“Is this what you want?” he teases, his hand slips into my hair and his nose brushes mine ever so gently. I hold my breath and nod.
Even though I give him the go-ahead, he remains cautious. His lips cover mine gently dragging across my own. My body heats up and I stare at him. His tongue flicks out and traces my bottom lip. His hand moves to the side of my face and his thumb presses gently on my chin. He tilts my face upward as my lips part and his tongue slowly slips into my mouth.
A loud shuddering groan escapes him as his tongue gently plays with mine. It was the oddest sound out of him yet, a mix of need and relief warring against each other. I tug him closer, giving in to him and letting myself enjoy the kiss.
The taste of him on my tongue surprises me, and is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced before, it makes me smile. It’s my new favorite thing, kissing him. I wind my arms around his neck and nibble on his lips, loving every sound I drag out of him.
All too soon, he pulls away with a chuckle and presses his forehead against mine. “Breathe, Sage. Breathe before you pass out.” He sounds so amused that I bet he’s dying to laugh at me.
But at least now, I realize the entire time I was holding my breath, which explains the light-headed feeling that was creeping in.
Andrei closes his eyes. “What am I going to do with you?” He chuckles to himself.
“You could always mark me,” I whisper, and his laughter stops.
Andrei pulls away from me as if I have burned him and stares down at me in pure shock. I suppose this is the last thing he wants to hear now.
I chew on my lips nervously. To be honest, I am shocked at the words that have left my lips, but I can’t say that I regret saying them. The more time I spend with Andrei, the more I realize those words, I mean them. I want to be his mate. But does he really want a broken one for his second chance?
If I must judge by the shocked expression on his face… I don’t think so.
Andrei must have changed his mind about us after all the things he learned about me. He didn’t mean it when he said he would stay no matter what. I am good enough to play around with, for now, I suppose. But not good enough to mark and claim.
S
age
He parts his lips to say something, probably something hurtful, when I hear a bang that makes Andrei and me both jump.
“You heard that, right?” I ask, making sure I didn’t hear things at the ass crack of dawn. It might be a figment of my imagination built up to stop the heartbreak which is clearly heading my way, so I really have to make sure.
“Yes, there must be someone who needs to speak to me. Wait here,” he orders, climbing off the bed.
As I watch him, I wonder why this someone isn’t mindlinking him. Why bang on the door instead?
The banging worsens, then I hear it, a man’s muffled voice yelling for help.
I jump out of bed, my heart pounding, so loudly I can hear it and feel it in every pulse point.
“Stay in the room,” Andrei commands as he closes the door, but I follow him anyway.
“Are we under attack?” I ask him, suddenly terrified of the slightest chance of danger.
Looking back in the room and out the windows, I can see nothing, just the first glimmers of the sky changing to welcome the new day arriving.
“Go back to bed, I’ll be back in a minute,” Andrei orders, his whole demeanor has hardened to the Alpha of the pack, but I clutch his arm, refusing to leave without him.
When I hear another thump, Andrei growls frighteningly.
“That sounded like it was coming from inside,” I whisper and step closer to the stairs.
A surprised yelp escapes my lips when Andrei pulls me back. His behavior is odd, and if we are under attack, why hadn’t his alarms gone off?
“Go back to the room, Sage!” Andrei says, visibly growing more irritated with my defiance.
He tries to push me towards the room, but I dig my heels against the floor and shake my head. I want to follow Andrei down the stairs and see what is going on for myself.
As I keep fighting against my mate’s attempts to push me back into the bedroom, the man’s voice grows louder and louder, and I realize the noise is indeed coming from inside.
I can barely make it out. I’m sure it can’t be someone standing at the door. There is another bang, and my eyes instantly dart to the basement door.
My stomach sinks, and Andrei freezes on the top step.
“Have you got someone down there?” I ask him, even though I already know the answer. The sounds, those bangs, those are the man’s thumping on the steel door.
“Go back to the room,” Andrei orders and turns around to walk down the steps.
As he turns towards the basement door, I shake my head and refuse to follow his order again. “No, what are you going to do?” I ask him, rushing down the steps after him.
“What I have to do, Sage. Now go back to the room!” And again, there is more irritation and anger radiating off my mate. Why is he so angry, if he is the one who does the wrong thing here?
“You can’t kill him. Andrei,” I tell him.
Andrei growls, turns on his heel, and heads back toward the stairs. But instead of standing here like a good, obedient puppy, I run down them before he can reach the stairs. I know what he intends to do. He wants to drag me back to the room, even if I kick and scream.
Besides, I can feel the intense annoyance through the mate bond.
“Sage!” Andrei snaps, and my pulse quickens at the anger in his voice.
Sierra lurches forward with me. “Sage, just listen to him before you make him mad.”
“He won’t hurt us,” I tell her, ignoring her warning.
“You don’t know that,” she retorts. So much for the one who couldn’t shut up about that he wouldn’t hurt us just days ago. I guess she changed her mind completely now.