“I don’t fucking deserve you,” he said in that quiet, rumbly voice. “I’m so sorry for how I’ve been treating you.”
A feather could have knocked me off my chair in that second. Asher was … apologizing.
“I don’t understand,” I finally managed to choke out. Why the hell was I trapped on this metal bird with him? I wasn’t sure I was mentally stable enough to handle this conversation, and yet at the same time … I needed answers. “What has suddenly changed? You and the guys disappear for a few weeks, and then when you get back, you’re … nice.”
Just when I was learning how to live without him … when I was figuring out how to be okay on my own. “Don’t do this, Asher. I’m strong without you now. I can’t go back.”
He nodded, his face … sad. “You’re so strong, Maddi. The strongest supe I’ve ever met. Not being with you has all but destroyed me, but you just kept moving forward. Your power grows every single day.”
WHAT IS HAPPENING?
“I’m going to need you to explain everything to me, Asher,” I said, spitting each word out but trying to keep my voice low. Not that it mattered; with vampire hearing, Princeps Jones would catch our entire conversation.
The pilot came over the loudspeaker then, announcing our descent into Germany. “Later,” Asher whispered as he reached out and brushed his thumb along my cheek. “I promise I will explain everything later. But I have to remain somewhat separate from you in public. At least for now.”
“Don’t fucking do that, Ash,” I told him, knowing I was not going to be okay with hot and cold bullshit all day. “Don’t go back to ignoring me. If you do, I won’t give you another fucking chance.”
He squeezed his eyes shut, and when he opened them again, I could have drowned in the pools of despair there. “My first priority is to keep you safe, Maddi. Even if that means, in the end, you hate my guts.”
He turned away, and I was about to demand more information from him, but we’d just touched down and were taxiing across the airport toward a disembarking point. When we stopped, Asher was up and out of his seat first, moving to where our bags were. Before I’d even unbuckled my seat belt, he was standing there, my bag over his shoulder.
“Thanks,” I said, holding out a hand for it.
He shook his head. “I’ve got it.”
Nope. No way. Not happening. “Dude, I can carry my own bag.”
His eyes flashed. “Don’t call me dude, Maddison. I’m not one of your friends.”
Ouch, that fucking stung. And there was no reason it should have. Asher had proven multiple times he wasn’t a friend.
“Fine,” I snarled back. “Give me my fucking bag, not friend.”
I addedassholeto the end, but only mentally, because I had to be around him for a few more days.
Asher’s sudden smile gave me whiplash. Moody bastard.
He leaned down to me, and since I was standing at the same time, our heads almost collided. His breath brushed across my cheek and down my neck. “I didn’t mean it like that,” he said, that rumbly voice doing everything it could to seduce me. “I don’t want you to treat me just like I’m any normal friend. I’m your fucking mate. You are mine, Maddison James, and I will never bejusta friend to you.”
I shoved him, hard, and fought the urge to scream in his face. “Screw you, Asher!” I said loudly, losing my battle. “You’re nothing to me. A mate would never have treated me the way you did. Never! The second we’re done with this trial, I’m never speaking to you again.”
His half smile was slow, and it stirred heat low in my gut. His face was still close, and I almost moaned as he brushed those full lips across the edge of my jaw. “We’ll see about that, baby,” he whispered.
Then he was gone, striding away with both bags still over his shoulders, leaving me with weak knees and wet panties as I gawped after him.
“Arghhhh!” I screamed loudly, startling the flight attendant, who was the only visible person on the plane. When all the lights shattered around me, she jumped back even further, and I shook my head, managing to pull myself together. Barely.
“So sorry,” I mumbled as I hurried past, embarrassed as all hell.
Princeps Jones and Asher were both waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs, and I almost tripped as I hurried down. Asher took a step forward, like he was preparing to catch me, but thankfully my reflexes were unbelievable now and I caught my footing easily.
“Uh, sorry about your plane,” I said to Princeps Jones. “I might have broken it a little.”
He waved that away like I hadn’t just possibly destroyed something worth hundreds of millions of dollars. “No worries. They’ll get it all fixed up before we leave.”
Asher leaned over and murmured something to the princeps. I strained to hear what it was, but he spoke too softly. Princeps Jones nodded at Asher, and they exchanged alookthat told me that whatever was said, they both agreed.
Deciding it wasn’t worth stressing over, I ignored them and hurried to the long black SUV that was waiting for us, its doors being held open by a few huge guys. As I got closer, I knew immediately they were shifters. Probably bear, judging by their size.
