Page 11 of Twisted Desire
Seven
“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” Ethan shouted to no one in particular as he stood outside the diner, wishing like hell Cam had given him a chance to explain what had happened. Instead of spending the rest of the evening with her as he had hoped, he was standing out in the cold with his shoes in his hand wondering what the hell had just happened.
He didn’t need to be able to hear her thoughts to have guessed what was on her mind when she threw him out. Unfortunately for him, her thoughts had been loud and clear—along with her emotions. She had wanted him out of her sight. Out of her mind. And out of her life.
Nothing about the evening had gone the way Ethan had planned. Not one single fucking thing. When he said he’d wanted to talk to her, it was supposed to be just that—talking. He was supposed to tell Cam that completing the mating ritual was not a good idea. At least not until he cleared a few things up in his life.Thathad been his plan.
He certainly hadn’t intended on marking, let alone claiming her as his mate. Okay—maybe the thought had crossed his mind after he’d talked to Calder—if he was being completely honest with himself, but he definitely hadn’t planned on any course of action when it came to making Cam his.
“I did,”his wolf chimed in his mind.
“We should have waited.”
“Could have, should have, would have. None of it makes a damn bit of difference. Get back in there and demand that she listen to reason.”
Reason. What a novel idea. Too bad his wolf couldn’t be reasoned with either.
Ethan shook his head in disbelief. If only it could be that easy with Cam. Sadly, he knew he didn’t have a snowballs chance in hell of convincing her that he hadn’t really meant the regret that had flashed through his mind.
And now he was fucked. Completely and totally.
Not only had he marked her as his mate, he’d claimed her as well—and what a claiming that had been. Cam had unlocked more passion in him than he’d ever thought possible. Just thinking about the way they’d made love had his cock rising once more, wanting to be buried deep inside of her tightness again.
Unfortunately, she had not only seen, she also felt the regret and angst that had filled him immediately after the claiming. Had she not been so quick to snap to a rash judgment, she would have also realized their mating had made him happier than he’d ever been.
Maybe it was better this way. Maybe her being pissed off at him would keep her alive when Calder’s plan went south. Maybe their mating wouldn’t mean Cam’s death sentence, after all. Maybe there would be a way for her to survive when he failed.
As hopeful as he wanted to be, he still couldn’t shake the sour taste left in his mouth by the way the evening had turned out.
***
“You did what?” Wyatt paced back and forth, looking as if he were about to slap the shit out of somebody. “What the hell is wrong with you, man? Did you even stop to think about your actions or how they would affect not only me but my mate as well?”
“Do you really think that I intended for any of this to happen?” Ethan stood with his arms crossed trying to explain to his brother what had happened with Cam. He knew how bad his story sounded, but there wasn’t a fucking thing he could do about it. The damage was already done. It was time for him to walk away, and never look back.
“Jesus Christ, Ethan. Callie is going to fucking freak out when she hears about this. Cam is her damned boss—not only that, she’s her best friend. And now you just plan to what? Walk away? Disappear? Leave your mate forever? How can you even consider any of that? I know Callie and I haven’t been mated for very long, but I can’t imagine just packing up my shit and hightailing it out of here. That’s fucked up.”
“I don’t expect you to understand it, Wyatt. My life is not for you to understand. I’m the one who has to fucking live it. Every motherfucking day. I’ve never had the luxury to plan for the future, let alone go after what I wanted out of life. Not since our parents died.”
Ethan made his way over to the couch. He sat down, leaning forward, he placed his head in between his hands. His voice almost a whisper. “All of my wants, all of my needs died when they died. My life hasn’t been my own since then, and it never will be.”
Everything that Ethan had done over the years had been to take care of his brother. To make sure he had what he needed. It took money to put food in his stomach, a roof over his head and clothes on his back. He had to man up at a time when all he wanted was to be young and carefree. Maybe search for his mate, find a few hot females along the way, and do whatever the fuck he wanted. But life hadn’t given him what he wanted or even what he needed. It gave him a whole lot of grief and heartache.
And judging by how badly he’d fucked things up with Cam, life wasn’t going to get any easier—anytime soon.
