“What about the news? You could watch that and expand your mind a little.”
She stuck out her pretty little pink tongue. The same tongue that he wanted running up the length of his cock. His stomach twisted in a knot.
“I can only take so much of the news. There’s too much bad stuff going on in the world. It’s depressing.”
“And what you’re watching isn’t bad or depressing? There’s a baby who might never know who her father is or, worse yet, this episode will forever hang over her head—even to adulthood. Now to me that’s depressing.”
“You’re right. But I like to watch these shows. They keep me grounded.”
He chuckled. No one ever used shock jock television programs to help keep them grounded. “How in the world do they do that?”
“They help me to remember why getting married would be a bad idea—well, one of the reasons.”
He pulled his brows together. “You don’t want to get married? I thought that’s what all women wanted in life. To grow up, get married and have kids.”
“That’s a stereotype. It would be like me saying that all wolf-shifters lived on an Indian Reservation and their main goal in life was to fight the blood-sucking vampires and fall in love with too dumb-to-live high school girls just because I read about it once.” She frowned at the last part. “Maybe I finished the series and then re-read it. But you get my meaning.”
He let out a snort. “As if.”
She chuckled. “Thought so.”
“So you never want to settle down?” His heart thumped at an odd pace. He’d have to tell her about the imprint and explain what that meant. He thought he wouldn’t have any resistance, now he wasn’t so sure.
“Protective custody, Yaruzi hit out on us, remember?”
“But they haven’t come after you in all this time. Maybe they forgot all about you and your family and moved on?”
“And how do you propose I test that theory out? I’d always had dreams of going back to Japan and seeing my grandparents again, but I’d never had the courage to make the trip.”
Yeah right. She would have no way of knowing, not without letting them know where she was and see if they came after her. That was out of the question. “You’re right. But you don’t have to worry about them anymore.”
She raised a brow. “Really now.” Then she opened her eyes wide and snapped her fingers. “I get it, I’m suddenly incapable of taking care of myself and I need someone to do that for me.”
“That’s not it at all.” He let out a sigh. He had to do this right or he could spend forever fighting her about this. “Meisha, when we were making love, my wolf…he imprinted on you.”
She frowned, confusion showing on her face. “What in the world does that mean and, most importantly, should I be kicking your ass right now?”
“It means that my wolf claimed you as his mate.”
“Your wolf?” she asked slowly.
“Well, you’re our mate, but my wolf has the ability to make it permanent.”
She frowned again.
Fuck. I’m not doing this right.
“I still don’t get it. So your wolf—”
“And I,” he quickly interjected.
“Your wolf and you,” she said correcting herself. “Claimed me as your mate.”
He nodded.
“And this means what to me?”
“That you’re my mate. Life-mate,” he added quickly.
She shook her head. “I still don’t get it. A part of me is saying that I’m like your wife or something, but I don’t think that can be possible because that would mean you’ve taken my consent out of the situation.”
He ran his hand over the stubbles on his face. She was getting upset and he understood why. Humans bought rings, got on one knee and made a romantic proposal. Wolves didn’t have a need for any of that.
“In my world, imprinting happens spontaneously. It’s something that’s done without us knowing how or when it will happen. We can’t plan for it or even predict if or when it will happen.”
“What exactly is it?”
“It’s a joining of souls.” Well, that sounds corny. He shook his head. “I never wanted to imprint on anyone before. Imprinting meant that I’d forever be worried about my mate. I’d have to spend all my time with her. That I would even lay down my life for her. I didn’t want that…until now—with you.”
Her expression was blank while she watched him. Then she rolled her eyes. “Nice try. You had me going for a minute.”
“Meisha, I’m serious. Our souls have joined. Can’t you feel it?”
She turned away from him and frowned. “I’m not some naïve chick who falls for any line, Lajos.”
He cradled his head in his hands, feeling defeated. He didn’t know how an imprinting affected a human. He’d have to call Kristof and ask him.
Good god, am I supposed to try and win her over? He shuddered at the thought.
“I think we should stop this conversation now. There’s no way I’m going to believe that you spent your entire life waiting for someone like me to come and fulfill all your dreams.” She turned and winked at him. “It’s okay to admit the sex was off the charts and you want to do it again. You don’t have to tell me things that you think I want to hear. No commitment and no strings attached.”
“Meisha, you have to believe that this is what’s completing me. I’ll be with you always.”
“You’re only twenty-eight. You have you whole life ahead of you.” She chuckled sarcastically. “Completing you,” she mocked.
“For what it’s worth, I’m way older than twenty-eight.”
“That’s what it says on your driver’s license,” she pointed out.
“Hey, what were you doing looking at my driver’s license?” He grabbed his pants, pulling them over to him. Reaching inside the pocket, he fished out his wallet. He flipped it open, finding his license where he’d left it.
She shrugged. “I wanted to know who I was hanging out with.”
