Chapter 75 – Kidnapped by My Mate Series II: His Lost Queen

Filed To Story: Kidnapped by My Mate Novel (Belle & Grayson) Online Free by Annie Whipple

But, no, this wasn’t Grayson, was it? It couldn’t be. Everything about the man standing in front of me was larger, more refined, and far, far more terrifying.

His huge muscles strained against his black shirt and casual jeans, bigger than I ever remembered them being. He was at least a foot taller, barely even fitting in the doorway.

His eyes stared at me from across the room, dark red and swirling with black, as his chest heaved up and down with breaths that were laced with low, malicious growls.

His arms were sprouting with dark hair, and his entire form was shaking intensely, making it clear he was close to shifting.

No, this wasn’t the Grayson I remembered. If his red eyes and ginormous form were any indicators… this was the Grayson of my nightmares.

“Belle,” he said. His voice was deep and rich but somehow strained at the same time. “My Belle.”

I couldn’t think or speak or react. I was frozen in petrified fear. Sweat pooled on my forehead and the palms of my hands. My heart was beating rapidly in my chest.

A loud clattering noise sounded at my feet, and I realized that I had dropped the tray of food I was holding. The dishes shattered the moment they hit the floor.

Voices murmured around me, but my eyes stayed glued to the monster in front of me.

This wasn’t happening, right? I was in one of my nightmares.

He started to move. He took several long strides toward me, his steps only faltering when I stumbled backward in terror.

I couldn’t let him get to me.

His expression hardened, and he immediately began approaching me with even more determination. I didn’t have any time to react or come up with a plan.

All of a sudden, all the pain I had been feeling over the last few months came crashing back into me, only now it was somehow ten times worse than it had ever been before.

I doubled over, letting out a horrified scream.

I knew this intense pain was my body’s way of pushing me to go to my mate. My subconscious recognized him and knew he was near.

The bond was pushing me toward him, promising relief if I made contact with him.

And, oh God, did I want to go to him.

I wanted to run to him and wrap my arms around his large form until I was sure there wasn’t an inch between us, and then never let him go.

However, even as my body demanded that I give in to the bond, my mind—the more logical part of me—was going into complete panic mode.

I could feel terror settle in as I watched him, almost as if he were in slow motion, get closer and closer to me. I knew I should move, run away, do something, but all I seemed capable of was standing there.

My chest tightened. I couldn’t breathe. Oh God, I couldn’t breathe. My lungs were refusing to take in air.

Memories of the last time I saw him came crashing to the surface of my conscience.

I was suddenly back at the pack house with him on top of me as he tried to force himself on me.

I was standing in his room, watching his massive fist swing toward my face. I was opening his bedroom door to find him and some other girl about to have sex in his bed.

What was he doing here? What more could he possibly want from me? Hadn’t he already taken it all?

A terrifying thought entered my mind. Was he here to play with me some more?

Take me back to his pack house and cause more turmoil to my already broken heart?

I didn’t think I would survive if that were the case, especially now that he was so much bigger, so much scarier than he used to be.

My heart was beating too fast, drowning out every other sound around me until all I could hear was the sound of my own raging pulse and gasping breaths in my ears.

The edge of my vision started to darken as I began hyperventilating. Oh no, oh no, oh no.

I was barely aware of someone stepping in front of me, blocking my view of Grayson and his path to me. I registered the person’s dark hair through my blurry, whirling vision.

Liam. Liam was standing in front of me. Why? I could barely make out what he was saying, but I knew he was yelling something at Grayson.

He was holding his arms out, trying to protect me. I nearly laughed. He wouldn’t be able to do anything to save me. The monster had found me.

And if he wanted me, no one could stop him from taking me.

Their voices faded away. I braced myself on the counter behind me, my legs suddenly too shaky to hold myself up.

I grasped at my throat, willing it to open up and let the air in that I so desperately needed, but it didn’t help.

My legs suddenly collapsed beneath me, and I slid down until I was on the ground between two bar stools, my back against the wall.

Just as I was sure I was about to pass out, I registered two massive arms wrapping themselves around me.

I was pulled into a lap, legs on either side of him, my body being set against someone’s huge, hard chest. Delicious, familiar, explosive sparks danced across my skin everywhere I touched him.

It was Grayson.

At first, I fought against him. Having him anywhere near me only made my panic worse.

I gasped and wheezed and pounded my fists against his chest, trying desperately to remove myself from him. My terror rose when I realized it wasn’t working. His grip was unyielding.

He had me. Oh God, he had me in his control again. He was going to take me with him and do to me again what he had done the last time I was at his pack house. I fought harder.

I was surprised when Grayson allowed me to hit him, sitting back and taking everything I had to give him. He never let it affect his grip on me, but he also didn’t fight back or try to dodge any of my punches or slaps.

