He looked deeply into her eyes as he started to release the front fastener of her bra and was shocked by what he saw. There was passion, but underlying the passion was fear. Oh, my God, what am I doing? She doesn’t deserve this. With a deep sigh, he began refastening the buttons on her blouse.
“Michael, what’s wrong?” He could hear the confusion and hurt in her voice.
He waited to answer her question until he had her body covered back up. He took her face between his hands. “Ariane, you’re a beautiful woman, and I want you more than you can imagine, but not like this. You deserve so much more. If we do eventually make love, I want it to be for the right reasons.” He leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. “I want to be able to make it special for you.” He kissed her again, deeper.
Releasing her lips, he gazed into her eyes. “It’s time for you to go home, Ariane. I need to be alone for a while.” Michael frowned at the hurt look that came over her face.
“Michael, is it because I’m a wolf? Is that why you’re sending me away?” Ariane asked in a small voice.
Michael felt shock run over his body. “What did you say?”
Now Ariane looked uncomfortable and wouldn’t look him in the eye. “Are you changing your mind about making love because you know I’m a wolf?”
He released her face like his fingers had been burned and then winced when he heard her gasp. “You’re a wolf, like Remus? You can turn into a wolf like he and Maddie can?”
* * * *
Ariane felt as if her world was falling apart around her. She didn’t want to answer his question but knew she had to be honest with him. “Yes, Michael, I’m a wolf shifter.” She felt tears form in her eyes as she watched her mate stumble in his haste to get away from her. It was difficult to tell whether the look on his face was of disgust or terror.
Michael spoke harshly. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me?”
Ariane wouldn’t look at him when she answered. “I thought you would send me away if I told you. Remus called me after you left their house. He said you hadn’t taken the news well and would need someone to lean on while you worked things out in your mind. I didn’t want to risk you telling me to go away.”
Now Michael looked furious, and she shrank back against the headboard in an attempt to get away from the fury he was projecting.
“You mean to tell me that Remus sent you here to fuck me?”
Now it was Ariane’s turn to get angry. She quickly got off the bed and turned to glare at him. “Of course not. He sent me to offer comfort. Might I remind you that you kissed me and then begged me not to say no to you?”
“Well, I certainly wouldn’t have kissed you if I’d known you were one of them.”
Michael’s words were like a knife through her heart. Her plans and dreams for the future were dying right before her eyes, and there didn’t seem to be anything she could do to save them. Sadly, she looked into his eyes, not bothering to hide the tears that had begun to fall down her cheeks. “I’m sorry, Michael. It never occurred to me that you’d be so disgusted with what I am.” She walked over to the door, determined to leave before she broke down completely.
“Ariane, would you answer one question for me?”
Ariane stopped with her hand on the doorknob, waiting for him to ask his question but not saying anything.
“Why did you want to be with me so badly? Why was it so important that I not send you away?”
For a long moment she said nothing, and then she raised tear-filled eyes to his. “I wanted to be with you. I’ve wanted you since I saw you drive away from your sister’s property months ago.”
He looked at her, shock showing clearly in his eyes. “But why? We didn’t even meet then.”
“Because you’re my mate, Michael.” Not willing to lay her heart open any further, Ariane opened the door and stepped out onto the porch, closing the door firmly behind her.
* * * *
Michael was stunned as he watched the door close behind Ariane. Had he really heard her correctly? Had she said he was her mate? But that didn’t make any sense. Maddie and Remus were mates. Maddie had explained it to him. She’d told him that she’d been his mate as far back as when she was a little girl. How could Ariane think he could be her mate? Weren’t mates for life? God, was she wanting to make him a wolf shifter too?
Michael walked over to the bed and sat down. He picked up the pillow and held it to his face. Ariane’s scent wafted up around him, causing his body to tighten with longing. God, what have I done? I didn’t wanna push her away, and I certainly didn’t wanna hurt her. All I really wanted to do was hold her close and lose myself in her softness. What’s wrong with me? I’ve never needed a woman in my life, never wanted to get close to anyone. I don’t know how to fix this now. How can I turn back the clock so I say the right things? What is it about Ariane that makes me want to run after her? There were no ready answers to his thoughts, so Michael lay back on the bed. His mind swam with thoughts of wolves and Ariane until finally he fell into a restless sleep.
* * * *
Remus sat at the table drinking a cup of coffee and watched as Maddie hung up the phone and turned back to the stove. He flinched when she slammed the skillet down onto the burner. It looked like his mate was in a bit of a snit this morning. “Uh, who was on the phone, Maddie?”
She continued to slam the pots around for a few moments before answering him. “It was Ariane.”
He waited for her to say more, then sighed when she broke his morning eggs into the skillet with a little more force than necessary. It looked like he would be having scrambled this morning. “Okay, Ariane was on the phone. What did she want?”
“You want to know what she wanted?” Maddie cried. She threw down her spatula and turned to face him. “I’ll tell you what she wanted. She wanted to let me know what an ass my brother is.” Maddie turned back to the stove and stirred the eggs.
