The Panther's Second Chance (Book 10 of the Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 10

He was waiting for the rejection. He had been the entire evening. He hadn't been able to enjoy himself at her party, and he knew for a fact others had been aware of it. He'd been distracted and tense the entire time.

Natalia was his mate. His second chance. He couldn't wrap his head around it, and definitely couldn't figure out when she'd planned to reject him. His mind was too much of a mess.

He'd been overly aware of her all night, of her eyes on him and he'd tried his hardest not to stare back at her. He'd tried to follow the conversation around him, but he'd failed miserably. He was too distracted.

She was the woman from his dreams. His Dream Girl that he'd been mating almost nightly for over a year now. He could see it easily and he could also see the bit of resemblance to Deidre. No wonder he'd been attracted to her. 

He felt guilty knowing he'd been dreaming of having sex with her, and then jerking off to those dreams, but how was he supposed to know? He hadn't. Not until tonight.

For a brief moment, he allowed himself to visualize how it would be to be with her. She was beautiful. He loved her long brown hair and large blue eyes. The Remington women were all beautiful, and Natalia was no exception. Her body was perfect, and he wanted to.. he cut those thoughts off. He could not allow himself to go there. It was just wrong.

He'd fully expected her to reject him. Then what? He'd be alone again. Would he have to wait another thirty years? He might truly leave then, if he was going to keep being mated to Remington women. It didn't seem fair.

She hadn't spoken to him the entire night and he hadn't had the nerve to approach her either. He wouldn't cause a scene, and walking up to her in the middle of her birthday party just seemed wrong. So he hadn't. She'd come to him at some point, but he wouldn't ruin her day. Though he supposed he already had. If he'd had any inkling that this was going to happen, he wouldn't have showed up. He would have made a point to still be out of town. Back in Los Angeles. Maybe with Deidre, though he didn't want her now either. He wanted..no he couldn't even think about that.

He'd come back, feeling miserable and had taken a shower. He debated about leaving, but she needed to reject him first. They needed to get that out of the way so he could go somewhere and nurse his shattered heart. How many times was he going to have to put it back together? How many times until there was nothing left to put back together?

He'd scented her before she'd had the chance to knock on his door and a feeling of Déjà vu had hit him.  But he knew this time, and he'd made a point to be completely dressed before he opened that door. He didn't need her staring at his body like she wanted him for breakfast.

She'd been so beautiful, standing there on the other side, her face calm, her body relaxed. So unlike Gabby. But he also knew he was delusional and waited for her to crush him. She hadn't though, and she'd pushed him into his room, shutting the door behind her. That had really annoyed him. He didn't want her in here. He just wanted her to get it over with and get out. Go away so he could be alone. Maybe now he could get drunk.

But instead, she'd touched him, and for the second time in his life, he got to experience those tingles. They'd caught him off guard and he'd almost hated her at that moment for touching him. He didn't want to experience them. He didn't want to be drawn in to her.

But she didn't stop and the next thing he knew, she was trying to convince him that she actually wanted him. He still couldn't believe it. He was waiting for her to laugh in his face and then reject him, but all he saw was sincerity. And for a split second, he actually allowed himself to believe that he might be successful at this.

She was watching him closely and he wondered what she saw. Natalia was mature for her age. He'd noticed that about her before. She'd already surprised him with the fact that she'd come to the conclusion that she wanted him and that was the way it was going to be.

He stared at her for a long moment, his mind trying to wrap itself around the fact that she wanted him. He'd been so sure she wouldn't and he'd been mentally preparing himself for the rejection. Now he was having a hard time believing it wasn't happening. "I'm just.."

"Waiting for me to back out?"

She was straight forward. It was annoying and refreshing. She wouldn't take any bullshit from him. "Yeah."

"Well, you're going to have to get over that cuz it ain't happening." She crossed her arms as she stared at him.

She was definitely Noelle's daughter. He tipped his head sideways as he looked at her. Natalia had grown up into a formidable woman, and if Kai suddenly decided he didn't want to be King, Natalia would make an amazing Queen. He didn't see that happening though. Malachi Remington would be King. "Why do I feel like you're going to beat me into submission?"

She smiled and shrugged. "Well if I need to .."

He smiled for the first time since he'd realized she was his mate. She was going to be fun. If she didn't back out. His smile disappeared.

She frowned at him. "Dominic, unless you reject me yourself, you're stuck with me. Accept it. Wrap your head around it. Know that you finally have a mate. One who wants you. Who's very attracted to you. And who's going to annoy the crap out of you until you accept it."

His eyes flickered. She wasn't backing down, and that relaxed him some. She reached out and touched him again, her hand resting on his arm, and he felt himself calm some more.

'Dom. Come on," she said softly. Her hand traveled down his arm and took his hand. Hers were small and soft, and she pulled him over to his bed. She sat down on it. "I'm staying with you. I need you to know I'm staying. I'm not going anywhere."

He studied her again, and could see the determination in her eyes. She wasn't lying. She was staying with him. He nodded. "Okay." He crawled into the bed, and settled down next to her.

"Turn the light out," she murmured.

He did as she asked. She cuddled up against him, and he lay there for a moment, waiting for her to run, but instead she settled against him, her face buried into his neck, her hand on his arm and sighed softly. He finally gave in and wrapped his arm around her.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" she said against his neck.

He sighed. "I can't help that I'm waiting for this to all crash down on me."

"I know. It's not going to though," she said softly. "But blankets would be nice."

He smiled and reached down to grab them, pulling them up over them both. He turned his body a bit towards hers and wrapped his other arm around her.

It didn't take long until her breathing steadied out and he allowed himself to relax. He still couldn't believe this was happening. He finally had a mate. And she wanted him and was actually sleeping in his arms.

He stayed awake for a while, as his body relaxed into hers. She felt good in his arms, like she belonged there. Her face was buried into his neck, and she had one hand resting on his chest. Her leg was between his own.

Zampa was content for once and completely relaxed, even more so than he was. He needed to though. He needed some sleep. He felt mentally exhausted from the entire evening. He wondered if she'd still be there when he woke up and guessed he'd just have to wait and see.

He finally dozed off, into a dreamless sleep, his Dream Girl tucked in his arms.