Alpha Eyes (Alpha Eyes: Book 1)

Chapter 4

His scent of pine hit me long before I heard the hum of voices downstairs. Daddy had been right about Adrian coming to speak with him, though it took a lot longer than I'd thought. With any luck, their conversation would go as smoothly as mine had. Then again, Daddy might turn all alpha male and claim dominance. Wouldn't that be great...

I blocked out the hum of voices and crawled onto my bed to read. It had taken him five torturous days to speak to my father. Five days of knowing who I was to him, and he avoided me like no one's business. Rather than listen to my wolf whine about being abandoned, I grabbed the book on my nightstand and immersed myself in the story. Any distraction was better than my own thoughts.

Footsteps pounded up the stairs and down the hall. The scent of pine filled my room half a second before my door swung open. My wolf howled and whipped herself into a frenzy as my mate paused in the doorway. For some crazy reason, I pressed my back into the headboard of my bed and waited for him to move.

He stepped in my room and quietly closed the door, blocking everyone else out and keeping me in. His scent intensified, driving my wolf to an insane state where she started howling all sorts of inappropriate things. My hands trembled so much that the book tumbled to the bed beside me. What was he doing here?

"Hi," he finally breathed.

I swallowed the glob in my throat. "Hi."

"I'm sorry that I walked away from you at the party. The shock of the intensity of finding my mate caught me off-guard. I wasn't expecting it." He slowly crossed the room and gingerly sat on the bottom corner of my bed. "Can we try to start over?"

My skin tingled with the electricity of our bond, not to mention that my wolf was one weak moment away from taking control.

"I'd like that," I squeaked.

He flashed a smile that sent fireworks from my heart down to my toes. I still wanted to launch myself across the bed into his arms, but a little spark of timidity held me in place. He was the one who'd bolted the first time. I wasn't going to mess up our second chance at a normal mate bonding moment.

He slid halfway up the bed until he was close enough to touch me. "I'm Adrian, although I'm sure you already know that." He held out a hand in greeting.

I forced myself to nod and shake his hand, not wanting to blurt out how long I'd known. It didn't exactly matter now anyway. "I'm Sierra."

His grip on my hand tightened as he bowed and kissed my wrist. Little sparks skittered under my skin as his breath tickled me. "Sierra." The sound was so deep in his throat that it was half word and half growl. When he lifted his head to look at me, his eyes were a bit wider than before.

I trembled when he cupped my cheek with his free hand and stared at me like I was the treasure find of the century. This could very well do for our magical meeting moment. I could live with his.

"My mate," he whispered, scooting closer until he was right next to me.

His touch sent little sparks through my skin. For a moment, we stared at each other and breathed in each other's breaths. His scent engulfed me, fairly intoxicating me with the glorious essence of him. The electricity between us sizzled and crackled. My heart thudded so loud against my ribs I feared he would hear it.

"Sierra," he breathed as he angled his head to nestle against mine. He nuzzled my nose with his before ducking to capture my lips with his.

Oh gosh...

Fireworks, explosions, deep-burning desire, everything that I could think of happened at once as the mate bond gained a stronger hold. If I'd reacted that way, there was no telling how he was feeling. I shoved aside all negative thoughts and focused on the heavenly feeling of his kiss.