He pressed his lips together as he gave me a brief nod, confirming my suspicion.
I wanted to be angry with him but my strongest emotion wasn't anger and I had an overwhelming need to touch him. Even after everything we'd done to each other, I wanted to feel the bond we shared.
Seeing the struggle within me, he reached out his hand to me. I eyed it for a moment before I reached and touched him. The completeness that blanketed me made me feel loved and peaceful. I hadn't felt a lot of that in my life and it was hard to keep my emotions under control.
One tear slid down my face and Blake brushed it away with his fingers.
"I'm sorry," he whispered to me as he leaned closer.
I was sorry too. So sorry that everything between us couldn't just get swept away so there was nothing standing in the way of us being together. But the reality was that despite the connection we'd formed, it still wasn't strong enough to make everything else fall away.
I bit my bottom lip as I tried to rein in my raw feelings as Blake watched me closely.
"I'm sorry too," I managed to whisper, trying to keep any more tears from escaping.
"I want to touch you," he whispered to me and I saw the pain in his eyes. His need was mirrored in me. I felt the same.
"Yes," I said softly, wanting to revel in the feel of his touch just for a few more moments before I pushed him away.
Slowly his fingers touched my cheek and I felt the connection that made us soul mates. I closed my eyes to concentrate on how the smallest touch could make me feel so much. His fingers trailed a path down my cheek and I felt my breath hitch at the new sensations his touch was waking up in me. I wasn't a virgin but I'd never felt a stirring of want like I did at that moment for him. I wanted so much more, but I pulled away from his touch and he frowned slightly.
"It's not that easy," I told him honestly.
"I know," he admitted. There was regret in his eyes.
We were different from Cade and Scarlett—our connection couldn't wipe the memories of the betrayal and deception by both of us.
"I'll do whatever it takes to get you to trust me," he promised me and I wanted to believe him. Life for me had been hard and my trust had been broken a lot so it was no surprise that trusting Blake with my heart wasn't going to be easy.
"Why?" I asked hoarsely, wanting to know his true motives. And who could blame me after what he'd come clean about.
"I nearly lost you today..." He paused for a moment. "I don't want to ever feel that way again. I decided to come after you after you stormed off. I wanted to give you space but I needed to sort things out with you so I followed you into the forest, giving you a little time to cool off. If I had shown up just a few minutes later..."
He'd been the one to save me. It explained why he'd touched me. His words touched me, but remembering what Richard had nearly accomplished made me angry. Yes, I'd put myself at risk by leaving the compound but with guards around the territory he shouldn't have been able to ambush me, but somehow he had.
"You willing to give me a chance?" he asked, looking at me expectantly, interrupting my train of thought. He'd saved my life so I felt like I owed him a chance to make things right between us.
I swallowed my emotion down as I gave him a nod. The smile that spread across his lips tugged at my heartstrings.
"I won't hurt you again," he said, needing to reassure me that I'd made the right decision.
His fingers touched mine and I felt our connection ease the turbulent emotions in me. I really hoped that his words were true.
"Sleeping Beauty is finally awake," Curtis said as he walked into my room, distracting me from my thoughts. My eyes moved to him and I waited for the inevitable lecture although it hadn't been my fault.
"From now on you won't step a foot off this property until you can shift. Do you understand?" he said firmly, sounding like a parent.
In the normal hierarchy of things, an alpha never took orders from a beta, but I nodded my head at him. I let him get away with it because I knew my attack had scared him.I felt Blake's hand tighten around mine and Curtis' gaze went to our hands, and he smiled.
"Good," he said. "You guys’d better mate soon."
My eyes found Blake's gaze and for a moment we just shared a look. There was no doubt about it—I wanted him on a physical level more than I'd wanted anyone.
At that moment Kyle strode into the room, looking frantically worried.
"I just heard what happened," he said as he came to stand on the opposite side of the bed from Blake.
"I'm okay," I assured him and I felt Blake's hand tighten around mine.
