Possessed by the New Alpha

Anais Stay summoned the elevator to the sixth floor of her friend's building. Kristen Raines had sounded panicky and anxious and wanted her to come over. She was usually tolerant and understanding when her friend Kristen had these 'emergencies' but today she had been extremely exhausted having dedicated most of her time to babysitting her nephew and battling some serious writer's block. She just wanted to go home, take a bath and get a few hours sleep in order to wake up again to work on her book for at least three hours.

While she enjoyed writing, she was having difficulty getting the words to flow for the latest romance novel under her nom de plume Jennifer White.

"Oh God, Ana I'm so glad you came. You're such a good friend" Kristen embraced her and bustled her into the apartment.

"Kristen, I can't stay long..." she stopped mid sentence and realized that she was in the middle of a party that was in full swing. She had been so caught up in her thoughts that she hadn't heard the music.

"Are you having a party?"

"Yes, silly. I just need some help in the kitchen. I thought I booked the caterer but I didn't confirm and now all these people are here and I have nothing but chips and dip. You got to work your magic Ana, please"

"Couldn't you order take out?" Anais asked.

"I could but their appetizers aren't like yours..."

Her plea was genuine and Anais knew that she needed her, but too many times she had found herself being taken advantage of because of her kind nature. Kristen needed to organize herself better and stop thinking of her as her "go to" gal. She would talk to her about it later, that and the fact that she hadn't even invited her to the party that she now had to save.

"I'll see what I can do Kristen but please keep people from coming in there to bother me okay" she managed to say.

After gauging the number of persons present, she ordered some main dishes from Aurora's Kitchen and made her way to Kristen's large but underutilized kitchen to work on some simple appetizers. She started prepping dough for mini pizzas and then cut fillers for some shrimp kebabs.

Kristen had good intentions but lacked basic organization skills. She enjoyed the company of others but was seldom ever prepared for it. She would start off by asking one person over and before she knew it, there would be ten to fifteen people in her apartment.

Putting the finishing touches on the pizzas she stuck them in the oven, put the shrimp on a grill and prepared a fruit platter. Wiping her brow in frustration, she sat down to take a breather.

"Ana, people are getting a bit restless. What do you have?"

It had been less than twenty minutes since she had been in the kitchen and was a bit peeved by Kristen's interruption.

"You can take the fruit out and I can give you the kebabs. Just hold on a minute and I'll lay them out..."

"Why don't you bring them out, I'll take the fruit out and buy some time..." Kristen started to say.

Buy some time? She hated the way that Kristen made it seem as though she was the one who was late in her preparations. Before she could say anything, Kristen was out the door with the fruit.

"Great. I'll just do that because that's what I'm here for." She mumbled and turned to the kebabs and placed them in a tray, trying her best to resist the urge to pound them against the silver.

"Hi. Do you have whipped cream?"

That was it! It was the one thing she had asked Kristen to do. Keep people out of the kitchen! She was so angry she could cry! And she was quite sure that it showed when she shot the offender the look.

"Okay...I'll come back then" he said slowly. He clearly read her 'get lost' expression but hadn't seen her well hidden reaction to his appearance. He was tall, maybe 6'4"and well built. She could tell his muscles were well chiseled even though he was wearing a shirt. His movements were lithe.

A day's worth of stubble covered his angular jaw and made him all the more appealing. Stark grey eyes threatened to take her breath away but she hid it well.

She watched him turn to leave and resumed packing the tray but she almost jumped when she heard him behind her.

"I can do that" he said, holding the edges of the tray.

She maintained her grasp and stared back at him intently.

He was the most beautiful man she had ever seen and she hadn't expected him to affect her the way that he did.

Perhaps that was what made her let go of the tray...maybe his looks was what was making her knees feel weak and cause this strange feeling inside of her belly...one that wasn't pain, but made her ache. Gosh, maybe it was because he smelt so good or maybe it was the way he was looking at her with those wonderful grey eyes. It was all so confusing, all too intense. She had to say something...

"Thank you" she said looking away from him and trying to busy herself with some PB&J sandwiches.

When she felt him leave, she looked up and started to breathe again. She needed a fan or a respirator or something...because she was feeling overheated. She mixed pancake batter and dipped the miniature square sandwiches in them before immersing them in the deep fryer.

