Dominated (2 page)

“Kathleen,” she muttered. “Kathleen Davis.”

He breathed heavily for several seconds and then lifted his gaze, a pained expression covering his face. He’d clearly rather be shoveling shit than talking to her. “How old are you?”

She stared at him, angry now. Who the fuck cared how old she was? And what the hell was the matter with him?

She stood. “I’m gonna go.” Hopefully the coast was clear in the hall. She was so unwanted in this room, she was no longer sure the strange, mentally-challenged imbecile in the hall wasn’t her better option. She eased around the chair, not taking her gaze off the blond man following her with his own gaze.

He shook his head before she could advance more than a few steps. “Like hell. Sit.”

She flinched. He narrowed his gaze, demanding compliance with just a look.

She gripped the back of the chair and returned the stare. She straightened her spine, not letting him get the best of her. Fuck him. Who the hell did he think he was? Just because he smelled like sex on a stick and made her knees weak and her heart pound didn’t give him the right to order her around.

On a dime, he changed his facial expression, a grin spreading across his lips. He laughed. “Well, aren’t you stubborn? Sit, Kathleen.” He nodded toward the chair again. “I’m not used to such defiance. Tell me what happened in the hall. Please.” His voice was firm even though he’d lightened up a smidge.

Kathleen rounded the chair and resumed her spot. If he was going to stop growling at her, he wasn’t so bad. When she looked back into his eyes, he gave a small snort, clearly pleased with her obedience.

Her palms were sweaty and she wiped them on her short cotton skirt, gripping the material and balling it up in her fists. Too much leg was showing, and she quickly released the dress to smooth it out as far as it would reach, not even to her knees.

Why on earth had she ever thought this dress was perfect for this night?

“The hall?” He raised one eyebrow in question.

Kathleen gulped and opened her dry lips. She licked them slowly, trying to find a brain cell to use.

She watched as the man who seemed to fill the entire room with his physique and his personality waited for her to speak.

“There was a guy at the meat market . . . party, I mean. He thought to claim me—”

“Why? You aren’t even his,” he interrupted.

She jerked. How the hell would he know that? “He, um, he seemed to think I was. Though I quickly surmised he was quite wrong myself.” Surmised?
What’s coming out of my mouth?

“Go on.” His face went back to frustrated. He didn’t look as sexy with his brow furrowed like that.

“He snuck up behind me at the party, grabbed my hand, and dragged me into the hall.”

“Are you serious? Who is this guy?” Tall and handsome stood and began to pace. He ran his fingers through his messy blond locks again, making himself more appealing and sexy than before.

“No idea. Marcus something. He didn’t give me his last name.”

“Go on,” he demanded again, pausing his frantic pacing to stare at her. “You popped in here as though the hounds of hell were on your heels.”

Now her entire mouth felt too dry to speak. If he reacted this way to the first half of the saga, how would he react to the second half? She needed a drink of water. She wasn’t about to ask for one though. He didn’t strike her as the kind of person she should interrupt. “He insisted I was his, mumbled something about my sister, and then tried to kiss me.”

“He kissed you?” The man barked, his voice cracking at a higher pitch than he was capable of. He leaned forward, his neck craning as though he’d misheard her words.

“Sort of,” she mumbled, biting her lip. “He tried. His breath reeked, and I kneed him in the groin and then ran down the hall.”

Tall, dark, and handsome tipped his head back and chuckled again. “Good girl. I hope you maimed him.”

“I don’t think so. He was chasing me. That’s why I slipped into this room. Didn’t mean to disturb you.” She stood again, thinking to escape. The air in the room was filled with his scent, and she quickly lost the capacity to reason under the strange spell this man cast on her.

In a flash, he was in front of her, pressing her into the chair with his hands on her shoulders.

She gasped, fear running down her spine. Her memory lingered on the strange man-child in the hall who’d attempted to subdue her minutes ago. Somehow the creepy Marcus seemed to be closer to twelve years old than an adult.

