Staring at him wasn’t easy either. She saw the way he touched her, their reflections in the mirror or the feel of his lips between her thighs, licking her.
“You need to relax. I’m not going to hide you.”
“I’m not even part of your pack yet, Abel.”
“You will be. You’re part of the pack now. You can feel them flowing through your veins. The call to submit to me, to listen to me.” He pressed his lips against hers, and she couldn’t contain the moan that his kiss gave her. “Fuck, I don’t know what’s happening right now, but I want you, Cassie. I want you so fucking much. I ache for you. There’s no way I’d allow you to sleep anywhere else in my home other than my bed.”
“We have to talk about this.”
“We can. Another time.”
“Alpha, you’ve got a phone call,” Carl said, suddenly appearing in the doorway.
Abel growled, kissing her head. “I’ve got to go. You’re in my room. It’s on the top floor. We’ll talk soon.”
He pulled away from her, and she felt his loss the moment he left the room. Carl was still there, and he smiled at her. Wrapping her arms around herself, she offered him a smile.
“He likes you,” Carl said. “Moving you to his room, the way he is around you, I’ve never seen him like this.”
“You’re close friends?” she asked.
“Yes. At first, he didn’t like me. He thought I was a spy. He’s a good man. He’s lost a lot in his life, and I want him to be happy.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I sense that you’re not as content to give in. That you feel like you’ve, maybe, pushed in.”
“I’m the new girl.”
“Yeah, well, you’re the new girl that counts, Cassie. No other woman has ever made him react the way you have.”
“What about the other women? Don’t they matter?”
“Of course they matter, but they’re not you, Cassie. Would you settle for anything less when you know there’s perfection just there ready for you to take?”
She didn’t respond. There was nothing else for her to say. She didn’t have a fight or a good enough reason to refute him.
Carl left her alone, and, seeing no reason to dawdle, she made her way up to Abel’s room. She didn’t pass anyone on the way, and she was relieved about that. She didn’t think she could handle an argument right now or the guilt. Jessica had been nothing but nice to her, and here she was, stealing the alpha away.
Entering his room, she was struck by the scent of him, purely male, all pack. With her hand on the door handle, she forced herself to close it behind her.
Making her way toward the bedroom, she saw her stuff on the bed, and a note on top. Picking up the note, she found her clothes completely torn apart.
“They’re ugly,” Abel said, making her jump as she spun to see him waiting in the room.
“What the hell? I thought you had an important meeting?”
“I did. I asked Carl to make that excuse so I could be here before you arrived.”
She pressed a hand to her heart and glared at him. “That wasn’t funny.” She held up a handful of her torn clothing and glared at him. “These are my only clothes.”
“That’s why the computer is set up there. We can look together.”
“You’re not buying me new clothes.”
“You don’t have a choice.”
She folded her arms as he swept her clothes into the trash. “Why do this? Why bring them here if you were going to tear them up as if they mean nothing?”
“They do mean nothing, Cassie. You deserve better than this.” He moved up toward her and gripped her ass. “As my woman, I want to dress you in clothes that I like to see.”
“I pick my own clothes.”
“Did you pick any of them?” he asked. “Don’t lie to me either. Your pack was filled with vile nastiness that was constantly spewed your way. You deserve better than what they offered you.”
She rubbed at her temples. “I can’t deal with this.”
He kissed her head. “You’ll handle it.”
She hadn’t picked any of the clothes that he’d ruined. They were the items that had been thrown at her as if she was nothing but trash. She’d used them because she didn’t have any money of her own.
Abel took her hand and pulled her into his lap as he sat down at the computer. She saw a clothing website on the screen, and as he scrolled through, her stubbornness was hard to keep up.
Pointing out some shirts, jeans, skirts, and dresses, she growled as Abel put in a few items he liked for her to wear as well. All the time she looked, his hand stayed on her thigh, a constant brand on her mind as he touched her. She liked his touch way too much.