Their Runaway Mate (16 page)

Chapter
Sixteen

Apprehension filled Anna, as well as anticipation, as the taxi pulled to the curb of the Ritz-Carlton Lake Hotel and a doorman opened the door. A bellhop pulled her bags from the trunk as she climbed out the car and stared up at the large, imposing building in front of her.

The doorman urged her to walk inside by holding the door to the building open for her and Anna took a large, reinforcing breath before she stepped, one foot in front of the other, into the lobby of the most elegant and opulent hotel she had ever been in.

A large, golden and crystal chandelier hung over a grand oak table, holding a large Egyptian looking vase filled with fresh cut flowers in the center of the room. The carpets were a mix of burgundies, browns, and blues, spun into flowers and other intricate designs, and sofas and chairs of dark chocolate suede spotted around the room, parting for the table in the middle of the room.

Anna followed the bellhop around the table to the check-in desk, where a very snooty looking woman in a pinstriped pencil-skirt suit, and wearing a severe bun in her hair, stared at Anna as if she were a lost mutt who had found her way into the building. Anna tried not to let the woman’s disapproving perusal of her affect her, but she found herself flushing with embarrassment when she reached the desk.

“Hello, ma’am,” Anna said, but it came out as barely as whisper. “I’m here to see Carter Moorehouse and Drew Bentworth, please.”

“Hmm,” the woman looked over her clothing. “Are they expecting you?”

“No, but,” Anna swallowed at the look of scorn the woman gave her. “If you call up and let them know I’m here, I know they will let me up.”

“Mr. Moorehouse and Mr. Bentworth are very exclusive members of our club and I would not disturb them for some woman who just walked off the streets,” the woman snapped.

Anna wanted to cry, she’d come all this way to give them another chance and this woman was the only person standing in the way of her doing that. Then she got angry, she had spent her life letting people push her around and had gotten to the point where she wasn’t going to take it any longer.

“Listen,” she looked at the woman’s nametag. “Valerie, I am not just some witless little no body that you can just push around because you have a stick up your ass. I suggest you get over yourself and call Mr. Moorehouse and Mr. Bentworth and tell them I am here to see them.”

The woman coughed out and gaped at her for a moment, “How dare you? I could have you removed.”

“Try it. I promise you, you will never work in this town again after Carter and Drew hear what you did,” Anna dared.

The woman sniffed, as if she were still going to deny her request, but then she typed some things into her computer, picked up the phone, and called, what Anna hoped was their room.

“Hello, Mr. Bentworth, there is a woman down here who says she knows you and needs to meet with you,” the woman spoke, but her voice held more respect than she had given Anna. “Yes, Mr. Bentworth. Of course, Mr. Bentworth, and let me just say, we here at the Ri…”

The woman blanched, “He hung up.”

Anna wanted to laugh, but she just stared the woman down, “Well?”

Valerie flustered and began typing on her computer again, “Yes, of course. Scott, take Ms. Preston’s luggage to the Presidential Suite, please.”

Anna smirked at the now fearful, desk girl and followed Scott, the bellhop, to the elevators. He ushered her in, then entered behind her with her cart of luggage, when he informed the elevator man they were traveling to the Presidential Suite and stood aside as the doors closed behind them.

Anna could hear her heart pounding in her ears as the elevator climbed the floors, until it finally stopped. As the doors slid open and Scott escorted her down the wide, ornate hallway to the only doors on the floor, Anna’s palms became sweaty and she thought her heart would explode.

She contemplated turning around, running, but the doors swung open, and Drew stood there, watching her, before she could escape, and her breath caught at his appearance. Though his clothes looked cleaner and more tailored than Carter’s had been, his hair was still a blondish-brown mop of disarray and he had heavy bags under his eyes that spoke of long sleepless nights.

She noticed him swallow and the look of nervousness on his face and suddenly her nerves fled completely. It appeared Drew was more afraid of her than she was of him. He stepped out of the doorway and let the bellhop and Anna pass, and then paid the bellhop and waited for him to leave before he shut the doors behind him.

He turned, slowly, to face her and gave her a small smile, before he swallowed again and just stared at her.

