CHRIS Read online

  He eyed her, then shook his head. “Should have figured it was something like that. You’re not the type of woman who likes to be dependent.”

  She laughed at that. “And what made you figure that out? The fact I always listen to my parents’ dictates, or, as you rightly said, I work eighty hour plus a week for nothing?”

  He rolled his eyes. “Don’t start on the pity party. It is how it is, and it’s not that way anymore.”

  She hissed out a satisfied breath. “Now that is something to thank the Goddesses about. My parents no longer have a single damn say in what I do, where I go, or how I live.” She tilted her head upward, eyes closing as she crashed her fingers into a crescendo that fitted her joyously buoyant frame of mind.

  “They really got to you, didn’t they?” he asked softly, heading over to the piano to stand closer to her.

  She opened her eyes. “Wouldn’t they have gotten to you?”

  He pursed his lips. “Yeah, of course. But you’re always so...” His sigh said it all. “Patient.”

  “With you, you mean?”

  “Yeah. I guess.”

  She nodded. “No point in being anything else, is there?”

  “Most people don’t think that way.”

  “I’m not most people, am I?” She cocked a brow at him. “Or do you wish I was?”

  “Don’t put words in my mouth,” he told her easily. “I’m not trying to start a fight, just trying to understand my mate, that’s all.”

  “We could have spent the last ten years getting to know one another if you hadn’t ignored me.” Once again, she used the soft tinkling of the piano to soothe her.

  “I didn’t ignore you. I was saving my sanity.”

  She snorted. “Is that what you call it?”

  He sighed, then when she carried on, her focus on the piano and not him, he grabbed her wrist and brought the fingers of one hand to a halt.

  “We need to move past this.”

  “I know.”

  “If you know, then why did you bring it up?”

  She jerked a shoulder. “Because it was on the tip of my tongue.”

  “Haven’t we already established that you don’t blurt out everything that’s on the tip of your tongue, because if you did, then your parents would have been on the receiving end of some major tantrums?”

  Her lips twitched at that. “True.”

  “So, can we move on?”

  “It depends.”

  “On what?”

  “On you.”

  He sighed again. “What way?”

  “Just how you talk to me, I guess. It’s not easy going from us being so closed off to being able to talk about things like my parents.” She shrugged. “They’re a sore subject. I love them, but I seem to have spent the last ten years hating them too.”

  “It’s no wonder with the way they’ve treated you.” He shook his head. “But you’re right. I was out of line talking about that. It’s been on my mind, that’s all.”

  She frowned. “Why?”

  He shrugged. “Kiko raised the topic in Council.”

  “What topic?”

  “You.”

  “Me?” She frowned, then planted her fingers down against the keys. “I’m a topic?”

  “Yeah. Your father’s a stubborn bastard sometimes.”

  “When it comes to me,” she corrected with a grimace. “Kiko mentioned college, didn’t he? Mischa asked him to.”

  “Yeah. But when I spoke to Mischa, she said you’re not interested anymore.”

  She pursed her lips, then murmured, “Look at this place, Chris.”

  It was his turn to frown. He let his gaze travel over the suite of rooms and the sky-high view of Houston. “I get your point.”

  She smiled a little. “Thought you might. I stopped needing college a long time ago. Dad couldn’t stop me from learning. Not that he wanted to stop me from learning, I know that. He just wanted me close by.” She shrugged. “Too close for my sake and not close enough for his.” Her smile deepened. “It’s kind of encouraging that the Council tried to bat for me though. I didn’t realize.”

  “You wouldn’t. But we did. Many times. All of us at some point or another.”

  She sighed. “I often wonder what it would be like to be the daughter of just a Council member, and then I realize my dad wouldn’t change whether he was VP or just an average rider. But still, that’s the last I want to talk about him. He drives me batshit on the best of days, and today has already been wrecked to a certain point.” She stopped playing and wrapped her arms around herself as she confessed, “I don’t know how to be with you, Chris. I thought I did, I thought it would come naturally but you’ve put so much distance between us I don’t know how to get close to you.” She shifted her head down, whispered, “To you or anyone.”

  Her tone was that of a confession and it twisted him up like nothing else she could have done or said.

  After what had happened today, he wanted nothing more than to give her comfort, and so he murmured, “We’ll do whatever we must to make that connection. We’ve pushed it aside for so long, I guess that’s the habit our Bears are used to enduring. So, we need to take it slow, get used to being together again.”

  She blinked at him, batting those shamrock green eyes in a way that melted his heart. “Even if that means waiting?” she asked hoarsely, and he knew exactly what she meant.

  “Even if it means waiting,” he vowed, then strode over to her when she started gnawing on her bottom lip. Before she could second guess, he tugged her into his arms and hugged her.

  Nothing more, nothing less than a simple embrace. One that he hoped transmitted his feelings for her.

  She wasn’t alone in feeling confused, a little lost.

  It was like suddenly having the gate to the Garden of Eden but standing right at the gatehouse for fear of being smote for trespassing.

  Everything he ever wanted was right in front of him, and yet it couldn’t have been further away either.

