Page 38 of The Bookseller and the Alpha
“I would like to apologise,” Luc said, his voice low. “I didn’t mean to imply that your business is unimportant. I understand what it represents to you.”
Okay. That was a promising start. “I need to open the store.”
“Is there anyone else who can do it instead?”
“I want to do it.” I was going to dig in my heels. I needed some time apart and he needed to respect my priorities.
“I understand, sweetheart.” Somehow one of my hands was now held in Luc’s bigger one and his thumb was rubbing gentle circles on my skin. My eyes wanted to close, just like Pompy’s. Dammit. It was insane how a simple touch from him affected me. Luc continued speaking and I forced myself to listen. “I know that your business is important and I apologiseif I made it sound as if I didn’t care. I’m fucking proud of you, baby. But I’m fighting my instincts to lock you away in the Palace to keep you safe until the threat passes. Someone used magic to get into your shop. You were injured while you were under my protection.”
“That wasn’t your fault.” I didn’t want him to feel guilty about that.
I sensed Luc shaking his head. “I should have put two guards on you from the beginning. Itwasmy fault. I haven’t been able to function properly apart. I need you by my side.” His voice dropped and he nuzzled my cheek. “The mating pull is making me a little crazy.”
Wow. That was a good apology. I swallowed, feeling my pulse flutter in my neck. It was hard to hold onto my anger when he put it that way. I did have someone I could ask. Rachel usually worked for me on Saturdays, but I knew she was always happy to take on extra work.
I shifted to the floor beside him. Luc turned his head to me and I looked at him. Really looked. I saw his clenched jaw. His tight shoulders. The narrowing of his eyes. Vulnerability. Worry. This was important to him.Iwas important to him. I squeezed the hand that still held mine. He responded by lifting our joined hands, wrapping his arm behind my neck and tucking me in against his side. His scent, dark and delicious, filled my lungs. He smelled like all my dreams come true. Tucked in against his body, I fitted against him perfectly. Like a puzzle piece slotted into place. And I realised that if I was his mate, or at least if he thought I was his mate, I had to review our argument from his perspective. I was human. Luc wasn’t. Luc was a Shifter, an Alpha Shifter, who thought he’d found his fated mate. He had Declared his Intent, but we wouldn’t be mated unless I said yes. By old Shifter tradition this was a period of courtship,where a Shifter would show his intended that he would make a good mate. He would pursue me, woo me and protect me.
Even in a normal courting, where the intended mate wasn’t being threatened, Alpha Shifters were particularly aggressive and on-edge during the early phase of the courting period. The Alpha used the courting period to show his intended that he would be a caring mate and a good provider. And an even better lover. A potential mate could refuse their Intended if they didn’t satisfy their needs. Which meant that an Alpha’s hormone levels were through the roof in the courting phase. And that, in turn, meant their sex drive was stronger and they were extra aggressive until they had the certainty provided by a bond. Or until their Intended had rejected them. Until then, Luc would be on edge that I might say no, or that I could be stolen by an Alpha with a competing claim.
He was naturally going to be aggressive, sexually demanding, and insanely protective. To the point of paranoia. There would be no harmless flirting with my favourite barista unless I wanted Luc to rip their arms off. And nothing I could say would change his mind. Taking another deep breath, I let go of my anger. He had apologised and explained. He had said he was proud of me. His eyes had been sincere when he’d said it. It was important to me that he’d said that. Even if this… thing… between us didn’t work out, I’d remember his words for the rest of my life. To have someone acknowledge my hard work was rare. “Yes, I have someone who can mind the shop. What do you want us to do today?”
His arm tightened around my shoulders and he brushed a kiss against my hair. “Thank you,” he murmured. “We’re going to visit someone who can hopefully break the spell on the journal.” In one smooth motion, Luc stood, pulling me up with him, Pompy still held in the crook of one elbow. “Put your bootson. I’ll ask Mrs S if she can mind Pompy. I’ll meet you at the door in a few minutes.”
Five minutes later, I walked through my apartment. Luc stood just in the front doorway his eyes running up and down my body appreciatively. My face heated. “It’s cold. You’ll need a coat,” he said. He turned, pulling his coat off the hook by the door where he’d hung it on top of mine. “Spin around sweetheart. I’ll help you into yours.” I shivered.Thisbossiness was something I could get used to. I swivelled, holding my arms out for him. A heavy warm weight dropped onto my shoulders and arms. My coat didn’t feel like this. I looked down. I saw a stunning wool coat in a vivid shade of raspberry. I stood like an idiot, staring at it.
“Do you like it?” Luc asked, his voice quiet, uncharacteristically vulnerable in the silence.
Was he kidding? Of course I liked it. I liked it so much my throat clogged with tears I didn’t want to shed. Silently, I nodded my head. I loved it. It was the same colour as the shirt I’d worn on the day I met him. I was touched that he’d noticed and chosen a colour he hoped I would like. But, more importantly, he’d seen that my coat was old. Too thin. Rather than buy me extravagant jewellery or designer dresses, his gifts for me were practical. Thoughtful. I felt seen. Cherished. It was the most special gift anyone had ever given me.
