“I don’t think any of our mates would be, ah, brave enough to step out onto the dance floor like that,”
Simon laughed, his own gaze straying to Becky’s wild head of curls. The big glass artist’s face was full of happiness.
Gabe rolled his eyes, his attention drifting back to Sarah. Jim was laughing at something Sarah had said or done, but he kept his body at a distance, possibly fearing for his limbs. Gabe was okay with the way they were dancing together…for now. The moment a slow song came on, however, he was going to be on the dance floor. There was only so much he could stomach. Seeing Sarah in another man’s arms was not an option. “I still need to mark her.” And he had to do it before Jim got any closer to Sarah than he already was.
“You should have taken care of that before you left.” Gabe shot Simon a look. The Beta slammed one large hand down on Gabe’s shoulder. “What the hell were you waiting for?”
Gabe grimaced. “The Hunter who trained me told me it would make things a lot more difficult for both of us.” He ran his fingers through his hair wearily. “I’m beginning to think taking his advice was a huge mistake.”
Simon frowned. “Damn. Six months, knowing who your mate was but leaving her unclaimed? The dreams must have been driving you insane. I know they’re what finally made me realize what my Puma had been telling me for months. I just wish I’d acted sooner, before she got hurt.”
Gabe nodded. Simon would probably never forgive himself for not claiming Becky before Livia, the rogue Puma who had tried to make Emma and Becky’s lives hell, had managed to hurt her. “Seeing the hickey I gave her in one of those dreams was surreal. It just solidified for me how big a mistake it was.”
It took him a moment to realize that the two men were staring at him, shock on their faces. “What?”
Adrian was the first to recover. “You bit her in a dream and the mark showed up for real?”
“Hickey. I gave her a hickey.” What would have happened if he had marked her in the dream? Would they be going through this now?
“Whatever.” Adrian frowned. “As far as I know, that’s impossible.”
Gabe shrugged. That jived with what Gabe knew, but nevertheless the mark was there. “Obviously not.”
Simon kept watch on the women while Adrian and Gabe chatted, but Gabe could tell they had the Beta’s full attention. The fact that the Alpha and Beta had been made, not born, meant that the two men occasionally ran across some aspect of being a shifter that was still new to them.
And wouldn’t he have loved to be a fly on the wall when Jonathon Friedelinde, the old Alpha, had bitten the two men? He wondered how all of them had handled the inevitable arousal that would have spiked between them. He’d heard the sensation was incredibly intense. He figured their girlfriends must have walked funny for a week afterwards, but no way in hell would he say that out loud where Emma and Becky could hear it considering they’d been dating Livia and Belle at the time.
Come to think of it, perhaps he shouldn’t mention it in front of Rick, either.
Adrian shrugged. “Well, as far as I know, the mate dreams are just that: dreams. What you do in them has no impact on your mate whatsoever.”
“I know that’s how it normally works, but she knew it was there. She even covered it with her hand.”
Gabe watched as Sarah attempted to twirl and nearly fell on a nearby couple. Jim’s quick hands stopped her from a nasty fall. Gabe grumbled and wondered if he’d actually have to thank the asshole.
“Could it have something to do with the fact that she’s the Omega?”
Gabe felt everything in him still. For the third time that night he was stunned. “Excuse me?” Omega?
She’s the Omega? Since when?
Then something else occurred to him. But that means… He turned, glaring at his mate as she danced with Jim. That means she knows exactly how I feel about her being with Jim. Omegas were the heart of the Pride. Just as the Marshal could feel the physical well-being each Pride member, the Omega could sense their emotional state. Together they allowed the Alpha to zero in on individual problems within the Pride that he might otherwise overlook.
His grin was feral as he caught her eye and held up three fingers. Oh, baby. That’s three. He wasn’t surprised to see the hint of wariness on her face before she turned her attention back to her dance partner.
“Yeah. It’s been informally confirmed. We all agreed to hold off on the formal announcement until after you got back from your training.” Simon shrugged, looking vaguely uncomfortable.
“Really.”
“Gabe.” He turned back to Adrian, who was frowning at him. “You weren’t here. From everything we saw and heard you were pursuing Chloe, not Sarah.”
“What?” His jaw clenched. Sarah had leveled the same accusation at him. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Simon began ticking things off on his fingers. “The bracelet you gave Chloe for Christmas when you didn’t bother giving Sarah a gift.” Gabe flushed. He had a present for Sarah, he’d just wanted to give it to her in person. “You talk to Chloe almost every day, but don’t call Sarah at all.”
“Sarah stopped answering her phone.” Gabe was becoming pissed. Even the Pride leaders thought he’d betrayed his mate with another woman?
Things were worse than he thought.
“And Chloe constantly talks about you and what you’re doing, while Sarah knows next to nothing.”
He frowned. That wasn’t what he’d intended at all. Chloe was supposed to befriend Sarah, keep her company. When she’d stopped answering the phone he’d become worried about her. And from what Chloe had said Sarah was spending a lot of time with…
Aw hell. Please tell me that Chloe didn’t deliberately sabotage my relationship with Sarah. “Christ, what a mess. I have to fix this.”
