He stormed into the dining room and stopped, struggling with his own inadequacies. He set both palms down on the smooth finish of the dining room table, letting the cool texture seep into him.
Adam sensed her behind him. He took a deep breath and confessed. “You’re right. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing.” Frustration knotted and rolled in his gut.
“Every day, I wake up. The school calls because Mark or Rick have flooded halls or they’re charging ten bucks a peek through the glory hole they made in a locker into the girls changing room. I don’t know what to do with them most of the time.”
He took another breath and looked her in the face. “I don’t know what to do for Brandon. I thought I was doing right, letting him face them.”
Diana started to tell him it was okay. He kept on talking, laying his frustrations out.
“Half the time I want to deck, Chase. Then there’s Tamara. I didn’t realize anyone would be interested in her so soon. She’s barely moved down here and ... then there is you and Karen, and Tank. That’s a lot of psychics for one area.”
“Who’s Tamara?”
Diana set a fist on one hip and stared at him in the eye. She raised her eyebrows meaningfully, feeling the stirring of something she absolutely would not call jealousy.
Adam blithely continued unloading his problems. He ran his hands through his hair.
“A good alpha always knows what to do. The Canis Pater is supposed to have all the answers. I’m feeling my way blind in the dark hoping no one notices.”
His turmoil stirred inside Diana. Giving a huff, she gave up on finding out who Tamara was and slid her arms around him, offering comfort. These wolven of hers always seemed to need comfort.
“Adam,” she repeated his name when he didn’t answer the first time. “That’s what being a good parent is all about.”
He blinked and looked down at his little female. He took her arms being around him as a good sign and turned around to reciprocate. She felt so good cuddled up next to him.
She smiled the little smile up at him while he tried to make sense of her words.
She laughed. “That means you’re doing a good job, you great hairy beast.”
“But I haven’t fixed anything. I might have broken some things big-time.”
Diana shook her head. Lord, but the man was dense.
“You can’t fix everything. You love them through it. Brandon will get better,” she assured him. “Maybe not today, or tomorrow, or even next month. But he will. And when he’s ready, we will get him some real counseling.”
She shrugged inside his embrace. “The rest? We take it one day at a time.”
Adam grinned. She said we. A pair.
“One day at a time, huh?”
Diana nodded, noting the glint that came into his eyes.
Adam bent, taking advantage of her surprise. He swung his prize up into his arms, relishing the feel of her softness against his body. “Well, I have been feeling pretty frustrated lately. I was hoping you had a good answer for that, too.”
His keen nose picked up the instant her libido caught up with his. His hands were already occupied, so he used his mouth to silence the inarticulate sounds she made while gathering her wits. He didn’t want her to gather them yet.
Adam swept his tongue past her defenses and reveled in her taste. She melted against him, meeting him stroke for stroke, deepening the kiss before finally breaking away for a breath.
Diana’s senses reeled. A stereo of sensation, his and hers, filled her as he scooped her up and started up the stairs. She draped an arm over his shoulder for balance, burying her nose in his neck to inhale his incredible scent.
Still, she wasn’t going to make it easy.
“If you think you’re getting any more sex without a first date. You’ve got another thing coming, Sparky.”
“You know, I’ve always wondered what that other thing was.”
Diana smiled into his neck. He decided that he could definitely learn to love that smile. The realization gave him a jolt, sharper than the nip she took out of his shoulder with her little teeth.
He stopped in front of her bedroom door. She felt what he felt. Did she feel the same about him?
“Adam?”
He leaned his forehead against hers and sighed. Well, no sense doing things halfway.
“Diana, I still want what I wanted before.”
She stilled in his arms.
“A mate.” She said the words carefully and wriggled to be let down. He loosened his grip, allowing her to slide to the floor.
“Yeah.”
“For all the same reasons?”
He expelled a breath and moved to enclose her against the door with his body.
“I want you for all those reasons, yes. Wait.”
He stopped her from escaping under his arm. He ducked his head to meet her eyes.
“I want you for those reasons, yes. But, I want to for other reasons, too. I want to smell you, taste you, everyday. I miss you when you aren’t with me.” He touched his chest, pulling her trapped hand to his heart. “There is an emptiness here when you are gone.”
Tears sparked in Diana’s eyes. Adam panicked.
Oh, shit! He should have kept his stupid mouth shut! She sniffled. It was too much to hope she had a cold.
Diana nearly laughed at the panic on his face. She smiled through the tears. “That is the most beautiful thing anyone has ever told me. I missed you, too.”
She caught his head, bringing him down for another toe curling kiss. She had to catch her breath afterward. She was blindsided by what she felt from him. Hope and … love?
Diana bit her lip. Could she dash everything with her hang-ups?
“I tell you what, big guy. I’m not exactly sure what this thing is between us. I’m not saying no to the mate thing,” she hurried to reassure him. Diana smoothed a hand over the hard planes of his chest, needing some comfort for herself.
“I don’t know about love between two adults. I bombed out so bad the first time that I never let there be a chance for a second.”
She wet her lips with the tip of her tongue and gathered the courage to look him in his beautiful blue eyes.
“I know that I care for you. A lot. I need you. Can we take it one day at a time?”
Adam grinned and bent to touch noses. He felt like he’d made a touchdown on Superbowl Sunday. She’d be his mate. Maybe not today, or next week. But soon. She was his.
“One day at a time, huh?”
“Yeah.” Diana’s voice was all soft and melty. She smelled ready to take up where they’d left off a moment ago.
“Then, I’m counting this as our second date. The next one can be the first.”
Diana laughed as they tumbled onto her bed. “Oh, yeah. I insist.”
The End
Weremones Page 29
