to the seventh floor. Quickly she slipped inside the suite. The shower ran on the other side of the bathroom door. Should she join him?
Man, she wanted to, but she wasn’t sure how Aidan would react to her sudden appearance. If he didn’t want her here, she’d have a hard enough time dealing with his rejection clothed, much less naked. She sat on the couch and waited.
A few minutes later, the shower turned off and he appeared with a white towel wrapped around his hips, his head hidden underneath another one as he rubbed his hair dry. The sight of his wet chest sent arousal flooding through her body.
Aidan stiffened, his head snapping up.
Their gazes connected. Blue flashed in his green eyes, and she breathed a sigh of relief. He was connected to his beast. The instinct still had to be there.
“Wh—” he cleared his throat. “What are you doing here?”
Uncertain of what he would say or do next, she stood on shaky legs. She was there. She’d come to him; he should be more happy, not guarded, distant. “I’m offering myself to my mate.”
He inhaled sharply, surprise widening his eyes, before a controlled expression came to his face. “Why?”
What kind of question was that? “You’re my mate.”
“I’ve spent weeks trying to prove that to you. Why the sudden change?”
Okay, so he wasn’t going to make it easy on her. She deserved it.
“Is it guilt, Jaylin? Do you feel like you have no other options?”
“Of course not.” She held up her hands, pleading that he believe her. “Aidan, I thought I’d lost you. You have no idea what this week has been like for me, how I sat there regretting not bonding to you. How I would take it all back if I could get the chance. How I was a fool for not taking the happiness you were so freely offering me.”
She stepped forward. “I was a fool, Aidan.”
He put his hands on his hips, an unyielding expression turning her happy Aidan back to the man he once was, the man who could and would deny her.
“Stupid is more like it. Either way it’s too late.” His voice was flat, hard. “You killed the instinct. I no longer want you.”
Her heart twisted, hearing her worst fears confirmed. All she’d wanted was for Aidan to move on, and now that she couldn’t even think of living life without him, he had. Pride made her want to tilt her chin up and accept what he was saying, but love for this man refused to let her surrender so easily.
With a renewed sense of strength, she crossed her arms over her chest, lifted her chin in the air and said, “Bullshit.”
Aidan blinked. “Excuse me?”
“You want me. You will always want me.” She stepped forward, hands on her hips, mimicking his stubborn stance. “And you’re not leaving this room without my mark. Do you understand?”
Blue flashed in his eyes. Aidan stumbled back, hands held up as if by will alone he could make her disappear, his gaze latched on to the bandages at the front of her throat.
She suddenly understood. This had nothing to do with him no longer wanting her.
“Your beast won’t hurt me.”
Tormented eyes met hers. “I used to believe that, and then it almost killed you.”
“That wasn’t your beast, Aidan. We don’t know exactly what the Splycer did to you or your beast, but neither one of you was the animal in that cage. You have to accept that.”
“How do we know the device didn’t unhinge it? How can I be certain you’re safe with me?”
His vulnerability tugged at her heart. She stepped forward. Tilting her neck back, she pulled the gauze off, showing the marks. “Erase them, Aidan.”
“N-no.”
She took another step. “I trust you. I trust your beast. Completely. Erase them, Aidan.”
Blue flashed in his eyes once more and his skin rippled. He shook his head, his body quivering. “I—I can’t, Jaylin. Please. Stop.”
She knew what she had to do, and felt like a bitch for it considering how terrified he was that he’d hurt her, but she saw no other way. “If I can’t reason with the human, then you’re forcing me to reason with the beast.”
When refused, play dirty.
She forged ahead, speaking directly to his beast. “I want his head between my legs, feel the pinch of his teeth marking my thighs. Then I want to make my mark on him, making you both mine. He won’t let me unless you come out. Come out and play,