"What are you doing?"

Fuck, he snuck up on her again! She could feel his hot breath on her as he looked over her shoulder.

"Do you mind? You could've made me burn myself"

"Sorry...I was just curious. I only left for like a minute and you were on to something else" He seemed amused at her obvious attempts to ignore him.

"By the way, my name is Jonathan Hughes. I uh...I found the whipped cream" he said dangling the can in front of her face.

"Okay Jonathan, do you mind giving me some space here" she said, still not looking at him but shoving him out of the way as she transferred her creation from the oil to napkins and drizzled them with powdered sugar.

"You know, a name would be nice" he laughed, still standing too close.

"Just because you go around introducing yourself to random strangers doesn't mean that I have to" she said trying to deliver another hard stare.

"I was talking about the name of whatever it is you made, but I would like to know your name since you brought it up."

"You don't need to know" she said looking away again. He had a devilish smile and really, really inappropriate thoughts went through her mind.

"I don't?" he was trying to get to her once again.

"No. All you have to do is eat it and enjoy." She said, pointing to the peanut butter and jelly dish.

"Oh, I'm not in the habit of eating nameless things but I think for you, I'll make an exception"

She blushed and swore that it was a shade of bright red against her light skin tone.

"Anais...Anais Stay" she supplied, continuing her ministrations on the tarts.

"Anais" he repeated. "So Anais, I think I prefer your company rather than go out there despite the fact that you're doing your darndest to ignore me"

He was persistent, she'd give him that, but wasn't in the mood for this kind of game.

"These are really good" he said, his mouth full of tart. "What's in it?"

"Soft bread, peanut butter, jelly, pancake mix with cinnamon and spice powder" she said dryly.

"So are you a chef ..."

"No, I'm not" she realized she had cut him off a bit too abruptly when he held up his hands in surrender. She was distracted by his antics and only felt when the pain transmitted to the part of her brain that was actually working. Oil had pitched from the pot onto her right hand.

"Crap.Ouch Ouch !!" she ran her hand under the tap and was about to examine the damage when she felt him at her side grabbing up her hand and performing a brief inspection.

The contact was electric. Something went off inside of her that caused the tingling in her belly to return. It was absolutely unnatural for a simple touch to make her so aware of him. God, he smelt so good! If she had to describe him in just one word, it would be delicious.

He was handsome to a blood boiling point and looked at her in a way that made her giddy. She was sure that she saw the same shock reflected in his eyes when their eyes met. She wasn't sure how much time had passed from the moment he took her hand to when he released her and grinned.

"Have dinner with me tomorrow night." he handed her his business card and looked at her with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"I don't think so", she said flatly. There was no way she was going to go out with Mr. Wonderful. He spelt trouble and she had no time for that. She turned away from his piercing gaze.

"Do you usually look at men the way that you just looked at me?" he asked, lifting her chin and forcing her to look at him once more.

"No, I don't actually" It wasn't what she wanted to say but something else seemed to be responding for her. It was not her body that this fire was snaking through...not her voice that responded to him, not her lips that wanted to be kissed...

"Then say yes" he was a hair's breath away from her lips and by the time the words started coming out, his lips slanted over hers.

"Yes" she said weakly against his lips.

She had never been kissed like that before. It was unexpected, slow but so full of heat she thought she would have combusted. It was a pleasurable kind of heat that she felt through her entire body. When he deepened the kiss and his tongue did a mad dance with hers, the heat pooled in her belly causing sensations that she had never felt before and causing her body to open itself to him. His hands felt so right when he cupped her face and gently massaged the sensitive area behind her ear with his thumb.

Where was the air? She knew that she needed to breathe, but to hell with it if it meant breaking that kiss or moving away from the rock hard body that was now pressed against hers.

"Sweet" he said, ending the kiss by licking her lips and gently tugging at her lower lip.

"You're the sweetest thing I ever tasted" His thumb now traced the outline of her lips as though he was branding her.

He reached behind her and she realized that he was making a call...from her phone. He looked at his phone and she realized that he had dialled his own number in order to record her number.

"Go out with me." He said. She wasn't sure if it was a question or a command. "I have a plane to catch in the morning but I need to see you." he looked at his watch and shook his head.

"To. See. Me?" She gradually came out of her catatonic state.