Simon pointed with his chin towards the dance floor. “Go dance with your woman. Sounds like they’re about to start a slow song.” The big artist winked, grinning. “And with all those bodies dry-humping out there no one will even care if you give your mate a bite, will they?”
Gabe watched as the lights dimmed and Sarah stepped into Jim’s arms. “I think you may be right.”
It was past time to claim what was his.
Sarah knew the moment Gabe stepped up behind her. His heat and masculine scent enveloped her, despite the fact that she was in another man’s arms. He reached around her and tapped Jim’s shoulder.
“May I cut in?”
Jim made a great show of reluctantly letting Sarah go, scowling at Gabe before giving her a light peck on the cheek and stalking away. She almost stopped him, terrified of what Gabe had planned for her. His emotions beat against her back, anger and remorse mixed with a primal need to stake his claim on her.
His hands slipped around her waist, cradling him to her. His erection pressed against her lower back, the heat from his cock and the savage satisfaction that broke through at his touch making her weak in the knees. With him touching her there was no way she could completely shield herself from his emotions.
She searched frantically for a distraction, the thought of those three fingers he’d held up worrying her.
She found it when Jim got stopped by Chloe. The two spoke for a moment and, with a shrug, he pulled her into his arms and onto the dance floor. The lust pouring off both of them was incandescent.
“Sarah.”She shivered as he licked the mark on her neck, her attention suddenly riveted to the man behind her. His teeth scraped the sensitive juncture of her shoulder and she twitched. “Hold still, baby.”
Oh, no you don’t. Not that easily, and especially not in public. She pulled away, hunching her shoulders against his fangs. “No.”
“No?” A feather-soft kiss caressed the nape of her neck. “Why no?”
She growled. “Gee, I don’t know. Should we start with Chloe?”
“I told you I didn’t sleep with her, Sarah.” She turned in his arms, not surprised when he pulled her firmly against h
im. He patted her rear. “Or do I need to remind you of that conversation?”
She sniffed, her irritation growing when he smiled down at her lazily. “Fine. How about we talk about the fact that you’ve basically been ignoring me?”
“I called and you didn’t answer. Or when you did, we fought.” His jaw worked, the tension rolling off him almost nauseating her. “You couldn’t come to me and I couldn’t go to you, and it was driving us both insane.”
“So you turned to another woman?”
He shook his head. “Chloe was supposed to make friends with you, to help you. Damn it, Sarah! I was worried bout you.”
He had an odd way of showing it. “You’re joking, right?”
“Chloe wasn’t supposed to give you the impression we were dating. She was supposed to make sure you were all right. That’s all. I promise you, the only thing I feel for Chloe is…God, she’s like the sister I never had and now I’m glad I didn’t get.”
If it wasn’t for the sincerity she could feel coursing through him, she’d cry bullshit. One of the things she’d discovered since becoming Omega was that it was damn difficult to lie to her. The guilt most people felt when lying tended to bleed through. Still, if he’d actually been that stupidly gullible she’d have to make sure he never, ever did something like that again. “If that was your plan, I have two words for you. Epic fail.”
“I’ll talk to Chloe. I promise you I will straighten this out.”
She sneered. “Sure you will.” And she would spend that time with Jim. At least he didn’t leave her senses reeling.
“Sarah. You’re my mate. You. Chloe is just a friend.” His shoulders slumped, his head landing on her shoulder with a weary sigh. “I should have told James to fuck off and marked you before I left. You have no idea how sorry I am that I didn’t.”
Sarah rolled her eyes. She couldn’t see anyone who wasn’t Pride stopping Gabe from doing what he wanted to do unless he didn’t want to do it.
He lifted his head. Whatever he saw on her face had one brow rising arrogantly. “Don’t you think I regret not marking you before I left?”
“Not really, considering you’ve been free to get a fucking girlfriend.”
His expression darkened. “That’s five.”
“Five?” She pushed back against his chest, straining against his hold. She just wanted to put a little space between them, but he wasn’t allowing it.
“One for sitting next to Jim. Two for agreeing to go dancing with him. Three for doing it knowing exactly how I felt about it.” His hand curved around the nape of her neck, holding her possessively. “Four for turning away from my mark. And now five for thinking I would ever betray you that way.” The hand not caressing her neck smoothed down her back, landing to rest just atop the curve of her ass. “Care to make it six?”
She scowled up at him. “Care to get your ass kicked?”
He threw his head back and laughed. “I thought so.” His hand landed against her ass, smacking her right there on the dance floor. “Go ahead, baby. Keep pushing.”
She glared at him but refused to answer. The flutter in her lower belly wouldn’t let her. She was afraid if she opened her mouth she’d say something stupid like Please fuck me.
“Sarah.”
She lowered her eyes. She couldn’t help herself.
“Look at me, Sarah.” She looked up at him to find that his expression was full of regret. “You stopped answering the phone. You stopped talking to me. So I asked Chloe to make friends with you so I’d know you were okay. I had no idea she’d give you the impression that the two of us were dating.”
The pain of loss was still thrumming through her, and she wasn’t certain she believed him about Chloe. It was the reason she’d turned to those little white pills Dr. Howard had given her. “Uh-huh. Sure. I called you back more than once, but you never returned those calls. Was that when you started turning to Chloe?”
