by Joyee Flynn
Cyrus went stiff and stopped what he was doing a moment before he quickly finished, his motions going from tender to rushed and almost uncaring. I sighed, knowing it was never going to happen.
“I’ve got to work today, amante,” he said as he started to wash himself at lightning pace. He always reacted like this when I suggested doing anything outside of our suite…together. “And you need to rest and get your strength back. You’re still on medical leave.”
“Yeah, but Riley gave me a clean bill of health,” I replied as I stepped out of the shower. I grabbed a towel angrily and dried myself off with quick, jerking movements. “I can’t think dinner and a movie would wear me out more than the marathon of sex we’ve been having when you’re home.”
“Are you complaining?” he asked seriously as he shut off the water with a quick turn of the polished, gold handle. “I don’t remember you doing anything besides screaming in pleasure, Damian.” His voice had grown cold, distant, as if he was shutting down and shutting me out even farther.
“Of course I’m not complaining,” I answered quickly. “I love our sex life. Just why can’t we go out, too? There’s a great steak house in town. Let’s go have a nice meal alone.”
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize I had to woo you like some lovesick girl,” he said angrily as he stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel as he stormed past me. Ouch!
“That’s not fair,” I said, mainly to myself because he had already trudged angrily out of the bathroom and was now in the bedroom. I followed him, not feeling like shit for upsetting him. “I just want to have more than the fun we have in here.”
“We have fun in the living room and the play room, too,” he grumbled as he dressed himself in his typical work attire—blue scrubs. Which he only switched out for green ones. My mate didn’t go all colorful or cutesy. I wasn’t going to get anywhere when he was being like this, so I gave up.
I yanked on some old jeans with holes starting to develop on the knees and sneakers that had once been white before grabbing my rattiest sweatshirt. It was gray, the lettering on the front having peeled off entirely with the hems fraying at the sleeves. “Where are you going?”
“What do you care?” I shouted and stomped out of the bedroom. Yeah, it was a cheap, mean shot, but after the lovesick girl comment, I was pissed.
“Do not disrespect me like that, Damian. You will not shout at me,” he yelled, barreling after me. His jaw was clenched, his face red, and I could see one of the veins in his forehead pulsing as he stared at me angrily.
“But you can to me?” I asked as I crossed my arms over my chest. “Don’t you think what you said in the bathroom was disrespectful of me and my feelings?”
“You are right, amante,” he sighed, his anger melting away as quickly as an ice cube tossed in a cup of hot liquid. “I should not have spoken to you like that. I am sorry.” He sank to his knees in front of me and looked up at me with pleading eyes.
“Okay then. I’m sorry, too.” I leaned over and gave him a peck on the lips. “Please just think about going out one night? I’m getting a little stir-crazy, and I’d like us just to spend some time together to get to know each other.” I reached down and took his hand in mine, rubbing my thumb across the slightly rough skin of his knuckles.
“We know each other intimately,” he replied, the word caressing me as if it was his hands. I shivered but then stopped myself. This was how he always thwarted this conversation. By using sex.
I dropped his hand with a sigh and turned away to look out the window, taking in the grass and trees. Which were green even though it was December, thanks to Brian and Banning’s spectacular gift and the fact they were over here yesterday to help Mother with some plants. I felt Cyrus stand up behind me and the warmth of his hand as he placed it on my shoulder, gently turning me to face him. His eyes were searching mine as I looked at him.
“Cyrus, I don’t even know what your family’s names were. Did you have siblings? Where in Spain were you born?” I said gently, not wanting to argue again. “These are basic things mates should know about each other. I just want us to know each other as well as we do outside of the bedroom as we do in.”
I really didn’t think that was too much to ask. And I really thought I was worth it. Wasn’t I?
Chapter 4
Damian
He glanced at his watch and nodded as he looked away from me. “I hear you, but I have to get going or I’m going to be late for work.” Well, that was better than the previous times I brought it up. Maybe he finally heard me. I took his hand, and we headed for the door. “You did not answer me about where you were going?”
