17

Kiara didn’t know how to feel when she opened the door to see Devon, and he wasn’t shirtless. She gulped and folded her hands over her chest as if to wedge the disappointment inside her from seeping out.

“What are you doing here? Isn’t it too late for you to be here?”

Devon’s eyes slowly trailed down her body as if taking her in. She was fully dressed earlier, but now she was just putting on a silky nightdress, and it maddened him. The thought of Marcos ever having to see her in that way fired a certain rage in him, and without meaning to he let out a low growl. “You shouldn’t be putting that on to open your door.”

She angled her to the side and raised a brow. “It’s late evening, why should anyone be coming up to my door at this time?” Her hands pushed up her breasts as she asked and Devon’s gaze instantly zeroed on them,  causing his hands to ball into fists.

“Please cover up, I need to have a talk with you and heaven knows I can’t focus with you dressed like this.” 

Those words sent shockwaves down Kiara’s body, and her arms wrapped protectively around her as she swallowed. “Give me a second.”

She slammed the door and immediately leaned against it as she took deep breaths. He definitely wasn’t the only one that couldn’t concentrate. When she finally calmed herself enough, she picked up the robe that came with the nightdress and secured it tightly over her before she opened the door again.

“What do you want to talk about?” She asked the minute he walked into the room, hoping that the quicker they got to the point, the faster it’d be over and the lesser the tension they’d have to deal with.

Devon took his time to look around the room, and once he was satisfied with it, his eyes found Kiara’s and for a second he felt like he was drowning in them. It made him wonder how on earth someone could force someone else to feel like this, he felt like he was drowning in a pool of his own emotions just staring at her.

“Have you made up your mind on when we can finally mate?”

Kiara’s heart instantly dropped to her stomach and she took a step back. “What?” She asked and let out a nervous chuckle. “What do you mean by that? How can we possibly mate with all that’s going on? Your brother believes I am his mate and my wolf is missing, how can we possibly think of mating and marking each other at this time?”

Devon kept quiet while his eyes studied her. “You are not outrightly rejecting mating like before, you are stalling instead. Why?” He took a step towards her and she took one back, “before, you were so sure you did not want to be my mate, you even tried to reject me once, what changed?”

“Is this what you came here to talk about?”

When her back finally hit the wall, and there was barely any space left between them, Devon’s lips tugged up in a smile. Using his index and middle finger, he slowly trailed up her right arm and watched with satisfaction as her body gave into his touch, the look in her eyes gave away the fact that she was trying to fight it, but her body was way too weak.

Just as he reached her collarbone, he dropped his hands to his side, and a displeased moan escaped Kiara’s lips. “Do you think Marcos could make you feel like this?”

The daze she was in immediately faded, and she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “What are you talking about?”

“Do you seriously believe or think that Marcos might just be another mate of yours?”

Silence flooded the room afterwards, and they both held each other’s gazes while the wheels turned in Kiara’s head.

Finally, she released a breath and shook her head. “No, I don’t think he’s my mate, I feel no connection at all towards him, but then again, there is no logical explanation to why he feels the way he does. He is sincerely convinced he is my mate.”

Relief flooded Devon’s veins at her response. He felt like he would have been in a much tighter corner if she felt anything towards him.

“As long as you feel nothing towards him, then you don’t have to worry your pretty head about anything.”

“You sound like you figured something out.”

“Quick-witted,” he mumbled, but Kiara just raised her brows in response. “You’ll find everything out tomorrow. For now, you should get some sleep, I know you had a rough day today -“ he paused as the skin on his forehead pinched together, “-I am sorry I wasn’t here to protect you. I am sorry.”

A lump formed in Kiara’s throat at how sincere he sounded, but she immediately wrapped her arms around herself and looked away from him. “There is no need to apologize to me, I am okay, and you left me adequate protection.”

He wanted to bring up the fact that his carelessness was the reason a spy was guarding her doors, but he swallowed that and just promised himself to do better. “You should get some rest.”

“Yeah,” she dragged a breath and forced her eyes to meet his, “you should too, I’m sure you had a rough day as well.”

He nodded. “Good night, Kiara.”

“Good night, Devon.”

For a while none of them moved from their positions, unsaid words lodged in their throats. Finally, Devon broke the ice by clearing his throat, “I should get going.”

“Yeah,” she cleared her throat as well, and pulled open the door.

“My room is down the hallway.”

Kiara’s eyes immediately narrowed, “your room is down the hallway? I thought this was a guesthouse?”

Devon’s ears turned red. “Yes, but I‘ll be staying here a while. Umm… something came up”

A smile slowly formed on her face and she nodded. “Alright then, see you tomorrow.” She shut the door before he could reply.

Smiling knowingly, Devon walked down the hallway to his room, but just when he was about to walk into his room, his eyes caught the calendar hanging on the wall beside the door and his blood ran cold at the big full moon circling tomorrow’s date.