Page 41 of Lost Touch
Me. He’d have me, and nothing else.
A random little insignificant human with amnesia and magical damage, with no money or friends or family to help us. And not even his mate, for that matter. A fake mate with a fake mating scar.
Nothing to him.
I buried my face in the pillow again, hoping it’d soak up any stray tears.
Drew sighed, clearly as unable as I was to think of anything worth saying aloud, and carefully pulled back from me, his knot slipping out at last. Would I ever get used to his come slicking my thighs as he withdrew?
Would I have the chance?
Drew flopped next to me on his back, blowing out a long breath. I turned my head to face him, peeking at him with one eye from behind a lump of pillow. While he stared up at the ceiling, I could look my fill. The straight nose and the strong jaw covered in dark stubble, the waves of his hair falling on his temple and forehead.
His mouth had set in a flat, bleak line.
God. We were so fucked.
Chapter 13
A Purpose in the World
We lay there for a long time, long enough that I hardly even felt sticky anymore, the sweat and come dry on my skin.
I missed it. At least I’d been feelingsomething.
Finally I had to break the silence, because Drew showed no signs of stepping up to the plate in that regard. Were all alphas this stony-silent when they got stressed? Or only mine?
No, not mine, not mine, and I backpedaled away from that thought with all my gears whirring frantically. Drew wasn’t mine.
And even dealing with our practical problems, awful as they were, sounded better than following that train of thought any further. I had enough emotional problems, thank you very much.
“What happens if you go to see them without me?” I asked, not all that hopeful about the answer but needing to try anyway, praying to find some middle ground between fleeing and giving in.
Because even given infinite time and a large pad of paper for making copious notes, I’d have been hard pressed to think of something more socially horrifying, and possibly fatal, than putting my skinny body in a tuxedo that’d make me look even more ridiculous and going to glad-hand a werewolf pack who wanted my supposed mate to marry their alpha daughter.
“They won’t believe you exist after all and they’ll take offense, or they’ll think there’s something bizarre about you and assume I’m willing to break the bond with you,” Drew said heavily, but without hesitation.
A miserable little laugh rose up and choked me. “There is something bizarre about me. I can think of a few things, actually.”
“That’s not what they’d be thinking.” Drew turned his head and quirked an eyebrow. “More like some extreme physical deformity. Some werewolves are really, really image-conscious. Like you wouldn’t believe. Not to mention the whole upper-crust society thing they have going on.”
Did being yawn-inducingly average-looking, and also human, count as “extreme physical deformity” in their book, though? Almost certainly.
“Your family has the same upper-crust society thing going on, Drew.”
He sighed. “Not like Victoria’s family. They’re old money. Some werewolf ancestor on the Mayflower, all that bullshit.”
I snorted, and Drew smiled. Well, at least my awkwardness got me that much. “There weren’t any werewolves on the Mayflower. I remember that from a history class I don’t remember taking. There was a vampire, though. I’m betting that was awkward.”
Drew rolled his eyes as his smile grew into a wicked grin. “I’d advise not mentioning that. They don’t have human ancestors, don’t you know. And since they can’t have it both ways, a Mayflower werewolf it is. It’s fucking stupid.”
And that grin was gone again, wiped away as if he’d never had a happy thought in his life.
“You don’t have to do this,” he went on quietly. “The offer’s still open to find you somewhere else to go without me. I’ll do anything and everything in my power to make sure it works out for you.”
For the first time, I seriously mulled that over, even though the thought of walking away from Drew left me…hollow. This sounded like a no-win situation to me, and Drew…okay, so he might not want to marry and mate this Victoria—and what a name, she sounded like such a bitch—but would it really be so bad? She was probably hot. Hotter than me, anyway, likely by an order of magnitude. A werewolf, and an alpha herself. Rich. Not crazy and damaged and useless.
But looking at Drew, I simply couldn’t abandon him to his fate, even if that fate sounded bearable. He’d put a lot on the line for me. The only thing he’d wanted in return had been an out, a pretend mate to keep him free of his uncle’s machinations. And if he couldn’t run from this, the least I could do would be stand by his side and support him with every bit of insignificant human effort I could exert.