“I promised Banning and Brian that I’d come help at the vineyard again today.” He dropped my hand the second we were in the hallway, and I sighed as he adjusted the tie in his pants using both of his hands. My mate was so anti-PDA that it drove me insane.
“Again?” he asked, his tone showing his disapproval. “If I didn’t know they were in love with Zane, I might get jealous.”
“They’re not even my type.” I snickered as we walked down the stairs. It was the first time he showed any possessive tendencies besides claiming I was his and so was my tight ass. I liked it. It gave me hope. “I’m not up to full training sessions yet, but they need the help and I like the work. I’m so over hanging out in our suite and doing nothing. This gets me back into being active slowly.”
“Alright, just make sure you don’t push yourself,” he replied, and his tone sounded too much like a parent giving permission for me not to bristle a bit. We walked into the kitchen for breakfast, finding most everyone was there. I filled up my plate from the food dishes filled with fruit, eggs, bacon, and pancakes on the counter of the island, grabbed some coffee, and sat down.
Cyrus did the same, and as he always did, didn’t sit next to me. I tried not to let it hurt. He’d let me know right off the bat that he wasn’t an affectionate person around others, but that didn’t mean he had to act so cold and as if I was a stranger to him. I glanced around the table and saw how my mated brothers were sitting with their other halves. Hell, Patrick was sitting on Stefan’s lap with a huge smile on his face like always.
It’s not like I expected that since I was six-four and two hundred and fifty pounds. But Micah and Riley were sitting next to each other, brushing arms and bumping shoulders every so often as they made goo-goo eyes at each other between mouthfuls of food. Why couldn’t we just be like that?
“Thank you for the meal. It was wonderful, as always,” Cyrus said politely to my mother, giving her a graceful head dip. He stood with his plate and put it in the sink for the maid to clean later. On impulse I jumped to my feet and met him by the kitchen door that led to the garage where his car was.
“See you tonight after work, mi alma,” I whispered as I stood on my toes and pursed my lips slightly, hinting that I wanted a kiss. Cyrus stared at me indifferently for a moment and my heart fell as he glanced over to my family covertly before focusing on me again. He tapped my lips with his finger.
“I’ve asked you to only call me that in private,” he hissed under his breath. “I’ll see you at dinner.” He brushed past me and out the door without another word. I stood there like a moron, like a denied child that had asked for a cookie. My eyes burned. I didn’t know how to fill this distance between us. I hung my head slightly as I walked back into the kitchen and sat down, staring forlornly into my coffee cup.
“That is one cold bastard,” Victor growled.
“Victor!” my mother exclaimed, cuffing him upside the head.
“No, I won’t apologize,” he said firmly, rubbing the back of his skull absentmindedly while looking at me. “Is he always like that with you? I mean does he show you any affection?”
“He’s not into PDA.” I shrugged, the answer sounding lame even to my ears. “We’re still getting to know each other.” I waved a hand between my brothers and their mates. “Not everyone can hop into mating bliss. Sometimes the relati
onship has to grow to get to that comfort level. Besides, it’s hard on him to be surrounded with my family constantly.”
It was a reasonable excuse. Now if only I could even believe it.
“I’ve gotta get to the vineyard,” I mumbled quickly as I stood up and moved to grab my keys off the pegs by the door that held all of ours. I raced out the door, ignoring Victor calling my name. I felt like a little kid more than being the baby in my family had ever caused me to feel. I felt like a wimp because it hurt that my mate ignored me outside the bedroom. I felt like a needy priss because I wanted more than awesome sex.
I wanted him to wrap his arms around me when I needed it, not caring who was in the room. I wanted him to kiss me because he couldn’t stand not having his lips on me a moment longer. I wanted him to love me!
