Her eyes—now vibrantly full and swimming with want, and need, happiness and freedom make it impossible for me to feel guilt for what happened. It certainly wasn’t my intention to claim her right this second. Down the track, sure. I would have set it up differently to start with. I would have promised her a night full of memories and luxury but instead we happened like this. Which in a lot of ways only makes our bond more beautiful, more poignant because it happened when it was meant to.
Invariably the fallout will come, but she will never hear one word of regret from me or see it in anything I do for thesimple fact I have wanted her as mine since she climbed on my lap on New Year’s Day.
Wrapping my hand around her face, I add more distance to look into her eyes, though it’s more like staring right into her soul. Now that her lips are not on mine, it gives us both the chance to regain our composure. It’s impossible to miss the regret that clouds her eyes, although given what I know of Simona those emotions are not directed towards herself.
“I will treasure you until the day I die, my beautiful woman. This may be a case of divine timing as the impetus but at the same time, I’m thankful it has happened. I’ll happily be on my knees everyday offering my thanks to fate for delivering you to me.”
Her head tips to the side while her scent still tainted by anguish slowly becomes sweeter as it fills with blossoming hope.
“Since I held you, I had plans of ensuring our bonding reflected your wildest dreams. If you wanted flowers, I would have given you a flower market. If you wanted me to claim you in the snow, I would have booked out the Arctic Circle for a season. I am sorry it happened without us discovering more about each other first, but I promise, on Hendrix and Ryder’s life, if you do not want me as your Alpha now or in ten years down the track, then we make it happen. I won’t take your freedom and lock you into something you don’t want, I will, however, adore and protect you.”
“You don’t regret it?” she asks, and the dip in her confidence breaks my heart.
“How could I regret making you mine?”
“Are you sure, Dominic? Because I’m really good at pretending everything is fine when it’s not. If you didn’t want me, I would give you space and return home. The distance would make it difficult for the bond to settle, impossibleprobably. After a while you could go on with your life with me as just a memory. I would have no claim on you.”
“Tell me whatyouwant,” I insist. My designation flares because I need her honesty. And without the push, she will keep reverting to her altruistic nature, which is seeped within Simona’s exquisite and compassionate personality. However, given the gravity of our situation, Simona needs to consider and decide what it is she wants on a personal level.
Her blue eyes flare wide, and I use the other tools in my arsenal to soften my bark. My scent becomes so thick, I nearly lose her delightful cookies and cream perfume, and my presence wraps around her soft like a pashmina. I squeeze her waist.
“I want to hear whatyouwant, Simona. You.” I use the same push, but I am not manipulating her. I am giving her permission which is an awful way of putting it, but Simona has been raised like that, so it is all she knows. I will be encouraging her though for as long as I live, to be the strong woman capable of making decisions I know she is. I will lend her my faith in her when she has none.
I let her guide us. When Simona tucks herself under my chin, where she slept all night, I offer no resistance or complaints. A rumbling purr is the only noise I make, my hands sweeping up and down her body as she takes the time and actually thinks about what she wants.
“Truth?” she asks quietly.
“Only the truth,” I confirm, holding her tighter.
“I woke up at Unity alone and sick as a dog. I was a mess, honestly. I had left home and was so damn relieved to get away from Brody. I’d also met Ryder on the very first day, which was like the universe teasing me with glimpses of the life I wanted, while reminding me of the one I had. I still have no memory of meeting you, so I also couldn’t figure out how a blanket soaked in your scent ended up in my possession.You were my second reminder that sometimes dreams are only for the foolish.”
“Why?” I interrupt, needing to understand more.
“I told myself you had rejected me because you weren’t there when I woke up, which is absurd. I realise that but the notion of you still wormed inside me. I know I’m fragile and some people would say I’m probably stupid, but those things didn’t counter the emotional fallout and conflict I found myself dealing with. Even though I had no idea who you were, a part of me, the naive, desperate romantic, was constantly assuring me you were mine. Whatever dark place I found myself in, I took you with me. Your scent became my salvation. God, even now I find it hard not to fall asleep when I don’t have your blanket near me.”
“I was searching for you the next day, when I was laid up sick in bed with the flu,” I insist. I feel a small exhale against my skin, confirmation she heard, relief at what I said.
Simona keeps explaining herself. “Some days I believed even if you found me, you wouldn’t want me. Other days I talked myself out of the notion of thinking about you, or Hendrix or Ryder, because of Brody. I was scared sick what he would do if he knew I was fantasizing about being with anyone but him. I knew you were my scent match, and I also knew the same for Hendrix and Ryder. Even when I didn’t know you were a pack, I dreamed of us making one. I am absolutely terrified of Brody and my own family finding out about you and what we have done, but I would face them and tell them the truth if the ending to my story included you all.” She sits up in my lap and stares into my eyes, no longer searching for answers. “I want you with everything I am, Dominic. I want to be theirs too. Please make my dreams come true.”
“Make?” I whisper before breathing in a lungful of her sweet perfume. “There was nothing holding me back exceptyou. I needed you to want this. I needed it more than I needed my heart to beat.”
Trouble sparkles in her eyes. Instantly. And a teasing smirk pulling her lips, making me growl against them. “Are you sure about that? I think a beating heart is pretty important. Although you are the lawyer in our pack, I’m sure you have some valid reason you don’t need one.”
And then the teasing smile on her lips changes as quickly as I claimed her. Her scent gives away the direction of her thoughts and before she can utter a word, her lust heats her cookies and cream scent. “I want you inside me. Claiming me properly.”
“And what about your visit to the hospital?”
She ignores me but still addresses the problem at hand. “Dominic, please, now I have an Alpha I want. I want to experience everything for the first time.”
“Surely you want your first time?—”
“In the nest you made for me,” she whispers quietly before nearly screeching in joy. “You made me a nest, Dominic! So yeah, excuse me for being forward, but I want to be knotted for the first time in there. Now.”
There’s no fake bravado to her voice, just blazing strength and conviction. I’d like to argue that I should take her home, for her to be surrounded by the others but she presses her lips to mine, not to kiss but to beg.
Simona starts her exploration running her fingers through my hair, and I’ve never felt anything like it. Echoes of her touch trickle from the top of my head down my spine, all the way to my feet, making my muscles spasm in desire.
I lean back and let her do whatever she wants, because watching, and being a part of Simona reclaiming and rediscovering who she is, is an occasion I will never forget. Her faith in me is an honour.
