The Beta's Missing Mate (Book 16 Of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 32

Bianca had actually done quite well in the gym. Much better than he thought she'd do. She'd started out on the punching bag before he'd talked her into sparing with him. 

She'd started out bad, sloppy with her movements and he could see her emotions were completely in control of her. Rage, sadness, brokenness. Tears had fallen down her cheeks as she'd worked and he'd sighed softly, somewhat understanding, but not fully. He hoped to never understand what she'd gone through. He'd watched her work, glad that she was sort of being open about her emotions. 

He'd thought over what she said about sharing their emotions with each other and realized she was probably right. He didn't really want her feeling the ridiculous amount of emotions that slammed through him hourly. He didn't want to hurt her if she felt what he was feeling for Ana. He was hoping that his emotions would calm down once that bond with her was broken and a new one was formed. He may have to block her out and let her do the same. He didn't want Bianca thinking that he hated her. He truly didn't. 

Finally, she seemed like she had worked most of her emotions out, and her movements became more careful, more controlled and more skilled. She was graceful with her movements, and for a bit, Aidan forced himself to shut Ana completely out of his mind and focus instead on Bianca. The woman he needed to care about, the woman who would soon be his, the woman who would one day be beneath him while he fucked her. 

He let his gaze trail over her, pushing down his feelings of guilt as he studied her. She really was beautiful. He couldn't deny that. And she had a nice ass. 

After a bit, Aidan began to cajole her into sparing with him. "It'll be fun."

She stared at him warily, shaking her head. "I can't hit you."

He rolled his eyes at her. "Sure you can. I'll go easy on you. I'm sure you'd love nothing better than to punch me in the face."

She rolled her eyes back at him. "Fine."

She did need a bit of work, and he knew that mating her would make her more powerful, but all in all, she really wasn't bad and she seemed to enjoy it. She was focused on him and he saw a few real smiles cross her face more than once. He forced himself to focus solely on her, giving her as much of his attention as he possibly could. 

But the moment he pinned her on the mat, her lithe body underneath his, he realized he might actually be able to develop real feelings for her. He could feel Ghost looking out at her, as her wolf stared back at him, and thoughts of marking her entered his mind, shocking him. He focused on her breasts pressed against his chest. Her breathing was a bit heavy, causing them to push into him. He actually felt his cock twitch, and he immediately moved off of her, standing and then hauling her up as well and moving away from her. It seemed as though he might actually be able to mate her once they'd marked each other. And given that he hadn't had sex in five months, he wouldn't complain. 

Finally, when they were finished, Aidan led her out of the gym, and back onto the elevator. He pulled off his t-shirt, and wiped his face with it before looking back at her. She was staring at his bare chest. Maybe she would have no problem mating him either. The elevator dinged and it seemed to break her trance, and her gaze darted up to his face. 

"I um.. thank you," she said quietly. 

He nodded, putting his hand out to stop the elevator door from closing. "Once I'm done showering, I'll come back down and get you for lunch."

She nodded, giving him a shy smile before she stepped off the elevator and disappeared down the hall. 

Aidan hit the button for his floor and sighed as he leaned back against the wall. Maybe he really could make this work with her. He liked her, though not the way he liked Ana. His initial goal at first had been friendship, but given that his body was already reacting to her, maybe they could be more. Bianca was here; Ana was not. 

His thoughts drifted to her body, and those few moments when he'd been on top of her. He let his thoughts drift back to the way she felt. It felt wrong to think of her in any kind of sexual way, but he pushed past that. He couldn't feel guilty about it, even though it was a natural reaction. She did have some perky tits and a nice round ass, but she was very thin. Hopefully he could make her happy enough that she would eat more and put some meat on her bones. She'd barely touched her food this morning which concerned him. 

Aidan stepped off the elevator and headed down the hall to his apartment. Hopefully Xavier would be at lunch. He missed his friend. It had been almost four months since he'd seen him. 

He walked inside and stripped off his clothes, then got in the shower, letting the hot water soothe him. He washed quickly, then got out and got dressed. If Bianca was in his pack, he'd link her and see if she was ready, but that wasn't an option yet. He knew she probably wasn't, and glanced at the time, before walking into his office and sitting down in front of his laptop. 

He sighed. He hadn't even made any notes from his pack visit yesterday. Maybe this afternoon. He was much too distracted for his own good. His thoughts drifted to Ana again and he felt his canines pop out. He closed his eyes and retracted them. He needed to mark Bianca soon, or he was going to get pulled from liaison duty. 

 Finally, Aidan left his apartment and headed back downstairs. He stopped outside of Bianca's room and knocked on the door. It opened a moment later, though Bianca wasn't visible. Aidan stepped inside, the scent from her shower filling the room. She closed the door, and he turned to her and forced himself not to look away from her, even though a surge of guilt ran through him. Bianca was standing there in just a towel that barely covered her body. 

"Sorry." Her cheeks turned bright red. "I was in the shower much too long. Can you give me a few moments?"

"Of course," he agreed. He watched her hurry back into the bathroom and shut the door behind her. 

Aidan relaxed a little, and walked over to sit down in the same chair he'd sat in yesterday, his thoughts drifting back to Ana. He immediately shoved her out of his mind again. The woman had too much of a hold on him. Instead, he let them drift to Bianca. 

"Aidan?"

He looked up and saw the bathroom door cracked open. "Yeah?"

"My clothes are out there," she said. 

"Do you want me to leave?" 

He heard her sigh softly. "No, just turn around."

He stood and turned his back to the room. "Okay, you can come out." 

The bathroom door opened all the way a few seconds later, and he could hear her walking around the room, getting dressed. He really hadn't given her long enough, he realized. Why did women take so long to get ready? Thoughts of Ana crept into his mind, unbidden, and he pushed them out, instead forcing himself to think of Bianca. She had looked good today in her workout gear. If it wasn't for Ana getting in his way, he could have Bianca. He could mark her properly. 

Aidan's canines popped out again. He could sink his dick into her body, into her pussy, into her mouth while he wrapped her silvery blond hair around his hand and... 

"Aidan?"

He blinked, realizing he was still thinking of Ana and not Bianca. He really hated Ana for ruining his life. Aidan turned back to her. "Bianca," he said quietly. 

She stared up at him. "I still want you to mark me."

Aidan's gaze settled on her neck. He breathed out slowly, and licked his tongue over his canines as Bianca closed the distance between them. She moved her hair out of the way, and he placed his hands on her upper arms and stared down at her as she stared back, her gaze calm."Go ahead," she whispered.

 He leaned in towards her, pulling her against him.