Paul and Emily were leaving the estate together, almost if they were a couple, and that made Theodore furious. Sure, he had yet to claim his mate properly, but that didn’t make her his woman any less. She was his to love, and his to cherish – she was simply his.
He couldn’t follow them to the diner they were going to – he had overheard them talking about it – for that would surely spell trouble, for him. He wasn’t sure his mate would appreciate his following her around like a lost puppy everywhere she went.
He didn’t want her to snap at him for something like that. But then again, he didn’t want her going on the damned date with that stupid watch either.
He went to a nearby bar and started to drink his worries away. He didn’t wish to think about the possibility of his mate wishing to lead a normal life, away from him.
It was close to 8 pm when he left the bar. He headed to his mate’s neighborhood. He couldn’t sense her close by, and thus he decided to wait for her in the shadows.
And heavens have mercy, he was glad he waited.
Paul accompanied Emily back home, the two of them laughing at every silly little thing… and it wasn’t long before he told her, “Good god, you are beautiful.”
And beautiful, she was. Theodore could agree with that much, but he didn’t like where the conversation was heading.
“Can I kiss you?”
Despite not receiving an answer, he was already leaning in, to claim a prize that wasn’t his for the taking.
“I dare you to go through with it,” he spat out as he emerged from the shadows.
Emily had the decency to look embarrassed.
“I don’t see how that can be a problem,” Paul was putting on a brave face.
And Theodore was in no mood to play with him. “Dorogaya,” he called her name half sternly, half softly. “Remember our earlier conversation? Do you really wish for it?”
Emily’s eyes were pleading him to reconsider.
“Use your words,” he told her.
“Please no,” she said almost teary-eyed.
“Don’t listen to him, Emily,” Paul said almost haughtily. “He’s all talk. He can do nothing.”
“I am all talk?” Theodore chuckled humorlessly. And then, in one swift move, he had grabbed the competition by the neck. “Say that again, I dare you, malchik.”
Paul struggled to get free, but Theodore didn’t let up.
“Sir please,” Emily begged in the young impudent boy’s favor, and that only irked him more. He tightened his hold on the his rival’s neck. “Mr. King, please be reasonable. Do you really wish for a scandal?”
“I could care less,” he told her off dismissively.
“But you care about me, do you not?” She bargained as she put her hand on his arm.
His mate just initiated contact for the first time. And it wasn’t because she cared for him or anything like that. She just wanted to save this pitiful boy’s life.
A few more seconds and the human boy was bound to lose consciousness.
He looked at her pleading eyes, and found himself complying with her wish. Paul dropped to the ground unceremoniously, and had a coughing fit.
Emily was going to go to him, as per her kind nature, but Theodore grabbed her hand, and pulled her to him. Her proximity did wonders to the raging beast within him.
She didn’t struggle against his hold, and was oddly compliant.
He just hoped she wasn’t scared of him now.
“What the hell is wrong you?” Paul spat out when he finished coughing.
“Let that be your last warning. Do not even entertain thoughts about my woman,” Theodore told him coldly.
Emily peered at him through her thickly rimmed glasses. She inhaled deeply and then said, “You’re drunk, sir.”
He wasn’t drunk, barely even tipsy. “I just had a few drinks, dorogaya,” he admitted softly.
She pouted at him… and oh how he wished he could kiss the pout away.
“You should have told me the rumors were true,” Paul then angrily addressed his mate as he rose to his feet. Theodore’s eyes narrowed dangerously at that. “You should have told me you were involved with the boss.”
“Well, now, you know, malchik,” Theodore said as he hugged Emily to him, taking great pleasure in the little sparks that went off everywhere their skin met, and calming down thanks to her deliciously soothing scent.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
To say Emily hadn’t expected her evening to turn so sour would be the understatement of the year.
How could she have possibly anticipated the fact that Theodore King – the man who claimed never having to chase a woman – would wait for her at her building?
That was like the most far-fetched scenario that crossed her mind. Yes, she had secretly hoped he would chase after her on the date, and when he hadn’t, she had thought he was done with the games.
Oh, how wrong she had been!
The way he had claimed her as his woman in front of Paul made things real to her. Before, he had only made his intentions known behind closed doors.
Now, it was as if he made it public knowledge that she was his.
She watched as Paul stormed off, anger etched on his face no doubt. She had been startled when he asked her whether he could kiss her. She hadn’t known what to respond.
He didn’t make her heart flutter, her insides tremble, or her core weep with need. And yet, she was ready for her lips to be claimed by someone other than her loathsome boss – who wished she’d beg for his kiss and touch.
“Now what?” She turned to the player, who made her body a lustful mess, with a glare.
“Now, you tell me why I should not bend you over, right here right now, and fuck you into submission for the stunt you pulled?” His words albeit slightly sarcastic weren’t any less true.
He was thinking it. She just knew it.
“Because I am a virgin,” she told him and his eyes only glinted more with desire. “I have yet to be kissed.” He nodded at her, a small smirk adorning his handsome face. “You also agreed to be friends. And friends don’t do that.”
“Some friends do,” he retorted teasingly. “They’re called friends with benefits nowadays.”
“Well, we are not friends with benefits, are we?” She said meekly.
“We are more than that, so much more than that, dorogaya,” he told her huskily.
He was close… too close for comfort. But she didn’t have it in her to take a step back.
Her knees wobbled slightly. As if the desire to give in to this man wasn’t enough, now she was going to make a fool of herself and drop by his feet.
She heaved a sigh and her chest grazed his. The gasp that escaped her mouth didn’t go unnoticed.
“You feel this?” He said as he stroked her cheek gently and a trail of pleasurable shocks followed. She nodded at him as she dampened her lips expectantly. “This is to show that we belong together.”
“You don’t mean that,” she told him breathlessly.
“But I do, dorogaya,” he said as he leaned in slightly, making her more entranced with him if that was possible. “You should know that I mean everything I say.”
She looked at him, her heart beating wildly, her breathing ragged, as if she had run a marathon.
“Kiss me,” she instructed him softly. He raised an eyebrow in question. “I want to feel what it’s like to be kissed by a man like you, by a man who makes me question everything. So, for the love of everything you hold dear, kiss me already.”
“I thought you’d never ask,” was all the warning she got before his lips captured hers at long last.