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I opened my mouth to voice these thoughts, but Gabriel put a finger on my lips. “Uh-uh. Think about it some more. We will talk about how you feel again in a few days.”
I frowned. I was sure about my feelings now but Gabriel had such a vulnerable look on his face. He was right; I didn’t want to tell him how I felt too early and then get scared and take it back. Doing so would hurt him more deeply than anything else could.
I nodded. I would wait a few days for the feelings I had towards Esteban and Gabriel to grow even deeper. There was no harm in letting them know later.
We continued walking along the beach that day, exchanging small stories about ourselves. I got to know them better, and they learned more about me. I had a lot of fun, and when we returned to the village and they asked me if I wanted to stay over at their house, I had no reason to object to the proposal.
We spent hours making sweet love, forgetting each other in the heat of our bodies, until the early hours of the day when we fell asleep together with our limbs intertwined.
Chapter Twenty
Gabriel
I was making a timetable of tasks for everyone in the village. I had my laptop open and my favorite task manager software launched, but for the past ten minutes I’d been staring at the screen and not making any progress. This task was not difficult at all; the timetable didn’t change much from week to week. I only had to account for people who wanted to take some time off and those who were ready to return to work.
Giselle, the person whom Daphne had filled in for as a waitress, was finally feeling well enough to serve people again. I had to find my mate another task because the dining hall didn’t really need two people working the same job. I was pondering what else Daphne could do that would be fun for her, when my thoughts drifted away to other matters.
I thought back to Fabiana Jimenez. When I first met the woman, she threw herself at me, crying that she’d had to run away from her home on the mainland. Her tears moved my heart, but there were some selfish motives for my actions too. From our first meeting I wanted to fuck her, and she wanted to get in my pants too. So I’d made it easy for her, not thinking of the consequences at all.
Not even the arguments I had with Esteban over Fabiana stopped me from being in a sexual relationship with her but she clearly wanted more and I had failed to recognize that she’d been after me only because I was an Alpha. Fabiana was attracted to power, not me as a person. My handsome looks were just a bonus to her.
And Fabiana wasn’t the first or the last woman I had fucked without emotional attachment. I now thought about my actions. What was wrong with me?
Until I met Daphne I felt like I had this giant gaping hole where my heart should be. I had tried to fill that emptiness with sex and thoughts about my revenge on Victor. Neither strategy had really worked but my failures hadn’t stopped me. I just kept going, fucking whomever I wanted without much care that the women I bedded wanted more from me.
Their tears didn’t move me. I didn’t want to be emotionally attached to any of them. Until Daphne. Daphne hadn’t wanted to sleep with me before she was sure I cared for her. She wasn’t like any other woman I had been with either. She didn’t fawn over my position as an Alpha. She didn’t flaunt her beauty; rather, she falsely thought herself ugly because of that scar that gave her so much character. She was smart and kind and had such a gorgeous smile.
I had tried to approach her in the usual manner; the way I always came on to the other women I wanted but my charms hadn’t worked on her.
Luckily, with time and persistence, she had warmed up to Esteban and I and realized that we truly cared for her and now, where were we? Just yesterday we had shared another passionate night together but we hadn’t mated yet. I didn’t want to rush our bond, but at the same time my heart soared when I was with her.
I was completely and utterly in love with Daphne – with every smile of hers, every frown, her sunny and her grumpy sides. I loved everything about her.
I realized just how fucked I was. I was like one of those women whose feelings I hadn’t returned. I was the one pining after another person but what if… what if… Daphne didn’t return my feelings? Would I be left running after her for the rest of my life?
No, that possibility couldn’t be true! She wouldn’t have agreed to be so intimate with me and Esteban if she felt nothing towards us. Insincerity wasn’t like her.
Still, the realization that I was madly in love with Daphne left me feeling vulnerable. Love was such a big emotion. It was ever-consuming and left me feeling such hope and dread at the same time.
“What are you thinking so hard about?” A happy voice resounded next to me.
I raised my head from the laptop to see Daphne. In the flesh. Here in my office. Had my thoughts summoned her? What manner of sorcery was this?
Daphne chuckled at seeing my confused frown but the sound of her laughter made my heart leap in my chest. It was such a beautiful melody, and the smile on her face made my heart overflow with the love I felt towards her.
“I love you,” I whispered before I could stop myself.
I immediately closed my mouth and blushed. I… blushed… I, of all people.
Daphne stared at me with warmth in her gaze. The same adoration I felt towards her was painted on her face. Like a mirror to my love, she returned the same warmth.
She chuckled, coming around my desk to where I sat. She kissed me, a gentle brush of lips, but I grabbed the back of her neck. Angling her head just right, I deepened the kiss. Our tongues intertwined, and I kissed her with all the passion I felt. Daphne moaned, but I didn’t let her go.
We continued kissing until we were out of breath.
“Took you long enough to realize your true feelings,” Daphne whispered back, staring me deeply in the eyes.
“Did you know?” I was confused. How could she have known before I had?
