Ani [Whitedell Pride: 7]

by Catherine Lievens

  Ani was aware that there were people walking around, but they left them a wide berth. Smart people.

  “Baby, I don’t care about any of those things.”

  Ani’s gaze shot up, and up, to meet Dominic’s. Shit, he was tiny next to the man. He was only five foot four to Dominic’s six foot six, and it made standing next to each other...interesting to say the least.

  Dominic’s eyes were soft as he continued, echoing what Finn had said before. “You’re not used. Leold raped you, you didn’t want any of the things he did to you, and I don’t care about what happened with him. I’ll be the first one to make love to you if you’ll let me, and it’s the only thing I care about.”

  “Let’s say I believe that. Even then, I’m still not good enough to be the Alpha mate.”

  Dominic placed a small kiss on Ani’s nose, startling him. “You can learn how to read and anything else you want to learn. I’ll help you as much as I can, or you could ask Connie, since she’s the one who helps the kids here. You can do anything you want if you put your mind to it, baby, and if you feel that it’s still not enough, I’ll stop being an Alpha.”

  Ani felt his eyes widen as his jaw all but hit his chest. “You would leave the pride for me?”

  “I don’t think it will come to that even if I stop being the Alpha, but yes, I would. You’re my mate, but more than that you’re the man I’m falling in love with. I would do anything to keep you happy and to make you mine.”

  What could a man say to that? There were no words that could express what Ani was feeling right now, so he let his body tell Dominic everything there was to know. He reached up, thankful that Dominic had leaned toward him as he had spoken, and grabbed his mate’s neck, pulling him down until their lips met. It took Dominic a few seconds to react, but finally the lion opened to Ani, and even if this was his first kiss, he knew what to do, at least in theory. He dove into Dominic’s mouth, sucking on the man’s tongue and stroking his teeth and gums, the roof of his mouth, until they were both breathless and they had to separate.

  They didn’t stay far for long, though, because Dominic immediately plastered their mouths together again, and this time Ani let his mate set the pace.

  * * * *

  Holy fucking shit. Dominic still couldn’t believe he was finally kissing his mate. He had wanted this for the last two months, and he would have never thought he would get his wish so soon, since Ani still avoided him like the plague.

  Ani’s lips were soft and yielding as Dominic sucked on them before licking his way inside his mate’s mouth. He was vaguely aware that people were passing behind them, he could hear the voices and the music that came from the living room, but he couldn’t have cared less. Nothing could take him away from Ani right now. The little Nix was hesitant as he explored Dominic’s tongue with his own, but he didn’t stop, not even when Dominic slid his arms around Ani’s waist and hauled him closer and up as much as he could, so close that a breath of air couldn’t have passed between their bodies.

  The position should have been uncomfortable for Dominic since he was bending to reach Ani, but it wasn’t. Everything was perfect, from his mate’s height, to the way he fitted against Dominic’s body. They were perfect for each other.

  Still, he wanted, needed to have his mate even closer. He wanted to be inside Ani, but since that wasn’t an option right now, he would have to settle for the next best thing. He just hoped he wouldn’t scare Ani away with how much he wanted the man.

  Dominic grabbed the rounded globes of Ani’s ass and pulled him up, delighted when Ani instinctively wrapped his legs around Dominic’s waist and held tight to his neck. Their mouths never left each other’s as Dominic moved and pressed Ani’s back against the wall near the stairs. It was the perfect position for him to grind against his mate, and the feeling of Ani’s erection against his own was almost enough to make him come.

  A giggle penetrated into Dominic’s lusty cloud. He left Ani’s lips and looked down at Melissa, a four-year-old lynx shifter. “Hey, Melissa.”

  “Hi.”

  “Where is your mother?”

  “Don’t know.” The little girl shrugged. “Do you love him?”

  Shit, what could he answer to that? It wasn’t like he could tell the girl he loved Ani, even if he did. Maybe. He wasn’t sure it was love yet, but he knew he cared a whole lot for his mate. “Why are you asking that, honey?”

