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Ryan shifted further away from her, and she realized then that he cupped her naked breast under her pajama top. The thin cotton had surrendered easily under his questing hands.
“I’M SORRY, I shouldn’t have kissed you.” At his words, her face fell and Ryan wondered what he’d done wrong. He only meant that he shouldn’t have pressured her not that he hadn’t wanted to kiss her, and to be honest he wasn’t certain who’d initiated the kiss only that he’d been the first one to come closer to her.
“It’s fine. It’s just not our time.” She seemed so sad that Ryan wanted to pull her back into his arms and comfort her, but he wouldn’t unless she asked him to.
“It is our time. I know it, but I’ll give you time to come to terms with it.” He leaned in and kissed her cheek “Sweet dreams, Kelly, we’ll talk more in the morning.”
***
Ryan licked the copper tang of her blood from his lips. He’d nicked her throat. He tried to reason that he hadn’t done it on purpose but he remembered how his brother had accidentally initiated his bond with Sara, and he wondered if it was possible that subconsciously he wanted to begin a bond with Kelly and hadn’t been able to wait. Already he felt closer to her than he ever had before but then scolded himself for his foolishness.Of course, you feel closer to her, idiot. You've spent more time with her in the last few hours than you have in the last twelve years.
He’d never examined why he’d kept his distance from her in the past but he suspected it was because he’d been attracted to her. At fifteen to his twenty-four she’d been far too young for him and he’d run from that attraction to her. As fast, and far as he could afraid that he was some kind of pervert.
Ryan glanced at the clock on the wall. It was early but his father would be awake soon so instead of going back to bed Ryan pulled on his shoes and coat and walked the two blocks to his childhood home.
“I swear if you worry any louder you’re going to wake your mother.” His father's deep voice pulled him out of his thoughts and Ryan realized that while he’d been sitting on the porch swing staring into nothingness and trying to figure out how to fix how badly he’d made a mess of things with Kelly the sky had lightened around him.
“Coffee?” His dad asked holding out a cup of steaming black coffee. The rich aroma soaked into Ryan’s pores as he inhaled deeply.
“Ah, when coffee touches your soul.” He pushed against the wooden deck and the swing rocked gently back and forth.
“You going to tell me what has you out here at the crack of dawn brooding like you always did when you were a pup? Or are you going to make me guess?”
They were silent for a long while as Philip waited for his son to speak, Ryan quietly tried to order his thoughts.
“I fucked up. Bad, and I don’t know how to fix it.” He blurted the words out in a rush. Relieved when his confession was out there, though he knew the hard part was just beginning. Now he’d have to tell his father what he’d done.
“Just spit it out. It only gets more bitter the longer you hold it in.”
Ryan quickly told his dad about Kelly, and about how he’d treated her since she was fifteen, not stopping until the entire tale was out.
“Well son, it seems you’ve got your work cut out for you, but I wouldn’t say you’ve fucked up entirely. Could be she realized you were her mate back then and feels like you rejected her. You need to remember that she’s a strong wolf in her own right.”
“So how do I fix it?”
“You need to delegate some of the pack duties to your beta and enforcers so that you can spend time with Kelly. You need to woo her Ryan, make her feel special.”
The thought of showering her with attention and pampering her so that she would see he could be a good mate filed him with anticipation.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Kelly wasn’t sure why Jonas had called her to see him. She became even more nervous when she realized Ryan was also in his office.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, still hanging on to the door handle in a death grip ready to bolt if Ryan so much as breathed wrong.
“The same thing you are, I suspect.”
She was still hovering by the door when Jonas entered the room. She eyed both men wearily as she followed them into the office. As soon as the door closed the tension rose sharply.
“What is he doing here?” The words slipped out before she could stop them.
“Relax Kelly, it’s going to be okay.” Jonas tried to reassure her. “I don’t want to see you continuing to struggle.”
“It’s not your place to talk to him about any of this! I don’t want him here.” Her anger and desperation warred for control within her.
“I’m your mate! I have every right to be here.” She didn’t deny his claim in front of Jonas but she hated that every time he made the statement her wolf nodded her agreement.
“I brought you here to discuss Kelly’s need to leave the pack and try another pairing with one of the other neighboring packs since things didn’t work with the Yellow Claws, but given your revelation, I don’t imagine that’s going to happen.”