  She shivered in his arms, then nuzzled deeper. He reveled in the closeness between them and prayed a little patience and a lot of tenderness would allow their true natures to flourish where he’d been suppressing it for all these years.

  “What do you want to do with the rest of the day?” he asked softly, whispering the words into her ear. When she shivered again, he knew it was for a different reason than before.

  He smiled, liking her responsiveness, but moved his lips away. He’d meant it when he said he’d wait. He had no problem with that. His Bear wanted to lay Claim to her, but the man was still acclimating to the fact he could have his mate without fear of being castrated by his Prez.

  They both needed time.

  “I-I don’t know.”

  Her whisper was a soft brush against his throat. “Sure you do. Do you want something to eat? Do you want to catch a movie?”

  She pulled back and peered up at him. “Anything?”

  He smiled. “Anything.”

  “Can we just take a nap? I’m so tired I can barely stand up straight.”

  Surprised, he blinked at her. Then, shaking his head he murmured, “If a bed is what madam desires, then a bed is what madam shall get.”

  She laughed, and as he pulled away and let her fall from his embrace, he knew at that moment everything would be okay.

  They would get past this moment.

  They would get past these difficulties, and today’s drama would soon be history.

  They had each other, and that was all that counted.

  Chapter 6

  “Hi.”

  “Hi.” He smiled at her, and Jesus, that smile did things to her that had to be illegal in some states.

  Was it utterly stupid to feel shy? She wasn’t sure, but she did. When she’d suggested going for a nap, she hadn’t realized just how intimate waking up with someone else was.

  Sure, she’d had a few sleepovers in the past. But waking up with a girlfriend was completely different to waking up with a
guy, and not just any guy at that. Her mate. Jesus. She had a mate. Not just a phantom one who caused her more misery than happiness. He’d accepted her, was willing to Claim her. Even better, he was willing to give her time to get used to the sudden about-face.

  Six hours was an incredibly short time to come to terms with this new state of her world. Even if it was everything she’d been praying for during the last few years, her head was finding it harder to come to terms with. Jeez, women really were from Venus.

  Why she hadn’t leapt on him and Claimed him was beyond her. She just wasn’t ready for it, and that was that.

  She stared into his sleepy eyes and smiled. His lips curled into a grin and he reached for her, pulling her closer so that her head rested on the pillow behind his head but she could hug him. Tentatively, she lifted her leg and cocked it over his thighs. When he reached down and pulled her knee higher up, she snuggled into him, finding a comfortable spot within seconds.

  “This is nice,” he murmured softly, his hand starting to stroke her denim covered thigh. “I’ve thought about this for a hell of a long time.”

  There was a dreamy quality to his voice that came as a distinct surprise to her. Well, that, and a welcome relief.

  He wanted her as much as she wanted him.

  Years of rejection had a funny way of fucking with the mind.

  “I just never imagined we’d be in a penthouse suite when it was happening,” he continued, chuckling when he finished.

  She hid her smile at that by turning her face into his throat. “You could afford this suite.”

  “Maybe,” he reasoned. “On credit though. Somehow, I don’t think you’re working on credit.”

  “Debit,” she confirmed.

  “How?” he asked, astonished. “I don’t get it.”

  She shrugged. “Numbers are my thing. I played the stock exchange for a long time.”

  “Why don’t you do it for the Clan?”

  A snort escaped her. “You really think Dad would trust me?”

  “Why not? He trusts you with the books.”

  “Yeah, only because it’s administrative. No money crosses my palm and I don’t have to worry about strategy. God forbid I be anything other than a human calculator.” She rolled her eyes even though she knew he couldn’t see.

  “That logic is insane. The man has given you the workload of a team of CPAs, but you don’t think he’d have enough faith in you to make investments on the MC’s behalf.”

  She shrugged. “Also, the MC doesn’t particularly need the money. It needs to employ riders and their families. There’s a difference.”

  He conceded that with a nod. “That does make sense, I guess. But still, extra money for the pot means we can do more. If you’ve done so much with your own personal income, then it would be stupid not to try with MC funds. Hell, imagine what you could do with a large lump sum.”

  Bemusement filled her, and it was swiftly followed by warmth.

  This was what it felt like to be trusted. For someone to have faith in her. Implicitly.

  Butterflies swarmed in her stomach for a second, until she could do nothing less than whisper, “Thank you, Chris.”

  “What for?” he asked, his hand stilling from its earlier caress along the length of her thigh.

  “For believing in me. So easily.”

  He snorted at that. “Don’t be silly. The whole MC does. It’s why most of us don’t get why your mom and dad are so insane where you’re concerned. You’re...” He broke off, shaking his head a second as he seemed to take a minute to process what he wanted to say. “Everyone knows how special you are. What you can do. It’s unique. You’re quiet, but everyone knows you.”

  “Because I’m the Prez‘s daughter.”

  “If that were the case, you’d just be the Prez’s weirdo reclusive daughter. Instead, you’re Ava.”

  “Because they pity me.”

  “Wow,” he remarked, “Someone’s having a pity party. Again.”

  She pulled back so she could look down at him. As she did, her hair swung down, trailing over his chest. He closed his eyes and sucked in a breath. “Goddess, your scent is to die for.”