"Yes..." He replied. "There is something in you that calls to me." His explanation stunned her.

He continued, "I have some things to wrap up but I'll call you and my driver is going to pick you up in about an hour and a half." He seemed to be in total control as though he was a walking organizer.

She nodded and agreed with everything that he said as though her brain no longer functioned.

He turned to leave and then she thought to ask, "What am I supposed to wear?"

"Anything that's easy to come off"

He left her open-mouthed and speechless.

A booty call. That was what she had gotten herself into. Anais questioned her decision to meet Jonathan over and over. What the hell had she been thinking? She was never that kind of girl...the type who was able to meet a man like Jonathan and have no strings attached sex, no promises, nothing. Her emotions were quite close to her skin and it was difficult for her to see herself in that scenario. She hadn't loved or at least she hadn't felt the kind of love that she wrote about, hadn't experienced it first-hand but she had to believe that it existed. She was waiting for it.

She couldn't go through with it! But there was something about him that pulled her and had her dressing to the boot in a short black dress and stilettos, anxiously pacing her bedroom and staring at the card he had left. He was the CEO of Hughes International Group. She hadn't heard of them but then she did not keep up with celebrities.

The doorbell! She jumped and rushed to answer knowing somewhere at the back of her head that it wasn't Jonathan but somehow thinking that it was.

"Ana, I'm so sorry. I have to work the late shift and I couldn't get anyone to look after Michael and my phone went dead..."

"Tammy slow down. Relax okay. Give him to me." She took the sleeping three year old from her sister and beckoned him inside.

"Ana. Thank you."

Her younger sister had the unfortunate luck to fall in love with and marry the biggest idiot on the planet, Austin Thorpe. What had started out as a fairytale romance with two college students meeting and having a whirlwind romance, ended in disaster when early in their marriage, Tammy had gotten pregnant. Austin had turned into a jealous maniac and at the time, Tammy had suffered in silence until Ana found out. The minute she found out, she got her sister and her unborn nephew out of there. If Austin had hit her once, he would do it again. He was a violent man and they both had the scars to prove it. Since then, Ana had stuck close to them, helping with Michael while Tammy worked and tried to complete her degree in Childhood Education.

"Tammy you know I'd do anything for you guys." She gently put Michael down on her bed and drew the comforter over him.

Her sister beamed and graced her with a rare smile. She was tall and graceful and possessed a beauty that caused men to do a double-take, yet her failed marriage had made her so unsure of herself that she seldom smiled.

"Were you going out?" Tammy frowned.

"Actually, I just came back from a party at Kristen's" Well, it wasn't a total lie. She didn't want Tammy to feel bad. She already had enough on her plate.

All thoughts of her hot date went through the window and Anais sighed inwardly. It would have been great.

"I love you sis" Tammy said. They embraced and Anais sank into the sofa when she heard Tammy close the door behind her. She hadn't expected to feel so depressed.She removed her heels and sighed.

Great...her phone was ringing. She hurried to answer it and told herself that her haste was in an effort to avoid awakening Michael but she knew that for the most part, she was anxious to hear Jonathan's voice.

"Hi." She tried to keep her voice even and placed her hand over the speaker. She was certain he could hear her heart pounding.

"Hi gorgeous" he said with amusement in his voice. "Are you ready?"

"Actually, I...I have my little nephew with me..."

"Are you purposefully avoiding me or..."

"No. No. I...my sister had to work and she didn't have a sitter so he's with me..." Why was she I explaining all this anyway?

"Then I'll come to you" he said tersely. "Send me your address and I'll drive myself."

Normally she wouldn't risk letting a guy know where she lived. So many psychos were out there. But, there was something about Jonathan that made her trust him.

After texting him, she barely had time to get her bearings and put on a fresh pot of coffee when her phone rang again.

"I'm just outside your door. I didn't want to ring the doorbell and wake your nephew."

"Thank you. I'll be right there she said" she tried to keep from hurrying because her haste only led to her stumbling over everything in sight but there was an urgent need within her to see him again.

"Hi"

It was good that she said the words before looking at him because she became breathless and could no longer find words when she looked into his eyes.

He was the gorgeous one!

