“You believe yourself to be my mate.”
Never one to beat around the bush, shefigured she’d get it out in the open; she saw no reason to continueto tiptoe around one another. His eyes widened at her blunt words,his lips pressed together as his hands jerked in his pockets. Hewas trying to keep from grabbing her, she realized.
“I do.” He focused on her face to pick outevery minute detail of her reaction to his words, but she remainedexpressionless. “No woman has ever fascinated me the way you do.I’ve never wanted to protect and cherish one like I do you. I can’tget you out of my head.”
Mia tilted her head to the side as anguishtwisted in her chest and tears burned her throat. He was too goodof a man; he deserved someone far better than her. He deservedsomeone who could love him and hold him. She didn’t know if she hadit in her to love again, or if she would ever be able to accept thetouch of another.
“I’m worse than a shattered mirror. Youcan’t put me back together,” she said.
“You’re not shattered. Fractured maybe, butnot shattered.”
Mia couldn’t stop her snort of laughter whenhe smiled teasingly at her while he spoke.
“Besides,” he continued, “I never said Iwanted to put you back together.”
“You like weak women, then?” Mia demanded,incensed that he might think of her that way, and worse, that hewanted her to stay that way. “Or do you have a savior complex?”
David blinked at her. “God, no. What’s thefun in a weak woman? I’m no one’s savior, and you don’t need one.If you think you’re weak, Mia, then you haven’t been payingattention these last few weeks. There was a time when you wouldn’tleave your room, or go anywhere near the others. Now you’retraining to fight back against anyone who threatens you. You maynot realize it yet, but you’re already working toward makingyourself whole again. You’re saving yourself.”
Mia didn’t know how to respond; he’d takenall sense of the English language away from her with those words.She opened her mouth, then closed it again. He considered herstrong. That realization pleased her more than she ever would havebelieved possible.
“I haven’t felt whole since the day I stoodin my front yard and watched my home collapse,” she admitted in aragged whisper as a single tear slid down her cheek.
“You’ve been through a lot between losingyour parents and being held captive for three months,” he said. Hecouldn’t stop his fangs from extending over the reminder of howlong she’d endured the abuse of those bastards. “No one comes outof that the same as they were before. You’re being too tough onyourself.”
“Or maybe I’m smart enough to realize I’llnever be the same again, and you deserve better for a mate thansomeone who is a borderline basket case.”
Pulling one of his hands free of hispockets, he rested his palm against her chilled cheek and wipedaway the tear. She twitched but didn’t move away from him. “You’realready allowing me to touch you more than you ever didbefore.”
“I’m not sure if you’re the mostunderstanding man I’ve ever met, or just crazy,” she said.
“Maybe I’m a bit of both.”
“Maybe,” she agreed and stepped away fromhim.
David lowered his hand back to his side. “Doyou believe I’m your mate?”
Her head tipped back as she contemplated hisquestion. She couldn’t deny her intense attraction to him. Davidmade her fingers itch to touch him, and her body to melt in a wayshe hadn’t realized it could. Despite her dislike of being touched,she craved knowing what it would feel like to have him deep withinher, taking possession of her body.
But that would mean flesh against flesh, andtouching more deeply than a simple hand on a face, or lips againstlips. The chill racing down her spine had nothing to do with theDecember wind whipping around them and everything to do withallowing herself to be vulnerable in such a way again.
“I can’t deny there is a pull between us,”she finally admitted. “But for your sake, I really hope I’m notyour mate.”
She didn’t wait to hear what he would saybefore turning on her heel and walking back to the main house. Themonstrous building loomed high, casting a shadow over her andblocking out the afternoon sun. She couldn’t shake the ridiculousnotion that it wanted to devour her.
David had been right before; she wasn’thappy here. The place would have a cold air to it even in August.With the leaves off the trees and the snow blanketing the ground,the mansion felt frigid and menacing. There was an austerity to itthat made her skin crawl, but she’d chosen to remain, and she hadnowhere else to go.
Or did she? She recalled David’s offer fromearlier about his home, and she felt his eyes boring into the backof her head as she walked inside.
CHAPTER 5
“She’s playing hard to get,” Liam saidthrough the phone.
“She’s not playing,” David replied as he rana hand through his hair, tugging on it until it stood up as hepaced back and forth in his room.
His eyes ran over the red walls surroundinghim, his upper lip curling back in distaste. The house he sharedwith Jack, Doug, and Mike may not be the best decorated or mostwell-kept in the world—it was old and a definite bachelor pad—butthis red everywhere made him want to tear the wallpaper down withhis bare hands.
“She’s had a difficult time of it for sevenyears now,” he said to Liam.