It’s only been a couple of weeks, I reminded myself as I hopped into my old SUV and took off. I wanted to drive the BMW my brothers got me for my birthday, stating I was finally old enough to handle that fast of a car with so many horses under the hood. But since the vineyard was messy and had a dirt road, I didn’t want to risk dinging my baby.
Wow, I just showed more consideration and affection to my damn car than my mate does to me. I rolled my eyes. I did sound like some lovesick drama queen who couldn’t get the popular boy’s attention. Hopefully I wouldn’t have to resort to the lame games they played in those movies to get things to change.
I jabbed the button to turn on the radio and tried to focus on anything else as I drove to my friends’ vineyard, but it didn’t work. The loud music couldn’t drown out my thoughts. I just kept mulling over everything I’d done since we’d met and wondering where I might have gone wrong. I kept coming back to the same conclusion. The sex was great, but he didn’t love me. Cyrus didn’t even seem to like me much. We didn’t talk, we didn’t just hang out, we fucked like rabbits and slept in the same bed.
But he was basically a stranger to me, and I didn’t know how to fix that. It’s not like I wanted to change him. I just wanted him to let me in or have him give me some sign showing he cared. I didn’t get anywhere thinking it all over by the time I got to the vineyard, and I was in even worse of a mood from when I started the drive.
I hopped out, said a quick hello to both of them, and got right to work, not really in the mood to socialize. I really hoped this wasn’t the future I was looking at for eternity. Lovers in the bedroom, snippets of tenderness that were supposed to hold me through the day, like throwing a dog a bone, before we went our separate ways like strangers. That seemed like hell on earth of a mating.
I worked like a fiend, furiously pulling out dead overgrowth all along the salvageable trellises. They had a small mulcher that would go down row after row to handle most of the stuff, but it had to be pulled off the wooden trellises by hand. It was brainless, menial work that I was glad for. It helped with my hurt feelings and brewing anger.
When I glanced at my phone and saw it was lunchtime, I decided to head over to the warrior compound and see if my mate wanted to eat with me. That was a common coupley thing to do, drop in on my partner at work and see if he could have lunch. Maybe I was too forward with my attention this morning. Maybe if I just showed him that I wanted to spend more time with him doing simple things instead of just whining about it, he’d take the hint.
I mean, one of us had to make the first move or this was going to be a very, very lonely mating.
I smiled, liking the idea more and more. I quickly raced to the house and got washed up before promising I’d be back after lunch and driving over to the hospital. It was time to put operation get to know my mate into effect.
* * * *
Cyrus
“Hey, you got time to have lunch?” my gorgeous mate asked as he walked into my office at the hospital. He looked nervous, and after our fight this morning, I could understand how he might feel I didn’t want him there. Being mated was harder than I thought. It took a lot of time and my mate was affectionate.
For most people that would be a dream come true, but after centuries of being alone and distant with everyone around me… It was almost torture.
“Lunch sounds great,” I purred, glad we were going to have some make-up sex. I stood and quickly led him to the supply closet, closing the door behind us and locking it. The space smelled strongly of cleaner, but the dim lighting made it intimate. I could only see a faint outline of Damian. “Get naked, amante. I did not like how we left things this morning. I need to claim you.”
“Oh, um, okay,” he mumbled sadly and started to undo his jeans. “But I meant actual lunch, like eating. I thought we could just eat and hang out. Talk some.”
Yeah, that sounded about as much fun as pulling out the hair on my head. Who wanted to talk when we could spend our time loving each other and sharing blissful passion? I just didn’t get him.
“Maybe another time if that’s okay? I want to touch my mate and keep him all to myself,” I replied honestly, not sure how he would take it.
Damian nodded and spun around to face the wall, but not before I saw what I thought to be despair in his eyes. Even in the dark closet, I could see better than most and swore my mate was in pain. Why? I wanted to scream. Didn’t I lavish affection and passion on him? I took care of him, showed him how much I worshiped the ground he walked on, and brought him hours of bliss. Why was that not enough?
