Page 9 of The Ballerina

My eyebrows shoot up into my hairline. “You don’t know a damn thing about me and yet you’re so easy to judge.”

“Am I wrong?”

“You don’t have any idea how wrong you are,” I lean across the counter getting into his space. “Do you know how a suppression patch works?”

“Explain it to me,” he snaps, his nose millimeters away from mine.

I feel my emotions welling up. I’ve always been a crier. Whenever I get frustrated or angry, I burst into tears. I can feel the burn of the tears waiting to fall from my eyes.

“I don’t feel our mate bond,” I whisper as the first tear falls. “I knew that night something was different about you, but it will take a couple of days for the patch to wear off and for me to fully experience everything. I’ve been letting you and your reactions to our bond lead me, trusting you. I have never let a man touch me at work, but I couldn’t keep myself from wanting your hands all over me. I didn’t know why I felt drawn to you, I just couldn’t help myself.”

“Cathy,” he says softly but I cut him off.

“Don’t. I don’t need your apologies, explanations, or excuses. But I do want you to understand that just because you’re my mate doesn’t mean you get to dictate my life. And you may want to get to know me a little better before you make assumptions.” I glare at him before adding my last thought.“And if you ever accuse me of being a whore again, I will fucking rip your throat out, mate or not.”

Turning away from him, I walk through a house that isn’t mine. I find myself upstairs in the bedroom we shared last night, staring at the bed I wished I stayed in this morning. Taking off his shirt, I make my way to the bathroom and slip into the shower, tears falling from my eyes for who knows what reason. Anger, frustration, desperation, sadness, all these emotions swirl inside me and I can’t seem to get ahold of any of them.

I do know that being smothered in his scent is only pissing me off. I need to wash him off me so I can breathe.

Moments later, arms envelop me from behind, holding me up as I break open. This isn’t the way I was hoping things would turn out. Finding my fated mate is supposed to be one of the happiest moments of my life. Now I’ve ruined it. We both have.

This is the downside to being mated to a stranger. We don’t know how to talk to each other. We are bound to step on each other’s toes a lot before we finally find our footing.

“Sweetness,” he murmurs, nuzzling my neck. “How about you and I start over?”

“What?” I hiccup through the tears.

“Let’s go on a date. Get to know one another. Take a week and make these important decisions together, after talking things through.”

I turn in his arms, disbelief clouding my judgment. It’s like he read my thoughts. But the moment I see the earnest expression on his face and the hope in his eyes, I know the truth. He really is trying and that’s all I can ask for.

Who knew an Alpha would be willing to make concessions? Certainly not me.

Chapter Eight

Atlas

Guilt eats at me. First, I left my mate alone in bed to spend time with another woman, even if it was to break her heart, and then I judged her unfairly. I’ve dealt with Jana. She knows we can’t be together. It broke my heart to see her torn apart by my words. The moment I told her Cathy was my fated mate I swear I could hear her heart break. I feel like an asshole, but I needed to make a clean break for all of us.

She broke down in tears and I had to leave her alone on the porch of her parents’ house to deal with her heartbreak on her own. She isn’t mine and it is no longer my responsibility to fix her life. I felt dirty even being there, I just couldn’t bring myself to comfort her. I know it’s stupid but it felt like I was cheating on Cathy, just by being there.

The second problem isn’t going to be so easy to deal with. My beautiful mate broke my heart when she fell apart in my arms. I have never felt so worthless or impotent in my entire life as I did in that moment. I don’t know how to fix what I broke with only a few simple words, but I know I can’t bear to see her cry one more tear.

Tilting her head up I stare into her eyes.

“Please,” I beg softly. “Let me make this up to you. Give me a chance to prove I am the man, the mate, you deserve.”

“Atlas…”

“Please, sweetness.”

“Okay,” she whispers. Before another word can fall from her lips, I kiss her, fisting her hair in my hands so my mouth can plunder hers.

Moans pepper the air around us as I push her against the hard tiles of the shower stall. Her nipples scrape against my chest, my cock nestled between her thighs. I know sex isn’t thecure to everything, but I need to know she isn’t going to walk out on me. The need to feel closer to her rides me hard.

Drawing back, I watch her dazed smile. “Wow…”

“I know we just had our first fight,” I say, running my fingers through her wet folds. “But I need you. I need to feel you around me, strangling my cock.”

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