Stone Solitude (36 page)

“You’ll see him soon.” Once again he leaned forward but this time he took her hands in his. “If this all works out the way I’m hoping, name your first son after me.”

“Apollo?” she asked with a slight grin.

Shaking his head no, he murmured, “Xavier.”

The next night, Daisy sat in the corner of the tavern and silently watched as members of the Alaskan wolf pack made their way into the bar. Dominic and Jeanette had decided to head to bed early, with her encouragement, so she was alone with her thoughts and her racing heart. She had tossed and turned all night, going over everything Apollo had told her. He had been worried that she wouldn’t love him but what if the new Roman didn’t,
couldn’t
, love her? Yes, he was bound to her, at least he was bound to her wolf, but what if it wasn’t enough? What if he wanted a wolf that could actually shift?

Before, they were two imperfect creatures who were perfect together. Now, he was a wolf and she was still plain, shift-less Daisy, as had been proven all too recently.

As desperately as she wanted to see Roman, to touch Roman, to kiss Roman, she was terrified. She had spent the past year so focused on finding him, she hadn’t thought about what would happen once she found him. And she certainly hadn’t expected to learn that her wolf had claimed him when the bitch had been so very reluctant to claim her!

Her foot tapped restlessly beneath the table as she sipped at her water, her eyes on the door. A part of her wanted to go back to her room, pack up her crap, and board the next puddle jumper out of the small town. If Roman was happy, she should let him be. But the other part, the larger part, needed to see him, at least one more time. If he was miserable having a defective wolf as a mate, she’d ask his father to break the bond, no matter how much it hurt her. She just wanted Roman to be happy.

Fuck, she wanted him to be happy with
her
.

The door opened, slamming against the wall as it got caught on a gust of frigid wind. A huge, burly man stepped into the bar, his face covered in an impressive, snow-encrusted blond beard. His cheeks were pulled up in a wide smile as he looked around the bar and called out greetings to everyone as if they were all friends; as if he had grown up there. He carried himself with such poise, such confidence, she was almost positive he was the Alpha. As he swung up onto a stool at the bar, he pulled his hat off and long, thick golden hair tumbled to his broad, broad shoulders. He turned his head just enough and the light illuminated his face and his brilliant blue eyes and Daisy’s mouth went dry.

Roman.

Her fingers shook as she tried to take a drink of water so she carefully set the glass back down and tried to remember how to breathe. He was a feast for her starving soul and she just wanted to drink in the sight of him. Even through the noise of the crowded bar, she heard his voice as he asked for a beer, the timbre enough to make the butterflies flutter in her belly.

She didn’t think she’d be able to stand up because at some point her legs had disappeared. Glancing under the table, she frowned because her legs were still there. No, it wasn’t her legs that had disappeared; it was all of her blood and nerves that had vanished. The room spun around her until the only thing she saw was Roman: Roman with his long hair and thick beard, Roman with his broad shoulders and tight ass, Roman with laughing blue eyes.

Before, his eyes hadn’t danced so freely with laughter. He had been a loner, forced into solitude because of his fearsome appearance. Someone said something and he threw his head back and laughed, a deep, belly rumble that made her want to laugh and cry all at once. In fact, tears filled her eyes as she continued to stare at him, unable to rip her gaze away even if her life depended on it. He was here and he was so close and yet he was a million miles away.

If she asked Apollo to break the bond that her wolf had accidentally created, Roman would be able to find someone, his true mate perhaps, and have a good life here. She could imagine him becoming the Alpha in a few years, or starting his own pack with a few of the more restless wolves. They’d run further north, even farther away from civilization, and they would look to him to lead them. He’d have his choice of mates, from the busty blond who couldn’t tear her eyes off him to the pretty redhead who kept sending shy glances his way. He’d have at least a dozen wolf pups and he’d be an amazing father to all of them.

The scenario was so clear in her head, her heart stuttered in her chest as tears fell unheeded down her face. Was that why Apollo had told her he could break the bond? Because he knew Roman would be happier without her in his life?

“Here,” a low, rumbly voice said. A handkerchief was thrust in front of her face and she had to blink a few times to bring herself back to the present.

Without seeing who held the square cloth, she took it and dabbed at her eyes. Offering the stranger a watery smile, she said, “Thank yo….”

Her words died as she realized it was Roman standing there, looking down at her with the strangest expression on his extraordinarily handsome bearded face. Realizing how ridiculous she looked, she smoothed her hand over her hair and then set her hands on the table. Her fingers curled around the handkerchief as she offered him a tentative smile. Clearing her throat, she attempted her earlier words, “Thank you.

Holding her eyes, he sat down across from her, his brows drawn together in concentration. After a moment, he asked, “Do I know you?”

A huff of unexpected laughter mixed with a fresh batch of tears escaped as she shook her head because she didn’t know how to answer that. As much as she had empathized with Roman when his brothers hadn’t known who he was, as much as she thought she was prepared, to see him and know he didn’t know who she was was a thousand times worse than anything she had expected. So much for Roman burning for her. “I’m Daisy.”

