Wounded Kiss (To Be Claimed 1)

Her eyes dart to the rope in my hands and terror flashes over her face. Her kissable, pouty lips release a small gasp and she quickly backs away from me, crawling on her hands and knees to the headboard and pushing her side up against it. She wraps her arms around her bent legs and hastily rocks her body, resting her cheek on her knee so she can keep her eyes on me. Her big doe eyes are drenched in panic and tears fall carelessly down her reddened cheeks. She sniffles before swallowing and saying in a small voice, “Please don’t.”

With his arms crossed, Caleb stands in the corner on my right; the corded muscles in his neck and arms make him look like a rock-solid beast. At least he has a tight smile on his face. Although that’s obviously not doing anything to calm her.

“Nah, I figured you’d want to be here.” I glance at him and then walk slowly to the edge of the bed. I sit my massive form down and feel the soft bed dip. Our little mate lets out a squeak. Caleb follows me but doesn’t sit.

“I tried to sit when you left and she freaked out.”

“This’ll help her.” I see him slightly shake his head in my periphery. “Just don’t get in my way then.”

“Don’t fucking make me.”

I clench my teeth and ignore him. Our mate hasn’t heard a single word of our silent dialogue and I don’t want her to think I’m pissed at her. At least I don’t think she has.

“I want you to come sit by me.” It’s a simple request. My words come out as soft as they possibly can. She stops rocking and stares at me for only a moment before burying her head between her knees as she shakes her head in denial. I resist the urge to growl, not at her disobedience, but at the former pricks who did this to her. Instead I pat the bed next to me and calmly repeat myself. “I want you to come sit by me.” I look at Caleb and then back to our scared little mouse. “We have something very important to tell you and I want to be able to hold you when you hear it.” Caleb’s lips turn up at the corners. I don’t know if he’s trying to force a smile onto his pretty-boy face or whether he’s trying to hold one in.

Caleb stalks closer to her and slowly drops to his knees at the foot of the bed. His tall frame hovers over the mattress as he bends to offer his upturned hand to Lizzie. “Come on, baby girl, I want to hold you too. Let’s go sit with Dominick.” She doesn’t even lift her head to meet his eyes. Her blond hair swings across her back as she shakes her head, adamantly refusing our requests.

“Let’s just tell her.” I hear Caleb’s words in my head, but instead of responding silently I continue to speak out loud so our mate can hear.

“I don’t want to tell her until I can hold her.”

“Stop being so fucking stubborn.” He continues his silent conversation.

“I’m not being stubborn; when I tell her that she’s my mate, she needs to be listening. She’s not listening to anything we say.”

“She is listening; she doesn’t want to obey. There’s a difference, Dom.”

“I know there’s a difference. She’s hearing us, but she’s not really listening.” I glance back at our terrified mate before looking Caleb in the eyes. “You want to claim her on the full moon?” He squirms uncomfortably.

“You know I do. But I don’t want to scare her.”

“Too late.” I speak out loud, but he doesn’t follow suit.

His shoulders slump in defeat. “I don’t want to give her a reason to fear us.”

“She already has one.” Frustrated with all this pussyfooting around, I question him, “Are you going to help me?” He grits his teeth and clenches his fists, but then he gives me a slight nod. I take a deep breath and crack my knuckles before turning to fully face our mate.

“Hey, Lizzie,” I say and stare at the back of her head. She stops moving but doesn’t turn to me, and she doesn’t respond. I know she’s terrified, so it doesn’t make me angry—in fact, it’s exactly what I expect.

I sigh and say as casually as I can, “If you won’t listen, I’m going to have to tie you up, little one.” Her breathing hitches, but other than that I get nothing. I’ll give her one last chance. “Come here. Come sit next to me so I’ll know you’ll hear me.” I pat the bed and continue to stare at the back of her head.

“How are we doing this?” Her lack of a response gets Caleb to finally relent.

“Well, do you want to get your eyes clawed out or have your nose kicked in?” A small grin plays at his lips.