Remus was beginning to lose patience. He got up and walked over to the stove. He quickly removed the skillet from the burner and set it aside before turning his mate to face him. “Maddie, for God’s sake, what’s wrong? What, exactly, did she say?”
Maddie took a deep breath and then glared at her mate. “She went to comfort Michael last night like you asked her to. Only the comfort started to get out of hand, if you know what I mean.” She looked at Remus like he was responsible for everything that was wrong in the world.
“I only sent her to talk to him, Maddie, nothing else. What the hell happened?”
She walked over and sat down at the table. “Apparently, everything was going along fine. They were, err, uh, comforting each other when Michael pulled away. She said he was loving and romantic in explaining that they really shouldn’t be, uh, comforting each other yet.”
Remus joined her at the table. “Okay, that doesn’t sound so bad.”
Maddie snorted. “That’s because it’s not the end of the story. He was loving and romantic right up until he found out she’s a wolf shifter.”
“Shit,” Remus exclaimed.
“Exactly,” Maddie replied dryly. “He actually told her that he never would have kissed her if he’d known what she was. Apparently, my brother is horrified that he was almost intimate with someone who occasionally has more hair on her legs than he does. Ariane was devastated.”
“What the hell is wrong with Michael? I never would have sent Ariane to him if I’d even thought he could act that way.”
“Well, hang onto your hat because that’s not the worst of it.”
Remus had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. “What else is there?”
“I guess he asked her why she was so willing to be with him and on her way out the door, she told him.”
“Told him what?” Remus asked.
“That he was her mate,” Maddie whispered.
“Damn it to hell,” Remus cried out. He jumped from his chair and began pacing back and forth. “So now what do we do?” he asked.
“Hey,
guys, how’s everything this morning? What’s for breakfast?” Latan came strolling into the kitchen. He walked over to the stove and peered into the skillet of half-cooked eggs. “Uh, I think Ethan and I will grab something to eat when we run into town for supplies.”
Remus scowled at his brother and then watched as he left the kitchen as fast as he could. He started when Maddie pounded her hands on the table and then jumped to her feet.
“I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do. I’m going to go see Michael right now and give him something to think about,” Maddie declared.
Remus chuckled. “You’re not gonna hurt him, are you?”
Maddie grabbed her keys and started for the back door. “No, I won’t hurt him, not much anyway.” Remus was laughing when she slammed the door behind her.
* * * *
Michael sucked strongly on her engorged nipple, enjoying the feeling of the hardened nub against his tongue. Raising his hand, he gently rolled the other nipple between his fingers and tugged gently. Her skin was silky smooth, and he was anxious to find out if she felt that way all over. He smiled against her breast when he felt her arch her back and try to push farther into his mouth.
Encouraged by her response, Michael quickly pulled his own shirt over his head and tossed it aside then pushed her open shirt and bra over her shoulders and down her arms, letting them lie on the bed behind her. Placing his hands on the naked skin of her back, he let them glide slowly upward at the same time he pulled her forward. Her skin was soft and smooth, and he savored the silky feel against the roughness of his hands.
At the feel of her bare breasts against his hair-roughened chest, Michael groaned in delight and tightened his arms around her. He could feel the points of her nipples digging into the middle of his chest. It was like two spears of heat shot through him.
The loud banging on the door startled Michael from his dream. Before he could gather himself enough to go and answer it, a familiar voice screeched out his name.
“Michael, open up. I know you’re in there. Let me in.”
Wearily he pulled on his jeans and then went and opened his front door. “Hello, Maddie. What are you doing here so early?”
Not bothering to answer him, Maddie walked through the door and then closed it with a little more force than necessary. “What the hell did you do?”
Michael walked slowly over to the couch and sat down. He was sure that his loving sister was not done with her tirade yet.
“Don’t even try to pretend that you don’t know what I’m talking about. I talked to Ariane this morning. The poor girl was in tears. Did you have to take your anger and frustration at me out on her? Haven’t you figured out by now that she cares for you? How could you…?”
Michael felt grief overwhelm him and raised his gaze up to her, causing Maddie to stop in mid-sentence. “What is it, Michael? What’s wrong?”
Taking a deep breath, he got to his feet and walked over to stare out the back door. It took several moments before he was able to talk, and Maddie kept quiet, giving him the time he needed to pull himself together. “I made a big mistake, Maddie, a really big mistake.”
When he didn’t say any more, Maddie walked over to him and put her arms around him, laying her head against his shoulder. “Tell me what happened, Michael.”
“When I came back here last night, Ariane came to visit me. I felt so lost and alone after our talk that I, well, um, I, um.”
Maddie sighed. “I already know that the two of you got pretty close and that she told you she was a shifter and your mate.”
Michael turned to look at his sister, stunned at the amount of information the young woman had told her. “Did she also tell you that I didn’t take the news very well? Did she tell you that I went out of my way to make it sound like I was disgusted by what she is?”
“Why did you make her feel that way, Michael?”
He stood and went to stand in front of the fireplace. “Out of anger at you, I think. I was in shock over what you and Remus had told me and trying to make myself believe that the two of you were crazy.”
Maddie gasped and stood up. “Do you hate me that much?”