At that, his head jerked back and he stiffened. His eyes narrowed as he studied her with greater scrutiny and she held herself perfectly still, afraid of saying anything that might inadvertently break him. Despite her bravado earlier with Apollo, she was very much concerned with the possibility of shattering Roman. It had been a fear she had purposefully ignored which now came roaring back, making her belatedly cautious.

“Roman,” he said in a rough voice. Clearing his throat, he repeated himself, “I’m Roman. Why does it feel as if I know you and yet I’m almost positive we’ve never met?”

Slowly, hesitantly, she reached across the table and put her hand over his. The contact made her pulse race even as she noticed him go perfectly still, his gaze locked on her hand. Almost as if in a trance, he turned his hand over and laced his fingers with hers and Daisy closed her eyes in exquisite pain. To be so close, to be touching him, being touched by him…. It hurt and she never wanted the pain to end because it was Roman.

“How do I know the feel of your skin?” he asked, rubbing his thumb over her fingers. “How come when I close my eyes at night, it’s your face I see? Who are you?”

Swallowing past the tears clogging her throat, she rasped, “I’m Daisy.”

“I know your name,” he whispered gently, lifting his head and capturing her in his blue eyes. “I want to know who you are.”

“It’s… complicated,” she whispered, her chest tight as she tried to contain the flood of emotions that was ripping through her, leaving chaos in their wake. Love, fear, uncertainty, joy, sadness… they were all there and they were all inflicting havoc within her.

“You’re her, aren’t you? The woman I’ve been dreaming about,” he said. His lips quirked up in a half-smile, his beard twitching with the movement, as he added in a wry voice, “The woman of my dreams.”

He deserved an answer but she didn’t know how much to tell him or where to even begin. If she shattered him, would Apollo be able to put him back together? Or maybe he was strong enough to handle everything she had to say. He had survived two thousand years in solitude and that took such strength that she had to believe the Roman that sat before her now was strong enough to handle the truth. At least, her part of it.

Drawing her tongue along her lower lip, not missing the way his beautiful eyes darkened as he tracked the movement, she took a deep breath. She glanced up and met his gaze for a moment before she looked away and admitted, “I’m the one who bit you and made you a wolf.” He sucked in a breath but before he could say anything she continued, “I did it to save you. I did it… I did it because I love you…
loved
you. No, because I love you.”

He didn’t say anything and she forced herself to look up and see his reaction. He was studying her as if he wasn’t sure what to make of her or her words. When he remained silent, she babbled on, “My wolf is kind of a bitch and she claimed you without my awareness or permission or even your permission. If you want to find a different mate, a better mate, I know someone who can help.”

“Why would I want a different mate?” he asked, his voice whispering through her like a lover’s caress and she just wanted to listen to him speak all night long.

“I can’t shift,” she said quickly, getting the words out there before she could think twice. Her fingers trembled against his but instead of letting her go, he tightened his grip. “You’re a wolf now and I assume you want a true wolf as a mate, not someone like me.”

“I don’t even know you,” he whispered, his eyes kind as he thrust the dagger into her heart.

Bleeding all over the table with blood that no one else could see, she tugged at her hand but still he held firm. Turning away, she stared at nothing as she whispered, “So you don’t really burn for me.”

“Oh, I burn,” he countered, humor in his sexy voice. “I just don’t know the person beneath the beautiful face. But I’d like to, very much.”

Her heart was in her throat because she already knew so much about him but at the same time she knew nothing about this Roman.
This
Roman didn’t have two thousand years of solitude, of being forgotten by everyone he loved, of being a gargoyle, of being a beast. He didn’t need her like he did before and if she was less selfish, she’d ask Apollo to break the bond to give Roman a chance to discover if they fit without the influence of an unasked for bond.

But she was selfish. Twisting her lips into some semblance of a smile, she said, “I’m Daisy and I have spent the past year travelling with my brother and his mate, though they haven’t made it official by actually performing the mating bond. What have you been up to?”

His low chuckle sent all sorts of pleasant tingles through her body. It had been over a year since she had been with him and she missed him, even if he wasn’t the same Roman she had known. She just prayed she was doing the right thing.

Roman studied the girl before him, feeling things he had only felt in his dreams. His reaction to her was unbelievably strong and completely undeniable even though he knew she was leaving so much out. Unsurprising, his cock was hard as a rock and he wanted to drag her away to the nearest corner and ease the ache in his balls. He wanted to rip the clothes from her luscious body and he wanted to sink his teeth into her tender flesh as he took her from behind.

The wolf within him had never made him feel so primal as lust spilled outwards and made it hard to think, to concentrate on her words. Her plump lips moved as she continued to speak and he wanted them around his cock. His wolf didn’t give a damn whether or not she was kind or cruel, intelligent or dumb as a box of rocks; he just wanted her. Now. Hell, he had wanted her since the moment he looked up and saw her sitting there, tears in her pretty eyes as she stared at nothing.