Chapter Three
Kelly was stuck in the bathroom wearing a long bed shirt. None of her pajamas were packed, and the fancy stuff that had somehow made it here was not going to be worn tonight. They’d gotten through half a day. It was nighttime now. Dinner had been eaten in silence, and she was sure she had felt Drake’s gaze on her through most of it. She’d been so tense waiting for some shitty snide comment. He’d kept silent, not saying a single word.
Finally, when she couldn’t think of a single reason as to why she should remain in the bathroom, she opened the door, and made her way toward the bedroom. In the doorway, she stopped. Drake was already in bed, and he held a book in his hands, reading.
The moment he saw her, the book was placed on the bed, and he smiled at her. “Hello, darling, why don’t you come and join me?”
“What are you doing?”
“I feel I’m in one of those perfect worlds that you’ve heard of. You know the ones you’ve seen in the movies. Usually around the nineteen fifties. We’re not here to have sex, dear, so come and sleep in a completely different bed.”
She tucked some hair behind her ear, and stared at him. “Have you lost your mind?”
“Not yet but the night is young. I’m in bed reading. I think I’m sick.”
This got a smile from her. “What are you usually doing?”
“Out partying, or I don’t know, doing something, but reading is never high on my list. I found this in the drawer. It’s a crime one.”
“You’re going to figure out a way to strangle me?” she asked, climbing onto the bed.
“Nope. That would be way too easy. Doesn’t bode well for us that someone here before us wanted to read crime while being forced to be with his beloved.”
“You know my parents never went through this,” Kelly said. “They mated on their own terms.”
“Mine did as well. Sucks really. They don’t have to spend an entire year together. I think my parents would kill each other before they did that. Weird, huh?”
“I don’t know if my parents would have killed each other, but it does make me wonder if they would be as content to live with each other.” She shrugged. “We’ll never find out.”
She didn’t get underneath the blankets as it was quite warm. She laid her head on her pillow, and tried not to think about the heat coming from her left. Grabbing her e-reader, she flicked it open, and began to read. Even as she read every single word, clicked the pages, nothing was going in. She couldn’t focus, and she knew for a fact it was because of Drake. She’d never been this close to anyone before. At twenty years old, she’d never been with a man before, and right now, her virginity was rather telling.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine. I’m just thirsty. I’m going to go and make some hot chocolate.” Before either of them could say another word, she got out of bed, and marched toward the door. She stood in the kitchen, and frowned.
What the hell was she doing here?
Her parents wanted her to mate, and she didn’t even know what it felt like to be with a man. The last person she had ever imagined being with was Drake, and now she was scared. She was a virgin, and she just knew deep down that he’d been with loads of women. They were wolves, so neither of them carried diseases, but still.
This was a nightmare.
She jumped as Drake touched her shoulders, and she turned to look at him. “What are you doing?”
“You looked a little freaked out.”
Placing her hands on her shoulders where he had been touching just moments ago, she shook her head. “I’m fine, really.”
Grabbing a saucepan, she put it on the stove, and began the process of making a hot chocolate.
“You’re safe in the bed, Kelly, I’m not going to hurt you.”
She looked at him. “I know that.”
“Oh, just the way you’ve been acting. It looked like you were scared.”
“I’m not scared. I’m just … everything is going crazy right now. No, it’s not going crazy. Thinking about our parents, and then the people that have come before us. Do you realize we could be the only two people in history who don’t end up together with this?” It was thinking about that kind of pressure that had her nervous. Running fingers through her hair, she laughed. “It’s stupid, but I feel like we have a responsibility to our elders, and to our parents, but at the same time, I don’t want to do this. I didn’t ask for this. They did.”
He grabbed her shoulders and stared into her eyes. “We can make this work.”
Kelly shook him off. She wasn’t ready for his touch. “Right now I just want to make a hot chocolate. Do you want one?”
“Love one.”
She nodded, released a breath, and then started the process again. Cooking was something that grounded her, gave her focus on other things. This was something that came easily to her, naturally.
Once the chocolate was made, they sat at the small table in the kitchen, and they drank in silence. This time, though, it wasn’t awkward. It was peaceful.
“This is really good.”
“Whoever stocked the kitchen made sure we had good chocolate. That’s one consolation I guess.”
“Everything is going to be okay, you know?”
She nodded. “Of course it is. Everything is going to be okay. How could it not be okay?”
They were alone for one year, destined to be mated.
No pressure at all.
****
Drake was trying to focus on the book in his hand, but he was distracted. The island where they were had a nice little free flowing waterfall. He wore a pair of swimming boxers, and the costume that Kelly was wearing kept distracting him.