“Chloe is only a friend.” He growled when she snorted her disbelief. “Sarah.” She shivered at his tone.
She’d heard it in dreams, but never in reality. It demanded her attention, her obedience, and without thought she started to comply. He leaned down and blew on the side of her neck, right where the hickey was. She shivered in response, his smile tickling her skin. “You are my mate. The only woman I dream about is you.” She could feel his arousal, the sensation heightening her own. She could also feel his determination and his possessiveness. Instead of smothering her, she felt cocooned by it, a warm blanket she could cuddle under for the rest of her life. He licked her neck. “Did you know that the dreams we share aren’t normal?” He caressed her ass, moving her in time to the music, his fingers brushing the bottom curve of her ass. “Most people only dream of making love to their future mate.” He lifted his head from her throat, catching her chin on the edge of his hand and turning her face up to his. “You and I actually make love.”
“Why?” When he frowned down at her, she added, “Why did we wind up connected that way?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it was because we didn’t speak for so long, or maybe because you’re the Omega.”
That reminder was all she needed to pull back from him and the warm seduction he was tempting her with. “Or maybe it’s because you didn’t really want me.”
“Damn it, Sarah.” His long-suffering sigh was music to her ears.
“So you turned to Chloe.”
His eyes narrowed, determination filling his features. “I’m not going to explain myself again. Listen carefully. You are my mate. The thought of touching anyone other than you is disgusting. Do you understand me?”
She lowered her lashes, hiding her gaze from his. He might think they were done with the topic, but she was far from done. “What happens when you leave again?”
He sighed and pulled her in close, cradling her head against his shoulder. “Don’t worry, baby. Right now wild gorillas couldn’t drag me away from you.”
She sniffed, resisting the temptation to snuggle into his warmth. Damn, he smells so good. “What about wild waitresses?”
His chest rumbled as he growled. “That’s seven.”
He still wasn’t sure why he’d allowed her to stop him from marking her right there on the dance floor, but he had to admit just the freedom to hold her in his arms was incredible. No more doubts, no worries, just him and his mate caressing each other with their bodies as the music seduced them. He buried his face in her hair, wallowing in her scent, imbedding it into his memory. He wanted to cover himself in that scent, to have her covered in his until he couldn’t tell where one of them ended and the other began. And despite his words he knew he had a lot to make up for.
She tripped, almost pulling them to the floor. He caught her easily.
“Sorry.” She buried her flaming cheeks against his chest again after granting him one glance full of embarrassment.
“I know how to keep you safe from falling.”
She eyed him warily. “How?”
He smiled and lifted her so that her feet were dangling, enjoying her shocked gasp.
“Put me down, Gabe!”
“Look at me, Sarah.” He used the same tone he used during their scenes, knowing what her instinctive response would be. He smiled gently when her head lifted, her face turning up to his. “Trust me.” The uncertainty there tore at his heart, but it was his own fault, damn it. He’d do whatever it took to get her to believe in him again. “I will never let you fall.”
“Don’t you mean never again?”
“Hmm?” He rocked her gently to the music, her toes barely brushing the tops of his feet. He barely felt her weight. He frowned, studying her. Damn . She was thinner. Why hadn’t he noticed before? He’d have to make sure to fix that, too. He couldn’t let his baby get sick.
“You’ll never let me fall again.” She lowered her lashes, once again hiding her expression from him, but not before he saw the disbelief in her face and knew it wasn’t a physical fall she referred to.
; “Stop it.” He set her down on her feet but kept her close. “I’m going to prove to you that you can trust me.”
She stopped dancing. “I begged for you. I cried for you. And you turned away from me. Do you know how that feels?”
“No. Sarah–”
“It feels like this! ”
Sharp, cutting pain, deep despair, rejection, jealousy, Gabe felt it all. Got savaged by what he’d done to his mate. He’d stayed away from her, tried to protect her from their separation. Instead, in refusing to claim her he’d nearly destroyed her. He damn near dropped to his knees, the agony ripping through him almost more than he could bear.
“Now all of a sudden you want to claim me? How can I trust that?”
The feelings, her feelings, shut off abruptly, but lingered in his heart, mingling with his own until he couldn’t tell where his left off and hers began.
The tears in her eyes clawed at him. He wanted to lift his face and scream from the pain he’d inflicted on his sweet Sarah. “What do you want me to do, Sarah? Beg? Cry?” Because he’d do both just to get that look off her face, those emotions from her heart.
“No.”
“Then what?”
Determination filled her face. “I want the same treatment you gave Chloe.”
What? “What, exactly, do you mean by that?” Gabe was starting to get seriously pissed off. The fact that Sarah still believed he’d somehow been with Chloe rankled. How could she continue to think he’d do that to her?
Easy, dickhead. Your friend went out of her way to make Sarah think it. He needed to sit Chloe down and find out what the hell had been going through her head. She knew how important Sarah was to him. Gabe almost growled in frustration but contained it. Sarah deserved her pound of flesh, but damn if he’d let her take too much or too long.
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