He dropped his pants, and all thoughts left my head. My eyes had adjusted to the darkness, and I was able to appreciate how my mate’s body was a work of art with its smooth skin and sculpted muscles. I ran my hand slowly down his body from his chest to his abs. And he wondered why I didn’t want to share him with the public? I’d have to spend the whole night beating people off of him with a stick, people who would gladly make them his and could probably give him the emotional attention he seemed to need.
No, it was better to keep him to myself and not risk it. I might not be able to communicate or hang out as he wanted, but I could show him without words what he meant to me. I could master his body and bring him bliss. It was what I did best.
“Nunca me cansaré de estar contigo,” I whispered in his ear as I pulled my cock out of my scrubs. I will never get enough of being with you. And that was how I felt. If it took a century for him to understand that he was my everything, I would gladly show him as much as possible. He nodded that he understood but didn’t reply. That was odd. Maybe he was still upset about how I acted around his family.
I didn’t like feeling forced into anything, and when he’d cornered me into kissing him, everyone watching, I’d gotten angry. Sure, I didn’t handle it right, but I didn’t think it was fair that he put me in the position to start with. So when he showed up at my office, I assumed he wanted to make up. Maybe I was wrong?
But we were there now, and I wanted my mate. I reached over and pumped some of the medical lubricant onto my hand, slicking up my cock, before pulling the side of his ass away and pushing against his hole. This is what we were best at. Making love was the only way I knew how to show him that he was in my heart. Nothing else but making sure he knew that mattered.
“You feel so good, amante,” I hissed as I pushed inside of him.
“Yeah, fuck your little closet slut,” he replied with no feeling in his words.
I froze. Was he not into this? I reached around his body and grabbed his hard dick, starting to stroke him. Well, he was turned on. So what was going on in my mate’s head? Normally he liked the dirty talk and gave as good as he got. Now it just seemed wrong.
“Slam that meat into your dirty whore. I’m your beloved mistress, aren’t I?” Damian didn’t seem to notice I’d stopped moving and thrust his hips back, impaling himself on my cock. What was going on here? “I’m not good enough to kiss in public but you can pound into my ass as soon as we’re alone. So disappointed with the mate you got that you won’t even be seen at lunch with me, right?”
“What?” I gasped, wondering where the hell this was all coming from. So I didn�
��t want to kiss him in front of his family, namely his parents. Why was he blowing this so far out of proportion? I’d never treated him as if he was a disappointment! I loved him!
“But then who talks to their sluts like an equal?” he grunted, moving his hips faster. “Why would you care what your whore did all day or want to talk to him?” I felt my erection start to deflate. This was so wrong. “You’re not mated to me. You’re mated to my ass. Fine, fuck it if that’s all the affection I get from you. If that’s the only part of me you care about.”
“Is that what you think?” I whispered, my cock flaccid now as I moved away from him.
“Great, now you don’t even want my ass?” Damian exclaimed, turning to face me. It was then I saw the tears trailing down his cheeks. “That was the only thing I was good for to you and now you don’t even want me.”
“Amante,” I gasped, having no clue what the fuck he was saying.
“Don’t!” he snarled, pushing me hard in the chest and then pulling up his jeans. “Don’t call me lover anymore! You don’t mean it, Cyrus. We both know you don’t love me. Hell, you can’t even stand to talk to me as if you even like me. I get that now, okay? I won’t push you ever again to be more than your bedroom whore.”
“Damian!” I exclaimed, trying desperately to get my foothold and talk to him as my world shattered around me. “You can’t really think that’s how I feel about you.”
“Are you serious?” he shouted, throwing up his hands in the air and knocking down some containers of something in the process. It was too dim in the closet to see the labels as they tumbled to the floor. “Even my family thinks you don’t like me. Victor wanted to know if you ever show me any affection at all or are always such a cold bastard.” I growled as I managed to right my clothes a second before he stormed to the door and practically ripped it off the hinges.
