The Alpha's Rebel

Chapter 16

The next evening, I silently watch Maddox move around the kitchen as he makes the two of us dinner. He has noodles and a sauce both going on the stove, he's making a salad in a bowl, and he even has homemade brownies baking in the oven.

Fucking brownies.

I shouldn't have been worried about not being a good luna. Maddox is going to pick up all my areas of slacking.

I smile as he spoons some of the sauce out of the pan to try it. He must think it's ready, because he turns the burner off. The time for the noodles goes off, and he dumps them into a strainer sitting in the sink. His motions are relaxed and fluid, like he's done this hundreds of times before. He must have if he can sit and do it so naturally. I wonder how he learned or who taught him. His mom, maybe?

All that matters is one of us can cook, because I sure as hell can't.

As if he senses my eyes burning into his back, Maddox turns around to smile at me. "What?" he asks, his voice slightly gruff from not speaking for a while. He's been cooking dinner in silence, both of us absorbed in our own thoughts but enjoying the presence of one another.

"Nothing," I grin, the corners of my cheeks growing even further. "I like watching you cook."

"Good. I like cooking," he responds, turning back to our food.

After accepting the mate bond with Maddox, I don't know how I managed to resist it for the forty eight hours that I did. I understand why Vinnie changed his mind the second Molly became his mate. It must have been easier because Molly is one of our best friends. I didn't know Maddox, so I thought it would be easier to forget about him. The mate bond takes over ever instinct in my body, though. It doesn't matter if I met him two days ago or two decades ago; Maddox is my mate and it's going to affect me the exact same way regardless of how long I've known him.

I watch him dish the noodles onto two plates, the salad into two bowls, and pour a creamy sauce on each helping of noodles. He sets a plate down in front of me along with a fork. "It smells delicious," I tell him, glancing up from the food to watch his smile brighten at my compliment. My smile turns into a smirk as I say, "And I have the perfect way to complete it."

I get up from where I was sitting and head over to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of wine I brought over this morning. He laughs as I wave it in front of him before finding two wine glasses in one of the cabinets. I pour us each a tall glass, sitting back down at the counter in front of my plate.

"Cheers," I say playfully, picking up my wine glass and softly clacking it to his. I take a sip, the sweet wine smoothly running down my throat. I finally take a bite of the pasta dish he made. The flavor explodes in my mouth. It's like Alfredo, but so much better.

"Maddox, this is amazing!" I gasp. I quickly swallow and shove another forkful into my mouth, not giving a shit that I look like a pig in front of my mate. He's my mate, so I know he won't leave me. After all the work he went through to be with me, there's no way he's ditching me for shoveling pasta into my mouth like there's no tomorrow.

We scarf our food down and quickly clean up the kitchen. Maddox keeps getting distracted by me, forgetting about whatever task he was doing. I'm finishing up the dishes when he comes up behind me and grabs my hips. "Maddox," I warn, but my body has a mind of its own as it leans back into his.

"Yes, Harper?" he whispers in my ear, letting his lips linger against my skin. I feel my self control disappearing, and there's no way to get it back this way. With Maddox's body pressed up against mine and his lips trailing along my neck and collarbone, I'm putty in his hands. I can't decide if I love it or hate it.

"We have to finish cleaning up," I moan softly. As if he didn't hear me, Maddox moves one hand under my shirt to cup my breast. I suck in a deep breath, forgetting about the dishes in front of me and grasping onto the edge of the counter. Maddox slips his hand into my bra, pinching my nipple between his thumb and forefinger. "Fuck," I whisper, pushing my body against his.

I feel him already hard against me, so I do the only thing I can think to do in my crazed state. I start grinding on him. "Fuck," he hisses, and the sound puts a smirk on my face. I continue my movements, his grip on my body tightening as he quickly loses control.

In one swift motion, I'm swooped up into Maddox's arms and brought into the bedroom. He kicks the door closed behind him, the slam echoing against the walls. Maddox lays me down on the bed and crawls on top of me, resting his forearms on either side of my head to hold his body above mine. He's smirking.

I trail my fingers along the waistline of his shorts, feeling satisfied with the shutter that takes through his body. Staring into his eyes, I dare to slip a finger pass the elastic. Maddox closes his eyes, sucking in a breath as my finger touches his tip.

"Fuck, Harper," he breathes, his voice heavy.

I remove my hand and use both of mine to pull his shirt up and over his head. It's thrown across the room, and Maddox wastes no time in removing mine to join it.

Maddox slams his lips to mine, our tongues clashing in the middle. I wrap my legs around his waist and arms around his neck, pulling him close so our bodies are flushed together.

With our lips still frantically moving against each other's, Maddox snakes his hand under my back and unclasps my bra. He scrambles to pull the straps down my shoulders and remove the black fabric. He tosses it aside.

I know exactly where this is leading, and I'm not going to stop it. It's hard to believe just last night, I was still trying to convince myself that I hated his guts. In the almost twenty four hours we've spent together, I can't imagine my life being any other way.

It scares me how fast my mind and body are falling for the man in front of me. It scares me even more knowing that I'm okay with how fast it's happening.

I convinced myself that I didn't want a mate. I liked how my life was, and I didn't want that to change. I didn't want someone to try and control me and my life. I was scared that meeting my mate would mean I would have to conform to the person he wanted me to be, and I wasn't okay with that.

Maddox doesn't do any of that. It doesn't matter that I've only known him for a few days. I know him well enough to know that he's extremely prideful for the person I am. He likes that I have my very own pair of balls (metaphorically, of course) and never stand down from doing the right thing. Even if I'm a total bitch sometimes, Maddox wants me just the way I am.

As the rest of our clothes are removed, I know I didn't stand a chance from the moment I laid eyes on him. I tried to fight it as hard as I could, but the pull to Maddox was too strong for me to go up against.

As our bodies collide, I know Maddox and I are a match made in heaven. There's no way our bodies could be so intuitive to the other person's if we weren't.

As our tangled bodies lay together, I know I've already fallen for Maddox.

And I've fallen hard.

i am SO sorry for the long wait! i had writers block, and i'm super proud of how well i've been writing this story, so i didn't want to quickly write and post a shitty chapter. i know it sucks to wait for updates (trust me, i hate having to wait for myself to do it), but i would rather post quality over quantity.

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