  “‘Cause you’re kissing him. Mom told me that people who love each other kiss.”

  “Really? Well, why don’t you go and look for her, umm?”

  Melissa narrowed her eyes, telling Dominic that she was well aware of what he was doing, but he ignored it. “Okay.” Melissa ran away and Dominic turned back to Ani.

  His mate was hiding his face into Dominic’s neck, and he could literally feel the warmth of his blush against his skin. “Ani?” Did he regret what had just happened?

  Dominic felt Ani’s hands on his shoulder tighten before his mate moved his face and looked at him. Well, he looked down at Dominic’s chest and talked to it, but he knew it was the best he would obtain for the moment. Ani’s face was blazing red, and the color looked so good on his creamy skin that it made Dominic want to eat him up, lick him from head to toe. He gave a little push with his hips, searching Ani’s face and trying to identify his reaction.

  The blush deepened and Ani moaned as the hold he had on Dominic’s shoulder tightened even more. Dominic wished he didn’t have a suit on right now, because his mate would have left marks he would have been proud of wearing.

  He pushed again, and Ani’s reaction was stronger this time. He let his head fall back against the wall as he whimpered. “Would you please stop it?”

  Dominic froze. He had thought Ani liked this, but if he didn’t...”You don’t like it?”

  Ani chuckled. “I like it too much. It was embarrassing enough to be busted by Melissa, I don’t want to add coming in my pants to that.”

  Dominic knew he was gaping, but he couldn’t help it. He had never heard Ani say anything so...so bold. True, Ani hadn’t really talked to him in the past months, but he had heard him talking with Finn and the other shifters in the house, and he was usually kind of shy and quiet.

  “Are you going to put me down?”

  “Sure.” Dominic did put his mate down, but he didn’t have to like it, right? Then he realized that it was weird how Ani seemed so relaxed next to him while he thought that the man was afraid of big men. “Ani? Aren’t you afraid of me anymore?” Oh, another blush!

  “I haven’t been afraid of you for a while now.” Ani buried his face into Dominic’s body and clutched his shirt. “I’m sorry, I just...I’ve known you wouldn’t hurt me since almost the beginning, but I thought you would be better off with someone else. Then you started writing those little notes, and I liked them so much that I started collecting them, and before I even noticed it I was falling in love with you, and—” Ani closed his mouth with an audible noise and Dominic could see the blush extending on his ears and nape.

  “You’re falling in love with me?”

  Ani nodded into Dominic’s jacket, and he felt his heart melt. “I’m falling in love with you too, Ani,” he said softly. He was glad no one was around. They had probably realized what was happening and were giving them space.

  Ani looked up at Dominic, his eyes wide and his mouth forming a perfect o. “You’re falling in love with me? Why?”

  “Why not? You’re sweet and lovely, too cute for your own good, but you’re also damn stubborn, and you take care of your friends. I know you’ve been sitting with Shad and helping him.” The small sugar glider shifter was still sick, but Jared was working on something. Luckily he had had the opportunity to have Adrian—the geneticist who had helped Oliver—to look at Shad’s blood work, and they had come up with something. Now it was only a matter of concretizing it.

  Dominic was startled by the kiss Ani gave him. He wasn’t sure he was able to keep
up with the small man’s mood swings, but he liked that he was more outgoing than he had been until now.

  They kept the kiss slow and gentle, but Dominic needed more. However, he would always put Ani before his own needs, and he wasn’t sure it would be wise to push for things to get physical right now.

  “Get a room guys!” Catcalls came from behind them, and yup, Ani’s face became a furnace as he broke the kiss.

  Dominic growled a bit at Bryce, letting him know what he thought of the fact that he had interrupted. The cougar held his hands up. “Not my fault. The guys are going to cut the cake, so I thought you might want to come.”

  Dominic wanted something very different from cake right now, but he still stepped away from Ani. He didn’t go far, though. He took his mate’s hand in his and pulled Ani along, quickly finding a free chair in the dining room. He couldn’t believe that they had somehow missed the whole buffet, and he hoped there was something left. It wouldn’t do Ani any good to skip a meal since he was already so thin.

