Stepping beneath the spray, he washed away the night, but still, she lingered. Her nails had sunk into his back as he rode her. He’d made love to her until they had both passed out.
Lucas had hoped, come morning, it would all be different, that Mabel would miraculously have fallen in love with him.
It hadn’t happened.
There was so much Mabel didn’t know about him. Her parents had been sworn to secrecy. She didn’t know that he’d spent many nights sitting in her room. He’d read her diaries. Each detailing the pain and anger she’d felt toward him. He held her pillow, breathing in her scent. She didn’t know about the shirts he took so whenever he needed to, he could breathe her in. It would help to calm the beast that had so many times wanted to break free and drag her home.
He’d made her life a misery in high school and by leaving him alone, she’d made his.
The last three years, he’d been lonely. The only time he’d been able to feel anything was at the mention of her returning home. His friends had pitied him as he’d hidden in the shadows to wait for a glimpse of her. He’d become a stalker. Keeping to the darkness so she didn’t see him or feel him.
This was fucking insane.
With the shower complete, he turned off the water, wrapped a towel around his waist, and entered his bedroom. He came to a stop.
Mabel sat on the edge of his bed.
Her hair was slick and she wore another of those tempting sundresses. Her feet were bare. She rested her hands on her thighs.
“I’m sorry,” she said.
“What are you doing in my room?”
She turned to look at him. “You’re right. I … I know what I did last night, and I’m sorry. I don’t regret it.” She licked her lips, and he saw the tears in her eyes. “I wanted to hate you so much, and I … I didn’t want to be here. You know that. I don’t want to let this work, but you’re different. You’re not like the asshole I remember. The guy I know well. He, I hate. He is the one I can resist. Who I don’t want to ever be mated to. Ever.”
“He’s not coming back, Mabel.”
“But what if he does?”
“He won’t. I promise you. He’s gone. I don’t even … I can’t make excuses for the way I was.”
She held her hands out and took a breath. “Can we like agree to not talk about then?” She looked toward him. “I … I did my research, and severed mates … they don’t.” She stopped and glanced down at her hands. “They never find anyone else. They’re doomed to be alone.”
“You don’t want to be alone.”
“It wouldn’t just be me, would it? You’d be alone as well. Even if you slept with all the women in the pack, you wouldn’t find anyone else.”
“Mabel, don’t think about me, okay?”
She swiped at the tears, and it fucking destroyed him to see her crying. “Ever since I was a little girl, I have wanted to be mated. It’s not that I wanted a man or felt I needed one, it was just that I saw my parents. The couples in the pack, and they always looked so happy. Even when I was younger, I saw the way single people looked at them. They wanted what others had.” She pressed her lips together.
He folded his arms across his chest. The need to comfort her was strong, but he held himself in check. “Mabel, what do you want from me?” he asked.
“I don’t want anything from you. I swear. It’s just that, I want to give this a try with you. I won’t fight it anymore. I won’t try to make sure we’re separated before it’s over. I’m open to this with you. If you are willing as well.”
On the inside of his arm where Mabel couldn’t see, Lucas pinched himself hard. There was a shot of pain, but he didn’t wake up. “You’re willing to give this a try?”
“If you are. Do you want to?” she asked.
“Yes, I do.”
She smiled at him. “Then, would you like me to move into this room?” She stood up and tucked her hair behind her ear. “It’s what mates do, right, share a room?”
Chapter Eight
Her clothes were next to his. It hadn’t taken Mabel long to put her stuff away in his room. Lucas had carried everything, and now she stared at their wardrobe, acutely aware of him standing close by.
This wasn’t a mistake. Even as her nerves were at an all-time high, she didn’t doubt her decision.
“I’m going to go and make breakfast,” Lucas said. He gripped her shoulders, giving her a massage. She was so hungry that her stomach growled.
Lucas chuckled.
He kissed her head. “I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.”