He released her just as fast and sat on the coffee table in front of her. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you. Don’t leave yet.” He looked at the ceiling for a moment before continuing. “It might not be safe,” he added.

Was this man any safer than the last?

It seemed more prudent to sit still than to argue with him right now. At least he wasn’t currently restraining her in any way.

Kathleen leaned back. She felt crowded by Mr. Gorgeous. He took up so damn much space. The room was huge, but he filled it.

“Where do you live?” he asked.

“Here. About fifteen minutes away. You?”

He didn’t answer. Why were all the questions directed toward her alone?

“You haven’t told me how old you are.” He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing with the action.

“Why? What does it matter to you?” She felt as defiant as he seemed to think she was. She didn’t want to answer any more of his questions. He’d told her nothing about himself. Was this a job interview?

He inhaled long and slow and then stood. He spoke to the room at large. “Great. Just great. I avoid wolf crowds for all these years, and some tiny pixy half my age chooses this room of all the rooms in the building to pop into and suck the air out of my life. Ain’t life full of surprises?”

What the fuck? What was he rambling on about?

He was the most infuriating man on the planet.

“Be right back,” he stated as he walked toward the door. “Don’t move an inch.” He turned toward her, narrowing his gaze once more as though his look alone usually demanded no argument from most people.

She was inclined to agree.

He twisted the lock, opened the door, and stepped into the hall, shutting himself out of the room.

Seconds ticked by. A minute. Two. Kathleen sat in silence, waiting. Because he said so. And it pissed her off. Who was this man?

Finally, the door opened once again, making her jumpy. She exhaled when she saw who it was, not sure if she should be relieved or depressed to find the giant blond man reentering her space.

“I think the coast is clear. No one’s out there now. Whoever this Marcus is, I guess you sent him running.” He stepped toward her and handed her a card. “Here’s my card. Call if you have any problems. I’ll try to figure out who accosted you and make sure it doesn’t happen again.” He slipped his hands into his pockets and rocked on his heels as she took the card. “Are you with your parents?”

“Yes,” she whispered, somehow feeling about five years old.

“Well, go back to them right now. Don’t take any chances. Got it?”

“I’m not a child.” She felt the need to defend herself.

He smiled, a condescending look that could cut someone to the quick. “To me you are.”

What’s that supposed to mean?

Kathleen stood and wasted no time stomping toward the exit. She hated acting like a brat, but fuck him and the horse he rode in on.

He was faster and beat her to the door, slamming his hand into the wood to hold it closed before she could turn the handle. “Kathleen, I’m not kidding. Do I need to escort you back to your family? Or can’t you follow that simple instruction without defying me?” He stood an inch from her. His body heat radiated toward her even without direct contact. She felt like she might swoon like some heroine in a historical romance novel.

Her reaction to this man infuriated her. His words made her want to slap him. His fine body squeezed the air out of her, leaving her mouth dry and her tongue tied.

For the first time in her life, she wanted to be kissed. Not just kissed, but mauled . . . by the stranger who’d just treated her like a toddler. Her pussy grew damp just with his proximity. And she hated her reaction. What the hell was the matter with her?

“I think I can handle it from here. Thanks,” she ground out. She stepped back to catch her breath when he didn’t move.

His huge palm still held the door closed, blocking her exit.

Several heartbeats passed before he spoke again, calmer this time. “I’m only trying to help. I can’t be sure this Marcus character is truly gone. Please be careful. And use my card if you ever need . . .  anything.”

Why would she ever call him? It was absurd to even consider such an idea. She squeezed the card in her fist. It wadded and crinkled in her grip. Her sweaty palms would ruin it in no time at all.

“Goodbye, Kathleen,” he muttered as he opened the door.

She stepped quickly into the hall, not looking back as the door shut behind her, closing off the strangest event in her life. As she walked away, she looked over her shoulder. Had it been an illusion? Had she really just spent half an hour alone with the strange sexy god of a man who hadn’t given her his name or answered any questions about himself?

She glanced down at the wrinkled card in her palm.

Gabriel Albertson, M.D.

