered.

"It's so early. Go back to sleep." As she said that, she pressed her body against his and then fell completely silent as she felt his hardness. She felt a bit of excitement at the thought of what that would lead to, but mostly, she was terrified. She couldn't help but remember what the hunters had told her about male wolves, and she had to wonder if there was any truth to it.

"I'm so sorry," Talon said quickly as he pushed away from her. He saw the fear in her eyes and knew it was his fault. He wanted to comfort his mate, but a certain part of his anatomy was making that impossible. Instead, he went into the bathroom and locked the door.

Once he was no longer aroused, Talon finally let himself out. As he stepped back into the living room, he and Melanie briefly met each others' gaze, but both of them quickly looked away.

"I'm sorry," he apologized again. "I didn't mean for that to happen. I didn't mean to scare you."

Melanie was silent for several moments, and then slowly, she looked up at him. "You would never hurt me, right?"

"Of course not," he said immediately. "Never. I think it'd kill me if I did."

"And are all wolves like that? They don't hurt their… mates?" She hesitated at that word, not sure she wanted to say it, but she couldn't think of another way to describe it. "Ever?"

"Yeah," Talon answered, feeling a bit confused by her questions. "At least as far as I know. I've never known a wolf to intentionally hurt their mate. I mean, things can get weird if ones human I guess."

"Like how?" Melanie asked, interrupting his rambling.

"The human partner really doesn't have that same feeling that us wolves do. They don't fall in love so quickly and don't feel that strong need to protect them. So sometimes, a human could hurt a wolf."

"But the wolf doesn't hurt the human mate?"

"No." Talon really didn't understand the questions. He thought they had moved past her fear of him. "I promise, Melanie. I'm never going to hurt you and I'll never let anyone else hurt you either."

"It's… um, not about you," she said, struggling to find the words she wanted to say. "I believe you. I don't know why, but I do. I felt safe in your arms last night. Safer than I've ever felt before."

"So what's with all the questions?"

"When you say a wolf won't hurt his mate, what do you mean by "hurt"?" She knew she was simply asking yet another question, but she was sure that Talon had the patience to keep answering.

"Um, like anything that would hurt…" Talon said the first thing that came to mind, but he couldn't think of a good way to explain it.

"Melanie realized she needed to be more specific if she wanted the answer, but she really didn't want to say it. She let Talon struggle with an explanation for a while as she found the courage to speak up. "Could a wolf… um… force himself on his mate?"

"No, of course not! I would never do that! Ever. I don't know any wolf that would." Finally, all her questions, along with her earlier fear, were starting to make sense. And he felt terrible for having caused that fear, even if he had been unable to control his body's reaction.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I really didn't think you would. It's just that the hunters. That's what they said happened. That my father was a wolf and my mother was his mate and he raped her. They always said that male wolves couldn't control themselves. But that's just another one of their lies, right?"

"Don't worry about the hunters. They can't hurt you anymore."

"No," Melanie said, shaking her head. "They can. They still are. I've been lied to my entire life! And every time I discover a new one, it hurts all over again. And the worst part is that it makes me think the worst things about you. You deserve so much better."

"There is nothing better," Talon said immediately. "You're perfect. No matter what the hunters made you think, you're perfect. And I'll never lie to you."

Melanie walked over to him and embraced him. While she was reluctant to believe that he really would be honest always, she knew that if anyone could be, it would be Talon. He was the best man she'd ever known, and couldn't imagine being without him.

"Talon…" she said. "I… um. I really like you."

"Yeah. Me too."