He towered over her five ft frame and seemed all muscle below his black long sleeved tee and jeans that seemed to cling to all the right areas. She groaned inwardly when he smiled and drew attention to his incredible mouth. If he so much as touched her, she would melt for sure. She suddenly felt awkward and remained rooted to the spot.

"Hello" he said taking advantage of her lapse and slipped inside, taking her by the waist and pulling her to him.

She gasped in surprise as he melded her body to his.

Although he exuded power and authority, there was warmth in his embrace, warmth that was slowly becoming an intense fire. She could see it even in his eyes as he bent to claim her lips.

The kiss was the exact opposite of the first, where that kiss was slow; this was fast and doubly intense. She could feel it in her toes with an intensity that raged like an unquenchable fire throughout her body.

He pulled her closer and trapped her between his body and the door. He lifted her and she instinctively wrapped her legs around him.

What the hell was she doing? She barely knew him! He could be a serial killer! But her body seemed to be quite familiar with his...and she wanted this...Wasn't she now moaning in pleasure as he unzipped the back of her dress and eased it off her shoulder?

He muttered a curse as his phone rang but he continued kissing her and roving her body. His phone continued to ring.

"You should answer it. It could be important" she said breathlessly as they broke the kiss. Then he did something that she wondered would be characteristic every

time that they kissed. He gently captured her lower lip and tugged, then slowly released. It was sensual and she could feel the heat pooling between her legs. In the same slow motion, he let her down so that her body slid down his.

Dangerous but she wanted this danger so badly.

"Anais, if you keep looking at me like that, we aren't going to get much talking done"

She turned crimson and looked away as he proceeded to answer his phone. When she made to move, he barred her with his hand and shook his head. His conversation was cryptic but it seemed as though someone needed him to be somewhere urgently and he was confirming that he was going to be there.

She bit her lower lip at the sheer torture of being in such close proximity, feeling his arousal pressed against her, feeling the heat that radiated from his body when she touched his chest.

"No. I won't be staying the week. I have something that I have to come back for that I can't miss" he looked at her then and she got the full extent of his meaning.

"I take it you're leaving?" she asked when he came off his phone.

"My job requires that I travel...sometimes at inconvenient times." His gaze lowered to her cleavage and he traced the exposed lace trimming of her bra.

"I can't seem to control myself around you."

He seemed amused. "I came here with the intention of getting to learn a bit more about you and to possibly ask you out again. If my phone didn't ring when it did, I may have" he paused and lifted her chin and shook his head as though torn between two different thoughts. "I may not have only made love to you. I would have fucked you."

She looked at him in shock. "Jonathan...you..."

"No, don't say anything" he interrupted. "I've found you and you are perfect"

Was he serious? She never had that effect on any man before.

"And before I get the urge to make you ride me like there is no tomorrow..." he started to say.

"Do it" She said breathlessly.

She pressing against his arousal invitingly. His hands gripped her butt, lifting her again. His teeth lightly grazed her neck. Her skin was usually pale and she was sure it would leave a mark. He seemed to be breathing in her scent.

"God, you smell so good"

She could feel herself becoming wet. Her breath seemed to have been caught in her lungs, unable to come out. It was released in a gasp as she felt his fingers press against the lace of her underwear. His lips met hers once more in a heated kiss.

"Bedroom" she murmured, pointing to the closed bedroom door.

She tightened her legs around him as they made their way to the bedroom. She could feel his muscles straining against his shirt as he refused to break the kiss while lifting her.

Despite the intensity of their desire, he gently put her on the bed and removed his shirt then loosened his belt.

His body was a well-defined specimen and she could not tear herself away.

"God, you're beautiful" he said as he crept onto the bed and hovered over her. His grey eyes became brighter as though desire made them change somehow.

She felt like she would climax just by looking into his eyes.

He lifted her dress to her chest and nipped at the exposed flesh. He loosened her strapless bra and flung it to the side of the bed, then playfully removed her underwear with his teeth.

She could feel wetness continuing to pool between her legs. He was making her climax with just foreplay.

"Ohhhhh!" she exclaimed as he entered her with two fingers. She wanted to scream as she felt herself orgasm so she buried her face in a pillow.

He yanked the pillow away and stifled her scream with a crushing kiss. His fingers continued to wreak havoc and she felt herself on the verge of climax again. Her eyes watered at the intensity of the desire that she felt. He slowly eased his fingers out and released her from the kiss.

