by Amelia Jade
Caine had then laughed. “If I had any single ones, I’d send them your way. Thank you for your advice. I shall figure something out.” He headed for the entranceway, figuring he’d wander the mall for a bit in case Annalise was still there somewhere, though he doubted it.
“Don’t you want the dress?”
He paused. “Do I?”
“Sure. Have it sent to her. She’d appreciate a gesture like that. It shows you still want her to show up, but you didn’t creepily follow her or chase after her in a public place like the mall.”
Caine shrugged. “I have nowhere to send it to. I don’t know where she’s staying…” Even as he spoke an idea tickled at his brain.
She’d taken his vehicle the night before. Maybe the navigation system could tell him where she’d gone.”
“Pack it up,” he said with a grin. “I’ll be back for it shortly.”
She hadn’t gotten away from him that easily. Caine wasn’t about to give up on his mate. Not when she needed him the most.
“Caine?
Spine straightening, he turned slowly.
“Annalise.” His eyes took in the rest of her. “You look beautiful.”
She was stunning, a radiant figure that captivated his attention. The dress from the store adorned her body, sitting perfectly on her figure in a way that stirred forces that were anything but cold. His growl turned heads nearby, but a quick glare had partygoers focusing back on their own conversations.
“You think so?” she asked, clearly uncomfortable with his attention.
“Gorgeous.” She’d washed her hair and let it pool around her shoulders, hiding some of her bared skin beneath it. The lights reflected off the silky strands, focusing his attention on something decidedly nonsexual, much to his relief. He was already having trouble keeping his eyes under control. If she’d bared her neck completely Caine wasn’t sure he would have been able to keep his composure.
“Thank you. You look good too.”
He nodded. Irritation at her earlier flight reared its head. The sudden departure had hurt him, though he sought to hide that fact. “Why are you here?”
Annalise looked away. “I thought it would be rude to turn down an invitation,” she said, trying and yet failing to cover the emotion in her voice. “I didn’t expect to have a package waiting for me when I got back to the motel.”
She was embarrassed, he realized. Of course. Here she was, turning up in a dress he’d bought her even after she’d run away from him in the middle of the store. That would be awkward for anyone. Still, it didn’t make him feel better. He’d done nothing to make her flee.
“As rude as disappearing and leaving me in the middle of a dress store all by myself?”
Her jaw opened as Annalise’s face creased with hurt. “Caine, I’m sorry. I…” She fell silent. “I’ll go.”
Caine’s anger turned inward. How dare he be so rude to her, after she’d clearly worked up a hell of a lot of courage to show up at an event where she clearly didn’t know a single person besides him. This couldn’t be easy for her either.
“I received a lot of weird looks you know, holding so many dresses that clearly didn’t fit me.”
Annalise looked up at him, searching his face for the meaning behind the words. Was he being mean, or was he attempting to make a joke to lighten the mood? Giving her a soft smile, he let her know it was in jest, that she needn’t be worried.
“I’m sorry,” she repeated, laughing quietly at his joke. “If I’d known they didn’t fit I would have helped you pick out another one first.”
Caine smiled, but didn’t speak right away, letting the silence deepen.
“I’m glad you came,” he said at last, speaking just loud enough to be heard over the music.
“I almost didn’t.”
“Really?” he said dryly.
“But I did. I just had to take a moment.” Her gaze tightened almost imperceptibly. “Independence is big to me, Caine. I need it. I have to maintain it. You were getting too close. Doing too much for me. Do you understand?”
“No. Why am I not allowed to do nice things for you?”
It bothered him that his mate wanted him to treat her no better than anyone else. She was the mate of a dragon! He was supposed to shower her with love and devotion yes, but also with all the material desires his wealth could buy.
“Because I asked you to, Caine.” She looked away briefly, blinking quickly. “Because I can’t have myself feeling beholden to you. The possibility of Violet being my sister is the only thing that’s kept me here as long as I have. Normally I’d be two cities away by now. That’s who I am.”
