It was after they’d eaten that he suggested they have a “friendly game” of poker. She might have vetoed it, but the glint of challenge in his eyes made her accept.
Sitting on the living room rug an hour later, Bree slapped her cards on the hardwood floor with a sneer. “You cheated.”
Humor lit Alex’s eyes. “No, you just lost.”
Worse, she’d lost in a spectacular fashion. Bree hated to lose—she got that from her father. Her cat wasn’t a fan of it either.
“It’s a shame for me that we didn’t play strip poker,” said Alex, putting the deck of cards back into their packet. “Then you’d have been a naked loser.”
“Fuck off.”
“It was just a game.”
She nodded sagely. “And death is just a long nap.”
Alex dumped the pack of cards on the coffee table. “I did warn you I’d win.” He lifted her and set her on his lap so that she was straddling him. “I’ve never lost at poker.”
“Never? Not once?”
“Nope. Not even when playing against my uncles, and they’re masters at it.”
“Hmm.” She loosely hooked her arms around his neck. “That does make me feel better.” His eyes dropped to a bite mark near the hollow of her ear, and she almost jerked because … “Wow, male smugness just echoed through me.”
She liked that they could feel each other’s emotions now—mostly because it meant that the imprinting process was progressing. Sometimes she felt a ghost of an emotion. Sometimes it was like a mere flicker of feeling in her belly. Other times the emotion was so strong it was hard to tell if it belonged to him or her.
“Does it bother you that I can sense what you’re feeling?” she asked.
Alex frowned. “Why would it?”
“Some would consider it an invasion of their emotional privacy.”
“If it was anyone other than you, I wouldn’t like it.” He twirled a strand of her hair around his finger. “What about you?”
“I thought it would bother me, but it doesn’t.”
“Good.” He flicked her hair over her shoulder. “The only thing I don’t like about our situation is that the bond hasn’t fully formed yet. I’m not a patient man. I like to have what I want when I want it.”
“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” she said dryly.
Alex gave her hair a light, punishing tug. It both puzzled and aggravated him that the bond remained incomplete. He’d claimed every part of her. He’d been open with her in a way he hadn’t been open with anyone else. He didn’t hold back from her or the imprint bond.
She was just as open and honest with him, and he knew she was totally committed to him and their relationship. He could never doubt that she cared for him—she didn’t hide it from him or anyone else. It was in her eyes, her smile, her voice, in everything she did.
His beast was just as confused that the bond wasn’t yet complete. It angered the animal that he wasn’t fully bound to his mate. Alex suspected her cat was just as annoyed.
“I’ve asked myself if I could somehow be messing with the bond’s ability to form,” said Bree. “But if I am, it’s not on a conscious level. Are you sure you’re definitely okay with the whole imprinting extravaganza? I mean, it hit us out of nowhere.”
“What is it with you and idiotic questions? I told you I want the imprint bond. I don’t say what I don’t mean.”
“I know. But wanting it and being ready for it—they’re not the same. That’s all I’m saying.” She tilted her head. “Haven’t you once worried that maybe I have doubts?”
“No. You’re not someone who’d fully commit to something unless you’re in it all the way. Neither am I.” Alex swept his hand up her back to palm her nape, letting his eyes drift over her features, drinking her in. He loved to just look at her. She was so fucking beautiful she stole his breath sometimes. “You know, I don’t think I’d have been as open to imprinting if it hadn’t been for Mila and Dominic.”
“Why?”
“My parents have a strong, solid relationship—the kind that makes you long to find your own true mate. I didn’t realize an imprint bond could be just as rock-solid and intense until Mila mated Dominic. But I still would have wanted you, Bree. I still would have wanted to make this work.”
Bree bit her lip. “You might have held out for your true mate if you hadn’t known for sure that she’d sadly died.”
He shook his head. “You’re wrong, Bree.”
“But—”
“Would you have held out for Paxton if you hadn’t known he was a twisted fuck? Would you have turned me down on the off-chance that you’d one day find your true mate?”
“No,” she answered instantly—it wasn’t something she even needed to think about.
“Then you understand.”
Yeah, she understood. Her cat settled a little at his response—Bree hadn’t even realized until then that the feline had tensed up as she waited for his reply. “Have you asked yourself if maybe you might be finding it hard to fully imprint because of what happened to Freya? I’m not saying I believe you must be blocking the bond. It’s … well, you watched her die, Alex. That must have left its mark on you. It would leave a mark on anyone.”