Page 20 of The Alpha's Forced Rejected Mate

Open the door.

Please open the door. I’m here. I need to talk.

Seconds later, I swung open the motel door and grabbed Robyn by the waist. I pulled her into a crushing hug, ignoring the way the unforgiving wind tried to rip us apart. That was how it felt. Like a great force trying to spin me away from the girl who I knew I was supposed to protect.

Seeing Bill today confirmed that.

“Hey, I’m sorry. That was awkward,” Robyn said to my sweater. “I didn’t mean to get so quiet on you. I just…Bill is just…He’s not doing well.”

“I know. I can tell.”

I rubbed her back as she tilted her head back. Wind spattered hair across her face. I pushed it away, pushed it behind her ears, guiding her to one side so I could shut the door. Silence echoed around us as I turned to face her, to take her back into my arms. She didn’t press her hands to my chest or wiggle away. She just let me hold me. She let me stand there with my heart thudding in her ear.

My body flushed with yearning at the realization that we were intimately close. There were clothes in the way, yeah, but I noticed her shivering. I noticed the heatwave burning into me, that familiar pining that was familiar. I ran my hands up her spine, down her back, over the bottoms of her jeans, and then to the front zipper.

With my hand resting on the button of her pants, I looked down at her, catching her eye. “Where’s—?”

“With Jillian. She’s safe. She’s fine.”

“I didn’t scare her, did I?”

Her brows relaxed. “Why would you be worried about that?”

“I don’t know.”

But truthfully, Ididknow. I just didn’t want to scare Robyn by saying I already cared about her daughter as much as I did her. While it was a shock, I didn’t care about the how so long as I could be thewhoat the end of the day.

No more strangers.

No more visitors.

On my life.

“Did you have trouble getting here?” I asked, hoping to change the subject. “Those guys didn’t look too happy about me being your guest.”

She frowned. “The demonic infection has spread. All four of them are possessed now.”

“Do you know when it started?”

“Two years ago, maybe. I noticed the limp before, so it could have been earlier.”

I hummed. “And he wasn’t acting like this the last time I was here. It had to have happened right after I left.”

“Right after you left.”

My vision focused back in on her, revealing her distraught expression. “I’m sorry, Robyn. I shouldn’t have left you alone for that long.” I gave her another inch of space without letting her go. “Although you replaced me pretty fast when I left.”

“Hey, you did the same thing.”

“I guess we both just needed a little love.”

Her eyelids weighed heavy. “What are you saying, Cliff?”

The way her bottom lip pouted out a bit when she was looking up at me with those round eyes made me wild. I ravished her mouth with a hot kiss, unable to control the way affection poured from me. This kiss was the only thing keeping me tethered while I tried to figure out how I was going to honor the mate bond and get Robyn and Sydney away from a demon-riddled pack.

Whatever space existed between us before disappeared. I wound my hands up her back, crushing her to me again, feeling the satisfying gasp she released when I squeezed her too hard, that subtle way of her telling me that she needed me to lighten my grip. I did exactly that, eager to notice the way her body slumped into my embrace. Satisfied, I continued to explore her mouth, plunging my tongue into the mix to dance with her tongue.

We must have kissed for ages. Once I pulled back, I noticed how she was panting for air, her cheeks bruised with a red rouge that enhanced the lust sparkling in her sunny eyes. She gazed lazily up at me, a lustful drunkenness having takenover her features. Strands of hair clung to her cheek that she idly swept away.

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