“Fine,” he huffed out.
“At the grocery store, the fight…” I waited. He let my statement hang in the air awkwardly for a minute.
“What about it?” He finally asked. His throat bobbed with a nervous swallow. I watched the motion of it. Our dynamic had shifted permanently, and my instincts were screaming at me to make that known.
My hand snapped out and grabbed his throat.
“You couldn’t beat me,” I growled. Baz glared at me as I smiled.
“How about this? Rematch in oh,” he looked at the watch, “eighteen hours, give or take.”
“You’ve been such a pain in the ass as a mate,” I said, ignoring him. There was no going back now. Serum be damned. Give me an inch and I’d take a mile. No, actually, give me an inch andhe’dtake twelve.
“And here I thought you liked me in your ass,” he joked. I felt the nervous bob of his throat beneath the palm of my hand again. Red and green eyes glared at me, daring me to start something. His expression and the tension in his muscles made it clear he would fight. I smiled wider, showing him my teeth. I’d waited a long time for this—I gripped his neck tighter—and I could wait longer
The fight for dominance hadn't been about claiming him. It had been about taking charge as the leader. Baz needed protection from Damien and we all needed to work together better. That's why I'd forced the fight. Orson kept doing things on his own, Bree was a bloodlust bomb with questionable sanity, and Baz, whether he realized it or not, was a fucking mess.
“Let me take care of you,” I said.
Baz eyes bugged. “What?” He shoved my chest, but I didn’t relent. Instead, I pulled him closer. Baz looked more terrified now than when he had thought we were going to fight or fuck.
“Get off me,” he said, failing to shove me off him.
“No. Let me take care of you.” I licked a line across his lips.
“Jesus,” he hissed.
“Say I’m Alpha,” I growled.
“Shouldn’t we fight?” he argued. I buried my face in his neck and bit. He hissed in pain as I dug my teeth in. I wanted to break the skin, make sure I left a permanent mark, but I stopped short. It wasn't the right time.
Baz shifted beneath me, gloved fingers digging harshly into my chest as I kept bearing down. A growl trickled out of my throat as he pushed on my chest. No getting away, not anymore.
I brushed my thumb over the indents after I’d had my fill.
“Let me take care?—”
“Okay,” he blurted. I stilled.
“What?”
“I said okay,” he sighed, sagging into the couch. The joy creeped up on me as a slow warmth building under my ribs. For so long, he’d fought this. But now the fight in his eyes slowly drained.
“I’m going to do everything I can to protect you,” I said, grabbing his face in my hands. He let me brush my thumb over his cheekbones.
He was ten when I first met him. Two years older than me, but smaller than he should have been. He’d looked like an angry doll. Something out of a fairytale with his different colored eyes and long green eyelashes. Part of me knew then, from that very first moment, how important he'd be to me.
“You’ll let me take care of you?” I asked again. He rolled his mismatched eyes, and I was sickeningly enamoured. I found very few men attractive, but there’d never been a doubt when it came to Baz.
“I said yes, didn’t I?”
“Do you know what I’m asking?” My thumb brushed his lips. It was wrong, but I’d felt relief when he masked himself at Verfallen. He had a mouth that begged destruction and a face that demanded worship from everyone.
“We both know I was never a leader,” he admitted. “It’s … hard for me to let go of control, but if anyone will keep the group together, it’s you. It’s definitely not me or Orson. Or Bree,” he chuckled. “Not for her lack of trying, but she’s not a leader either.”
I kissed him. He grunted in surprise. Without hesitation, I gripped his jaw and forced his mouth open for me. As I kissed him, I thought of that first time I did it, when we were teens. It nearly killed me. I’d been dumb, desperate, and fighting raging instincts. I remembered the need. It drove me wild. It was still driving me wild. I pressed my thumb into his fresh indented bite mark, making him subdue a wince as I pulled away from his mouth.
“Don’t let Orson fuck you,” I said. He raised an eyebrow. “I don’t care ifyoufuck him or whatever else you have together, but not that.”
