by Kate Wendley
“You’re sure. I mean, because if I did, I’m sorry. I really am.”
She fought another smile. “I’m sure.” There was a moment where they just stared at each other, and then she decided to be brave and ask the burning question on her mind. “So you don’t remember anything? I mean, you seemed pretty tired that night.”
He sighed and ran his hand through his hair again before leaning back in his chair. She wondered if that was a nervous habit of his, to smooth back his longish, silky, golden hair. It was mostly straight with just a slight wave to it, hanging the length of his chin. With those beautiful brown eyes, his tight pecs and all around masculine body, he was so yummy.
He looked at her uncertainly. “I had to read Anthony’s girlfriend’s mind and get into her memories the night before I ran into you. Reading people always makes my head messed up for a while, but that night it was really bad. I couldn’t think around all the shit−, stuff that wasn’t mine that was floating around in my head. I thought if I ran around as my wolf it’d help me clear it out. It helped, but by the time I got home I was exhausted, starving, and my wolf was more in control than I was. I was pretty out of it when I ran into you.”
Wow. And great. He wasn’t himself when they made out. Well, she’d already come to terms with him not being who she wanted him to be, and she’d honestly never thought about what his touching power might do to him personally. All she’d ever heard were the rumors from other people who’d been read and how they felt unfairly violated by it. Hearing his side made her realize how little she actually knew about him.
In the end, it didn’t matter anymore if he remembered anything from their encounter. Her trivial wants and desires seemed petty compared to his issues with his crazy mind reading ability. It made her feel insignificant in his world again, not to mention making her confused about her cat being more awake and aware lately.
He flicked a glance away from her, then back again. “So, uh, I think I remember bumping into you, though it’s mostly a blur, and then I think my wolf took over and, well, I remember sensations, feelings, scents, that kind of thing when I’m wolf, but not specifics, you know?”
She felt awkward again and wasn’t sure what to say to him. “Oh, uh… oh.”
For an instant it looked like he was sniffing the air in her direction, though he did it discreetly, but then he leaned forward and she wasn’t sure what to do. He curiously cocked his head as he looked intently at her neck, his eyes quickly getting golden flecks in them. Her body heated up when his gaze became intensely needy, something she wanted to remember forever.
After a very brief few moments, he blinked and casually looked away. He turned sideways in his chair and leaned over, looking at the ground as he rested his forearms on his thighs. “So where do you work?”
Trying to control her own emotions, she automatically replied, “Atlanta United Credit Union. I’m a loan specialist.”
He nodded as he looked up at her and his expression was mellow, almost happy compared to how he’d been so far tonight.
“Do you have to read people a lot?” She felt bad for her question when a frown instantly appeared on his face.
“No.”
“Did you have my memories in your head after we ran into each other?”
He narrowed his eyes and quietly chuckled. “No.”
She playfully spat, “Well how would I know if you’d read me?” The thought of him in her head finding out about how big of a crush she had on him made her heart race in nervousness.
He smirked at her. “You’d feel me in your head. You’d know I was there. Besides, I have such control over it now that I have to actually think about it to use that power.”
“But you said your wolf took over that night.”
He chuckled and said in a more relaxed tone, “I don’t like to read people so there’s no way he’d read someone when he took over. My wolf doesn’t do anything I wouldn’t normally want to do. He may take control sometimes, but it’s not like he’s a different person. He’s still me, just more… wolfish. He’s less inhibited, I guess.”
Her jaw dropped and he seemed totally confused by her reaction. For once she didn’t feel like a complete ninny. He actually liked her, right? He was saying his wolf wouldn’t have done those things if Sebastian hadn’t wanted to. She didn’t know other people that had that kind of control over their animal, but if he was saying he did, well, she believed him.
Or maybe he just liked women a lot, and his wolf wouldn’t hurt a woman he wanted to get frisky with. He looked a question at her as she closed her mouth and glanced away. Either way, at least she felt like she hadn’t been totally irresponsible with her life by relaxing in Sebastian’s arms three nights ago.
He surprised her by asking, “So how come you’re not afraid of me touching you?”
She paused as she wondered how much to tell him. “You touched me the other night and lo and behold I’m fine.”
He narrowed his eyes and quietly said, “That you are,” then glanced away.
She froze in surprise, unsure what to say to that. A waiter came by just then and asked for her order, and she panicked when Sebastian started to leave.
“I should let you have your dinner.”
Her heart thumped wildly in her chest. “You can join me if you’d like. I mean, if you want.”
He stared at her a moment and blinked those warm, beautiful eyes a couple of times before saying, “All right.” He slowly sat back down as they watched each other.
The waiter took her order, then turned his attention to Sebastian. “Sir, can I get you anything?”
Sebastian seemed much more at ease now. “Sure. How about a roast beef sandwich.”
The waiter finally left them and Jade smiled.
“What?” Sebastian gave her a suspicious smile, but it was a real smile, one where his dimples actually showed.
“Nothing. You just finally look relaxed. You seemed tense when you first came over.”