Anna was only human, but she could have sworn she smelled his fear rolling off him. She turned to look at the room and noticed it looked like a small, luxurious apartment, with a separate kitchen, French doors that opened onto balconies, and a separate bedroom. It was all overwhelming and spoke of their status.

She turned back to Drew, who was still looking at her with both longing and apprehension in his gaze.

“Hello, Drew,” she finally said, realizing he had seemed to have lost his voice.

“Anna?” he questioned, as if she were a mirage, standing in front of him.

Then he seemed to snap out of his daze and walk toward her, “Forgive me, we weren’t expecting you. Carter is meeting with the Vegas Pack Alpha in the dining room now. I messaged his cell to let him know you were here, but I’m not sure if he was able to pull himself away yet.”

“That’s okay. I kind of wanted to talk to you alone, anyway,” Anna announced, making Drew stop dead in his tracks.

He rubbed his hands down the thigh of his pants leg, as if he were suffering from sweaty palms, too.

“Sure….of course,” he gestured toward the living area and the large sofa. “Would you like to have a seat?”

“That would be lovely, thank you,” Anna responded, as she followed him to the couch, where she sat, and he sat in a chair on the other side of a wide coffee table, as if he were afraid she would attack him.

After moments of complete silence, staring at each other, waiting for the other to speak, Anna had grown impatient and stood up.

“Maybe this was a mistake,” she announced as she started toward the hotel room doors.

Drew lunged for her, grabbing her arm and stopping her retreat, “No, Anna, wait.”

She didn’t turn to face him, and her arm burned where his fingers held her, as if his fingers were made of fire and scorching her flesh.

“Anna, please,” he continued, placing his other hand on her other shoulder and turning her to face him. “This is just so hard and I have no idea where to start.”

“Why don’t you start at the part where you didn’t even trust me?” Anna snapped, anger finally giving her a voice.

Drew blanched and dropped his hands, as well as his eyes, “I know, and I’m sorry.”

Anna snorted, making him look up her in disbelief, “You’re sorry. Sorry about what, Drew, the fact that you pushed me to trust you, but didn’t give me the same, or the fact that you convinced me to give you my heart, just to crush it right in front of me?”

“Anna, please,” Drew replied. “I’m sorry for all of it. I’m a worthless piece of shit that doesn’t deserve your forgiveness, but I’m still sorry.”

“Why, Drew? Just, why?” She asked. “Why did you listen to her and say those things to me? Why would you ever believe I would hurt you like that?”

“I-I don’t know,” he stuttered. “I was just so surprised that woman was your sister and you never told me about your relationship with your family. I had to hear about it from Carter, after you had already run away.”

“That sounds very much like an accusation, Drew,” Anna snapped.

“No, no, it isn’t,” Drew tried to calm her down. “Please come back and sit down so we can talk about this.”

She let him guide her back to the sofa, but he sat on the cushion next to her, instead of the opposite chair this time. He didn’t seem to want to stop touching her now and grasped her hand in his, locking their fingers together and rubbing her skin with his thumb.

“Anna,” he started. “You can’t even begin to imagine how badly I have been punishing myself over the way I treated you. The minute you were gone, I felt myself start to die inside and was at a loss as to what I could do to make things better. All I wanted to do was chase after you and beg you to forgive me.”

Anna went to respond, but Drew put his finger over her lips, stopping her words.

“It was my pride that made me say those things to you and nothing else. Your sister had said you found us disgusting, and I had made the mistake of actually thinking you had told her those things. I should have never listened, but we had waited so long to claim you and then this woman came along, claiming to be your sister and saying you didn’t really care about us, and I became stupid and blind.”

“You said I was nothing but a filthy human, not worthy of your claim,” Anna said, but wished she hadn’t at the look of anguish on his face.

“I know, baby,” Drew croaked out. “I know all the stupid things I said. I replay them in my head every minute of every day, along with the awful look of pain on your face. I haven’t slept much because every time I close my eyes, I see the tears in your eyes and the anguish on your face. I can’t eat because there is this constant lump in my throat, keeping me from being able to swallow. I’m a mess, Anna, and it’s my fault entirely.”

