Page 22 of Hope in his Darkness
“Fuck you. You pull me in with your hot boyness, fuck me until I can barely walk a straight line, tell me I’m your mate, and then decide nope not going to claim you. So, fuck you, Brody!” Oh, she is downright hot as fuck when she was madder than a wet hen. I feel like Steve Irwin as I step closer to her, Crickey I wonder what she’d do if I poked her with a stick. On second thought that would probably end badly, best course of action is probably level ten groveling.
“Baby, I want to claim you, I do. With all my being, I want to claim you, hell I’ve had to stop the beast from just taking. I want you to be completely informed before I do it though, I don’t want you to regret giving up your humanity for me. This isn’t something you can turn off, it’s with you every day for the rest of your life. If you decided you didn’t want a claiming bite, but still wanted to be with me I’d respect that decision. My animal and I would hate it, and I’d probably have to fight him constantly, but I would respect it. My mom never took the mating bite, but she was my father’s mate nonetheless.” Tears are in her eyes, and I want to wrap my arms around her and comfort her.
This has got to be scary for her, it’s a whole new fucking world opening up to her. Sure, she handled the whole gorilla fighting earlier, but it’s a lot to take in all at once. I can’t expect her to take everything so well, or not to have the occasional freak-out. Everything she thought she knew about her world has been turned upside down.
“So you don’t still want Georgia?” Her lip trembles with the urge to start crying again and this time I don’t hesitate. I wrap my arms around her and pull her flush against my body.
“All I want is you, today, tomorrow, and always. Just being next to you fills my soul up to the brim. I never knew it could feel this complete, this overpowering rightness. What I felt for Georgia was like a childhood crush. What I feel for you is like finding the other half of myself. You’re it for me Hope, whether you accept my bite or not. I’ll never want another as much as I want you.” Her shoulders shake as she sobs into my shirt.
Great job Brody, you made her cry even more. Wasn’t I supposed to make her feel better, not worse? Clearly, I’ll need some pointers on how to be a mate. I’m totally not going to ask Rooster for help. Okay, I might be willing to if that means Hope will smile instead of cry. I officially suck at the whole mate thing.
Chapter Sixteen
Hope
He’ll never want anyoneas much as he wants me. Georgia is like a childhood crush. I can see how that happened. Georgia isn’t really his sister; she was also the first girl who knew his secret and he could be open with. It stands to reason that he might develop a crush. I’m overwhelmed by this feeling of rightness in his arms.
I’ve lived with my father my whole life and have never felt the sense of belonging I feel with Brody and his family. It’s like this is where I’ve always been meant to be in his arms, soaking up his warmth. He’s taken my world and flipped on its axis. How can a man I’ve only known for two days make me feel this way?
“I didn’t mean to make you cry, shit. Baby, I promise I’ll get help with this whole mate thing. I know I suck at it, but I’ll even ask Rooster for help if I have to.” There’s a slight panic in his voice as he runs his fingers through my hair.
“You don’t suck at the mate thing Brody. You’re doing just fine.” I smile up at him through my tear-stained face. I’m sure I look like something the cat dragged in, but he’s looking at me like I’m the most beautiful thing in existence.
“But I made you cry; I shouldn’t have made you cry. I should have explained shit better, or not said something. Just tell me what I shouldn’t have said, and I’ll make sure never to say it again.” I can’t help the laugh that bubbles up out of me, he’s kind of cute when he’s a little panicked. This information could come in useful later on down line.
“I’m not crying because I’m upset with something you said or did.” I try to reassure him.
“Oh, so you’re PMSing then. Okay, I’ll go grab you some chocolate and run you a hot bath, that should fix you up. When Georgia was PMSing and crying for no reason, that’s what Dad would do. Shit, I probably shouldn’t have mentioned her again.” My mouth is hanging open in shock and maybe a little offended at his assumption I’m crying because I’m PMSing. However, the fact that he’s willing to get me chocolate and run me a hot bath kind of soothes my thoughts of stabbing him.
“No, I’m not PMSing. I’m crying because I’m happy you moron. Women do that sometimes. Cry because they are happy. It’s not always because you do something idiotic or they’re PMSing.” I push away from him stomping towards the house. He just had to go and say something stupid after he said something so sweet.
“Oh, that makes sense. Yeah, my mom used to do that sometimes too. Wait, why are you mad? You smell angry. Did I say something wrong? I knew I shouldn’t have mentioned Georgia.” He says the last bit under his breath. Alright, so he’ll probably never understand how a woman’s mind works, not that most men do anyway, but it’s cute that he’s trying. I should probably give him some credit for that.
“Ohmigod, I’m not mad about you mentioning Georgia.” I turn on my heel facing him and he runs right into me. It’s like hitting steel, my whole body bounces off of him. Thankfully, he grabs my arms to keep me from falling flat on my ass.
“Woah there, babe. You gotta be careful, you’re human and humans are fragile. Well fragile compared to shifters. Well, human babies aren’t as fragile, have you seen some of the falls those little people can take and get up without a scratch on them. I saw this video one time of this baby being thrown out of a burning building, and he practically bounced off the ground. Zero broken bones. Can you believe that? Not that I’d ever try to bounce one of our kids off the ground like that, but it’s still pretty cool when you think about it.” I blink up at him in confusion.