“So you snooped through my things? Why didn’t I wake up?” The last question was more to himself. He’d never been a heavy sleeper. At the hint of a sound or a creak in the floor, he should’ve been up or least had one eye open.
“You were snoring away and I couldn’t sleep. That’s the only reason that I’m up at this ungodly hour.”
He stuffed his wallet back into his pants and put them on the other side of him, away from Meisha.
“If you really want to know, little miss nosey, I’m one hundred and twenty years old.” If they were going to spend the rest of their lives together he might as well start telling her the truth about everything—starting with his age.
She snorted. “Yeah right, and this is the part you tell me you’re an immortal.”
“No, I’m not immortal. Nothing is. Everything has to die, but some of us get to stick around a little longer.
She turned to stare at him. “You can’t be for real.”
“I am. Shifters typically live to anywhere between four and five hundred years old.”
“So when I’m dead and gone you’ll still be walking around.”
A stab pierced his heart. His wolf howled in his mind. Lajos clenched his jaws together against the pain.
“It was a joke,” she said, the humor falling from her face.
He put both hand on his head, trying to calm his wolf. “S-Since we’re mated, your life-force has been extended. You’ll live about two hundred years longer than a normal human.”
She nodded slowly. “Right, because you imprinted on me.”
“Listen, I know this is a lot for you to take in right now. We can go slowly and move at your pace.”
“Why, thank you, Lajos,” she said sarcastically.
He threw up his arms in defeat. “Fine, let’s just get some breakfast and finish this discussion later.”
“Fine with me, I ordered room service. It should be here in…” she looked at her watch. “Twenty minutes. I hope you don�
�t mind but I charged it to your card.”
“You got my credit card information too?”
She shrugged. “I figured you could write all this off as a company expense and also consider it as payback for leaving me behind.”
“I can, but really?”
“You’re welcome Meisha for ordering me breakfast,” she said in a low voice that was meant to mock him. “Oh and after breakfast we’re going to the beach. I rented us a cabana from the hotel.”
“Let me guess,” he said. “You put it on my card.”
She winked at him. “You’re welcome.
Chapter Sixteen
The beach had been a disaster—for Lajos and for her. She’d tried to put Lajos out of her mind as she relaxed in the sun while dipping her body in the cool water of Biscayne Bay. It was a beautiful day, it seemed like it was always beautiful in Miami. Meisha and Trudy usually took a trip south about four times a year—girls only. It was always just the two of them, lazing on the beach or by poolside and checking out the boutiques and local hot spots.
Lajos looked completely miserable, like he’d never been near water in his life. He’d explained that he preferred marshes to large bodies of water and stayed in the shade under the cabana watching her while she frolicked in the waves.
The distance between them gave her some time to think about what he’d been trying to explain to her earlier.
His life-mate. Yeah right.
They hardly knew each other. What had it been, four days? Who found a life-mate in four days?
Stupid shifter.
But still, there was a part of her that jumped for joy. The stupid part.
Part of her wanted to stay with him always, to never leave his side. When she was out of her sight she felt sad, needing to go back to look at him again. And when she did lay her eyes on him—wow. He was a sight to behold, even sitting there looking mad and uncomfortable.
Go to him. Make him happy, that crazy part repeated in her head. It took all she could to pretend as if she were having the time of her life while trying to ignore the feeling of wanting to be next to him in her heart.
But what if he’d been right? What if they were tied together? What if he was her mate?
She wouldn’t be alone anymore. She could have someone else to talk to besides Trudy. Maybe someone would love her.
She clamped down on those thoughts.
No ties, Meisha.
If she needed to run, Lajos would just be another thing she’d have to leave behind.
With a heavy heart she’d pulled herself from the ocean and walked past him, heading to the room. Lajos followed behind; she could feel him. She didn’t turn to talk to him, but entered the room and went straight to the shower.
She tried not to think about it anymore, pushing the thought of her and Lajos as a couple right out of her mind. It was hard. But it was what must be done. She finished her shower and dressed quickly. When she opened the door she found Lajos waiting for her.
He still looked miserable, even though they weren’t near the water anymore. But when he looked up at her, she spotted something else behind his eyes—longing.
* * * * *
Lajos reached out to hold her arms. “Meisha, I’ll have to go back out tonight and I just want to make sure you’re good with staying behind. I don’t want you to be upset with me.”
“Why would I be upset with you? Could it be because you left me last night and you think you’re about to do it again? Guess what, it’s a free country. I can go wherever I want.”
She still doesn’t get it. “There’s a reason why I left you last night.”
She wiggled free and brushed past him to put her things in her bag. “Yeah, you told me. You think I’m weak.”
He winced at having the words he’d used the night before flung back at him. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
She put up a hand. “Lajos, I really don’t want to go down this road again. Let’s just forget about all this business. I need to find out if the Russian shifters are working for the Yaruzi and are trying to get at my family and you need to find out if they’ve been hired by some unknown person to stop the audit on your business. After this is done, I’m going home and you can go your separate way.”
