CHAPTER 44
Ordinarily Gio’s trigger for waking was either a hunger pang in his stomach or a full bladder. This morning, it was something else. As he lay there with his eyes closed, he felt something nagging at him. Something was different, wrong, something that agitated his wolf and had him reaching for
the surface, annoyed with his human side for not realizing the problem. Taking a deep breath, Gio scrubbed at his eyes. He hadn’t had to open
them to know what was disturbing his wolf. Danica’s exotic scent had instantly shot up his nostrils, but it was too faint. Which meant that she
wasn’t there. As his lids flipped open, his eyes confirmed it. The rest of his senses told him she wasn’t in the en-suite bathroom, which meant that she had woken before him and snuck out of the room. There had to have been sneaking and creeping involved or else he would have easily woken. Unlike Danica, he was a light sleeper.
Never since the morning after the anniversary of her mom’s birthday had Danica left the room before him. They always had a little play in the
mornings before going for breakfast together. It seemed that she was establishing a distance between them, and apparently it wasn’t just going to be an emotional one.
Well fuck that!
Yeah he had messed up. Yeah he had said shit he shouldn’t have. And yeah he had hurt her. But he was still her mate and if she had just given himNôvelDrama.Org content rights.
five minutes of her time she would know that he was sorry. Okay, maybe she would never have mated with him if it wasn’t for their deal, but their mating had created a connection between them. It was a connection that wouldn’t allow for distances something that he had discovered the hard way.
So now his wolf was highly agitated and fighting for control of the situation. His wolf wanted to hunt her down and show her just what he thought of this distance she wanted. In fact, Gio didn’t think that was such a bad idea at all.
Within minutes he was washed, dressed and storming his way through the tunnels. He found the little witch in the kitchen sitting on the counter,
nibbling on a slice of toast while reading a magazine. She didn’t even look up as he entered. He noticed she was alone and wondered if the others had scarpered, suspecting this might happen. In three long strides he was in front of her, placing a hand on the counter either side of her to cage her in. Slowly she raised her head and
arched a brow questioningly, as if she couldn’t possibly imagine what his problem was.
“You weren’t there when I woke up.” The words rumbled out of him.
“True. And?” Danica hadn’t actually expected him to react so badly. She had considered that his wolf might feel cheated out of what had become his
morning ritual and maybe she’d end up with a nipped lip that seemed to be his favorite thing to do when she had annoyed him but it wasn’t his wolf looking back at her. It was Gio. With his mouth a harsh line and his eyes smouldering, he looked incensed, determined, and pretty damn horny. Her traitorous body responded to that lust. There was something else there too…if she didn’t know any better she’d have thought it was hurt.
“I like making you come in the morning, hearing you moan, having your taste on my tongue. This morning, you weren’t there.”
“Huh. Well my aim in life isn’t to please you so…”
He placed his face closer to hers. “Spread your legs.” Her stomach clenched. “What?”
“I want my morning taste of you. So spread your legs like a good girl.”
“Not a chance, asshole.”
The fire in her eyes had his already hard cock aching painfully. “Don’t talk about assholes unless you want me to fuck yours. You know exactly what my problem is so stop playing dumb. You snuck out of my arms and out of our bed, snuck being the key word. Believe me when I tell you that it’s in
your best interests to not push me any further because I’m seriously pissed off.”
She cocked her head. “Do I get extra points if I fake giving a shit?”
Growling, Gio tangled his hand in her hair and mashed his lips to hers, thrusting his tongue inside and exploring her mouth. It was a hard, possessive, punishing kiss, but of course his little mate wasn’t prepared to take that punishment. She bit his tongue and pulled away.
“Go force your will on someone who’ll bow down at the wonder that is you.”
Out of patience, Gio gripped her ass and tugged her to the edge of the counter as he boldly cupped her and leaned forward to lick over his mark. As
always, she shuddered. “That’s it, baby, relax for me. That’s my good girl.”
He unsnapped the top button of her jeans and went for her zip. Shocking him
to complete stillness, a slice of toast was slapped onto his face.
