Page 33 of Ruthless Alpha
Reaching around her, I turned off the heat and moved the pan back. I drew her against me, leaning down to press a light kiss to her lips, and for a lovely, languid moment, she melted into it. Until the claiming bite was in place, we’d be almost unable to resist each other, and I could already feel my need for her growing hot and urgent. Would she like it if I lifted her onto the counter and fucked her there? Or would her hygienic sensibilities forbid it? There was only one way to find out.
As my hands moved down to cup her ass, Rosie pulled away.
“When do you have to leave for training?” she asked. I blinked, confused.
“I’ll tell Damien to take the lead today,” I told her. “I’ve got much more important things to do at home.”
I leaned down to kiss her again, but this time she took a full step back. Her pupils were dilated, her breath coming heavy, and her skin flushed—I knew she was as affected by the bond as I was, so why was she pushing me away?
“Don’t be silly,” she said. “You should go.” It was a tone I hadn’t heard in weeks: that fake lightness that told me I was beingmanaged.
“It’s just training, they won’t miss me,” I assured her.
“I still think you should go,” Rosie insisted, and a thought hit me, sudden and sickening:
“Did I do something wrong? Yesterday, I didn’t—I didn’t hurt you, did I?”
“No,” she said quickly. “No, I promise. I just think that after that fight the other day, there’s gonna be some males who aren’t best pleased with you. Better to show them who’s boss.”
I wanted to argue with her, to insist on staying home, but she was right: Harris had been chomping at the bit for a fight, and I needed to put him down before he got any smart ideas.
“I guess,” I conceded. “I’ll skip Jace this afternoon, though.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Iwantto, Rosie. We’re newly mated, and I—honestly, I kind of thought I’d never find my mate. You know how many people are mated after thirty? It’s not a whole lot.” Admitting it was too vulnerable, too desperate, and sad, but I couldn’t help feeling like she was already slipping through my fingers. This wasn’t supposed to happen.
“Well. Here I am,” she said, awkwardly.
“Here you are,” I echoed. Despite the gnawing worry, I couldn’t help smiling softly as I looked at her. She was so beautiful, so soft and sweet and perfect. My hands itched to touch her again, but she was purposefully keeping her distance, avoiding my eyes.
“I’ll see you when you get home this evening,” she said.
“This afternoon,” I corrected, but she shook her head.
“Jace is your friend, and he’s doing you a favor.” Rosie turned back to the stove, starting to remove the sausages from the pan. “He’s already spending every morning alone while you lead training, working on a project that you’ll get credit for.”
I felt like I was being scolded for bad behavior. Jace was my friend; he’d understand if I wanted to spend the day with my mate. He’d be happy for me.
“You’re sure there’s nothing wrong?” I prompted. “Nothing I did to upset you?”
“I’ll be here when you get back,” she replied, which wasn’t an answer. She still wasn’t looking at me, just buttering bread as if this were any other morning.
“We’ll do something just the two of us,” I tried, verging on desperation. “I know that connecting with your magic got a little overshadowed by—us,but maybe we can have another look at that?”
“Maybe.” It was the sort of “maybe” that sounded like “no”. I took a step toward her, reaching out to touch her face, her hair,anythingto be close to her, but she grabbed my hand out of the air, giving it a quick squeeze before shoving a paper-wrapped sandwich at me and saying,
“Go on, now. You’re going to be late.”
I let myself be chivvied out of the house, left staring at the closed door of my own home with a rapidly cooling breakfast sandwich in my hand. What had just happened? My mind raced as I made the short walk over to the training center, my wolf protesting with every step. We had a beautiful mate at home; we shouldn’t be abandoning her. I didn’t know how to tell him that she clearly wanted to be abandoned.
What had I done to make her act this way? Had she not wanted me yesterday? No—that couldn’t be it. She’d been as lost in my touch as I was in hers. I knew she wanted it, wantedme.
Should I have said more afterward? Should I have told her I loved her? Promised that she would be safe with me? Did she feel rejected because I hadn’t marked her? Hadn’t knotted her? I’d been trying not to overwhelm her, but maybe that had been the wrong move. Maybe she thought I wasn’t really committed.
By the time I arrived at the training center, I had worked myself up enough to instill fear in the hearts of every fighter assembled. The medical building was going to be busy that afternoon, as I tore through every fight like my life depended on it. If there was an upside to my disaster of a morning, anyone who’d been rankled by my decision not to let Harris take Nessa would likely keep their mouth shut about it—at least until I did something else to piss them off.
As a result, I turned up in the development lab still covered in blood. Jace barely looked up from the pile of leather and metal before him, and when he did, all he said was,
