Fated: The Alpha's Unwanted Luna-Chapter 117: You have a snake on your neck
Actually, Sebastian had always thought he hated clingy women, but he was just now realizing that he would like her to be clingy, to depend on him and rely on him. He would like her to always act this way, where she didn’t want him to release her, where she held onto him as if he were her only anchor. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖
But then he reminded himself that everything she had gone through, the betrayal she had suffered from Evan and then his own rejection of her in that forest without even bothering to truly know her, was enough to make anyone close themselves off. She had not only gone through a lover’s betrayal but a family betrayal as well, all because she had been wolfless.
She must have endured so many traumatic experiences in the last four years of rejection that it was no wonder she would never ask for anything from him or trust him fully. Every rejection must have surely damaged something inside her, leaving cracks that might take time and patience to mend. It might take time for her real self to come out to him, for her to see him as more than the man who had once almost left her to die.
To earn her trust, he would have to work hard to make her forgive him completely and from the bottom of her heart. He would have to find a way to bring down the walls around her heart and heal whatever damage had been done to her during those painful years.
He didn’t know her full history beyond what he had discreetly investigated. He didn’t even know which sister she had been speaking of betraying, but Sebastian planned to find out, because something she had said resonated with him far too deeply.
She wasn’t like the other women he had known, and he understood that it was time to use a different approach instead of being forceful the way he usually was when he didn’t get what he wanted. Any attempt to force her into accepting him might result in the opposite of what he desired; she might run away from him completely.
He still didn’t have a concrete idea of what kind of relationship he wanted with her, but he knew one thing clearly, he wanted her to heal. He wanted her to stop pushing him away. He wanted her not to hurt this way, not to ache so deeply that he could swear his own pain was nothing compared to hers.
Rather than tear down her walls with brute force, he would learn to dismantle them brick by brick until she would willingly help him do so. As her mate, he should not allow her to distrust him, especially in this dangerous world of Silver.
"If you will eat with me, I will also eat," came her small voice, surprising him. He took in her frail appearance more carefully. Her eyes were still filled with the sorrow he had heard in her voice earlier on the phone. He suddenly became aware of how empty the High Tower skyscraper felt and how enormous her penthouse truly was. Anyone would feel lonely in such a vast space, especially when his sister who usually kept her company was busy and away from this building.
"Sure. I haven’t had dinner either. Let’s eat together," he told her, moving his hand from around her waist to stroke her hair gently, then sliding his touch down to her neck. She tilted her head slightly to the side, silently giving him better access to stroke her neck. She was truly acting like a kitten, and he found himself realizing he could get used to this side of her.
He could still faintly smell his own fragrance lingering on her from the products she had used earlier that morning, and she was still wearing his mother’s home dress that she had put on in his quarters. That small, intimate detail made him smile quietly to himself.
"Now can I heat the dishes so we can eat together?" he asked, looking down at her. Her brows drew together slightly before she pouted her lips.
"Only if you let me hold you," she mused, stepping directly in front of him and hugging him tightly around the waist. "Like this..." she sighed contentedly.
Sebastian looked down at the top of her dark head pressed against him. Though it would undoubtedly be inconvenient to have her clinging to him like this while he prepared their dinner, he found that he didn’t mind it at all.
"Do whatever you like, sweetie," he said softly as he reached back into the refrigerator and pulled out several containers of leftovers.
He would have preferred to cook something fresh for her, something warm and nourishing, but it was already late, and starting from scratch would take too much time. Reheating the leftovers seemed like the better and faster option.
Sebastian had just closed the refrigerator door when he felt the little mischievous, drunk rabbit in his arms reach up and begin poking at the snake tattoo on his neck that peeked out from the collar of his shirt. She beamed up at him innocently.
The sensation of her poking was strangely ticklish and incredibly distracting, especially as she rubbed herself closer against his front unknowingly while she tried to reach for his tattoo.
"You won’t allow me to prepare your meal in peace, will you?" he scolded warmly, though there was no real irritation in his tone. She shook her head in refusal.
"Be good, honey," he chided gently, reaching out to grab the hand that was poking him, but she tried to wiggle free from his tender grip.
"I can’t. You have a snake on your neck, and it’s looking at me. I want to pet it," she said in the sluggish speech of someone clearly drunk. Sebastian couldn’t help but laugh.
She was making him laugh far more than he normally did, and that in itself was unusual. To be honest, he had never had to deal with a drunk woman before, but if every woman was this adorable while drunk, perhaps he wouldn’t have minded so much. Then again, he already knew that if she had been any other woman, he would have found her annoying by now.
He allowed her to pet the snake tattoo even though it was subtle torture for him, because she was essentially stroking and rubbing along his neck, sending small sparks racing along his nerves and straight through his system.