She was panting, her body almost rising off the bed as she struggled to catch her breath. She watched as he got off the bed and removed the rest of his clothing. Her eyes travelled to his penis.

"Come here" he commanded, taking her hand and helping her to stand up. Despite her shaking knees, she stood in front of him and complied as he instructed her to take off her dress.

He knelt in front of her and draped a leg over his shoulder, proceeding to swipe her sex with his tongue. When his teeth grazed her clitoris, she felt her knees buckle. In a swift motion, he lifted her and stood up, her leg still draped over his shoulders, her hands gripping behind his head as he continued to pleasure her. She heard him moan and felt the reverberation of it against her clitoris. Gosh, it was insane how strong he was.

She climaxed once, twice and he did not stop. She felt her eyes roll back into her head and heard herself scream in pleasure. She barely caught her breath when he had her on the bed on her hands and knees. He entered her from behind in a powerful thrust that made her gasp.

"Baby" She felt him pause and tremble in an effort to control himself. "Are you okay?" he said between gritted teeth.

"Yes!" she pushed back onto his shaft, encouraging him to continue. He thrust into her again and again, only ever pausing to lightly nip her shoulders or her neck.

She felt like she was losing her mind. His pace quickened and she swore she heard him growl as he bit her shoulder and thrust hard into her. She could feel the heat of his sperm as he ended in slow thrusts and collapsed with her on the bed, no more in control of his breathing than she was.

"Anais..." He whispered, lightly kissing her forehead, then licking her shoulder where he had bitten.

"Momma"

The sound of Michael's voice outside her door brought her out of her euphoria. She shot up and looked apologetically at Jonathan.

"He needs me" she rushed to her en-suite bathroom and grabbed her robe, lifting the worried toddler and making her way to the second bedroom.

"My sweet boy." Her heart ached when she saw him sitting on the bed looking distraught.

"Is mummy ok?" he was such an intelligent boy. He had witnessed so much of his father's violence that he felt his mother was constantly under threat.

"Oh sweetheart, mummy is fine. She had to work. She's safe okay baby" she enveloped him in her arms and stroked his hair before lightly kissing his cheek.

"I'll stay with you until you go back to sleep okay. Do you want warm milk..."

She hadn't noticed Jonathan standing in the bedroom doorway in is shirt and boxers until she heard him speak.

"I'll do it" he volunteered. Both she and Michael turned toward him.

"Johnat..."

"It's okay." He turned and left.

"Who him?" Michael asked.

"That's my friend Michael. You will see him a bit more often..."

Jonathan impatiently paced the makeshift office of his newest hotel. For the past five days, the new projects that his brother and his cousin were working on with him had occupied most of his time. While his appetite for acquisition of new real estate and expansion of their business seemed to be insatiable, he now found his thoughts straying from the business at hand to the petite woman who made him crave more than just her PB&J tarts.

For the past year he had been concentrating on expanding the company the three of them had built and while most people would say that they were at the pinnacle as far as the business was concerned, they wanted greater stability. As such, they had invested a great deal of time to seeing major projects through. This last project had proven to be the most difficult one but had eventually gotten off the ground. He had been anxious to finalize the contract details and spend some much needed time with his family, his pack, but now that he had found his mate, he felt like commissioning the company plane to take him back to the warm, soft woman he had held in his arms a few nights ago.

"Jon, sorry we're late, Gabe overslept and I had to wait for him" Mark replied in his characteristic growl.

Jonathan suppressed a smile. Growing up, his brother Mark and his cousin Gabe who were both four years his juniors were forever at loggerheads. Gabe whose parents had passed away in a car accident when he was just 11 years old had come to live with them. Although they were constantly fighting, they had developed a brotherly closeness that some would envy. Family meant a great deal to the Hughes lot and Jonathan often marvelled at how his mother and father were able to cope with the above average brood of four unruly boys including Gabe and their little sister, Genevieve. Their parents had owned a small family restaurant that expanded over the years. It was this taste of entrepreneurship that had spurred Jonathan and later his brother and cousin to become involved in property acquisition and development.

While Jonathan possessed the business savvy and the negotiation skills necessary for succeeding, Mark had in depth technical knowledge having graduated with an MBA and a law degree and Gabe's strength was in his construction engineering and architectural skills. They were a skilled and efficient team and this accounted for their tremendous success.