His wolf projected pictures, first of Meisha’s back, meaning she was mad at them. Yes, Lajos already knew that. Then of Lajos on the ground incapacitated. Yeah. If Meisha tried to leave him they wouldn’t be able to function without her.
“There are two things we have to clear up. One, you can’t go with me and my team tonight, it’s too dangerous. We’ll catch the shifters and deal with them appropriately.”
“I really don’t want to hear this shit anymore. I’m going with you this time.” She dangled her keys in the air. “Like I said, this is a free country.”
He held up his hands. “Just hear me out. There’s a perfectly good reason why I want to keep you here where it’s safe.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “If you tell me one more time I’m too weak, I swear to Oprah that I’ll fuck you up, right here and now.”
He tried his best to hold back his chuckle. Keeping all of his teeth depended on it. He’d read all the ways she’d wanted to hurt him before he fell asleep, and he had to give it to her, her list was quite comprehensive. “Meisha, sweetheart, you’re my mate. If anything happened to you I wouldn’t survive. We couldn’t—my wolf and I would die without you.”
He watched her reaction, waiting to find out how she would take the news. Curious? Happy?
She frowned. Not the reaction he was looking for, but hey, this was all still new to her. “Just because your wolf likes me you’ll die if I die?”
“He liked you the first time we first met. Imprinting is something deeper. It means we’ll be together for the rest of our lives.”
She nodded. “Um hm. Just like you told me before, we’re stuck with each other now.”
He grimaced at her choice of words. “I really wouldn’t say that. We’ve found each other. We’re mated—for life.”
“Did I miss something?”
“Huh?”
Although on the outside she appeared calm, he could almost feel the energy from her anger crackling through the air. “You and your wolf mated with me and now you expect me to be stuck with you for life.”
“Look, maybe I’m not explaining this right. I’ve never had to explain this to a human. A wolf would automatically know what this meant. Maybe I should call Andras and have him explain it to you.”
“And I would want to hear this from Andras because…”
“Because he’s your Alpha.” He searched his brain for another comparison. “Um, just think of him as your boss.”
When both of her brows rose, he was definitely sure he’d gone about this the wrong way.
“So you’re my mate. You’re in charge of protecting me because I’m a weak and fragile human. And since I’m too dumb to understand the logistics of what this means for me, Andras, my new boss, will explain it to me.”
He wanted to shake his head, but although she was saying it in a less than desirable tone, she still had the gist of it.
“And the decision to mate with me and bond our forces forever was made without my knowledge and input,” she added.
“I told you there’s no planning for it. No wolf plans for this, it just happens.”
“So for humor’s sake, tell me something. If you had the choice, who would’ve you picked?”
“Honestly?”
She nodded. “Honestly.”
“I would’ve picked another wolf. Someone who wouldn’t expose the pack to vulnerability. Someone who would live as long as I would. Someone who I wouldn’t spend the rest of her life worrying about.”
She turned away from him, but before she did he saw the pain reflecting in her eyes. “I’ll find someone who respects me. Someone who loves me. Someone who sees me as an equal and someone who wouldn’t mind spending the rest of his life worrying about my wellbeing.”
<
br /> He rested his hand on her shoulder, needing to feel skin. He just wanted to make this right, but not at the cost of possibly losing her. “I’m not upset that we’ve joined. You…you’re…”
How could he find the words to tell her that she’s more woman and wolf than any female he’d ever met? That her vulnerabilities were perfect, that her weaknesses were also her strongest points and that he’d go to the end of the earth for her.
She pulled away from him. “No need to explain yourself, we were being honest. But you and your wolf are forgetting one thing, Lajos. I’m not a shifter. I don’t have to abide by your rules.”
“Meisha—”
She turned around and faced him. Her eyes were red and watery. “I reject your claim on me.”
Chapter Seventeen
The day had gone to hell in a hand basket. He hadn’t really chosen her. According to him it was just something that happened.
Whatever, she thought as she raced down the street on her bike with the wind whipping at her clothes.
She wasn’t his. Just because they’d fucked didn’t make it so either. She should’ve stayed with her first impulse and avoided any kind of physical relationship with Lajos. At least things would’ve stayed the same and been less muddled.
The sex had been amazing, the best she’d ever had. And afterward, after he’d come, there was a sense of euphoric joy in the air. Like this was it. She’d finally found the one for her.
Could it have been the imprinting?
She didn’t know.
Why did he have to go and imprint on me?
Why couldn’t they just have kept fucking until they had to go their separate ways?
Lajos wouldn’t fit into her world any more than she would be able to fit into his. What would her parents think about all this? She’d brought Trudy in and she’d almost been killed. And what would the other wolves in his pack think of her if she let Lajos trail after her and the Yaruzi got to him? She couldn’t spend the rest of her days running from the Yaruzi and two shifter packs.
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