  Ani hesitated when he saw that there were no other free seats at the table and he started to walk to another one, but Dominic didn’t want him away from him now that he finally had the man. He pulled on his hand and sat him down on his lap, looking for the red he so much liked on his mate’s cheeks to appear. He liked the way Ani leaned his head on his shoulder as they watched the newlyweds cut the cake and laugh, happiness pouring from them onto their friends. He would definitely remember this day as the one in which his mate had finally acknowledge what was between them.

  Then it was the time to dance. Jeremy and Denver were the first, and it was almost funny to see the big, bad Denver holding his mate as if Jeremy was made of spun glass and blushing as he was the center of the attention. When other couples started to fill the dance floor, Dominic stood up and walked to the middle of it without even putting Ani down.

  His mate squeaked and grabbed his arms, but soon Dominic was putting him down and taking him in his arms as he started to sway gently with the music. Slowly Ani relaxed in his arms, making him feel warm and mushy inside, and so, so happy as he thought that this was the beginning of their life together.

  Chapter Three

  The snow had finally started to melt in the past week, and it was so much nicer to get to the pond. Bryce had had it made for Finn, but since Ani was a Nix he had to use it too. It awed him that someone would do something like this for his loved one.

  He couldn’t help but remember what had happened at the wedding. He and Dominic had kissed and danced, and he had been so happy, yet conflicted. He knew Dominic really meant it when he had said that he would leave the pride for him, but he also knew that his lion liked being the Alpha. It was engrained in him to protect the pride and to make it strive, and he couldn’t take that away from Dominic.

  Still, he wasn’t sure he could be the Alpha mate, and he had started to avoid Dominic again. It wasn’t hard. He just shimmered away when he saw his mate.

  Looking down at his hand, he had to fight the need to reread the message he had found on his door this morning. When he couldn’t take it anymore, he flattened out the crumbled piece of paper on his thigh and read it for what had to be the hundredth time.

  I don’t know what happened, baby, but please, can we talk? If you don’t tell me what I did wrong I can’t fix it.

  Love, Dominic.

  Love. He knew Dominic had said he was falling in love, but he hadn’t thought it was really possible. Sometimes he couldn’t help but think that it was all due to the mate bond. He was convinced that Dominic wouldn’t even have looked at him without it, and he wanted to curse Fate for doing something like this to him. All the other men on earth had been ruined for him the instant their lips had touched a week ago, and he yearned to go back into his mate’s arms.

  “Are you finished pouting?”

  “Shit, Finn! Do you really have to shimmer right behind me?” Ani literally jumped on the bench as his heart attempted to jump out of his chest.

  Finn chuckled and sat next to him on the stone bench near the pond. Ani hurried to fold and put the note in his pocket, and it felt as if it was burning a hole in the fabric. He could feel his fingers twitch with the need to take it out again and reread it, but he didn’t want to look needy.

  “So, are you going to tell me what happened? You were all over Dominic at the wedding, but I haven’t seen you with him since then. and his mood is so bad I was afraid he would bite my head off when I asked him if he could pass me the sugar at breakfast.”

  “Is it really that bad?” Ani had no idea, since he was avoiding the man as best he could.

  “Yeah. He looks like someone killed his favorite puppy and he’s planning the revenge. Seriously, man, I don’t get you. It’s obvious he cares for you, so what’s the problem? Is it still because you think you’re not good enough?”

  Ani blushed. He was that predictable, huh? “I, well, uh...”

  Finn snorted. “Please! So you can’t read well, okay. Tomorrow I’ll start teaching you, and we’ll ask Connie if she can help. What’s next? Still that stupid idea that you’re somehow used? You know that’s bullshit! I think the only thing that keeps you from being happy with your mate is that you’re scared, but if you don’t talk to me I can’t know why.”