Michael walked over and took Maddie in his arms. “Of course I don’t hate you, little girl. I love you, Maddie. I’ll always love you. You’re my family.” He gave her a brief hug and then sat back down on the couch, bringing her down beside him. “It sounds childish, but I was hurt by our conversation last night. It’s like I have this ridiculous feeling that you’ve joined some exclusive club that I can’t be a member of.”
“Do you believe me now? Do you believe that I can turn into a wolf, just like Remus?” Maddie asked.
Michael sighed and looked away. “Yeah, I believe you. It’s hard not to believe when he was standing in your kitchen like a big, overgrown dog.” He looked back at Maddie. “I’m still not convinced that it had anything to do with our family, though. I don’t care what Grandfather said in his journal, I don’t believe Father would have kept something like that from me. Maddie, we were so close all those years you were in the clinic. We did everything together. I didn’t think we had any secrets.”
Maddie scooted closer and put her arm around his shoulder. “Oh, Michael, I don’t think he was really keeping secrets from you. I think he was afraid of his own heritage and didn’t want to inflict that fear on you.”
Michael snorted. “God, Maddie, you’re a born diplomat, aren’t you? We both know our father wouldn’t have cared one iota about someone else’s feelings. You spent most of your life in a hospital. You didn’t live around Father like I did. You didn’t see the cold way he treated us. I saw it kill our mother bit by bit and couldn’t do anything to stop it. When you were hurt, he couldn’t even bring himself to visit you. He happily signed the papers that would keep you in that clinic indefinitely.”
Maddie sighed and wiped at her eyes with a trembling hand. “Maybe you’re right, I don’t know. You still haven’t explained why you felt the need to take your frustrations out on Ariane.”
Michael laughed. “Are you kidding? At the risk of shocking your tender little-sister ears, I haven’t wanted a woman in a very long time. I finally find one that I’m anxious to get to know better, and I find out she’s a member of the same exclusive club you are.” He ran his hands through his hair. “God, I never meant to make her feel bad. I was so angry when she said Remus had sent her here. Then, when she told me she was a wolf shifter, I just lost it.” He didn’t tell his sister he was angry and confused about feeling such a need for the young woman, a need he still didn’t understand.
“You know, it’s not an exclusive club, Michael. You come from the same family line I do. There’s no reason to believe you wouldn’t be able to find your wolf if you mated with a full-blooded shifter like Ariane.”
“Damn, Maddie, you’re talking about mating. You told me that mating was for life. I’m not ready to tie myself to one woman for life. Can you see Ariane living with me in Houston? Can you see her fitting in with Peter’s fiancé at afternoon teas?”
“Don’t be an ass, Michael. Did you ever think about living closer to me? There’s plenty of room here on the mountain to build another house, and I’m sure Remus would give you some land to build on.”
“Maddie, you worry me. I think you’re becoming delusional again.” He ignored the glare she shot his way. “I have a business in Houston, a very profitable business that I’m not about to give up.”
“Michael…?”
“Stop right there, Maddie. This is pointless. The woman ran out of here like I’d kicked her puppy. She’s not going to want anything to do with me now, so let’s just drop it.”
“I’ll drop it for now, but you’re still an ass. Mating fever doesn’t go away, Michael. She won’t just up and decide you’re not worth the effort. It’s a chemical response that will drive her to be with you.”
“That’s another thing, Maddie. It’s a chemical thing. That tells me she didn’t really choose me. Some hormonal imbalance
is making her want me, and that’s not very flattering.”
Maddie stood up and walked to the door. She opened it then turned around to stare at him. “Well, that’s her excuse. You claim that you don’t have any wolf in you, so what made you want her so badly?” Without waiting for an answer, she closed the door, leaving him alone.
“Shit, Maddie. Why couldn’t you have left without throwing that back at me?”
* * * *
Ariane let herself into the cabin she shared with her uncle and was surprised to see him still sitting at the breakfast table. She had hoped he would already be gone to work when she arrived home. With his keen sense of smell, he would know exactly what she had been up to the night before. Michael’s scent was still all over her. After leaving his cabin, she’d walked up and down the river thinking about what to do about her mate. She wasn’t ashamed of being with him, but she didn’t like disappointing her uncle.
Looking up at his niece, Ezra frowned.
“Hello, Uncle Ezra. What are you still doing at home? Don’t you have to work today?”
“He’ll never make you happy, girl. He can’t live in your world, and you can’t live in his. I wanted so much more for you. Remus told me that he doesn’t even have his wolf, so he can never claim you in the way of our people.”
“I know, and I’ve accepted it. It’s one thing to know in my head that it won’t work, it’s another thing entirely to know in my heart. I love him, Uncle Ezra, and I don’t know how to change that. The first time I looked into his eyes, I knew I wanted him to be mine, and my wolf felt the same way. He’s had such a hard life and so little love. I wanna chance to make him happy. Uncle, I wanna life with a real mate and not just some nice guy. I’m greedy, and I want more than my parents had. He’s everything I want in life, but, unfortunately, he doesn’t want me or my wolf.”
Martine, Missy - Denying His Wolfen Heritage [A Wolfen Heritage 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 7