At some point during my fit of rage and gasping breaths, my body began to slow, exhausting itself. I could feel Grayson breathe out in relief as he also recognized my surrender.

It was then that he tightened his hold around me, bringing me so close that I was safely secured to his chest and unable to do anything other than lean into him, giving him all of my weight.

One of his hands gently cupped the back of my neck and tucked my head into the warm spot where his neck and shoulder met, nuzzling his face into my neck.

He kept me there, clutching me like that even when my gasping breaths turned into heart-wrenching sobs. I began to cry, soaking his skin and T-shirt with my tears.

The bliss of being held by my mate began to settle in. My body recognized his and craved him.

My heart lurched in my chest, filling with love and adoration for him all over again, almost as if nothing had ever happened between us.

I gave into his embrace, melting into him, accepting the affection that my body so desperately needed and which he seemed so willing to provide.

I knew it was wrong. So, so wrong. But I didn’t care. I had been in pain for far too long to deny his comfort.

My breathing and heart rate slowed, and my vision cleared even as I continued to cry. The blood stopped pumping in my ears, finally allowing me to hear again.

It amazed me how he was still able to calm me even after all this time, even though he wasn’t my mate anymore. It also terrified me. This proved just how much power he still held over me.

I had been in his presence for mere minutes, and I was already reduced to putty in his arms.

Jesus, what was wrong with me?

Relief, pain, and misery all came pouring out of me as Grayson rocked me against his form. I felt pathetic for reacting to seeing him like this, but the floodgates were open, and there was no closing them.

I let myself sob into his neck, clinging to him as if he were my lifeline.

The last time I had cried in front of Grayson, he reacted by yelling at me and calling me pathetic. I almost expected him to react like that again in this scenario. But he didn’t.

He simply continued to hold me and caress my back in a soothing up-and-down motion, leaving those familiar sparks everywhere he touched.

I was completely baffled but didn’t have it in me to acknowledge my confusion at that moment.

All of the emotions I had been holding in over the last couple of months were pouring out of me, leaving me incapable of doing anything other than sobbing my eyes out into the chest of the man I loved but who never loved me.

“Shhh, baby…I know. I’m so sorry. God, I’m so sorry, Belle,” I heard Grayson whisper against my hair. His voice sounded hollow and pained.

He moved his hands up and down my back, rocking us back and forth in a consistent rhythm, keeping his head in the crook of my neck. “It’s okay. I’ve got you.

Everything is okay now. I’m so, so sorry.”

Shock flooded my system. Had I heard him right? Had he just… apologized to me?

I didn’t have time to worry about it. Although the rest of my body had calmed the moment Grayson touched me, the mark on my neck only seemed to worsen.

I was already in his lap, every possible inch of me touching him, but the mark wanted more; it wanted to be even closer.

As if Grayson were reading my mind, I felt his lips press down on the part of my neck where he had bitten me, leaving a gentle kiss there.

I let out a breathy sigh. My shoulders loosened. Then, ever so slowly, his tongue ran over it, licking it. My entire body was immediately filled with fire.

I gasped and pressed closer to him, arching my back against him. Grayson growled, and the sound only added to my needy whines.

He didn’t hold back. His mouth latched onto the tender mark, kissing and suckling it.

My arms seemed to develop a mind of their own and wrapped themselves around his neck, tangling my hands into his hair and pushing him closer to my skin.

I slumped in relief as, for the first time since Paris, my mark didn’t hurt. There was no throbbing, no pain, and no shaking. My entire body was at peace.

I was home.

But this isn’t your home,  I reminded myself. ~It never can be again. ~

He had rejected me and then slept with another. Even though he was here, holding me and apologizing, nothing had changed. He had still abused me. He was still mated to someone else.

Those thoughts only made me cry harder.

Grayson let me sob into his chest for Lord knew how long. He just held me, alternating between telling me how sorry he was and kissing and lapping at my mark.

Eventually, my crying slowed to a stop. I breathed in slowly, finally able to process things now that my body had calmed down from its panic attack.

My anguish was quickly replaced with awareness. I peeked up from the skin of his neck, looking around us. The diner was empty. Grayson and I were completely alone.

Everyone’s food was still on the tables, and coats were strewn in the booths, forgotten. It told me that everyone had left in a hurry. I didn’t blame them.

If I hadn’t been overwhelmed by my panic attack, I would have run too.

Grayson’s nose pressed into my hair, and he inhaled deeply, taking in my scent. He sighed in a way that imitated bliss and relief.

Relief over what? Finding me and ruining my plans to stay away from him forever?

His hand drifted down my back and along one of my bare legs, peeking out from beneath my skirt on either side of his huge body, straddling him.

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