Rory's Mate (4 page)

"I'll give her security.  I'll give her a home that she can be in forever. Anything she needs or wants is hers."  Rory answered firmly.  He would wrap her in security. 

"She has other needs other than just financial security, Rory.  She has abandoned child syndrome.  She's suffered with it for years.  She's done her best to overcome it...and she's getting there.  But she needs people around her that care about her.  She thinks nobody wants her.  She doesn't feel desirable or attractive.  She blames herself for the fact that she was never adopted."  Brianna finished, obviously done revealing all of the information she felt comfortable disclosing about her best friend. 

Rory gaped at Brianna as she finished.  His sweet, adorable Callie.  How could she think that nobody wanted her?  He had wanted to be around her even before he had found out she was his mate.  It wasn't that he doubted what Brianna said was true.  Brianna had been a social worker before she had mated with Ethan.  She knew about these things.  She had also been friends with Callie since childhood. 

His heart ached for her.  He knew what it was like to want to be special.  It was hard knowing that his mate had suffered so much, had her confidence eroded by years of rejection. 

"You need to be careful, Rory.  She's vulnerable.  She may not act like it.  She's become a master at hiding her emotions," Brianna warned him with a frown.  "I know your mating instincts are strong but you are going to have to go slow.  She's not going to believe you at first."

Rory nodded his head, "I know."

"But you need to convince her, Rory.  I can't see her go through what I did.  I love her.  She's like the sister I never had," Brianna voice choked with tears.  Ethan reached for Brianna's hand, comforting her silently.

"You don't have to worry about him pushing things too far.  It won't happen unless she calls him to her."  Nathan's baritone cut through the silence, powerful and filled with a slight bit of amusement. 

"What are you talking about?"  Rory demanded, irritated at his brother's amusement.

"He means you can touch her as long as she is enjoying it,  but you can't have intercourse unless she calls you to her."  Liam answered, talking in a clinical voice. 

"It's true.  The woman has the ultimate choice.  She has to ask you to come.  Literally."  Ethan choked back a laugh as he answered.   Brianna smacked Ethan on the arm with a frown.  She obviously hadn't appreciated his joke.

"But we almost did.  I almost did."  Ethan answered, confused. 

"If you had come close enough to initiating it..."  Nathan held his index finger straight up and let it droop down with an evil smile.

Damn.  He had been clueless to that mating fact. 

Ethan took pity on him.  Probably because he had been through it himself.

"Before the act can be completed, she has to call you to her.  She will call with her subconscious mind while she is asleep."  Ethan grinned wickedly. "In the meantime...you'll think you're in hell.  You won't want any other men around her, talking to her, touching her." 

Okay...maybe Ethan wasn't that sympathetic.  Rory cursed himself for the way he had pulled Ethan's chain with Brianna when Ethan had been ruled by mating instincts.

"What should I do now."  Rory was talking to himself but spoke out loud. 

Brianna put a hand on his shoulder and suggested softly.  "Go home, Rory.  I'll talk to her.  Just don't push too hard."

He got up from the couch and pulled his keys from his pocket.  His body burned and his cock was still hard.  Every instinct he had was commanding him to go to Callie, but he didn't.  He wanted more than to fuck her.  He wanted her as a real mate. 

He left without a word.  He swung into the seat of his SUV with only one subject on his mind. 

Driving home was one of the hardest things he had ever done.

Chapter 4 
 

He sent flowers until she could open her own shop.  He called her on her cell phone.  He called her with his mind, speaking to her although she never answered. 

Thank God he hadn't come to her door.  She might have let him in.  He was hard enough to resist when she couldn't see him.  She wasn't sure she could ignore him if he was standing in front of her. 

Callie stirred the soup she was making on the stove and let it continue to simmer.  She had been cooking for days.  She cooked after work, on her days off and any time she was feeling confused.  That was was pretty much continuously, unless she was sleeping.  She had every tupperware container she owned full of food.  Her freezer was full, but her mind was still in turmoil.

She could clean...but she had already done that too.  Her small one bedroom apartment was so immaculate that she didn't think she could find a speck of dust. 

God...she was a mess. 

She flopped onto her couch and picked up a novel she had been anxious to read before the scene with Rory.  Now she couldn't keep her mind focused on it. 

It had been two weeks since the incident with Rory had happened at the barbecue.  The only person she had seen outside of work was Bri.  She had been over to talk to Callie a few times.  She still couldn't believe the fantastic stories Bri told her about the brothers and their origins. 

Vampires?  Really?  Bri had been so matter-of-fact and she had hated to doubt her words.  They had been best friends since they were in grade school.  It all seemed too unbelievable.  She had seen Bri's marking and nearly caved in.  It was so similar to the one on her left buttock.  Callie was born with the marking as far as she knew.  She had gotten her name because of the mark that had covered her entire butt cheek when she was a baby. 

Callista Marks.  She wasn't sure what fanciful person suggested that name, but it fit.  The marking was beautiful. 

Could she really believe that she held Rory's soul?  That she had been the guardian of his soul since her birth. 

