ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (42 page)

Chapter Six

Samuel was beyond aware that he was dreaming but not even the smallest part of him seemed to care that the woman in front of him was merely a manifestation of his deepest desires. She was so beautiful, her smile was just the same as it had been the last time he had really seen her and her eyes sparkled with just the same intensity that made his heart lurch. She was laughing; it was such a unique sound, one he could happily listen too for the rest of his life if he was ever given the chance.

Emily danced around him, her long blonde hair was wind swept and wild as it fell into soft messy curls around her face. Her face was flushed, a deep shade of red from her laugher, the laugher that Samuel had unknowingly caused. As the last sounds of her happiness died away and a smile settled on her lips he caught her by her waist, bringing her closer to him. His hand snaked around her, cupping her lower back in a way that was both tender but protective.

His wolf was contently resting and for the first time that day he had her all to himself, dream or not to have her close was something of a minor miracle. She leant into him, enjoying the heated touch of his soft embrace, having spent most of the day with his wolf it was something of a novelty to have him back in human form. Samuel smiled, leaning in closer, his hair falling over his eyes in a way that made Emily chuckle and brush it away. Her fingers lingered a little longer than necessary on his tanned cheek and felt his breathing hitch.

With no need to be wary he pressed his lips against hers, even in its dream state his body trembled with desire at the softness of her slightly parted lips. She moaned softly, pulling herself into his chest, burying her body against his and deepening the kiss. Her scent, so sweet and addictive, mingled around Samuel and he lifted her chin, claiming her lips for his as he had done so many times that day already. He had never believed he would relish the moments when his wolf was asleep, where its slight absence would normally cause worry, now it brought only enjoyment.

Human or not she was his and as he slowly pulled away from her and his fingers trailed aimlessly through her long blonde hair, expertly evading the small knots that had formed, he knew it would be near impossible to let her go. But he had no choice, the secluded forest where he had chosen to spend his time with her was already cracking, the seamless white aura that had once surrounded them was breaking, his dream was coming to an end. In the last moments before darkness completely consumed him and as Emily’s eyes still shone brightly, he knew what he finally had to do.

Two days had passed since Emily had watched Samuel leave the hospital and she was growing more and more concerned. She replayed the moment he had turned his back on her a hundred times and still she couldn’t make sense of it, she couldn’t make sense of anything that had happened. Wandering aimlessly around her kitchen she picked up a bag of apples, only to discard it a moment later with a sigh. She had been sure she would have seen him by now, she had even gone as far as waiting for him outside her house in the hope that he would turn up.

It was growing late in the day now and she had almost all but given up the dying hope that he would appear. He had survived the car crash with little more than a scratch; she wouldn’t put appearing out of thin air past him. With little knowledge as to why she wanted to see him again so badly, she put her mingled feelings down to caring that he was ok; she didn’t quite believe it herself. A knock at the door finally snapped her out of her troubled thoughts, fearing that it was yet another trying to get gossip on what had happened, her fridge was already full to the brim with ‘get well soon’ pies, she didn’t even have a mark on her.

Resigned to her fate of yet another recollection of the events she pulled open the door with a little more force than what was necessary. It was when she saw the light brown eyes and messy brown hair of the man she had dreamt of for the last two nights that she felt her body go weak. He leant against the doorway; a casual smirk on his lips like it was nothing for him to be there, nothing to be at her door late at night. She let out a deep breath, for the first time in her life having to actually be sure that someone was stood in front of her.

Her fingers went to her lips, pressing the spot where she had dreamt he had kissed her; it had felt so real, yet now as she looked into the depths of his eyes she knew the real thing could be so much better. She tried to curse herself for her wayward thoughts but she could not bring herself to do it, in the strangest way possible, it almost felt like he belonged to her. “Emily,’” Samuel whispered and her body shock slightly. Her name from his lips was like nothing she had imagined, so soft and so tempting; it made her want to move closer.

“Samuel,” she greeted, not knowing what else to say. The smirk dropped from his lips and he smiled, it was a warm smile, one that Emily had no trouble returning.

She searched his eyes; there was something off, something wrong with the image. “You have something to say,” she whispered as a foreboding feeling shuddered through her.

Samuel’s brow raised a little, astonished that she had sensed it, that his smile had failed to hide the grave situation. “You’re in danger,” he breathed.

Chapter Seven

Samuel stared at the small cup of overly milky coffee in front of him with amusement as yet again he saw a flash of blonde dart past him. She hadn’t spoken yet, simply gesturing him inside the house and hurriedly making drinks before pulling all manner of things from her cupboards; it was a show he would easily have paid to watch. If it wasn’t for his growing concern at her silence, he would likely have been able to relax in her warm yet somewhat manic presence. For the first time he wished he could read her mind as she tossed a crumpled packet of biscuits at him, narrowly missing his head.

“Will you sit down,” he groaned, a little harsher than he had intended.

She froze instantly, although not entirely sure why, there was something in his voice that registered deep inside her. With a sigh she grabbed her own coffee and moved over to where Samuel sat at her kitchen table. If it wasn’t for the worry that coursed through her she thought that she might find the image funny. Samuel was dressed in a sharp white shirt and what looked to be extremely expensive suit trousers, he far from fitted in, in her small and slightly cluttered kitchen.

“Sorry,” she muttered, not even sure why she was apologizing in her own house.

Samuel seemed content though as she sat down in front of him, ignoring her initial urge to take the seat directly next to him and choosing instead the one at the other side of the table. “Thank you,” he said and she instantly noticed the relief in his voice.

She took a deep breath and dared for the first time since he had arrived to look at him properly. A part of her regretted the eye contact instantly, noting that even the small thing of meeting someone’s eyes could be so intense. “So I’m in danger?” she said, surprising herself when little of her worries or fear showed in her voice.

