Blood Mate Read Online Free Page A

you
like.”
    She reeled back as
if he’d slapped her, her throat tight. “Did something happen
while I was gone? Did you get a call from the firm? Did they find out
you took a day off for our anniversary?”
    Annoyance creased
his brow. “Not everything is about you, dear. Maybe it’s time you
learned that.” He went back to his phone and she gaped at him,
feeling as if he’d punched her in the gut.
    The bracelet
became a heavy weight, its sparkles and engraved endearments hollow
and empty.
    Her Poulet aux
Porto finally arrived, giving her something else to focus on.
Dominic shoveled food into his mouth as if he couldn’t wait to get
out of the restaurant. His behavior was more befitting of a
linebacker at a family-style buffet than a husband on a dinner date
at a fancy restaurant with his wife.
    Maybe something
had gone wrong with a case. But he’d never taken things like that
out on her before. He’d always treated her like she was his world.
She’d never believed in soul mates, but her husband had convinced
her it was a true phenomenon and that he was hers. She’d thought
herself lucky.
    And now that she
had the smallest taste of what the wives of many busy attorneys lived
with, she found she couldn’t stomach it.
    She choked down
her dinner and tried to stem the flow of tears. How often did they
fight or have unpleasantness like this? He was under a lot of
pressure, that was all. So it was their anniversary. It was an
inopportune time, but these things happened, she was sure of it.
    Dominic didn’t
tease her or make jokes on the way home. He didn’t speak at all. It
was as if they were strangers sharing a cab. When they got home, he
locked himself in his study and didn’t come out again. She waited
up until two in the morning, when she drifted off in a fitful sleep.
     

Chapter Three
     
    August had watched
Nicolette for the past month. Each day she’d become more haggard
and bereft than the day before. He’d thought if he could take the
shine off of Dominic Rose that she would be his, but now that it was
time to make his move, he realized kidnapping her that first day
would have been the more merciful decision.
    It was cruel to
manipulate her heart in this way, but if she knew what he’d
suffered… in time she would understand. And now that Dominic was
no prize, wouldn’t that understanding come that much sooner? All
August had wanted was for her to come to him without ever having to
see his ugliness, without ever having to fear him, but though he
couldn’t control her mind, he was controlling her.
    The curse was
specific. There was nothing about normal, non-magical coercion or
force. All that mattered was that she agreed—however he got her to
that point—to be his blood mate and take this all away.
    He took a deep
breath and followed her into the grocery store. In the produce
section, he bumped into her between the romaine lettuce and the
zucchini.
    “Oh, excuse me,”
he said, turning on the charm, pushing remorse into the background.
If she saw his unease she’d run like a scared rabbit—she was far
more observant than the women he was used to dealing with.
    His heart broke
for her. Her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy. She might fall apart
right there in the grocery store. August reached out, needing to
comfort the most valuable person in his world, the one he would
protect at all costs but right now was hurting for the greater good.
    She recoiled as
her eyes lit with recognition and a touch of fear.
    He pulled his hand
away. “I’m sorry, you seemed sad. Why don’t you leave your cart
and come have some coffee next door with me? It might help to talk
about it.”
    Any other woman
would have batted her eyes, excited for his attention, the mind
control overriding any self-preservation instinct that might warn of
a predator, unless the woman was oblivious to her instincts and
didn’t require suggestion at all. But Nicolette was uncertain,
scared.
    “I-I don’t
think so, but thank you.”