The whole story was inconceivable and incredible.  Yet, it was not. 

She didn't have any rationalization for what was happening.  The matching marks, the mind speak.  How could she explain it?

Damn it.  She dealt in facts.  However, so much of what Brianna told her did make sense.  Bri explained her mysterious leukemia.  The doctors certainly couldn't explain Bri's quick turn around.  Callie wanted to believe Bri's version.  That would mean her best friend would never have to fear the disease returning. 

Callie shuddered.  If the fantastic explanation was true it meant that Callie would suffer the same fate soon.  She was a year and a half younger than Bri, but it wouldn't be long. 

She closed the book and put it on the side table next to the couch.  She couldn't read.  Her mind wouldn't focus.

She laid on the couch.  Waiting.  The sun was setting and Rory would start talking soon.  He never gave up.  He spoke to her like she was there. He told her about his life, about the vampire culture.  Whatever was on his mind...he shared with her.  She never answered, but she heard him.  The only time he closed his mind was when he was doing his work with The Coalition.  He didn't want her tainted by the violence.

Just the sound of his voice in her mind made her long for him.  She could feel his desire.  His longing.  She had already wanted him, but now she needed him with a yearning that almost tore her apart.

Tears flowed down her cheeks.  She had never had anyone who saw her as special except for Bri.  She realized Rory always had.  She had thought because he hadn't felt physical desire for her that she was undesirable when the truth was that he just wasn't capable.  Every other action had showed her that he liked her.  Truly liked her as a person. 

Could it be true that she was his mate?  That she belonged with him?  She almost believed it.  She wanted to believe it.

Her mind wandered often to the night of the barbecue.  Her body heated and she moaned.  She couldn't think about that night without touching herself, imagining it was Rory mastering her body.  He had given her more pleasure without even making love to her than she had ever felt in her few experiences with sexual relations.  What would it be like to make love with such a man? 

She could see the vulnerabilities that Rory tried to hide from others, but he was still a dominant alpha male.  He had no insecurities in the love making department.  He had been wild with desire and knew exactly how to make her mindless.  It had been exciting and a little terrifying all at once.

It was her own emotions that had overwhelmed her and made her run.  That, and the marking.  It had shocked and confused her so badly that she had needed to retreat, figure out what all of it meant.   

Good evening, Callie.
 

Rory.  He was awake.  His low baritone voice flowed into her mind like fine wine, intoxicating and delicious.

What are you doing tonight, love.  It's friday.  You have tomorrow off.  I know you're probably awake.
 
I'm getting into the shower.
 

Callie knew he always got into the shower after he woke.  She imagined him naked, hot water caressing his incredible body.  She couldn't stand it.  She was wearing a night shirt that made it easy to slide her hand into her panties. 

"I wish I was there."  She answered him aloud but she knew he could hear her in her mind.  She was weak.  She needed him so badly.  She had missed him. 

Total silence greeted her as she slid her fingers along her wet slit, teasing herself. 

Callie, are you all right.
His voice was full of concern. 

No, she wasn't all right.  She was burning hot and out of control.  She spread her legs and delved into her pussy.  She slid her fingers the entire length of her aching cunt, circling her clit.  "I'm touching myself.  Imagining you in the shower.  I can't help myself.  I'm thinking about the night of the barbecue."  She answered him, unable to stop now that she had started. 

She heard him growl, a low tortured sound that she felt roll through her entire body. 

Let me come sate you, Callie.  Please.  I need to.
You are my mate.  I can feel your need. And you are feeling some of mine.  I'm sorry, Callie.  I try to contain it.  I woke up hard.  I was thinking of you.  I was palming my cock. 

She wasn't sure anything could sate her.  She felt like she was in perpetual heat.  She rolled her hips up and her fingers caressed her clit. 

"Oh God.  Come to me naked, Rory.  I need to see you."

She had no more said the words and Rory was there.  He was dry but gloriously nude.  The breath left her body as she saw him standing beside the couch, watching her.  His eyes were wild and needy as he watched her touching herself, trying to relieve her burning body.  She knew she was looking at him the same way. 

His body was perfect, all rippling muscle and golden skin.  His cock was hard and...gigantic. 

He scooped her up, taking her hand away, stopping her from touching herself. 

"No,"  she cried out, needing the stimulation to her clit,  as he started walking toward her bedroom.  He found the bathroom first and detoured.

"I satisfy my mate.  You have no need to do it yourself."  He sounded demanding and possessive as he pulled her nightshirt over her head.

He pulled it off and dropped it to the floor, leaving her only in her tiny panties. 

He groaned as he put her hands over her head and pushed her against the bathroom wall.  He held her wrists with one hand over her head while his head dipped down to tease her breasts.  "You are so beautiful, Callie."  His comment was muffled as he devoured her, biting and stroking her nipple with his tongue and teeth.  His other hand slipped to her other breast, pinching and stroking. 

She writhed as he toyed with her breasts, his touch making her more out of control. 

He stopped and kneeled, jerking her panties down her legs.