So yvonna got 1 new subscriber which means new update and this chapter is also dedicated to a wattpad user popbub! Yayyyy
Beau returned fully clothed. He must have gotten dressed right out of the shower, because his shirt stuck to parts of his wet body, and his hair formed damp curlicues on his forehead.
He'd been gone long enough for me to compose myself. Beau sat on the edge of the coffee table and tried to take my hands, but I slid them out of his.
"Bathsheba, I just wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have been mauling you on the couch."
So he was having second thoughts about the yucky human virgin? "No," I said, my voice stiff with hurt. "You should not have."
He looked further defeated by my tone. "I know you're a virgin. You probably want flowers and candlelight dinners, and I can't give you that. But I can make a vow that I won't throw you down on the couch and ravish you because I can't restrain myself."
I frowned. Where was he going with this?
He looked solemn. "I just want you to know that tomorrow night is going to be special for both of us."
Tomorrow night? The night of his heat? "Are you on drugs or something?"
It was his turn to frown. "What do you mean?"
I gestured at the door. "Your girlfriend-"
"Ex-girlfriend," he insisted. "I'm not dating anyone in the clan. Not her, not Savannah."
"You've never said who Savannah is to you."
"Savannah is my cousin. She's like a kid sister to me. Which is why I want you."
"Correction," I said. "You want anything female and convenient. Remember Rosie? Bachelorette number one?"
"Why, Bathsheba, you sound almost jealous. Would it help if I said that once I heard your voice, I didn't want anyone but you?"
Oh, yes. "No," I said. I picked up his novel and pretended to read, determined to ignore him.
He plucked the book out of my hands and tossed it across the room. "We need to talk about you and me."
I got up to go after the book. "There is no you and me."
He stood, too, blocking my way. "That's what we need to talk about."
I glared at him and tried to move around him. He stepped in front of me again. I sighed and crossed my arms over my chest. "What?" Damn, why did the man have to be so tall? And broad? I felt small next to him.
He brushed my hair off my shoulders, playing with it. For some reason, he loved my hair. I thought of Arabella's short curls and felt rather smug-she might have had a kick-ass body but I had prettier hair. Stupid, I knew, but I'd take whatever victories I could get.
"Bathsheba," he said, his voice grave. "I am extremely attracted to you. I wanted you the first moment that I saw you."
Flattery happened to be my weak spot. Damn the man.
His fingers dipped to my chin, lifting my blushing face to meet his gaze. "But I have a big problem. Tomorrow when the sun goes down, Savannah will go into heat. Normally when a female cougar goes into heat, she leaves the area so as not to affect her clan. But she doesn't have that choice this time, and because she is a female in my territory, it's going to affect me. I can't do anything about that. I'm ... I'm stuck, really."
His gray eyes searched my face, as if he was hoping to find answers there, or encouragement. "If you and I aren't going to work out ... I need you to tell me now. Otherwise I'm going to have to chase down that bitch Arabella and ask her to spend the night with me. I don't want to. Hell, the thought of having to do so makes me furious-but if my only other choice is that, I'm going to have to go after her."
