Chapter 43

[James’ POV]

James felt that he had no one to blame but himself.

His relationship with Mia had taken a major sharp turn in the wrong direction in his mind.

‘One step forward and several steps back,’ he thought harshly. ‘And for what?’

Because he allowed his jealousy to slip up and his inner wolf to take over. Of course, James knew that Mia had no interest in Ben. But the creature inside of him wasn’t able to let go of the possessive urge that overcame him.

His behavior and the way he responded to Mia were utterly unacceptable in his opinion. And now he was left to wallow in his own self-pity for not having the guts to sit down and properly explain himself.

He knew he would never forget the devastatingly frightened look on Mia’s face when he let his other side get the better of him—when he accidentally let the truth slip out.

“You’re mine!”

Mia looked as though she was fit to hit the ground had she not stormed out of the bedroom afterward. From then on, James was filled with nothing but shame and disappointment. But what truly struck him like a scolding hot brand on the inside of his mind was what Mia had said before she fled.

“It’s not as though I’m your actual fated mate.”

‘I hate myself,’ James thought bitterly. ‘Why the hell didn’t I just come out and tell her the truth? Why didn’t I just tell her that we were mates when I first sensed it?’

He thought long and hard about the situation and came to the undeniable conclusion that he didn’t want to be living this relationship one-sidedly. Over the last few days, James tried to find a good time to sit down with Mia and gently talk things out. However, it seemed like something was always getting in the way of his moment.

Now, the two of them were back in the office and the place felt like it was drowning in unbreathable tension.

‘This is ridiculous!’ his wolf, Jack, snarled. ‘You need to tell her the truth.’

“I know,” James grumbled under his breath.

‘Tell her right now!’

“We can’t tell her now, we’re in the middle of the office,” he argued.

The last thing he needed was to potentially draw any unnecessary attention to them should the conversation get out of hand. It was a private matter, after all.

“I will tell her,” James said promisingly. “Soon.”

‘You’d better. Otherwise, I will.’

At that moment, Daniel came into his office and stopped in his tracks from seeing how tense James became. “Sir, is everything alright? I was able to reach out to the news networks and have them drop the story, regarding Mia and Mrs. Derek,” he informed him.

James shook his head. “I appreciate it, Daniel. Unfortunately, this is an issue that’s a lot more delicate than before.”

Seconds later, the door opened again. Mia came through, holding a small stack of papers that needed to be signed.

Daniel silently glanced between the two and politely excused himself. Meanwhile, James went on to sign the documents in front of him. His hands were itching with the unyielding need to reach out for Mia. But he stopped himself.

As soon as he finished, Mia gathered up the papers and tried to make a hasty retreat out of the office.

The words rolled off his tongue before James had a moment to think twice. “Mia, stop.”

She locked her gaze on the floor as she kept walking toward the door. “I really need to get back—”

“You and I need to talk...about what happened before.”

Mia stopped and slowly turned her head to glance back at him. Her expression became washed with guilt. Her cheeks started to blush a light shade of pink.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered sheepishly.

James’ brows pulled together in total confusion. “For what?”

“I shouldn’t have tried to tease you about Ben.”

“No, Mia. If anyone needs to apologize, it should be me. I’m the one who lost their temper and became so possessive.”

Her face flushed even further. “I actually didn’t mind that part,” she admitted. “I think, I’m just a little confused as to why you’d make such a blatant statement.”

James was momentarily stunned. ‘She likes it when I’m possessive of her?’

Knowing this, made his wolf hum in delight and caused a lustful heat to drop below his stomach. He got up from his chair and took several long strides, closing the gap between them. He couldn’t stand being apart from her any longer. James palmed the side of her face and wrapped a firm hand around Mia’s waist.

He pulled her close and leaned down to capture her lips in a soul-snatching kiss. Mia practically melted into him and eased her hands down his chest.

James deepened the kiss, sweeping his tongue across her bottom lip with a demanding push. He needed to make up for all the lost time he allowed to slip by when he should have been holding her close like this.

Mia gasped and moaned between each onslaught. Her nails sank into his biceps and soon she was unconsciously pressing her hips into him. A low growl tore from James’ chest. He pulled himself back to leer down at his mate through hooded, lust-blown eyes.

“It’s taking every last ounce of my restraint to not bend you over my desk and sink into you,” he snarled. “I want to fuck you till neither one of us can stand.”

Her bottom lip trembled. “James,” she gasped.

He dragged the tips of his fingers down the top of her chest, down the small valley between her breasts and skimmed over the waistband of her skirt. James pressed another heated kiss to her swollen lips.

“I bet if I touched you right now, I’d find you completely soaked between your thighs,” he hissed.

“P-Please,” she whispered.

James’ arousal was causing him to slip out of control. The man was on the verge of telling Mia everything when suddenly a loud banging noise came from the door. James snarled with anger at whoever was dumb enough to interrupt them.

“What?!” he barked out.

A worried-looking Daniel came rushing into the room.

“Sir, we have a problem. I have Rudolf Lawerence on the phone. He’s trying to break Arc Moon’s contract with us.”