His smile disappeared but he didn’t frown. He looked calm and thoughtful instead. “You’re not how I thought you’d be.”
“How you thought I’d be?” He had a thought about how he thought she’d be? Since when did he even know she existed, besides Zach telling him to apologize to her for running into her the other night?
He was quiet, then, and she finally realized he was kind of sensitive.
She said, “So what do you do for fun? I only ever see you here while you’re working.”
As if he hadn’t heard her, he said, “You must have pretty regular hours at the bank. You’re here almost the same time every night.”
She blinked stupidly at him. “Uh, yeah, I do.” He paid attention to what time she came in every night? Really? “But what about you?”
He looked curiously at her again, his gaze drifting to her neck a couple times. “I’m not what you’d call a fun guy.”
She chuckled and playfully tapped his arm, then yipped in alarm when he quickly grabbed her hand and held it to his bare skin. He looked into her eyes with a teasing challenge. “You’re one of very, very few people who would dare touch me.”
By his tone she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She nervously whimpered, “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
He frowned in worry. “No, that’s not what I meant.” He delicately rubbed her shaking hand. “That’s opposite of what I meant.”
She hated that her hand was trembling.
“I’m scaring you.” He released her and pulled away, his eyes going dead as he sat further back in his chair and crossed his arms.
Her heart hurt for the resigned look on his face and the deep heartache she felt from him. “I, uh, it’s not like that. I mean…”
He frowned more severely and said, “Are you still going out with David?”
That caught her attention. He knew who she dated?
“No.”
He bluntly asked, “Why not?”
She shrugged and felt self-cons
cious again. “I don’t know. I guess I’m too boring for him.”
He barked out a laugh. “Good riddance. He’s boring. He never stops talking about himself, Jesus Christ.”
She laughed in surprise and he finally smiled again.
The waiter came back with their food and Sebastian backed up a lot so the man didn’t get too close. Her heart twisted in pain to watch him do that, but he seemed totally calm and at ease, like this was normal for him, and expected.
Last night he’d been seething in anger about people not wanting him close enough to touch, and tonight he backed up without a second thought to give the waiter way more room than would be necessary for a normal person.
But Sebastian wasn’t normal. He was a powerful, ferocious, Alpha Wolf. Combined with his rare ability to read minds and his closed off attitude, he was the second scariest person in Brookhaven. The Master Vampire was the only person even more feared by everyone in the family.
And here Sebastian sat with her, scaredy cat Jade, being nice and sweet, and even being polite to the waiter.
Once the food was settled in front of them and the waiter left, she blurted out, “I’m just jumpy. I always have been. Scaredy cat Jade. Fitting, right?” It hurt her feelings that she’d carried that stupid nickname around since grade school, and it was even worse that it was still true.
He looked thoughtfully at her. “The cats are a lot more sensitive to their surroundings and emotions than the wolves. I could see how that might make you jumpy sometimes.”
Huh? He wasn’t going to make fun of her? Most guys couldn’t wait to tease her for her skittishness.
He leaned forward and said with a twinkle in his eye, “So I don’t scare you?”
Her heart raced in nervous happiness as he intently watched her. He made her feel almost playful. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Because you didn’t hurt me that night your wolf took over.”
He cocked his head slightly, flicked a glance back at her neck, then into her eyes again. “I could’ve. Maybe you just got lucky my wolf wasn’t in as bad a mood as I was.”
She smiled. “Your wolf wasn’t in a bad mood. He seemed pretty opposite of that.”
He gave her an inquisitive look as his smile grew. “Really? What happened?” He flicked a look at her lips, then her neck, then back into her eyes as his own started turning more golden.
She said with a challenge, “You didn’t answer my question. What do you like to do for fun? You have to relax sometimes.”
He narrowed his eyes at her, but a small smile stayed on his lips. He took a deep breath, held her gaze for a few moments, then looked away as he seemed to calm himself. When he looked back up, his eyes slowly lost their golden glow.
“I usually hang out with Zach or Anthony, and sometimes I go run around at the ranch for some fresh air. I work out at the gym upstairs most days of the week. I don’t know, nothing special. What about you?”
“I like to cook.”
He looked honestly confused. “Then why do you come down to the restaurant every night for dinner?”
Her eyes went wide as she realized what she’d just said. She wasn’t about to tell him it was because she had a secret crush on him. “I, uh, like to be around people. It’s just me at home, and all humans during the day at the bank.”
He nodded as if that made complete sense to him.
“So what kinds of things do you cook? Are you any good?”
She sassily said, “I think I’m good. I cook whatever I feel like. Beef stroganoff, leg of lamb, whatever I’m in the mood for.”
He politely nodded, and before she could chicken out she quickly said, “Do you want to come over for dinner sometime? I’ll make you something.”
His eyes went wide and he froze. She’d clearly startled him, and she almost regretted asking him over as silent seconds ticked by. But he finally, awkwardly blurted out, “Yeah.”
Yes? Now she was so nervous she almost couldn’t think straight. “How about Saturday? Maybe around three?”
Still looking shocked, he slowly said, “Sure. Whenever you want.”
