Icouldn’t remember the last time I had such a restful night of sleep. Maybe it was the feeling of sleeping with my mate cuddled against me. Maybe it was because I’d had an orgasm that was so strong I nearly blacked out. Or maybe I was just exhausted from fighting my vampire. She’d been pushing me all night to sink my teeth into Ruby’s neck and make her ours forever. The vamp wasn’t big on patience.
We’d get there, I was sure of it now. It might have been the first time we’d had sex, but it was obvious that Ruby was as affected by it as I had. The bond between us was growing, even without an official claiming, and I could more easily feel my mate’s emotions the longer we were together.
She was as affected as I was. Her feelings for me were strong, but something was still holding her back. Maybe it was me being avampire. Maybe it was just her being a human who’d been told her entire life that it was a bad idea to rush into a relationship. Whatever the cause of her reticence, it wouldn’t last too much longer, I knew that instinctively.
Once this stalker issue was taken care of, I wouldn’t rest until she was mine.
There was a part of me, some small part, that was terrified by the thoughts I was having. I didn’t know how to be in love, or how to have a healthy relationship. My parents weren’t good role models in that area. Then there was my father’s temper. Was it hereditary? I was usually even tempered, and my years in the military had taught me to control my emotions even more. But I couldn’t help but wonder if there was something fundamentally flawed about me, some genetic disposition to be a bad mate.
I knew I’d never purposely hurt Ruby, but I wasn’t sure I could give her everything she needed either. I wasn’t good at sharing my emotions, preferring to show my feelings through action, but I knew that part of a relationship was being open about your feelings. My job took me away for weeks at a time, and she traveled a lot too. Plus I was ten years older than her. We were complete opposites. How could we make this work? I took a shuddering breath, promising myself that I’d try my best to be the mate she deserved. After all, fate had matched us with each other for a reason, right?
The alarm sounded, making Ruby groan as she snuggled in closer.
“Time to get up, sleepyhead.” I pressed a kiss to her temple.
“Coffee. I need coffee.”
With a smile, I slid out of bed to figure out the hotel coffee machine. Once we’d had our caffeine fix we took a shower together. We crowded together under the spray, and I held Ruby against the wall while she rode my thigh until she broke apart then she dropped to her knees and made me come my brains out before we finished our shower.
We made it to the team bus just in the nick of time, Alexei and Eleanor right behind us. As we settled at the back of the bus, I noticed the mate mark on Alexei’s neck. I guess Ruby and I weren’t the only people getting busy last night.
“Congratulations,” I told my friend. “I’m happy for you guys.”
Ruby leaned over me to look across the aisle. “Happy about what?”
When Alexei just pointed at his neck I whispered, “Alexei and Eleanor are officially mated now.”
Ruby pushed past me to kneel on the seat in front of them, leaning over the back to look at Eleanor.
“How did this happen?” she asked. “I thought you said you didn’t want a mate.”
“He’s got a magic dick,” Eleanor mumbled, looking the tiniest bit embarrassed.
“This is true,” her new mate said proudly. “Is magic.”
“Are you happy?” Ruby pressed.
I appreciated that she was so protective of her friend.
Eleanor glanced over at her mate before meeting Ruby’s gaze. “Yeah,” she said softly. “I am.”
“Then I’m happy for both of you,” Ruby said, leaning across the seat back to give Eleanor a hug.
“Thanks.” Eleanor inhaled deeply, then her gaze bounced from Ruby to me and back again, telling me that the wolf could scent us on each other despite our long shower. “Maybe I’ll be congratulating you two soon.”
The next three days passed quickly. Seattle and Portland played three games in three days, with Portland winning two of them. When the team wasn’t playing they had a busy schedule that included yoga, massage, watching game film, and various workouts.
I’d almost forgotten how much work went into being a professional athlete. Of course I’d grown up watching my father work out day and night, always focused on the game to theexclusion of his family. Most of the time that worked out better for us, because when his attention was on us, it was never good.
Gradually we came to understand that my father didn’t have as many practices and workouts as he pretended to. When he had downtime he’d stay over at his long-time girlfriend’s house, spending time with her and the son she’d given him. My mother’s inability to produce a son was a huge disappointment to Dad, one he never forgave her for.
The more my father pulled away, the more clingy and needy my mother became. My father’s time at home increasingly involved yelling, insults, and when he was drinking, the occasional beating. I learned to stay away from him, enrolling in the military the day after I graduated from high school.
My mother continued to cling to him, even to this day. No amount of cheating or abuse was enough for her to cut him loose. Her obsession with him, coupled with her need to defend him, meant that she and I rarely spoke.
I couldn’t save someone who didn’t want to be saved.
As for my father, rumor had it that after he retired from professional football he took up with yet another woman he’d put up in an apartment in New York City. None of these women were his fated mate, but then again, Dad thought that fated mates were just silly bedtime stories supes told their kids. And the truth was, so did I, until I met Ruby.