They had been alone now for one week. One week of walking through the forest together, playing the odd board game they had found, watching some movies, and then of course eating dinner, sleeping together.
Those rare moments in the late hours of the night were his favorite. Kelly always fell asleep before he did, and as such, he got the chance to watch her sleep, and to be himself. He’d reach out and stroke the hair from her face, and just bask in the time she wasn’t cursing at him. She had every right to. He’d been a horrible bastard to her.
She didn’t snore, and she looked so peaceful in sleep.
“What are you doing?” he asked, seeing Kelly on one of the rocks that was protruding out of the water.
“Playing around. Jumping from rock to rock.”
“You know you’re going to hurt yourself. It’s not fucking funny.”
“It is. I think it’s hilarious,” she said.
His heart jumped as she did. Her arms went straight out, balancing.
“You’ve got to stop that!”
“It’s fine. I’m not going to hurt myself, see.” She jumped again, and this time any reading he intended to do was done. He ran into the water, and stood in front of her, holding his hands up to stop her from making the next jump.
“Move out of the way,” she said.
“Hell no. I don’t know if we can have medical assistance here, and seeing as we can only heal during a change into wolf form, I’m not willing to risk you trying to tear my heart out.”
“I’m not going to hurt you, and I’m fine.”
“I mean it, Kelly. I won’t let you risk your life like that.”
She rolled her eyes and folded her arms. “Are you for real right now? You’re going to be a buzz kill.”
Climbing onto the stone, Drake stared at her. “I’m right here. You want a buzz, let’s have a buzz. You’ve got five seconds’ head start or I’m coming for you, and when I do, I’m going to kiss that smart mouth.”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“Try me. I would dare, and I will be running. One!”
“This is not even funny. You’ve been reading your damn book!”
“Two.”
She glared at him, and as he said three, she took off and began running. He heard her cursing his name, but he didn’t mind at all.
Yelling the last two seconds, he started running toward her.
She wasn’t that far ahead, and he was faster than she was. Within seconds he was on her, wrapping his arms around her waist, and he spun her around pressing her against the tree.
“I didn’t want to play this stupid game. I was more than happy to jump from rock to rock.”
“Breaking your neck in the process.” He kept his hand at her waist. Loving the feel of her body beneath his touch, he struggled to stay focused right now.
“If I break my neck you can get out of here and we don’t have to keep on doing this!”
That made Drake pause. “You think I want you to die to get out of here?”
Neither of them spoke. The only sound in the air was that of their breathing.
Reaching out, he pushed some of her wet hair out of her face, cupping her cheek. “The last thing I want is for you to die, Kelly.”
“You don’t want to be mated to me.”
This made him smile. “You really think that.” Before she could say another word, he slammed his lips down on hers, silencing any more protest from her, and taking what he wanted. He wanted her kiss, needed it.
Like a drowning man, he consumed her lips, sinking his fingers into her hair to hold her close.
His cock thickened, and he stepped closer to her, letting her know without a doubt that he wanted her.
She pulled away, and he stared into her startled blue eyes.
“But you hate me.”
“I don’t hate you, Kelly. I never did.”
“No, wait, I’m confused. This can’t be happening. You hate me, I know you do.”
A chuckle escaped his lips, and he pressed a quick kiss to her lips. “Keep telling yourself that. I don’t hate you.”
Moving away from her, he went back to collect his book. His cock was tenting in his boxers, and he tried to think of something to gain control. When it came to Kelly he had no way of stopping his reaction to her. She aroused him so much.
“For years you’ve been mean, bullied me, made it clear that you and I are never going to happen. Even when our parents said that we were destined to be together.”
She was close. He felt her behind him. Holding the book in his hand, he turned toward her.
Her gaze ran down his body, and she saw the evidence of his own arousal. Eyes wide, she looked at him, shaking her head.
“Do you want this mating?” she asked.
Drake could lie again, or he could tell her the truth.
“I’ve enjoyed this past week,” he said.
“That doesn’t answer my question. Do you want to mate or not?”
“Yes, I do, and I’m not afraid to admit that.”
She was frowning once again and shaking her head. “No. This isn’t possible. You hate me.”
“I’m going to keep on saying this so you’ll finally realize the truth. I don’t hate you. I never have. I’ve hated how our parents seemed determined to throw us together. To make us like each other. I hated how they were always talking about it, but I never hated you.”
“All these years you’ve been mean.”
“It kept you away, didn’t it? Stopped my folks telling me how I’d live my life.”
She took a step back. “I have no idea what this means.”
“Neither do I. The elders had their say, and I don’t have a problem with it. We have this year, Kelly. By the end of it, we will be mated, and I’m happy about that.”