**
Sebastian had just been asked over to the woman of his dream’s place, and it didn’t feel real. He wasn’t even sure how it happened, but here she was talking to him tonight and totally not freaked out by him. Sort of. He could tell he was making her nervous, but she was also a low level jaguar. The cats always were more jumpy than the wolves and coyotes.
Nervous or not, they were eating together and making small talk about nothing at all, and it felt really, really good. It was nice to just sit and relax with her, jumpy twitches and all. That made him smirk. Her mannerisms were very catlike, more so than he’d ever realized, and it was cute. He tried not to stare at her too much, but she kept smiling at him and he couldn’t help smiling back.
Once they’d both finished their meals and the small talk was getting even more awkward than it normally was for him, he watched her leave the club.
She was on his mind the whole rest of the night.
**
“Hey guys.”
Zach joined Sebastian at the bar as he sat having a lazy conversation with Chester.
“Hey.”
Chester walked away to get some drinks for a couple as Zach asked, “What’s with the flowers?”
He stared out into the club as he said, “I didn’t do that great of a job apologizing to Jade last night. They’re for her.”
Zach’s jaw dropped, but he was always overly dramatic. Sometimes irritatingly so. “For Jade? Really?”
He sighed and rolled his eyes. He didn’t want to make this a bigger deal than it was.
Zach slapped him on the shoulder and chuckled. “I never knew you had a romantic side, dude.”
He growled under his breath, almost wishing he hadn’t done something so public for her. But she’d liked them and that’s what mattered.
“We had dinner together and she invited me to her place Saturday.”
Zach smiled giddily as he crossed his arms and turned fully in his seat to face him. “Tell me more, stud muffin.”
He shot him a glare, then looked away again. He didn’t want to hear crap from Zach about him talking to a woman. Still…
“She touched me. On purpose. She touched my skin.” He still couldn’t believe that.
Apparently neither could Zach. His mood instantly went serious as Sebastian looked soberly at him.
“Jade did that? Jaguar Jade?”
He calmly nodded. “I talked to her this morning before she went to work and she touched me then, too. She did that. On her own.”
He stared at Zach like he needed confirmation that he wasn’t crazy.
Zach weakly said, “Maybe your stigma around here is wearing off.”
He scoffed. “I don’t think so.” He looked out into the club again. His reputation hadn’t changed, and neither had people’s disgust with him. So why was Jade suddenly different?
“So, what does that mean? For you and Jade I mean. Are you interested in her because she touched you? I mean, not that there’d be anything wrong with that.”
If Sebastian wasn’t so shocked about his impromptu dinner with Jade, he might be pissed at Zach’s assumption that his only standard for dating a woman was if she was ok with him touching her. That didn’t make him seem desperate at all.
His life issues weren’t Zach’s fault, though, so he calmed his temper and said, “She’s a sweet, beautiful woman. Do I need another reason to be interested?”
Zach pat him on the shoulder and chuckled. “Not at all, dude. Not at all.”
Chapter 8
Thursday night was Sebastian’s turn to let Anthony feed from him. He slowly made his way to the bed, Anthony lying on the far side with his head turned towards the open door, as usual. He always slept flat on his back, on top of the covers, in just a pair of plaid pajama pants. His right hand rested on his bare stomach, his left arm and knee angled out on the bed, and his lo
ng, straight hair neatly behind him.
Sebastian had a weird life and he knew it. All things considered, though, he probably had things as good as they were ever going to get. He had control over his unwanted touching power, and he got to let his wolf run free and wild whenever he could break away from work and get to the ranch. All that for the small price of letting the most powerful creature in the Atlanta territory drink his blood every other night.
It wasn’t that he hated it that Anthony fed from him. Anthony was his friend and needed blood to survive. He just wished he could get over his fear of him. He’d been his feeding partner for over eight years and he still got nervous every single time Anthony sank his fangs into him. Zach thought it was ridiculous that he couldn’t just relax while he drank, but Zach had never been on the receiving end of an ass beating from Anthony. Sebastian had been… twice.
It was his own fault back when he was pissed off at the world after manifesting his mind reading power. He couldn’t control his ‘gift’ and everyone turned on him because of it. Three years went by while he struggled with his power and what to do with his life. Anthony finally stepped in when Sebastian was damn near suicidal, a raging bastard that didn’t care who else he hurt. It took shockingly little effort for Anthony to put Sebastian in his place back then, and he’d been terrified of him ever since.
Anthony surprisingly offered him his blood after that. He honestly wanted to try to help him gain control over his power, but he also needed a new feeding partner. Oh, and he wanted a promise that in exchange for his blood, which any power hungry fool would die for, Sebastian had to use his mind reading ability on people when the family needed it.
Sebastian wasn’t power hungry, he’d just wanted his life back, so he felt unfairly cornered by Anthony’s offer. His own pack, his own kind refused to even try to help him, but here was a vampire, the Master Vampire even, offering him a deal. If he didn’t take him up on it, he’d never know if he could finally gain control over himself, but if he did take the deal, he’d be forced to read people, which he hated.
