He reaches down and twines his finger with mine and pulls me forward. My hand is tiny in his, my fingers spread wide around his. It’s not comfortable, not just because he’s touching me, but because his hand is that freaking huge. I pull away, but he grasps my left hand with his left hand and wraps it under his right bicep while holding it in place with his left hand. I guess he thinks I need an escort. “I wasn’t snooping around. I just opened a couple doors looking for a way outside. When I found what I now know is your bedroom, I just needed the bathroom. I really am sorry.”

No response. He finds the living room easy enough. His left hand drops mine from holding his arm so I let my hand fall back to my side. He bends and grabs a bottle of water laying on the floor, walks over to the bar, and drops it into the trash. Then, he picks a fresh one from the small fridge. “That one was fine, you know. I would have drunk it.” He scoffs. I’m beginning to think the only thing I can do right is piss this man off.

He opens the water and gives me the open container and waits. He looks down at the bottle and then up to me, arches one like he’s saying drink it. Damn, I wish I could do that eyebrow thing. I bring the bottle to my lips, and he sighs with relief like I’ve just made his day. “I’m sorry I took so long, I wanted to check on a few things and something came up I had to deal with.” Oh yeah, I know exactly what came up.

When I reach out to take the cap from him, he grabs the bottle, tightens the lid and hands it back to me. Picking up my left hand once again, he wraps it around his arm and holds it there. It’s a short trip to the front door, which he opens, and we step out. This time when I take my hand from his elbow, I step back. I could use the space.

“Can we sit?” he asks and pulls a chair out from the table. “It is your house, you know.” He’s still standing behind the chair looking at me like he’s waiting for something. I look down to grab the chair across from him so I can sit down when I feel a hand at the nape of my neck pressing me forward into the chair he had pulled out. I resist, a very low, menacing growl comes from me. My wolf does not like this, she hasn’t accepted him as her Alpha, he will not dominate us! “Take your hand from my neck, now!” I speak very slowly through my fangs which have descended.

His hand stays for just a moment before slowly unwrapping each finger. His body is so close to mine I can feel his heat, yet he takes another step forward and presses his chest flush to my back. He’s breathing hard, his head dips to the back of my ear, and he inhales. “I’d like you to sit in the chair I was holding for you. It’s a sign of respect for me to seat you.” He exhales, his nose is tracing down from my ear to the crest of my shoulder. This my wolf likes, the hussy. My head tilts to give him better access. “I understand many of these things are new to you. Next time, I’ll explain myself better.”