“Do you really think I’m nothing but a filthy human?” Anna couldn’t help but ask.

Drew looked at her face, saw the tears streaking down her cheeks, and his hand came up to her face to brush away a stray tear.

“Oh gods, Anna, no,” Drew exclaimed. “No, I would never think that of you. Damn it, Anna, you aren’t just some human to me. To me you’re my goddess and all I want to do is worship you, forever.”

Anna’s breath caught at the look of total love and awe in Drew’s expression.

“You’re a goddess to both of us, Anna,” Carter’s gravelly voice made Anna jump and turn to see him standing right behind her.

He kneeled down beside the couch and took the hand that Drew was not holding, to lock their fingers together, and then looked up into her eyes, expectantly.

“I hope this means you’ve come home to us,” Carter stated. “Because I don’t think I’d be able to survive if it didn’t.”

Anna looked from one man to the other, and then smiled at Carter, “Yes, I don’t think I could survive without you two either.”

Carter quickly pulled her to him as his lips crashed down on hers and enveloped her gasp. The kiss turned intense as she responded, tilting her head back to accept his kiss, and after long moments, Carter pulled away and rested his forehead against hers.

“I love you so much, my sweet mate,” he whispered, smiling as he sighed in relief.

“Anna?” Drew pulled Anna’s attention away from Carter and she turned to face him. “I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, or your love, but I love you with all my heart and promise that I will do whatever I can to make it up to you, if you give me another chance.”

Anna couldn’t help but smile at the look of uncertainty on her poor mate’s face, and pulled her hand out of his to cup his jaw, “Oh Drew, I never stopped loving you. You just hurt me, but I forgive you. I could never think of spending my life without you.”

He smiled sheepishly, and then cupped her jaw to bring her to his lips as he kissed her. His kiss wasn’t as possessive or dominating as Carter’s, but it was powerful and passionate just the same, and Anna found herself swept away in a current of pleasure as their lips brushed against each other and their tongues mingled.

After a few moments, her core began to warm and liquid gathered between her thighs. Carter sat behind her and started to kiss her neck and shoulders, as Drew continued his sweet assault on her lips. Anna’s hand mysteriously made it into Drew’s hair, and as Carter bit down on her earlobe and then licked it, she tightened her grip and moaned, making Drew groan in answer.

Hands came around her body to caress her breasts and tweak her nipples through her shirt, and she became wetter. She felt a hand from in front of her, land on her knee, and then open her legs to slide up the inside of her thigh. She wanted to squirm and beg Drew to touch her pussy, but his hand stopped at the barrier of her panties and Anna grew restless.

Finally, after an eternity of being teased, Anna pulled away from Drew’s mouth, to have him continue kissing down her jaw and neck.

“I want you to claim me,” she announced on a breathless moan as Drew’s warm mouth covered the nipple Carter wasn’t playing with, and sucked it through her shirt. “Now!”

She heard Carter growl behind her, but instead of scaring her, like it had the last time, it made her entire body tingle and more cream gather between her legs.

“Don’t worry, we plan on it, sweetling,” Carter’s voice had grown rougher and more animalistic. “We’re going to make sure you never run away from us again.”

The voice in the back of Anna’s head told her she should be afraid of what Carter had just said, but she shut it up by moaning, “Please, yes.”

“Let’s get these clothes off then, shall we, Drew?” Carter asked the man who was still assaulting her breast with his mouth and rubbing his finger against the crease of her pussy lips through her panties.

“Mmmm, you’re so wet for us, Anna,” was Drew’s reply, as he pulled away and began unbuttoning her blouse.

However, he must have been taking too long for Carter because he grabbed both sides of her blouse and pulled, buttons popped open and some flew off. Drew unsnapped the front clasp of her lacy white bra and she let it fall off her shoulders, baring her breasts.

Drew growled low in his throat as he looked at her breasts, “Your nipples are like ripe, little berries and I want to devour them.”

Her nipples grew taut at his declaration and before Anna could react, he had his mouth wrapped around one, sucking and licking it.

“Drew, why don’t we take her into the bedroom,” Carter suggested. “I want to get the rest of her clothes off and taste her sweet smelling cream.”