He disagreed. “It doesn’t have to be,” he argued.
Annalise lifted a palm. “Caine, stop. Please. You can’t change me. You need to respect this.”
Biting his lip so hard he could taste blood, he nodded. “Okay. I’ll try. That’s the best you’re going to get out of me. I will try to respect your desire for boundaries and limits. But it will be hard, and I might fail.”
“Why is it going to be hard?”
The answer to that was simple. “Because I want you. I desire you, and I intend to do whatever I can to show you that my feelings are real and true.”
Annalise didn’t respond, but Caine hadn’t expected her to. His declaration was blunt and brazen, but he needed it to be said. Pretending as if he were just a nice guy wasn’t his style. He wanted her to know just what she was getting into by sticking around and hanging out with him. The parts of him being a dragon and her being his mate he left off, not wanting to put more pressure on her than he already had. Those would come in time, when she was ready. If he didn’t scare her off first.
“That was…Caine, um...” Annalise took a step back, scratched her head, and just stared at him.
“I know.” It was a lot to take in. “Come on, I want you to meet someone.” He gestured for her to follow him.
“What? Where are you taking me?”
He grinned. “To meet Violet of course.”
Chapter Seven
Annalise
To meet Violet?
“Noooo,” she said, skidding to a halt. “Caine, no.”
But it was too late.
“Hey, Violet!” His big, booming voice carried easily over the general din of partygoers. “I want you to meet someone!”
“Caine!” she hissed, trying desperately to get his attention. “Not now!”
The big idiot turned back and gave her a reassuring grin. “It’ll be fine, trust me. You came here from,” he frowned. “From wherever you came from. You traveled all that way to meet her. It’s nerve-racking, I get it. But I’m here, and Violet is a good person. No matter whether she is or isn’t your sister, it will be okay.”
Annalise shook her head. “I’m not ready.”
“You’re never ready for something like this. Which is why I called her over here. This way you don’t take an hour trying to decide whether to tell her or not. You just do it, and see what happens.”
“Hello?” A woman in a cream-colored bridesmaid dress entered their circle. “What is it, Caine?”
“Violet, I want you to meet Annalise. Annalise, Violet.” He gestured back and forth between the two of them, then stepped out of the way.
Annalise glared at him, but all she got in return was a playful wink. Dammit, he was enjoying this! Ooooh, she was going to get him after, that was for sure.
“Hi, Annalise.” There was a slight uncertainty in Violet’s voice, and Annalise found it echoed in her own.
“Hello.” It was eerie. The woman standing across from her looked very similar. They were both short and thick all over. That in itself wasn’t unusual, but the similarities didn’t end there.
Both of them had hair the color of purest night, thick, lustrous and shiny. Hers was down, while Violet had a lovely and intricate bun. It was the eyes, however, that caught her attention the most. More amber than her own whiskey, the similarity between the two was uncanny.
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“Do I know you?” Violet asked slowly. “You look…familiar.”
“I don’t think so,” she said nervously. “But…” her courage faltered her.
Caine stepped up beside her and laid a hand on her shoulder. “It’s okay, Annalise. You can tell her.”
She glanced at the long-fingered hand, wondering why she wasn’t immediately shrugging it off. But Violet captured her attention, and she started to speak. “I…I don’t know for certain, okay? But I was adopted at birth, and I think there’s a chance we might be related.”
Violet’s face widened in surprise. “Really?”
“Maybe. There isn’t much I know about my mother. But her name was Tracey Walker, and we look a lot alike.”
Violet gasped. “My mother’s name was Tracey.”
“I know, that’s how I found you. Your birth record.” She looked around, at a loss of where to go next.”
“So are you my older sister then?” Violet asked.
“I think so. I’m thirty-five.”
Violet frowned, doing some mental math. “That might work.” She brightened. “My mom’s here, do you want to meet her?”
