Page 57 of Possessive Mate

Elena pecked him on the cheek, and when she pulled back again, she was smiling ear to ear. “That is all anyone can ask of you.”

Hanson pressed his lips to her head as she laid it upon his chest. Holding her like this, merely being near her, was enough to send a thrill through his entire body. Her closeness relaxed him in a way he had never felt before.

That was, until she pulled her head up again and looked him in the eye as she said, “Can I ask you something?”

Though he knew he might come to regret it, he said, “Anything.”

“Before you arrived, Eddie…um…he said something about your having a dark past?” Elena said, and Hanson’s entire body stiffened. He knew she had felt it when she added, “I guess that’s a yes.”

How am I supposed to tell this wonderful woman all of the awful things I have had to do to survive? Hanson thought, bile rising in his throat as he remembered all the beatings he had given, all the money he had practically stolen, all the people whose lives he had failed to save before Jack and the others arrived.

“I’m not proud of it,” Hanson said, lowering his gaze, unable to look her in the eye, “But yes.”

“What happened?”

That was the worst question of all. Hanson wasn’t sure he could put into words all that had happened.

Sucking in a deep breath, he said, “I could try and sugar coat it by saying that everything I did, I did to protect those I cared about, but even that doesn’t let me sleep at night.” He paused and took another breath before he added, “Back in the old pack, I…I was one of Karl Ryker’s…I guess you’d say most trusted. He gave the order, and I did it. I guess you could say I was the lesser of two evils. It was better me than one of the other guys.”

Elena’s gaze darkened. “What do you mean?”

“If I was ordered to give a beating, I knew when to stop in order not to”—he gulped hard before finishing—“kill anybody. I knew just how far to go to make it look real for Karl’s sake but do what I could for whoever the victim was.”

Elena cringed at that, and Hanson feared she would never look at him the same again. “If it was so bad, why didn’t anybody do anything about it before Jack and the others came to town?”

“From what I’ve heard from Eddie of your original pack, your alpha wasn’t the nicest guy, either,” Hanson pointed out, raising his brow. Then, he bit his tongue. Of course he wasn’t, the guy had killed her last mate. “Elena, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have brought him up.”

The pain in her gaze was clear, but she leaned up to him and kissed him gently. “It’s all in the past. We have our future to look forward to now.”

Relief washed over Hanson in a way he had never felt before. He gripped hold of Elena’s face in his hand and held her close, kissing her more passionately until she pulled back just enough to whisper against his lips, “Take me home.”

There was nothing that Hanson wanted to do more than that, and so he did. Even at her protests, Hanson picked Elena up from the bed, thanked Layla and Violet on the way out, and carried her all the way up the hill to the manor.

In fact, he didn’t let her feet touch the floor once as he carried her right the way up the stairs to his room and laid her down gently on the bed.

“You know, I could have walked,” she protested for about the hundredth time even though it was far too late for that.

“You could have, but why would I let you when you are clearly still injured?” Hanson demanded, kicking off his boots to slip onto the bed beside her.

“I’m fine,” Elena protested yet again, and Hanson rolled his eyes.

“Of course you are.”

“I’m fine,” Elena repeated through gritted teeth. She grabbed hold of his face in both her hands then and pulled him close, kissing him before she growled, “And I’ll prove it.”

Shock rushed through Hanson when she slid her hand down his chest and lower still, gripping his manhood firmly.

“Fuck! Elena, no!” Hanson snapped, grabbing hold of her hand to pull it away. “You’re still recovering.”

But she continued to rub her body against his, her hand fighting to grip hold of him again.

“Hanson, I need you,” she growled, kissing him again. “We almost died last night. I need you right now.”

Hanson couldn’t exactly argue with that. He released her hand, groaning when she rubbed his cock through his jeans. His own need took over, and in quick succession they stripped each other bare, their lips never separating for more than a couple of seconds at a time.

Lost in the moment, Hanson found himself atop her, his hands on either side of her face as he propped himself up on his elbows.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked through gritted teeth. If she turned him down now, he wasn’t sure how he would handle it. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

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