His Refused Mate by Jade Marshall

Chapter Seven

Caine

For three days Peyton moves around our home like a ghost. She doesn’t want to see anyone. She doesn’t want to eat, and she has stopped talking to me again. I have to do something or risk losing her completely. I have to make her see that I belong to her and she belongs to me.

I find her in my office, reading a book. She’s wearing tight black yoga pants that mold to her every curve. The white button-down shirt is one that she stole from my closet. It hangs off her shoulder, baring the expanse of creamy skin for my viewing pleasure. The dusty color of her nipples is visible through the shirt because she isn’t wearing a bra.

For a moment all my blood flows to my cock. I am hard as a steel pipe.

“Peyton.” Even though I don’t mean it to, my voice comes out sounding rough. But who can blame me? I’ve been walking around with a constant hard-on since the first time I saw her. And even though I’ve tried, I can’t contain my reaction to her.

She whips her head around to face me.

“Yes?”

“I want to take you out tonight. Just you and me. Would that be okay?”

The request sounds strange to my ears. As Alpha, I’m not used to having to ask for the little things. Most of the time I either already have them or can get them on command.

“Okay?” She phrases it as a question.

Deciding to grab the opportunity, not questioning the slight hesitation in her voice, I lean in and place a kiss on her cheek.

“Good. I’ll be back around six and then we can leave.”

Peyton doesn’t get another chance to say anything before I stride out of what I now call our home and leave her alone. I wouldn’t want her to change her mind.

****

Tonight has to be special, and for that to be possible I had to put in more effort than I ever have before. I had some of the females help me arrange a picnic basket, which is currently resting on the backseat of my truck along with a blanket. There is so much I still have to learn about this woman beside me, but I feel like tonight may be our real start. Staring at her as she gazes out the window at the scenery, I am yet again struck by her beauty. In my mind’s eye, I can see myself with her in ten years. Children running around our quiet little house and laughter filling every corner.

My hand twitches as my fingers yearn to touch her skin, her hair. But I hold myself back, not wanting to frighten her with my need. How could any man, Alpha or not, push this woman away? And for a shifter to refuse her as his mate? My blood boils just thinking about the pain she went through.

Peyton draws a sharp breath as we pull into the clearing and she sees the waterfall. She stares at me for a moment before speaking.

“How did you know?”

“That this is your favorite place?” I smirk.

She turns away from me, trying to hide her blush, but nods.

“Well, this is where I saw you for the first time. And every night when you think I’m asleep, this is where you come to let your wolf run.”

I let the information sink in for a moment as I get out of my truck and round the front to open her door. Peyton takes my hand, sending a shock through my system and pulling an involuntary growl from me as I help her down. Moving away, I retrieve the blanket and basket and head to the edge of the water.

Although the sun has already set, I know Peyton can see me clearly in the dark with her heightened shifter vision and allow her to follow at her own pace. By the time she reaches me, I have already spread out the blanket and settled our picnic.

“But how did you know?” Peyton questions from behind me.

“Peyton.” I move in closer to her. Taking a piece of her blonde hair between my fingers, I rub it absentmindedly while staring at her. “Do you think I don’t know where you are every minute of every day since the moment I laid eyes on you?”

Her eyes widen at my confession.

“I know the moment you wake in the morning and the moment you go to sleep at night. I hear every breath, every sigh, every laugh. I may not know everything about you, yet, but I do know where my mate is at all times.”

Peyton eyes me before she sighs and steps closer. She raises her hand to cup my cheek, and like a pup, I nuzzle into her touch.

“I thought it was just me,” she whispers.

“No, love, I feel it too. I know what’s happening to us and have accepted that I will feel this way every day for the rest of my life. The only question now is how long you will prolong the torture you’re putting us both through.”

Peyton stares into my eyes for a long moment. I don’t know what she’s searching for, but I hope she finds the answer she needs.

“What do you want from me?” The question leaves her so softly that I almost miss it.

“You. I want my mate. I want the chance to make you happy and show you that I am the mate you deserve.” My voice is rough. She’s standing so close that her pebbled nipples press against my chest through both our shirts, driving me crazy.

For the longest time, she doesn’t say a word. It feels like time stands still but drags on for eternity as I see her weigh the options in her mind. The pain that she has been through has made her cautious of me, even though I wasn’t the one to cause it. I understand her reticence, but I sure as shit don’t like it.

Slowly, a soft smile touches her lips before she speaks the words that will lock us together for the rest of our lives.