Annalise’s knees trembled so hard she thought they might buckle. Without missing a beat, Caine slipped an arm around her waist, steadying her. Meet the woman who might be her mom? This was way more than she bargained for.
“Um, okay?” she said. What other response was she to give?
Violet hurried off and she turned to Caine. “I am not ready for this.”
He smiled. “Yes you are. You’re stronger than you know. Just…” he paused. “Just don’t get your hopes up yet. There’s a chance it might not be the same woman.”
“I know. Did you see the way her face got all confused when she heard my age?”
Caine nodded. “Yeah. Her mother is fairly young already, I think.”
Violet came back with a slightly taller version of herself. “Annalise, this is Tracey. Tracey, Annalise.”
Tracey looked back and forth between her daughter and Annalise. “Holy cow, you two could be sisters!” she exclaimed. “The resemblance is uncanny.”
Taking pity on Annalise, Violet started the conversation. “Well, Mom. That’s actually what we were wondering.”
Tracey frowned. “What?”
“I was adopted at birth,” Annalise whispered. “From a Tracey Walker.”
“Oh.” Tracey clapped her hand to her mouth. “Oh dear.”
“Are you my mother?” she asked, trying to keep her lower lip from trembling.
“Oh, darling. Oh, I’m so sorry. I get it now,” Tracey said, reaching out to hug Annalise. “I’m so sorry if you thought so, but no. Violet was my first. I…I had a hard time getting pregnant. We had to use lab help for Violet, though her younger sister came easier than that. Darling, I’m so sorry.”
Annalise nodded. “It’s okay. It was a long shot anyway. I…I didn’t really expect it to be true.”
The mother and daughter apologized again, and then with a last glimpse at Caine they both retreated into the party, letting Annalise deal with the pain alone. An arm tightened around her, followed by a second one. She wasn’t alone. Not this time.
“I’m sorry,” Caine rumbled as he hugged her tight. “I can’t imagine how hard that must have been.”
She let herself enjoy the warmth of his embrace for a few seconds longer than was probably safe. Then she pulled back, defenses sliding into place once again, armoring her soul. “It’s okay.” Giving a wry smile, she slipped from his grasp. “It’s not the first time I’ve been disappointed by people. It won’t be the last. You get used to it.”
The anger that displayed on Caine’s face in response to her comments caught her off guard. He didn’t say anything. His emotions were plain for her to see. He disliked her cynical worldview, though she couldn’t fathom why. It’s not like it wasn’t true. Everyone disappointed you eventually, if you let them get close enough. Why should this be any different?
“Listen, I’m going to go.” She glanced down at the dress. “I’ll find a way to get you money for the dress.” That was a lie. She’d have to sell it, but it wouldn’t fetch her nearly as much as the price tag. Hopefully it would be enough that he wouldn’t come after her for the rest. One person hunting her was enough; she didn’t need more.
Caine dismissed her concerns. “Don’t worry about the dress. And don’t feel like you need to leave. The after-dinner buffet will be served soon, and it’s going to be delicious. Stay, eat, enjoy yourself. There’s no need to leave yet. Besides, where are you going to go?”
He had a point. She was out of days at the motel, her paltry funds having barely covered the two nights. It was late and a Saturday on top of that, so finding the passersby to fund her travels via begging, as she usually did, was not going to be an option. Plus all the buses would be gone already, finished for the day.
She was trapped, the only option to hitchhike out of town, and she didn’t particularly feel like going that route. Truckers were mostly decent people, but there were enough that weren’t. Unfortunately, they were the only ones likely to pick her up at this hour.
“You don’t have anywhere to go, do you?” Caine guessed, nodding slowly as her face revealed the truth. “Okay. How about this? I know a place you can crash for the night. So you stay here, we have some fun, that sort of thing. You can laugh at my terrible dancing ability, like everyone else. Then I show you where you can crash. Tomorrow we’ll figure out what’s next in the life of Annalise Walker.”
“I don’t know, Caine. I’m not really comfortable shacking up at your place. That sounds a little too much like you want me to play Mrs. Caine for the evening.”
