~ Chapter Thirty-Two ~

Dimitri and I looked at the door, but there was no one there. It had been left open from Dylan, who I was cursing in my head as I slowly sat up. Dima left me to shut the door, then went to the closet for a shirt I hadn’t ripped up. I reached down and picked up the fabric, examining the perfectly straight slice.

“Wow,” I muttered to myself as I glanced at my fingernails. I hadn’t thought they were that sharp.

“How are you feeling?” Dimitri asked, walking up to his window with a pensive look on his face. I threw his old shirt to the side to look at this new one, though it was almost an exact replica.

“How am I feeling?” I repeated. “Dissatisfied.”

He looked back at me, unamused, and I laughed at him.

“There was no one there, you could have just come back over here,” I pointed out as I lay down.

He hesitated. “I don’t want to take it too far. You’re vulnerable and still a little mad at me.”

“Maybe.”

“Have you… thought about it? The physical stuff? Markings?”

“You mean, am I okay with you marking me someday? Sure I have, and sure I will be. But you’re right, I’m still a tiny bit mad at you right now,” I admitted, rolling onto my feet next to the bed. “I know I’ll want it one day, just not today.”

“I understand.” He turned toward me. “What about becoming an official member of the pack and being my Luna?”

“I thought I am your Luna and I doubt I have any choice about joining the pack.”

Dimitri weighed one of his hands. “Well, you are *technically* Luna, but you haven’t met the whole pack yet. We haven’t… done anything to seal the deal.”

“To seal the deal?” I laughed. “What is there to seal? I’m your mate.”

“You have to be mated to me,” he explained, as he moved across the room. “Right now, you’re just acting as my Luna, you aren’t officially her yet.”

I frowned. “But Jessica listened to me earlier.”

“I think she was being polite.”

“I feel lied to,” I muttered. “So I’ll become Luna when we’re at the point I feel comfortable letting you mark me, big deal. I can wait a little while. I’m not sure I want to meet the pack yet anyway.” I walked up to Dimitri and tilted my head back for him, glancing down at his lips. “It’s a lot of pressure.”

“They’ll be on their best behaviour,” he whispered as he leaned down to kiss me. His kiss was slow and deliberate, reigniting the fire that had been in my stomach just a few moments ago. I started to reach out for him, but he suddenly pulled me away at arm’s length. “No, I like this shirt, you aren’t ripping it.”

My mouth dropped open. “That was an accident! I wasn’t thinking. And those shirts are basically the same.”

“This one smells different,” he argued quickly, walking around me.

“They should smell the same: clean.”

“I mean… it’s clean but there’s something to it. Here” - he passed me the shirt I’d ripped - “smell this and then” - he pulled me against his chest - “this one.”

Reluctantly, I took a whiff of both fabrics, lingering closer to the one he wore, and I realised there was a barely-detectable scent attached to the one he wore. It wasn’t very old but familiar…

“Oh,” I realised, my lips pressed together.

He gave me a tiny smile. “I’m not the sentimental type, but that time in the basement meant a lot to me, Erika.”

I was dumbfounded, finally realising that the shirt he wore now had been - at some point - at the old pack house while he was captured. I could detect it now, the faint smell of the basement; not enough to make me gag, but enough to remind me of the easy times we’d had down there. Everything had been so simple, so uncomplicated. It was wrong that it felt like the prime of our relationship so far, aside from our date, which I had to admit I was glad hadn’t been tainted by the next morning. Dimitri had made a right and wrong call by keeping it from me.

“If only you weren’t beaten up everyday,” I agreed, flattening my palms against his chest. “You know it feels silly now that I didn’t wear anything revealing in front of you.”

Dima chuckled under his breath, his eyes flickering to the sports bra I wore, which barely covered my chest. I was bigger than I thought when I’d bought it, so my boobs weren’t as contained as they should have been. “Right, but maybe that was a good thing.”

“I don’t know, I think you could have done with getting your mind blown.” I winked.

“I could do with that right now,” he shot back, and I playfully trailed a finger down his front. “Although maybe you need it more.” His voice sounded like a pur, an animalistic plea, and my body responded with a flood of heat. I couldn’t take my eyes away from his face. The mate bond was hitting us full force, aided by our natural attraction to one another. All I could think about was ripping this shirt, too, but I kept control of myself.

“It’s your turn to dress conservatively for me,” I teased, “otherwise I’m gonna do something I’ll regret to you.”

“To me? I’m listening.”

I laughed and pushed him away, turning toward my shirt. I wasn’t entirely sure where it was, but quickly found it lying among the ruffled sheets. I touched my hand to the warm fabric, picturing what might have happened if someone hadn’t walked past the room at that very moment. My body felt deprived suddenly, like I hadn’t eaten for days, and when Dimitri’s fingertips touched my waist on either side, I realised I was depriving myself of *him*.

“I feel it, too,” he murmured into my ear, which wasn’t helping. “We could just ignore it.”

“I hate that I don’t want to,” I admitted, “but we should.”

“Can I ask why again?” he asked as he trailed his hand across my stomach, his palm flattened against my skin.

“I’m still mad at you… just a… just a little.” Dimitri was slipping past the waistband of my pants, teasing me with what could be. I turned my head toward his neck to hide my face as he brushed over my sensitive area.

“I may be mad at you,” I said, “but if someone interrupts us again, I’m going to fight them.” He took that as his permission, and I gasped when he slid aside my underwear. He was freezing compared to my hot body, sending chills all down my spine and through my legs; everything was starting to feel unsupported, like I could fall down at any second. But he was holding me with his other arm, against him, against his leftover pleasure from before.

“Fuck, Erika, stop making that sound,” Dimitri groaned into my ear, and I realised I was softly moaning to myself.

“Why?” I breathed back.

“You’re making me want to…” He trailed off.

“What?”

Dima suddenly shoved me forward onto the bed and came down on top of me, so that he was pinning me on my front. He flipped me round and gripped onto the waistband of my leggings. “My turn,” he snarled, before tearing them off. The gust of cool air hitting my skin caused me to softly gasp, as he threw away the fabric and delved down to my exposed stomach. His lips left harsh marks that I knew would become visible overnight, until he had reached my underwear and pulled it aside. With one glance for permission, his tongue slipped out between his lips, swiping up me, sending ecstasy through my entire body.

“Dima,” I whined, tangling my fingers into his hair to hold him in place. I was already buzzing with the excitement of it all, ready to explode, but I wanted to feel this for longer, to experience what it was like to be pleased by your mate; the only word I could think of was indescribable.

“Mm,” Dimitri hummed.

I bit my lip at the vibration. “Oh, Goddess, Goddess, Goddess.” My back arched. “Dima…”

It all became too much.

**Follow my Twitter :) @GracieMackinto1**