***
Shortly afterwards I was once again in Luc’s car, sitting beside him as he drove. I’d called Rachel and she had jumped at the chance to work. We had stopped by the shop so that I could disarm the wards. The journal was tucked in my purse, on my lap. Unlike the last time I’d been in his car, I was fully conscious and aware of the intimacy in the quiet vehicle. He hadmade a couple of calls to his team after we left Rachel at the store, filing them in about our discovery, and then he just drove, but the silence between us was comfortable… safe even. There was something about just being near this man that soothed me. I didn’t mind the silence. Didn’t feel a need to fill it. After the stress of that last couple of days, this was like taking a deep breath. The city traffic was heavy and Luc had to concentrate on steering the car through the crowded streets and out to the city fringe. But from time to time, he would reach out to squeeze my fingers. Almost as though he was reassuring himself that I was still there. Or was he reassuring me that everything would be all right? I had no idea.
But if I he insisted on me coming along on his investigation, I was going tohelp. I wasn’t just along for the ride or because Luc needed to keep me plastered to his side. I was intelligent and I had a degree in magical theory. I might not be able to cast the necessary spell to decode the journal, but I had a fair idea of how it would be done… theoretically. I would be professional and helpful. This morning we had work to do and I needed rational Caly; not the hormonal mess that he created just by looking at me. It should have been easy to shovethat Calyback down. Back where she’d been buried. I didn’t have a high libido. I hadn’t dated since the debacle with Javier. And it had never been a problem. While I’d had dreams when I was younger that I’d be swept off my feet and fall in insta-love with a hot Shifter who would love me forever, adult Caly knew that real life wasn’t like that. I’d dated and even tried a relationship when I’d been younger, but it hadn’t worked out. The sex had been unexciting and the expectations that I would be a good little wife and homemaker had pissed me off. I had a business to run. I had accepted that mind-blowing sex was something I’d only find in the pages of my romance novels and moved on. Deep down, I still wanted Mr Right. I wanted it all. A husband. A baby. ButI wasn’t going to give up who I was for any man. Until then, my life was just fine without a man. Or should I say, had been fine without a man. Untilhim. It was like Luc had flicked a switch that I hadn’t even known existed in my body. And now that it was turned on, I wasn’t sure I could turn it off.
But not now. Today was work. So, no. I wasn’t going to think about that anymore. This was a work trip. Yeah. In a luxury car with a smoking hot Alpha who looked at me as though I was dessert and he’d been starving. And who had Declared his Intent.
I sighed, rubbing a hand over my face. Who was I kidding? Even though I shouldn’t think about that this morning, my thoughts kept circling back to the same question. It was bad enough that Luc had turned on some sort of lust switch in my body. But the idea that he wanted me as his mate. I was incredibly tempted. He was all my dreams wrapped up in one large, hot, body. I could say yes. I wanted to say yes. If I said yes, I wouldn’t need to worry that he would change his mind or cheat on me. Shifters were faithful to their mates until they died. And as far as I could tell, the sex was going to be better than anything I’d experienced in my life. But my vagina wasn’t in charge of this decision. And just as well, given that she was already fully on board with the idea. I had to use my brain.
And he’d really pissed me off when he’d suggested that my business didn’t matter. I’d worked too hard for what I had. If I was going to accept him as a mate, he needed to understand that I wouldn’t roll over every time he made a demand. At least he had listened. He had compromised. He had said he was proud of me. Then he had blindsided me with another gift. One that showed he knew me.
Fuck, I was in trouble. Deep trouble. If this whole Declaration blew up in my face it was going to hurt.
My own overthinking was exhausting me and I tried to tune out the thoughts, by watching our surroundings out my window. We were leaving the city, heading for the mountains. But eventually, despite my brain telling me that I needed to ignore the man beside me, my gaze kept returning to him and my awareness contracted until I could focus on nothing but him. I knew so little about him, but he did things for me that no other man had ever done. He pulled all of my attention to him and I couldn’t stop noticing… everything. The slight wave of his hair and the small curl at the nape of his neck. The sexy stubble on his chin. The smooth play of muscles in his tanned forearms, and his long fingers on the wheel. My mind flashed back to those fingers against my bare skin and my own reaction. My body heated in remembered desire and I squirmed against the luxury seats, pressing my thighs together. Hoo boy. It was suddenly too hot in the car.
Luc obviously noticed something… my scent, my arousal?... because he inhaled sharply. He flashed a glance in my direction. His eyes were very blue as his Shifter rose to the surface and I got a glimpse of sharp canines when he smiled. What the hell sort of Shifter was he?
He took one hand off the wheel to fiddle with the controls for the air conditioning. “Don’t get me wrong, sweetheart.” His voice was deep, gravelly. It was the voice of his inner beast. “I love how you smell, but I can smell your arousal and it’s just about killing me over here. I don’t really want to visit my father while I’m sporting the biggest hard-on I’ve ever had in my life.”
Unbidden, my eyes flicked to his lap where, sure enough, evidence of his state was clearly outlined against his pants. Then my lust-addled brain finally processed what he’d said.Wait.What?His father?
“We’re going to visit your father?”
“Yes, he’ll be able to help.”
I wasn’t sure why a Shifter was going to be able to help with our problem, but that question disappeared from my mind as I processed that I was about to ‘meet the parents.’ Fuck. I spluttered, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’m telling you now. We’ll be at my folks’ house in about half an hour.” His voice had returned to its normal register.