He put on a shocked face. “Nonsense. Mrs. Caine would flay me alive if she knew what I was doing.”
Annalise gasped. “Are you?”
“No, no,” he laughed, holding up a hand. “Bad joke, I’m sorry. Poor taste. There is no Mrs. Caine. Just an attempt at humor.”
“It wasn’t very good.”
“I guess my dancing and jokes have something in common at least.”
This time Annalise did laugh. “How about this? I’ll stay for the buffet and maybe even some dancing, if you promise not to crush my toes. Then we’ll see after that.”
Chapter Eight
Caine
“Are you sure they’re okay with this?”
“Positive. Nobody really lives here anymore. Both Violet and Andria have moved in to the tower. And especially on a night like tonight, Violet will have no need of it.” He chuckled to himself.
“Behave.”
He grinned to himself, flipping the lock and pushing open the door. “Here we are. Your residence for the evening. Please, after you.” He waved a hand through the doorway, encouraging her forward.
Annalise looked at him through he corner of her eyes, but she didn’t protest. That too was an improvement, he decided. Her protests at the way he wanted to treat her were slowly weakening. That was a good thing, because the sooner she realized he was genuinely into her, and wanted to get to know everything about her, the sooner their relationship could progress.
“This is so nice!” she exclaimed, flicking on the light and looking around the little house.
Caine peered in after her, frowning at the dilapidated furnishings and décor. Everything was well-worn. It was clean, free of dirt and dust of course, but it wasn’t what he would call nice. Not even close. Just what sort of conditions was she used to living in that this would qualify for that sort of statement?
Then he recalled her saying the outfit she’d worn to sneak around the church was most of what she owned. Annalise must have been living a rough life if those garments had been the majority of her wardrobe. Well, no more. Not now that he was in the picture. She wouldn’t want for a single thing once she accepted him as her mate.
If. If she accepts you.
He had to keep reminding himself of that. Annalise was no dragon; she didn’t feel the bond,
at least not the way he did. Her human self was fickle. It could just as easily decide to reject him as it might welcome him with open arms. He would have to tread carefully if he wished to get her to open up. Her skittishness was easy to identify, though he sensed that she was opening up to him. Even if it was perhaps somewhat involuntary, it was a subconscious response to the bond he knew they shared.
“Thank you for this,” she said suddenly, breaking the silence. “Neither you nor Violet had to be as kind to me as you’ve been.”
Caine shrugged. “It really was nothing.”
“Perhaps to you. To me though it was something.”
“You aren’t used to people treating you with kindness, are you?”
Annalise snorted. “Kindness is just a fake construct people use to get what they want from someone else.”
He shook his head, not agreeing with her worldview. “It pains me to know that someone has treated you so poorly that you’ve become so jaded about the world around you. Kindness does exist, Annalise. It’s a real thing. You’ve just been unlucky enough not to experience it before now.”
“Maybe, Caine. Or maybe not. Even you, as kind as you’ve been, will want something from me. You’ve said so yourself.”
“That’s where you’re wrong.” He took a step toward her. “I don’t want something from you. I want you. That’s different. What I want isn’t a single-sided thing, where I take and you’re forced to give.”
“What do you want from me, then?”
He sighed, his shoulders slumping. “I want you to want me,” he said plainly. “The same way I desire you.”
“So you want sex.”
“It is so much more than that,” he whispered, unsure of how they had even gotten to this point, and knowing that it wasn’t going anywhere good. “I desire you physically, yes, I won’t lie to you. Your curves and your soft, tender skin call to me. But I want you, all of you, Annalise. Every single part of you is something I desire, something I crave. A hunger that cannot be sated until my mouth can taste your entire being. Until my mind can know yours. Until our souls are melded together to form one.”
He’d continued to approach as he spoke, until a mere handful of feet separated them. Annalise was breathing deeper, his words affecting her powerfully, making her aware of the depths of his desire.
