75. Midnight Baking

KIARA

Three hours had passed, and I still wasn't able to sleep. Every time I shut my eyes, I was either seeing Alejandro telling Jasmin to ignore me or him saying he couldn"t mark her. I pushed the covers off, now agitated. I had blocked the mind link off because I didn't want to talk to anyone, and I was glad Mom hadn"t tried to bother me. We both needed to calm down.

I had even texted Raven, filling her in on everything two hours ago, but she must be asleep now… The forty-minute shower I had when I came up wasn't enough to relax me… What should I do?

A sudden thought came to me and I smiled. I knew what I should do… and it was already late, no one would be awake. Kicking off the covers, I jumped out of my bed, wincing at the pain in my ankle. I paused, remembering how it hadn"t hurt when I had lunged at the Wendigo... Did my ability have something to do with that? I would need to trial it out another time. I didn't want to attract Wendigos.

I pulled my hair into a messy bun and left my room. I used the light on my phone to see as I made my way silently downstairs. My feet padded lightly on the steps. I entered the kitchen, feeling a little chilly in my black shorts and crop top.

I"m sure it will heat up once the oven was turned on. I turned it on first before I began taking the ingredients for brownies out, placing them on the island in the centre. I always find baking therapeutic, and right now I think a glass of milk and gooey brownies were the perfect thing to help me get a good night's sleep.

I frowned, unable to find the plain chocolate bars. I closed the drawer and headed to the pantry, looking at the lined shelves of goodies. No plain chocolate, I almost gave up when my gaze caught a stack on a shelf above my head. I smiled at the large slabs of Dairy Milk whole nut chocolate. I could use those.

Why the hell were they so far up? Tiptoeing, I grabbed two bars, turning as a shadow loomed in the door. I almost dropped the bars, gasping in alarm before the familiar intoxicating scent hit my nose.

"I don't like anyone stealing my chocolate."

My heart thumped. I wasn't expecting him to come downstairs. I refused to look him in the eyes, but even that was a mistake as I was now looking at his perfect shirtless body. His pierced nipples, refined abs and his tattoos made my core throb.

Oh, Goddess….

I looked away, trying to move past him, but he didn't budge. Reaching up, he grabbed a bar. I closed my eyes, trying not to inhale his intoxicating scent.

His arm brushed my shoulder and I pulled back, feeling those strong tingles rush through me. I felt his eyes on me before he stepped out of the pantry. I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding and made my way back over to my bowl.

Opening the first bar of chocolate, I began to break it up, placing the nutty parts in a separate bowl. My heart was pounding, and I wished it wasn't.

Leave the kitchen. Please.

I didn't look at him as he walked to the fridge and got some milk out. Oh great…

I ignored him, measuring the cocoa powder out. To my utter dismay, he took a seat opposite me with a glass and the milk. Just great. His eyes were fixed on me as he poured himself a glass and I walked off to put some water on in a pan to melt the chocolate. I could feel his intense gaze on me, and I frowned.

"If you want to say something, say it." I said coldly.

I felt my wolf"s sadness at that, I was glad she was making her presence known, but I was also pissed at her too. What did Alejandro have that she couldn"t live without? She whimpered and I almost growled in annoyance.

"I have nothing to say."

"Really? For once you don't?" I remarked, placing the bowl of chocolate pieces into the simmering water pan.

"Don't get fucking feisty." He muttered.

"Don't tell me what to do." I snapped, turning my gaze on him.

My blazing purple eyes met his dark ones. He frowned as he picked up some of the chocolatey nuts that I had separated, popping them into his mouth.

"Why didn't you allow me to reject you?" I asked, mixing the chocolate chunks before I returned to the rest of my mixture, my eyes trained on him.

He frowned, and for a moment the only sound I could hear was the bubbling water, the crunch of the nuts he was eating and our own hearts.

"I don't know." He said quietly, his words stung and I really wished he had more to say than that…

A harsh reply was at the tip of my tongue when he spoke.

"You smell like hazelnut chocolate."

I looked at him, surprised at the random comment. Our eyes met and I wasn't ready for the emotion in his, emotions he tried to hide and sure enough, he had his mask back on almost instantly.

"Well, you smell of smoke and sweat." I lied, I was not going to be nice.

He gave me a cold smirk. "So that's the smell you fucking like?"

"Excuse me?" I said coldly.

"You like it. A mate smells good, regardless of what the fuck it is." He said, giving a cocky look.

"No, you don't." I said.

A spasm of pain went through me, I tried to push it away as I took the melted chocolate from the cooker, mixing it into the rest of the mixture before I lined a baking tray and scooped all the mix into it. I placed it into the oven, setting the timer.

With nothing to do, I realised I couldn"t avoid him… I scanned the kitchen, desperate to keep myself busy so gathered up the dishes and placed them in the sink.

"I know I hurt you… Your Mom fucking gave me that shit after you left the room. But trust me, I'm a fucking monster. I didn't reject Jasmin to… You know… Yeah, like I"ve said… You're perfect but I"m a fucking mess... I have nothing to offer you." He said quietly.

My heart skipped a beat... So, he was still fixed on that.

"Wasn't that supposed to be my decision to make?" I said quietly, soaping the dishes, my back to him.

"Not when you don't know how fucked up I am." He said.

"You still didn't have that right." I said, wishing there were more dishes to wash… I put the stuff away before wiping the surface down, leaving the chocolate bowl and his glass which he was drinking so slowly…

His eyes met mine.

"Yeah… Well, there's more involved than you know…"

"All you had to do was tell me." I said quietly.

Our hearts raced in sync as if setting a rhythm of their own. And I realised one thing, no matter how much he hurt me… I still wanted him. I could see the turmoil in his eyes too.

"Instead of ripping my heart out and crushing it." I added.

"I'm sorry… I just needed you to leave…to run. As fucking far as you could possibly go from me." He said.

His gaze flickered to my breast before he looked away. My stomach did a flip and I looked at the broken bits of chocolate, taking a piece.

"Well, I guess that didn't work."

"Who knew you were so fucking stubborn." He said, in the same tone.

"Guess that's why I was made for you."

I wished I didn't just say that. Our eyes met once more and I found myself lost in his…