Ivore
“Why are you here?”
He finished making the cut in the wood before turning around. Violet was standing there. In her hands was a tray of cupcakes. It took him a second to peel his eyes away from both that and the delicious body holding the cupcakes.
“What do you mean?” He was helping with the renovations. What else would he be doing? Although he’d never used any of the fancy power tools that workers had these days, Ivore was no slouch when it came to being handy. Everyone had contributed in his hometown; whether it was building barns or houses, every male knew how to use a hammer or saw.
He really liked the electric saw though. It made everything go laughably quickly.
“I mean why are you so invested in doing this?”
Ah. That. “Because I want to see you succeed,” he stated.
Violet shook her head. Not as if to deny his answer, but more that she was having a hard time believing it. “Ivore, I don’t understand. Why are you so good to me? I’ve been nothing but rude and distant to you, and yet you always keep treating me like gold. What is the answer? No bullshit. Just tell me.”
Ivore slapped his hands together, ridding them of sawdust as he considered his answer. She wanted the truth? The honest, unhidden truth. Fine, he could give her that.
“The answer is that you’re my mate. You’re the only one I want, and I’m going to do whatever it takes to make you mine.”
“Oh.”
It was rather obvious that she didn’t know what to make of his statement or the words he’d used.
“I…understand. I think.”
He shrugged. “Hey, you asked.” Wiping his hands on his pants to try and dry them off, the clammy sweat of being so direct with her started to get him worked up. “Why are you here?”
“Um.” She hesitated, looking around for an answer until her eyes landed on the tray grasped in one hand. “These. I promised you a tray, and I don’t want to be called a liar.”
“None of us do,” he agreed, accepting the spoils. “But that’s not what I asked. I haven’t seen you in three days. Now you show up and ask me that question. Why are you here?”
He watched her face, noting the way her eyes were more golden today than brown. There was a tightness around her eyes, and unless he was mistaken she was subtly trying to bite on her lower lip. He doubted she was even aware of it, an unconscious move she did anytime she was nervous.
Nearby contractors started up with another saw, the noise of construction all around them.
“Can we talk outside?” she asked.
Ivore nodded, following her out into the lobby. He felt dirty and out of place in his construction gear, covered in dust and grime, while Violet and the lobby were shiny, freshly cleaned. He tried not to check her out as she turned around to look outside for a moment, but he failed. She just had such a lovely ass, so full and round and big. He wanted to get his hands on it. On her.
“I haven’t been very fair to you,” she said at last. “Completely unfair, if we’re being honest.”
“Really? I think twenty percent is a fair deal. You didn’t force me into taking it.”
“Not that. That’s fair; you aren’t getting any more than twenty percent.”
It took him a moment to realize she was joking. A joke. A real honest-to-goodness joke.
“Okay.”
“No, I meant I’ve been unfair to you. The continual flip-flopping personality and everything.”
Ivore wasn’t sure what this conversation was costing her, but it had to be a lot. She’d tried really, really hard to avoid having it. What had changed over the past few days? Had she just needed some time away from him?
“I understand. You don’t need to apologize.”
“No, you don’t understand,” she said. “I’m trying to tell you that I’m going to give it a chance.”
“Violet, it’s fine, believe me. If this is what you want then… What did you just say?”
“I said I want to give it a chance.”
Ivore didn’t say anything, breathing in and out slowly, trying to stay calm. “You want to give what a chance, Violet?” He needed to hear her say it, to know that she meant it.
“It. Us. Whatever you want to call it.” She sighed and pushed her hair back from her face.
He liked that she was wearing it down today. It looked good on her, hanging just to her shoulders and parted on the side. The color didn’t do anything for him, though he thought it cute she’d dyed it dark purple, like her name. She was a natural brunette anyway, so it didn’t look that out of place and…
Ivore shook his head, returning to the conversation.
“You are?” He felt like a buffoon, but his wits had abandoned him, left behind when she’d appeared out of nowhere to tell him his mate wasn’t going to keep rejecting him.
“Yes. Look.” She tucked more hair back. “I haven’t done this in a long time. A really long time. I…I never thought I’d do it ever again.”
Now Ivore did understand. “We’ll take it slow. Whatever pace you need is fine with me. All I ask is that you tell me. Let me know.”
“I think I can do that.” She shook her head. “No, I can do that. I will do that.”
“Okay.”
They both fell silent.
“So, what do we do now?” she asked.
Ivore went with his gut. “I think, if you’re okay with it, that we should try hugging.”
“A hug. Yeah, I can do a hug.”
He swept her up into his arms as she came close. Fighting down the urge to sweep her off her feet and spin her in a circle he instead concentrated on how she felt. For the first time she was letting him into her space, and vice versa. Her body was pressed against him, and there was no attempt at the awkward ass-out version.
Ivore gently ran his hands up and down her back, fingers spread wide as he memorized the feel of her, trying to cover every inch as best he could. He would cherish this moment for the rest of his life. This, he knew, was the turning point. There was still a long, long way to go, but this was where it would all start.
Violet pulled back eventually, her breath sounding ragged, though it recovered quickly. He reached out and pushed some of her hair back behind her ear without thinking. Violet didn’t exactly jerk her head away, but because they were still touching he could feel her go tense. She relaxed shortly thereafter, and there was even a hint of a smile. Yes, it was going to take time with her.
“Is there anything left that I can do?” she said after a moment, looking past him at where her shop was starting to take place.
No, not her shop. Their shop. They were doing it together. Sure, he was contributing one hundred percent of the money and only getting twenty percent of the profits, but that didn’t matter. Having Violet with him was worth giving up a hundred percent ten times over.
“Yeah, definitely. Lots of work to be done.”
“Good. I’ve always wanted to use some power tools. You can show me how!”
He swallowed. Him, show her how? He was just learning himself!
“Uh, sure.”
“Sweet. I’m gonna get changed.”
He nodded, and she ran off to the lobby washrooms.
Ivore watched her go. It might be slow sailing with his mate, but at least it would hopefully be smooth sailing for a while. That was fine with him. He could be patient, even if it was the hardest thing he’d ever done. Every day the fight to restrain himself from claiming her grew harder, but that just meant it became more important for him to fight it.
That wasn’t the type of fight he imagined he’d be in when it came to his mate, but he’d do it. She was worth any cost, and he wasn’t going to let a thing stand in his way of making all her dreams come true.