  She clapped her hand on his stomach. “Back on topic, buster. I’m not stuck in self-pity.”

  He quirked a brow. “Aren’t you? If it’s not that, then it’s apathy. Not sure which yet. You seem to swing from one to another.”

  “Since when were you a shrink?”

  “Never. But I intend on becoming the world’s number one expert on a certain Ava Founder.”

  Her eyes widened at that. “Founder,” she whispered, then bit her lip as a delicious sensation flushed through her—happiness.

  “Do you mind taking my name?” he asked, seeming surprised by her reaction.

  “No. Not at all.” She Bears rarely took their mates’ names, and she knew her father wouldn’t be happy about the change. She had one thing to say to that—tough shit. “Although it might have been a bit presumptuous of you...” She teased, reaching up to grab the fall of hair that still draped across his chest.

  “Presumptuous is the only way I’ll get anything past you, I think,” he retorted, reaching up to grab a hold of her hand and to bat it away. “Leave it. It makes my Bear happy.”

  Touched, she smiled at him, dipping her head and pressed her chin to his pec, leaving her hair where he’d asked.

  For a second, they let silence fall between them, but she broke it by asking, “Are you hungry?”

  “Starving,” he said lazily, but there was definitely no rush to his comment.

  “Room service?”

  He shrugged. “Do you want to go out?”

  “Not particularly,” she confessed. “But then, I never do. Dragging me out is fine by me. I spend too much time inside anyway.”

  He snorted. “We’ll go out more together. Don’t worry about that.”

  “I have a lot of responsibilities with the accounts,” she admitted. “I’m not sure how much free time I actually have because I’ve always just worked.”

  “I know, but that will change soon.”

  “It will? Are you going to take on my parents because I don’t think I can. They’ve never listened to me before, why should they now?”

  Chris sighed and started twiddling with locks of her hair. “Look at it from their point of view, Ava. You were safe at the clubhouse, under their care and watchful eyes. But at the same time, you were also around a bunch of horny riders so it was in their best interest for you to be cooped up.

  “Things will change now you’re mated. They’ll realize that. And these few days away will do everyone the world of good because they can adapt to you not being there and adjust to the new status quo.” He pressed a kiss to her temple. “We’ll go on vacations together, babe, and explore the world... We have some great times ahead of us.”

  Excitement washed through her. “We will? Where will we go?” She’d traveled around Texas, and that was the extent of the exploration she’d done. Mostly because her father had always had to stay close to the MC. It didn’t matter that they could afford a private jet to take him anywhere he wanted, Mars always traveled by bike.

  He didn’t trust other transport; even if that meant they’d never even crossed the border into Louisiana, for Christ’s sake.

  Considering her mom had traveled the world reporting the most gruesome shit humans did to one another, she wasn’t sure how Annette had coped being stuck state-side, literally, all these years. But cope she had.

  The mate bond was a miracle worker it seemed.

  “Where do you want to go?” he countered, breaking into her thoughts—she really needed to stop thinking about her parents. Trouble was, they were all she’d really had to focus on for so long that she didn’t have much else to think about.

  By the sounds of it, that was about to change.

  Jesus, she couldn’t wait.

  “Where don’t I want to go?” she replied. “I want to go everywhere.”

&n
bsp; He chuckled. “Well, let’s order room service first, eh?”

  She grinned. “Yeah. We’d best do that quickly.”

  Ava got up to go seek out the shower as Chris’ phone began to rang from the other room.

  “Why the fuck didn’t you come back to the clubhouse?” Mars’ voice booming down the line was proof positive that he’d commandeered Kiko’s phone.

  Hoping that he hadn’t caused the VP too much shit with his request, he sighed. “Because I wanted time to get to know my mate.”

  “At the risk of putting her in danger? What kind of idiot are you?”

  “We’re on the top floor of a swanky hotel, Mars. Who the fuck do you think is going to get to us? There’s more security here than there is at the clubhouse.”

  “I doubt that,” Mars growled. “Plus, this is Shifter land. We can kill any who trespass. That doesn’t extend to downtown Houston, swanky hotel or not.”

  Though he had a point, Chris just grunted. “Ava didn’t want to go back,” he told Mars.

  “She never wants to come back,” the Prez snarled. “You make her come back, dammit. Or is that how your mate bond’s going to work? You doing everything she damn wants whether it’s for her own good or not?”

  Chris blinked at the injustice in that statement and managed, barely, to withhold a snarl. “You can say that when Annette does whatever the fuck she wants?”

  “Annette’s different,” the Prez immediately discarded. “She was a goddamn war reporter. She’s seen more death than I have, and has had to deal with more shit than I can even dream of. Ava’s sheltered. Protected. She isn’t used to violence, and she sure isn’t used to shifting. Kiko said three men were killed by her.”

  The gruffness in his voice was the only thing that stopped Chris from losing it. The sorrow for his daughter was evident in Mars’ tone, but still, it was no excuse to let him get away with the bullshit he was spouting.

  “Ava’s my problem now,” Chris retorted. “Not yours. You know that’s how the bond works. I have no problem in leaving the Clan and going back home with Ava if you can’t accept that.”