  Ani gaped. He was so used to his cousin being shy and quiet, just like him. It had been a necessity when they lived with the tribe, but since Finn had mated Bryce and had started to live here, he had come out of his shell. Sure, he was still sweet, but he also could be strong and demanding now—almost too demanding at times. Right now he was downright pushy, but it was actually nice to see.

  Ani kept his eyes focused on his feet, not sure how to answer. He was the first one to not understand what the heck he was feeling. He wanted Dominic something fierce, so what was it that stopped him? Was it really because he thought he was not enough?

  “Okay, look. I know it’s scary because you never had a relationship. You don’t know what’s going to happen, how you’re going to keep Dominic happy or even how to behave, how to be half of a whole. I get that. It’s the same things I felt when Bryce finally accepted me. Want to know what I did?”

  Ani smiled. “Sure.”

  “I jumped. I took a leap of faith, because if I had only listened to my fears, I wouldn’t have mated Bryce, and we would still both be miserable. That’s why it’s scary, Ani. Because you don’t know what’s going to happen, and you know that if you want to be happy, you’re going to have to jump.”

  It made sense. He knew he could trust Dominic. He might not have talked to his mate in the last months, but he had observed him, and he knew he was a good man who only wanted what was best for everyone. “You think I can be a good Alpha mate?”

  Finn’s sigh was loud as he shook his head. “Ani, you’re smart. I already told you this and I won’t repeat it again. Besides, I’m sure that if you don’t want to be Alpha mate Dominic will let you do whatever you want.”

  “But I have to help him.”

  “No, you have to love him and be there for him, that’s all. The rest comes after that, and only if you want to.”

  Okay, he could do that. Right?

  “If you don’t go there and talk to him, I’ll just put you over my shoulder and throw you to the lion,” a voice said from behind them. Ani turned to find Keenan grinning at him.

  “Nice one,” Finn snickered.

  “Yeah, I know. I think about them at night.” He pointed to Ani. “I wasn’t joking, though. The guy went from authoritarian but nice and gentle to snarly and growly. That won’t do, kid, especially since he has been talking to other Alphas to convince them to join our network. If he bites their heads off, they can’t be part of the network.”

  That was a visual Ani could have gone without. “Fine, I’ll talk to him.”

  “Yeah, you better do more than that. I mean, after I saw the two of you at the wedding, I thought you were finally an item. I was kind of plan
ning your wedding next, but then you fucked up.”

  Ani winced. Okay, he had been childish, kind of. Still, did Keenan really have to say it out loud? “Look, I’ll beg on my knees if it makes him forgive me, okay?”

  Keenan’s expression softened. “I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want, Ani. It’s just that Dominic is my friend, and I don’t like seeing him like this. You know he would never hurt you or push you to do things you don’t want, but he’s not happy right now. You should be happy when you find your mate.”

  The sadness in Keenan’s eyes was hard to look at. Ani reached and squeezed his friend’s hand. “He’ll come back.”

  Keenan scoffed. “Yeah, sure. That’s what he said, but then he didn’t even bother to say goodbye, did he?” He sighed and promptly changed topic. “So, what are you going to do?”

  Ani stood up and took a deep, deep breath. He was scared to death, but they were right. He had to trust his mate. He knew Dominic was a good man, and he was glad to be his mate. He just had to show it to the man now.

  “I’m going to put on my big boy pants, go in there and get my mate.”

  * * * *

  Dominic was trying to read the document in front of him, but he just couldn’t concentrate. He had read the same paragraph about six times, and he still couldn’t remember what it said, and it was annoying the hell out of him. He should be able to do his job no matter what, right? He had always been able to do it, even when he had had problems, but this time it was different.

  He just couldn’t stop thinking about Ani. After the wedding night a week before, he had thought that they were finally making progress. Ani had admitted he wasn’t afraid of Dominic, they had kissed and danced all night. Then Dominic had walked him to his door. He even left him with a goodnight kiss, fully expecting to see him the next day. He didn’t know what had happened during the night, but Ani hadn’t even looked at him in the face the next morning, and since then he shimmered away every time Dominic stepped into the room he was in.