Chapter 102: MAKING LOVE TO YOU
ALPHA CORVIN
My world stopped yesterday.
Not physically, of course. My heart continued beating, my lungs continued drawing breath, my body continued functioning as it always had. But inside of me ceased to exist when Beta Marco informed me about her accident.
How can I explain it properly? I have been thinking about how to put this feeling into coherent words but I have failed repeatedly to explain it even to myself.
It is absolutely crazy that as soon as Marco burst into my office and said those words - "The vehicle Amaris was in just had an accident" - my entire world just stopped moving. I could not move my body, could not think clearly, could not even process what he was saying for several long seconds.
I had only felt that paralyzing terror once before in my entire life and that was when I was informed that Freya had died in that fire a year ago, when they told me her body had burned beyond recognition.
So why did I feel that exact same devastating way for someone who I had already decided to let go back to her pack? Someone I had ordered to leave by sunset just hours before?
It made no logical sense.
"How are you feeling today?" I asked her, my voice coming out rougher than I intended.
"I am fine," she responded simply.
I watched her carefully as her eyes trailed slowly through my room, taking in the familiar space. It was not like there was any significant difference from the last time she had been in here, only that this time I was not coldly ordering her to strip naked.
She looked so much better today than she had in the hospital. She wore a white dress that fell just above her knees in a flattering flair style with single straps over her shoulders. Her dark hair was loose and flowing down her back which was really unusual for her, she almost always kept it tied back or braided.
And there was this subtle glow about her that she definitely had not possessed previously, something that made her porcelain skin seem glisten slightly in the morning light streaming through my windows.
I was quietly hoping she would strike up a conversation about why exactly she had requested this meeting in my private room and office which I mostly sleep at because right now I was still desperately trying to analyze and understand what it was I felt yesterday for her when I thought she might die, and I genuinely did not trust myself to speak first around her.
She turned to face me fully and spoke. "I wanted to ask if I would still be going back to Stormshadow pack."
She paused briefly and then added, "Also, where do you stand with the artificial insemination?"
My heart skipped maybe a beat or two, possibly more, because that absolutely was not the kind of bold direct question I expected from her at all.
The directness of it, the way she just laid it out plainly without dancing around the subject. It was almost like she had completely damned all consequences and decided to just speak her mind openly.
She was standing right in front of me near the center of my room while I stood at the foot of my large bed. I suddenly felt an overwhelming need to sit down, which I did, sinking onto the edge of the mattress and deliberately opening my legs slightly wider to appear more imposing and in control even though internally I was completely taken aback by her question.
She remained standing where she was, looking directly at me without flinching or looking away. Her amber eyes were both focused and glittering at the same time in a way that made my pulse quicken.
"What do you think the answer is?" I asked instead of answering directly.
She looked at me confused, her brow furrowing slightly. "If I knew I would not be asking you."
"That is true," I acknowledged. "So what do you think? Do you honestly think I want you to go back to Stormshadow?"
She looked at me intently and said, "Is this some sort of reverse psychology where you want me to say it first and then it would look like my idea and not like yours?"
Damn, why is she so sharp and perceptive? I thought with reluctant admiration.
"Come here," I commanded, my voice dropping lower.
She glanced at me perplexed. "Where?"
"Right here in front of me," I clarified.
She appeared to think about it for a moment, her eyes assessing me carefully, and then took three short measured steps forward until she stood at a close distance, just within arm’s reach of where I sat on the bed.
I stood up slowly from the mattress, deliberately using my full height, and now I was towering over her smaller frame with just a breath of space between our bodies. I could feel the heat radiating from her skin.
She tilted her head up to gaze at me, her neck arching gracefully, exposing the delicate line of her throat.
"Amaris, do you know exactly what you are asking me?" I asked seriously.
She met my eyes without hesitation. "Yes."
I looked down at her and spoke sincerely, letting some of my carefully maintained walls crack. "I don’t want you to go back to Stormshadow pack. But for your other request about traditional mating, I am not sure I can agree to it."
"Why?" she asked simply.
I took another step forward and closed the remaining distance between us completely. She started to move back instinctively but I caught her firmly by her waist and yanked her against me, needing her to look at me and truly understand the depth of what she was asking.
"Look at me Amaris," I commanded quietly.
She slowly lifted her eyes to meet mine directly, her amber gaze intense and grounded.
My hands rested on her waist, feeling the warmth of her body through the thin fabric of her dress, feeling her breathing quicken under my touch. "If I say yes to traditional mating, that means I am saying yes to making love to you in order to get an heir."