The
Gabriel Albertson? The elusive son of the owners of this sprawling property where the gathering of all North American wolves was held every two years?

She’d heard of him. She’d just never met him.

A chill sent a shiver down her back. Wrapping her arms around her middle, she hurried down the hall to find her sister and parents before Marcus could get the better of her.

Gabe leaned his head against the back of the door and took deep breaths.

Fuck
.

His world just turned upside down in less than one second.

Kathleen Davis . . .  The spunky girl with huge brown eyes and glorious long brown curls had slipped into the den and sucked the life out of him.

At thirty years old, Gabe thought all likelihood of finding a true mate was a thing of the past. In fact, after years of schooling and residency and working his ass off to get where he was today, he’d assumed it might finally be safe to reenter the social norms of the wolf community. He’d been sitting in the dark, drinking a glass of Merlot, and fortifying himself to join the weekend festivities.

This gathering of wolf shifters took place every other year, and his parents had hosted it in rural Oklahoma for two decades. Most of that time, Gabe had been in school. This year he’d taken a two-week vacation to spend time with his family, and he’d even allowed it to coincide with the gathering.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want a mate. Truth was, he’d grown rather lonely in the last ten years. However, he’d known since childhood his life ambition was in medicine, and he’d immersed himself in the human world after high school to ensure he met his goals without running into his mate.

Apparently all that hiding had been unnecessary, seeing as the pixie he’d just met surely hadn’t been out of diapers when he’d left for college.

Gabe groaned and wandered back across the room. He grabbed his wineglass, chugged the rest of it, and flopped back onto the leather couch.

He’d intended to join the ranks tonight and see if any woman caught his fancy. That no longer seemed necessary.

Kathleen Davis was his. Now all he had to do was wait for her to grow up. With her pastel sundress, her flat dainty sandals, and her makeup-free face, her innocence oozed out of her. She couldn’t be more than sixteen years old. And absolutely nothing like any woman he’d ever dated.

He groaned again.

And who the hell was this Marcus character who’d accosted her in the hall?

Gabe might not be able to claim his mate for several years, but he could at least look out for her and find out what the hell was up with the kid who’d tried to take her as his, even though she clearly wouldn’t be a match for Marcus.

Suddenly, Gabe’s pondering was disrupted when the door to the room flung open again. He straightened himself from his slouch and twisted his neck to see who’d entered. Had she returned?

The poised woman in the long flowing gown that fit her like a glove was most definitely not Kathleen. It was his mother, Caroline Albertson. “Gabriel, what are you still doing in here? I thought you were going to join us for the evening.”

Gabe stood. He had no intention of telling his parents about Kathleen just yet. The thought of them gushing over the far-off-in-the-distance arrangements would make him vomit. But he did want to know about Marcus.

“I’m coming. I was just enjoying a glass of wine. I don’t get to do that very often.” He smiled at her and hoped it looked sincere.

“I guess not. You’re on call way too many hours, Gabriel. I hope now that you’re joining a private practice, you can cut back a little and have a few days off now and then. You need to loosen up. You work too hard.” Caroline Albertson glided over to her son’s side and reached up to adjust his tie. “You’re all rumpled.” She smiled up at him.

“I’m thirty, Mom. I think I can dress myself.”

“Of course you can. I’m just so happy to see you. You haven’t been home for even a visit in two years.” She patted his shoulder and stepped back.

She was right. He called as often as possible, but his life had been a whirlwind of craziness for as long as he could remember. He’d left home at eighteen to attend Texas A&M for undergrad and then headed straight into the medical program at Baylor in Houston. The medical center in downtown Houston was world renowned, and he’d grown to love the city and its people. He’d never left, completing his residency there in pediatrics and then taking a job at Texas Children’s Hospital.

This was the first time he’d ever taken two straight weeks of vacation and he intended to spend most of it roaming free on his parent’s property in wolf form. His opportunities to shift and run in the last decade had been few and far between.

“Do you know a kid whose first name is Marcus?” he asked his mother.