Chapter 24

Killian:

My lips brushed against my mate’s, causing sparks to course through my veins as I fought the urge to take my mate here and now, claiming her as my own. However, that excitement quickly faded as I frowned when Eleanor froze for a second before putting a hand on my chest, stopping me. Her eyes held a fear that had me fighting my wolf off from reacting.

She quickly looked down at her lap, her eyes avoiding mine, and despite the clench that I felt, I knew to quickly recompose myself, not wanting to frighten her, especially after what happened the other day. She slowly removed her hand from my chest, clenching her fist as she tried fighting her shaking hands. 

“I’m sorry…” 

“Hey,” I said, stopping her, my voice softening as I heard and saw her fear in her voice, body language, and eyes. Her heart raced and I smiled before running a finger over her hand gently. “You don’t need to apologize.” 

Her eyes met mine momentarily and I smiled in assurance, wanting to comfort her. The frown that was on her face told me that this was the last thing that she expected from me as a reaction, and I knew that it would be taking her a while before she was able to trust that I wouldn’t harm her.

She looked down at my hand for a second before nodding at the bandage and I chuckled before shaking my head as I felt the wound start to heal. I knew that it would anyway, but the fact that she was actually willing to tend to it for me was something that I liked and the urge to feel her presence by my side was the one reason that I agreed to her request. 

“The cuts are already healing, you can go and rest for the night. It must have been a long day on your side as well.” I said, my voice softening as I spoke to her. Her eyes studied my expression for a few seconds before she nodded as she got up from the edge of the bed. 

“Is there anything that you might need from me, Alpha? Something to eat or drink?” She asked, looking down at her feet momentarily as she showed her respect, clearly trying to remind herself of her limits. And though I didn’t see the issue in them, I knew that she did, and that was something that I didn’t want to stress her with. 

“I’m fine. And if there is anything that I do need at this time, I can always head to the kitchen.” I said and Eleanor smiled. The fact that her smile reached her eyes told me that she understood that I was trying to lighten the mood.

The last thing that I wanted was for her to be as nervous as she was, and I knew that it would be taking more than just a few words for her to soften toward me. If anything, she needed to trust me, and the only way to ensure that is that I earn her trust, and that was going to be taking a lot of patience from my side.

“Alright, I will be calling it a night, but if there is anything that you need, you can always wake me up.” She said and I smiled before walking toward my closet. I slowly pulled two shirts out and walked toward her, handing them to her, making her frown in confusion as she took them from me. “Do you want me to wash them?”

“You don’t have any clothes that you can consider as pajamas. I believe that these would be more comfortable for you," I said and her eyes widened before she blushed. The two shirts were black and gray, and I knew that this was the last thing that she expected. But I had to admit, I simply wanted my scent to be on her. Plus, there was the fact that I wanted to try and catch her wolf’s attention, wanting to connect with her. 

Her feeling me would ensure that she felt the mating bond, but I knew that it wasn’t going to happen if she was still hiding. Therefore, I had to add a little push to catch her attention for that to happen. 

“Alpha, you don’t need to, I can…”

“I have tons of shirts and I doubt that I would ever need these.” I said, stopping her. She looked down at my shirts for a second, and shook her head, wanting to give them back to me. I smiled and put my hand on hers, stopping her from giving it back to me. 

“Keep them,” I said, my voice dropping a bit as I looked her in the eye, making sure to let her know that I didn’t want to scare her. If anything, I wanted her to feel safe, and that was something that she had to understand. “You can return them if you want when you get your own clothes.” 

Her heart raced against her chest and she looked down at my chest, avoiding my eyes, clearly feeling the bond. Whatever she had gone through, and maybe the pain that she was initially in, her fear, was what had her fearing how I would be treating her. But I was more than willing to be patient with her and patient with how I was going to treat her.

“Thank you, Alpha.” She said, avoiding my eyes and I smiled before putting my finger under her chin, raising her face.

“You know, you look beautiful with your chin held high.” I said, and she frowned before a blush crept to her cheek, making my heart swell. Her innocence was something that I craved to taint and seeing how genuine she was only made me want to explore her more.

“You are the Alpha, my boss, and for that, I am not allowed to look you in the eye.” She said, looking down at my chest as she avoided my eyes. I chuckled and she frowned in confusion. In truth, she was right, the only two who were allowed to look me in the eye were Liana and Natasha, but they were not maids in my eyes; these two were family. 

However, this was my mate, and I wasn’t going to be treating her like I treated other maids. If anything, she was supposed to be served and not serving anyone. But that was going to take a little time before it happened. 

“That is plausible when it is duty hours,” I said and she looked up at me. “But I doubt that it is the case right now, don’t you think?”

She blushed and I smiled as I made sure that she held onto the shirts, dismissing the idea of returning them to me. “I’ll go and get ready for bed. Thank you so much for the shirts,” 

“You don’t need to thank me, malyshka.” I said, my eyes softening as I looked at her. “Have sweet and beautiful dreams…”