He opened the door and felt his heart skip a beat as he looked at her. She had on a pair of cotton shorts and a tank top, her blond curls piled up on top of her head. She looked absolutely beautiful. "Are you okay with being here? Or would you prefer to go somewhere else?"
She glanced around his room and bit her lip. "I'm fine with here."
"If you're not, we can go elsewhere," he offered.
Her gaze settled on him. "I'm fine."
She was as stubborn as Caleb. "Okay. Come in then."
She walked in, and to his surprise, sat on his bed. He walked over and sat in a chair. She could be so defiant. It made him want to turn her over his knee and.. he stopped that thought.
"What do you want to talk about?"
She had her walls up. He could see that plain as day. She was waiting and probably expecting him to reject her. But this was going his way this time. "I need to know what you want."
She stared at him. "I want you to accept my rejection."
Stubborn as the day was long. "Do you want me as your mate?"
"No."
She was lying. He could see it in the way she looked away from him when she answered. "Gabby, tell me the truth."
"I rejected you. I just want you to accept my rejection," she said, glaring at him.
"I want to know what you want," he demanded.
"I just told you. Just accept it. You don't want me," she said, looking down.
That wasn't the first time she'd said that, and it annoyed him. She thought she knew him so well. If she was going to be stubborn, he was going to have to go about this a different way. A way that might get him slapped, but he didn't care. He needed to know.
He was on her in a second, his cat like reflexes too fast for her to pick up on, and get out of his way. He had her stretched out on his bed, her slender wrists above her head, both grasped in his hand. He wasn't fully on her, but enough to keep her pinned down. The tingles, he'd forgotten about them, and they made him suck in a breath at how good they felt, dancing over his skin. It was the first time he'd felt them, and he wanted more.
She stared up at him in surprise. "What are you doing?"
"Finding out what you really want, because I don't think you're being honest with me," he said, as he lightly ran his hand up her side. He wanted to keep going but he stopped.
She sucked in a breath as she stared up at him. "We both want the same thing."
"You think you know what I want, when I don't even know what I want," he said quietly.
"You can't tell me your first inclination isn't to reject me." She glared at him.
"No. It's not."
"Then what is it?"
"To kiss you." And he did. He lowered his lips to hers and pressed against them, feeling the tingles errupt from that spot. They made the kiss so much better and he pushed against her lips with his tongue. She opened her mouth on a bit of a gasp, and he dove in, deepening the kiss. Kissing her was amazing and it made ever other kiss he'd ever experienced pale in comparison. This was what he'd be giving up if he accepted her rejection.
She sort of held back at first, then she began to kiss him back, responding eagerly to him, as she pushed her body up against his, surprising him and letting him know that she desired him too.
This is what it would be like, having her in his bed every night. Her warm body pressed against his. Her mouth more than willing, and the tingles. He really liked those and wondered if he'd be able to feel them when he was deep inside her. The thought made him even harder than he already was.
He wanted to touch her, but not yet. He really needed to know if she wanted this. She kept telling him no, but her body was saying yes.
He ended the kiss and pulled back, looking down at her. He watched her eyes glow briefly, as she stared up at him, her swollen lips parted in invitation. She wanted more. He could see it plainly. So did he. "What do you want, Gabby?"
She shook her head. "Please let me go."
"Not until you tell me the truth."
She stared up at him. "I can't."
"Yes you can."
"Please don't make me," she begged.
He sighed internally. She was so stinkin stubborn. "I want you to. I need to know what you truly want before I will accept any rejection."
"Why? So you can hurt me even worse?" she asked.
Her eyes were beginning to water. "You don't think you've hurt me? I had no idea. I never expected this. Not in a million years. I was still trying to figure out what was happening and you're throwing a rejection in my face!" His face was just inches from hers now. "And then demanding that I accept it!"
"You don't want to be mated!" she shouted back at him.
"How do you know what I want?" He glared at her. "Huh Gabby? You think you know it all. You think you already have me figured out. Then why are you laying here underneath me right now, responding eagerly to my kisses and pushing your body up against mine?"
"Because you're a jerk who just wants to drive me crazy. Why won't you accept it?"
"Because I don't want to!" He stopped and stared at her in shock, unbelieving of what he'd just said. But he realized it was the truth. He didn't want to. At least not if she really wanted him. Which he still hadn't got her to admit to. "I'm not letting you up until you tell me the truth. Do you want to be mated to me?"
She was crying now, the tears streaming down her face, and she refused to meet his gaze. "Damn you, Dominic. Yes. I want to be mated to you, and I hate you for making me say it."
That was all he needed to hear. He immediately let go of her and moved her so that he was sitting with her in his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close, letting her cry. He couldn't imagine how emotionally exhausted she was from this. He was just from the last twenty-four hours. She'd known for years.
She snuggled into him, and he smiled. He didn't even mind this, and he tightened his hold on her. She was his now.
"Are you purring?" She asked after several moments.
He hadn't even realized he was. "Yeah I guess so."
"Do you do that a lot?"
"No." He couldn't remember the last time he had. He rarely did it in this form, but his cat was actually very content right now, holding her. "Gabby, its going to take me some time to get used to this, but I'm going to do it. I'm going to be your mate. I want to. But I have been alone for so long, that I've gotta get used to it."
She pulled back and looked up at. "You.. want this?"
"Yeah. If you do."
Her mouth was hanging open now as she stared at him, and he reached down and closed it.
"But.. you don't want a mate."
"You have built up this image of me in your head for the last five years, and it's not completely accurate."
"Are you sure about this?"
"Yeah. I just needed time to think about it, and I wanted to know how you really felt, which was not easy to pull out of you. Are you always this stubborn?" He asked.
"Um.. "
He smiled to himself. "Do you want this Gabby? Do you want to be mated to a man who isn't a werewolf but shifts into something else? To someone who is much older than you?"
"I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that you do," she murmured. She was clinging to his bicep now almost as though she was afraid he might disappear.
"I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I have a mate," he replied.
"So you're not sure about this?" she asked.
"No, I'm sure. A bit shocked still but not like I was last night," he said softly, clutching her a bit tighter. He was still purring. "I can't believe I'm mated to Ranald's granddaughter. Though I suppose it's fitting."
"You were close to him?" she asked.
"Yes. It's one of my biggest regrets.. losing contact with him. If I could go back and do it again, I'd change that," he said softly, his mind drifting back to that time.
He'd made some stupid decisions, but live and learn. He had a feeling if he'd accepted Gabby's rejection, he'd regret it as well. He had enough regret. This was something he wanted to do right. How many times in his life had he been envious of the mate bond? And now he had a chance at one. He wasn't giving this up.