Before he could react, Danica had slipped off the counter, ducked under his arm and was running out the door. Bitch. Amusement and anger warred
within him for supremacy. He chased after her through the tunnels, out the main door, down the narrow flights of stairs and into the forest. He was
stunned by just how much distance she had been able to place between them.
Christ, she was fast. And so unbelievably agile.
Knowing she was nearing a pond and would soon need to turn left, Gio detoured through the trees and came at her from the front, springing in
front of her. She froze and smirked smugly, further inciting his wolf. He was insisting that Gio take her, take her now. Liking that idea, Gio stripped off his clothes, holding her gaze the entire time.
Helpless to the effect the naked body of her mate had on her, Danica licked her lips as she ran her gaze along Gio. He was so gloriously male. His
form seemed designed to seduce, seemed created especially to deliver raw, carnal pleasure. And Danica was eager for it. Eager to feel that long, thick shaft tunneling in and out of her. A wave of savage need had her stomach clenching and her body quivering. Afraid that she would end up giving him exactly what that hard on said he wanted, she backed away. His cautioning
growl made her halt.
“Is this your new thing, Danica, putting space between us?” He shook his head, “It won’t work. We’re mates.”
“Wrong. We might have mated, but we didn’t do it because we chose each other and wanted to have that bond. We came together for a deal. That makes it an arrangement, not a mating.”
“I don’t much care what you want to call it, Danica. The point is that because I’ve claimed you we have a connection you can’t ignore, that neither
of us can ignore.”
“And this connection means I’m supposed to give you whatever you want?” She snorted derisively.
“Well fuck you.”
“I know you’re upset with me, baby, but did you give me a chance to apologize? Or did you try to freeze me out again?”
It startled her that he sounded genuinely hurt by that. In fact, he looked it too. “Who said I was upset?”
“If you’re not upset then prove it. Come here so I can give you what both of us want. I can smell your arousal, Danica.” He fisted his cock. “You
want this.”
He was right, the bastard. She couldn’t help being annoyed with her body , it didn’t care that he had hurt her. No, it was responding to him as it always did like the goddamn hussy Lindy described! Even now as she was considering a good place to bury his body she couldn’t move her eyes from the sight of him stroking himself. Not trusting that she could keep resisting him, she snarled and sprung
upwards, grabbing onto the branch above her head. She hauled herself up and stood perfectly balanced. He didn’t look impressed.
“Get your pretty little ass down here now and I might not spank it.”
She snorted. “You say that as if you think I’d let you spank me.”
“Now, Danica,” he drawled.
Instead she shot him a challenging look. As she expected, he began climbing his way up the tree, reaching for her. She sprang to the next tree,
then swung from that tree to the next, and the next, and the next before finally jumping to the ground and dashing away. She could hear him hot on her heels but she didn’t once look back.
Moments later a set of powerful arms locked around her and tackled her to the ground. At the last second he spun, taking the brunt of the fall,
before then rolling her onto her stomach.
“Caught. Trapped. And soon to be mounted.”
Danica struggled. “Oh I don’t think so!” He grunted as she reared back and slammed her elbow into his ribs. Although she managed to scramble
from beneath him, he grabbed her feet and dragged her back to him.
“Tricky little bitch,” he said with a smile. “My tricky little bitch.”
“No.”
He draped himself over her and placed his mouth at her ear. “Oh yes, baby, your ass is definitely mine. And if you keep struggling I swear I’ll fuck
it.”
Instantly she stilled, but then as she felt his arrogant smile at her neck a surge of anger hit her. She sank her hand into the soil and hurled a handful of it at his face. He coughed and spat, cursing. As the pressure of his body left her, she managed to crawl from beneath him and was almost on her feet when he again clamped his arms around her and pinned her to the ground.
Harder than he’d ever been in his life, Gio tore her jeans from her body and then gripped her arms and locked them behind her back, trapping them there with one hand. He curled his other arm around her waist and pulled her ass in the air. “God, you’ve no idea how hot you look right now.
Totally submissive.” Without any preamble, he plunged two fingers inside her. “You’re so wet for me. See, baby, your body knows it belongs to me.”