“Yes,” Samuel said simply, prodding at his coffee, not sure whether or not he could face trying the horrid looking liquid in an attempt to be polite. He decided against it and slowly pushed it away from him.

“Care to elaborate?” Emily chuckled, strangely at ease with the man she barely knew.

Samuel’s brow rose and he smiled slightly, trying to push away the images of his dream and focus instead on the present. “You have your suspicions about the accident I assume?” he asked and she nodded slowly, her eyes glazing over slightly; he fought the urge to reach out and comfort her.

“I had a dream,” she spoke quickly, before Samuel could continue. His brow furrowed at her quiet words.

“Most of us do,” he replied sarcastically.

“You were in it, there was a forest, and…” she whispered, ignoring his previous response as her words trailed off.

Samuel sighed; he had hoped it was only him. He watched as Emily’s face flushed and instantly he knew she had experienced everything he had, kiss included. “There was a wolf,” Samuel said simply, choosing not to address what had happened later in the dream.

“How do you know that?” Emily asked quickly, alarm in her eyes.

“If you remember correctly you weren’t the only one in the dream,” Samuel scoffed.

He was aware that this was too much for her, he should have taken things slower but time was not something he had the pleasure of wasting. “Then you were, you are…” she muttered, her eyes instantly darting away from his.

“A wolf? A small detail in the bigger picture I suppose,” Samuel mused. Despite himself he was finding it almost funny, he had never exactly come out to someone before, he was pretty sure this was not how it normally went though.

As something to do, a small pause to organize her racing thoughts, Emily took a long sip of her coffee, instantly regretting it when she choked a little. Samuel watched on in alarm as she choked on her coffee, not sure what to do, if there was even anything he could. Relief was the first emotion to claim him as slowly she lowered the cup back to the table; it was short lived as anger took its place. “Be more careful,” he almost demanded.

She looked up at him, surprised by the outburst. “It’s not up to you what I do,” she spat back at him, her own voice causing shock to run through her, she never snapped at anyone before.

Samuel looked mildly amused at her little outburst, unused to being out rightly challenged it was a first for him. “So you’re a wolf and I’m what?” Emily questioned, choosing to forget the little moment of her lack of control.

“Human,” Samuel answered, in a level tone.

“You saved me?” she said, phrasing it as a question than a fact that they both knew.

“Yes,” Samuel answered simply.

“Why?” she questioned, surprising him, that was something he had expected.

“You know why,” he said, his voice low; he could have answered her, told her the truth, but he couldn’t quite bear to yet.

“The heat,” she murmured and he nodded, his eyes sparkling a little at the implications of her words.

If she felt it too then he knew he wasn’t imagining things. “Do you love me?” she asked, again catching him off guard, the question even seemed to startle her he noticed with a smirk, very much a human.

“No,” he answered quickly, a little too fast for him to be certain of the answer.

“Good,” Emily breathed, seeming not the notice the falter in his words.

“Now tell me about the danger,” she said, her voice light and seemingly unworried. Not for the first time that evening Samuel was shocked by her response but smiled despite himself. She was different from the other humans he had met, that much he could gather, her responses were anything but ordinary, somewhat intriguing.

Chapter Eight

With his eyes firmly fixed on the unconscious lines Emily was tracing on her cup, Samuel realized not for the first time that week, he was completely out of his depth. Having little to no idea how to start, finish or even fill in the middle of what he had to say, he was at a loss for words. Being Alpha for many years should have prepared him for bad news, even explanations, but there was just something about the woman that rendered him, for the most part, speechless.

She was smiling at him, just a subtle twist of her sumptuous lips, that looked perhaps even shy, Samuel thought. It was definitely not befitting of the gravity of what he had to tell her, but then as he knew she had little knowledge of why exactly he was here, let alone what she was about to be thrust into the middle of. He had come to her out of some kind of begrudged loyalty, to keep her safe, or at least that was what he was still telling himself. Now he was with her though, sat across the table in what looked to be such a normal gathering, he doubted his ability to keep his internal emotions vacant from the conversation.

Emily breathed in deeply and Samuel realized too late that he had been silent for too long. “Look Samuel, I’m not stupid, whatever you may think. You walk into my house when you should be dead, the car hit you; I saw it with my own eyes. Any human would have died, yet you sit here like nothing has happened. Whatever it is, whatever I have somehow ended up being involved in, I can deal with it,” Emily stated with such a calmness and acceptance that once again Samuel was taken aback, firmly and awkwardly out of his comfort zone.

Samuel scoffed automatically, deal with it? She had no idea. “There are at least two dozen wolves that would happily kill you right now,” he stated bluntly, not caring to sugar coat it now that his anger was running wild within him.

He waited for the fear, perhaps even anger, but what surprised him most was the sympathetic smile that creased the woman’s lips. “Why?” she questioned simply.

It took him a moment to regain himself, to come to terms with exactly how this woman was dealing with the news. She seemed calm, unconcerned even and it angered him; suppressing the small twinge of admiration for her, he frowned. “Because I’m sat here with you,” he almost shouted.

It wasn’t exactly the truth, but it had enough of it to convince Samuel that he wasn’t outright lying to her. He still couldn’t accept his strange bond with the human himself, let alone share it. To his immense confusion Emily’s smile simply grew as she shook her head slowly. “That’s not the full story is it?” she questioned, rising her brow at him.

Samuel pulled himself up from the table, jostling the cups in the process as he tried not to knock it over completely. “Come with me,” he demanded, a small smirk creasing his lips as for the first time the woman showed something more that calmness, she looked even worried.