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"No. I was walking out to meet you and he grabbed me," I replied softly. "Stefan, let's go. It's not worth it."
The rage that Stefan was feeling flared between us. His blue eyes flashed furiously when he fixed them on me.
"It is worth it to me. He offends me, he insults my heritage and then he adds insult to injury by attempting to reconcile with my mate. He knows we are together, yet he forced himself on you in the bar below." He shoved Aidan harder against the building. "Please do not insult me by suggesting it is not worth it. You are worth it. Our relationship is worth it."
"You can't kill him, Stefan," I thought to him. Aloud, my voice was barely audible. "I didn't mean it like that. He's just not worth getting this angry over."
He turned his irate gaze back to Aidan, his scowl marring his beautiful face. "Even now, she defends you. She begged me to be nice to you. I did my best to be agreeable." Stefan's hand once again pushed him harder against the brick. I heard Aidan let out a soft grunt as his back made impact with the wall yet again.
Stefan let out a soft growl as he leaned even closer to Aidan. "And this is me being nice. I could snap your neck and feel little remorse. You are lucky, Aidan. Another time, a darker alley...I digress. Tell Josephine you are sorry and it will never happen again."
Aidan swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing nervously. He opened his mouth but no sound came out.
Stefan slammed him into the brick again. Through clenched teeth, he accented each word. "Tell her."
His glasses were crooked on his face when he met my wide-eyed stare. "I'm sor-sorry. I just wanted… I mean, I wasn't thinking. Call Belinda and request a new editor. I can't work with you anymore, Josie. It was difficult enough when you were 20 hours away. But seeing you and knowing you’re with him is going to be too hard."
Sighing, I knew I should feel sorry for Aidan. I should have never agreed to meet him outside of work, let alone with Stefan with me. I assumed Aidan would be on his best behavior once he saw him and understood that we were a couple. Instead, he turned into a bitter man that held on to his imagined hope of a reconciliation that would never happen.
I wanted to go home and forget about him, my conversation with Nikolaus...hell, I wanted to forget this entire night.
"Whatever, Aidan." I walked closer and put my hand on Stefan's arm. "Can we go home?"
Stefan's wild eyes met mine. His anger had turned them into a bright, aqua blue. He released Aidan and he slumped to the sidewalk.
He squatted down, lowering his voice so it was barely louder than a whisper. "If she tells me you attempt this without her permission again, I will not be as pleasant the next time we speak."
He stood and stared down at Aidan before turning to drill me with his unblinking stare, opening his mind fully to allow me to have access to his thoughts. He’d wanted to drain him dry of every drop of blood in his body. His jealousy urged him to destroy what had threatened to take his mate away from him. The final layer to his emotions were the most difficult for me to handle. Even though he wanted to mark me as his again, he was attempting to reign himself under control. He was worried he’d upset me. He was concerned that I’d run again. Would he ever lose that fear? Would this still worry him a hundred years from now?
“Stefan, c’mon.” This time it was me that extended my outstretched hand to him.
He shook himself, engulfing my fingers in his large hands. He brought it to his lips, pressing his mouth against my palms. “Take me home.”
Leading us to the street, it was my turn to hail us a cab. As we pulled away, I glanced back at Aidan. He was staring at us, his torn shirt and crooked glasses a testimony to what would could happen if you touched the mate of a vampire. He didn’t understand what a huge faux paux he’d committed, but I’m sure it wasn’t something he’d try again anytime soon.
***
We made the short taxi ride home in relative silence. Stefan was lost in his thoughts, his mind whirring at a remarkable speed. I’d given up even trying to follow it. Instead, I focused only on our bond. He was remarkably calm considering he came close to draining a man dry in Chelsea. He was flooding our tie with his love until it’s all I could feel.
Once home, I headed straight to the bathroom. I stripped and headed to the shower, wanting to wash away the lingering smell of the bar and Aidan from my skin. The sensation of his unwanted mouth on mine still remained, almost sickening me as the scenario replayed in my mind.
Washing myself quickly, I dried off and grabbed a hairbrush. I was running it through my long hair as I entered the bedroom, surprised to see Stefan stretched across the bed. He was watching my every move as I stood naked at the foot of the bed.
"You’re still dressed?" I asked. I could tell he’d been monitoring my thoughts and was worried my reaction to the earlier verbal and physical altercation, so I assumed he’d be naked and hell bent on trying to get me into bed the moment I stepped out of the shower. Once again, he’d surprised me.
“I am,” he replied smoothly, the deep tenor of his voice lingering over those two words.
Heat rushed over me, starting from my cheeks and flushing down my body at an alarmingly fast rate. My pulse increased and I instinctively licked my lips in response.
“Are you going to take off your clothes?” I questioned, my voice coming out in an excited rush.
“Perhaps I should.” And then he smiled. And not just one of his typical smiles either. This one was mischievous, wicked and extremely sexy.
Stefan rose languidly from the bed, making a production of removing each article of clothing as slowly and deliberately as he could. He yanked at the bottom of his sweater, slowly dragging it over the ragged muscles of his stomach. He finally pulled it over his head and it fell back against the bed, his chiseled chest on display for me to fully admire.
I watched him with eager, lustful eyes. He raised an eyebrow as he unbuckled and removed his belt, one loop at a time, tossing it on the bed, adding it to the to the growing pile of his discarded clothing. Making sure he still had my full attention, his handsome face became devilish, a smirk curling his lips. His hands were unhurried as they flicked the button open and he unzipped his jeans, his leer deepening at my sudden loud intake of breath.
He’d gone commando again.
