Chapter Seventy-Eight
A light knock on the bathroom door jolted Catherine from her daze. She quickly threw her pajamas on before opening the door. Graham smiled down at her and she fought the urge to fold herself into his chest. Her eyes ventured down to the hard planes of his torso hidden beneath his hoodie.
“Excuse me,” he whispered, drawing her eyes back up.
“Sorry,” she said quickly before bolting from the bathroom.
Catherine climbed into bed and leaned back against the headboard. She closed her eyes and breathed deep. She pictured the wall she’d erected in her mind over the last week. The crack Grahant caused yesterday when he touched her was plastered over. There was a hideous scar, but the structure was sound. She thought about what he’d asked and why she hadn’t listened. She wasn’t ready. Not only did she need to perfect the skill in case Dominic ever succeeded in kidnapping her, she wasn’t ready to face the consequences that would come when she finally did release her wilder side from its prison.
The bathroom door swung open and Graham padded toward the bed. He gave her a quick smile before peeling back the blankets and crawling in. He still had on his hoodie and his sweatpants. Though it was customary for him to sleep in either nothing or just a pair of boxers, he was trying to make her comfortable by wearing as much clothing as possible.
“Goodnight, Baby. I love you,” Graham whispered as he settled in and hugged his pillow.
“I love you too.”
“Mmmm.”
Nearly an hour later, Catherine was still awake. Her phone buzzed on the nightstand and she took the opportunity to get out of bed. She walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. She checked her phone to find a few texts from Juno.
Juno: Where the hell are you? Three days and no texts?
Juno: I called Graham a couple times. Is that why you’re ignoring me? I told you I would give you a week. Don’t be pissed
at me for looking out for you.
Juno: Bitch if you don’t answer me by the morning I’m coming to Blackmoore and knocking you senseless til your ‘wall’ comes crumbling down!!!!!
Catherine: Hey, sorry, been busy.
Juno: Bullshit. Did you tell him?
Catherine: He found out.
Juno: So, you didn’t tell him, he figured it out on his own.
Catherine: Yeah.
She watched the dots circulate, drop and then pop up again for several minutes.
Juno: You okay?
Catherine: Is Dominie still alive?
Chapter Seventy-Eight
Juno: Your big, strong mate is still alive. That’s what matters. Dominic won’t get to you.
“Catherine?”
Catherine looked up to find Graham watching her from the doorway. His hair was ruffled from sleep, his right eye remained shut while he squinted his left against the light from the kitchen.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Yes, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you,” she whispered.
He gave her a lazy half-smirk and walked toward her. He placed a kiss on the top of her head and settled in the chair next to her. He took her hand out of habit and laid his head against the table. A moment later his eyes snapped open and darted to where their hands remained intertwined.
Catherine understood his confusion. While she tried to cage her wolf, she couldn’t let him touch her. She knew one touch, one look even, would be enough to dismantle all of her hard work. She was never meant to hide herself from her mate, especially her marked mate. Their bond fought against her efforts every day. It cost her in more ways than one. The largest consequence was having to feel the pain and confusion she caused Graham.
While she walled herself away, he opened himself more and more. He hid nothing from her, not his aggravation at the pressure Jensen was already putting on him, not his indecision in turning down Lucien’s offer again before he left the pack, not his deep- rooted worry for her or his desire to just hold her. Every time she shrugged away from his touch, she felt the scorching burn of rejection and hurt rack through his body. Even then she was selfish, only allowing those tiny intimate moments of touching his arm while she walked past or running her hands through his hair while he slept.
“You’re not pulling away from me,” Graham whispered, breaking her train of thought.
“No, I’m not.”
Graham sighed and closed his eyes. She felt the wave of relief flow over his skin. “I’ve missed you, Baby.”
“I’ve missed you too.”
“Why are you doing this?” he asked, his eyes still closed and his voice clogged with sleep.
“To protect us.”
“I’ll protect you,” he whispered. Catherine reached out with a tentative hand and ran her fingers through his hair, along the shell of
his ear. “I don’t want this to end.”
“It won’t.”
“Catherine, there’s something I need to tell you.”
“What?”
Graham’s hand tightened around hers and his eyes opened. He gave her an appraising look, trying to determine how much of a flight risk she was. She swallowed, suddenly swarmed with nerves. Graham lifted his head and wrapped his other hand around her
wrist.
“Dominic is on the move.”
Ghapter Seventy-Eight
Catherine jerked up from the table. Graham expected this and kept a firm grip of her wrist as she tried to pull away and run. She yanked at his grasp. Her vision blurred with tears as she fought to get away. Small sounds of desperation left her lips while her entire body shook in fear.
“Catherine, running is not the answer this time. Let me help you. Let me in,” he whispered.
Catherine shook her head. She opened her mouth but words would not come. Everything around her shook violently as if the entire world were crumbling. She squeezed her eyes shut. She was breathing far too rapidly, enough so that air didn’t have time to reach her lungs before it was shoved back out. She felt Graham’s large hands wrap around her neck and his thumbs press into the soft, vulnerable skin of her throat. She didn’t know when he’d released her wrists but now her hands fisted in his hoodie.
“Let me in, Baby,” Graham begged. “Please, let me in. Let me help.”
Catherine nodded quickly. Spots danced behind her vision as her body tried to pump what little oxygen she took in through its veins. She concentrated on the wall she’d built around herself and imagined a slight crack. The crack grew and grew, splintering the stone into shards sharp as glass. A deep roar sounded in the back of her mind and suddenly it all shattered. Graham groaned against the weight of pain, anxiety, stress, fear and turmoil Catherine locked away. His hands tightened against her neck and his body enveloped hers.
One moment she had no air, the next his searing lips touched hers and her lungs expanded from the breath he gave her. Warmth spread through her as his lips continued to mould around hers. His hands snaked up through her hair. For the first time in days she could feel the energy fields pumping around them, breathing life into every surface. She felt Graham’s energy, hot, chaotic and bold slashing through the air and driving into her with determination and precision. She felt the current of him coursing through her veins, coating her nerve endings with his fierce desire for her, not for her body but all of her.
Catherine’s legs gave out under the weight of her mate’s resolve. The pair fell to the floor. Graham caught their weight with his left hand. His lips never left hers as they fell and beside a small grunt upon impact, he did not stop his quest to possess her completely. Without the wall holding her wolf in place, there was nothing stopping her carnal need to claim what she’d been without for nearly a week. Catherine started pulling at Graham’s sweatpants, trying to get them down. Graham caught her wrists and slammed them against the floor by her head.
“It’s been a week. I want you naked,” Graham growled against her lips.