"Okay, well let's just go through these papers and finalize..."

"Captain, Mark and I went through the legalities and the plans. What Mark brought today are the final documents. We pulled an all nighter because we all want to go to Aunt Emma's barbeque this afternoon." Gabe supplied.

Jonathan winced at the nickname. As the eldest child, he had often been left with the responsibility of supervising his younger siblings. It was a responsibility that he took seriously to the dislike of some of his sometimes wayward siblings and the name among others had stuck. As they sat around the conference table in deep concentration, Jonathan's thoughts strayed.

He wondered for a brief moment if Anais had a nickname. How would she react when she met his family? What would be her reaction when they revealed to her what they were? They were quite an overbearing bunch, an unruly litter but a loving one. Maybe he could fly her over to the Barbeque...wait. Scratch that. He would have to prepare her for something like that.

Mark cleared his throat dramatically and broke the silence. "I don't think I've ever seen you daydream in the middle something as important as this Jon. Umm, care to share? Care to explain the female scent that has been stamped onto you?"

Jonathan looked at the two men with a guarded expression. "Uhh...it's nothing. I'm actually done here so..." he started to excuse himself when his cell phone rang. He was hoping that he wasn't visibly blushing in reaction to the caller ID display. It was Anais. He couldn't ignore her as he had painfully done all day today.

He had called her every day since he left. There was a longing within him that was compounded by the mating bond. He needed to hear her but most of all, he needed to touch her.

"I have to take this" he turned away but not before he saw his brother and his cousin lift questioning eyebrows.

"Hi. I'm in a meeting. Can I call you back in about ten minutes? I promise, ten minutes?" he asked before she spoke.

"Sure" He detected some hurt in her voice and he knew that she too was experiencing the withdrawal symptoms of the newly mated

"Anais. I'm going to make it back to you and pick you up around 2pm today ok? But as soon as I am done here, I'll call" there was a lump in his throat when he spoke. He missed her. There was actual physical pain from being apart.

"I miss you" he wasn't the type of guy who laid his emotions so bare but he also understood the strength of the mating bond.

He hung up and turned to see two pairs of eyes glued to him and he scowled at them, turning away once more.

There was a momentary silence. When he turned toward them again, Gabe and Mark were grinning from ear to ear.

Gabe spoke first, "So. Anais is coming to the barbeque? You've found your mate haven't you?"

"I don't see what's so funny..." Jonathan started to say. 'I want her to meet the pack..."

"She must be from a strong pack if you are letting her meet our family so early in the game Jon" Mark added. "She's human" Jonathan stated flatly.

"I can see that this is going to be quite an interesting evening" Gabe laughed. "I didn't see this one coming Mark. Did you?"

"No. I actually thought that we would have had to arrange some kind of marriage for him since he never dates..."

"I have responsibilities...." Jonathan said defensively.

"Yes, yes. We know." Mark said.

"You do know that if you bring a human to the barbeque, unmated...?" Gabe's comment

"She is mine. I have marked her. The bond has been made." Jonathan was becoming annoyed by their banter.

"In any event Mark, aren't you bringing your personal assistant along?" Gabe further instigated.

"That's got to do with work. I have some things to finish up and I do not want to waste the weekend."

"But she is also human..."

"Actually, she is part magiker but I don't think she knows it. I scented her..."

"You scented her. Aren't you afraid she will unwittingly enthrall you?" Gabe prodded further

Jonathan intervened. "If she is a magiker, there are certain members in our pack who will see her as a danger Mark. You should not risk her safety...if you value her."

"I value her, but she will be safe with me..." Mark gritted his teeth and seemed defensive.

"Looks like there is a fever going around in here. I better take my leave lest I catch it." Gabe said, taking his leave of the room. He was soon followed by Mark.

Jonathan sank into his leather chair. How was he to explain all this to Anais? He absently flipped through the documents and signed them before returning them to the leather folder.

He had formed the mating bond with her without her permission. He had also released his seed in her. Her body would be changing because of the bond and because of his seed. Werewolf sperm was powerful and remained active within the female body for over a week, seeking to fertilize an egg. If she wasn't already carrying his pup, a few more sexual encounters would guarantee an outcome. He had not prepared her for any of it.

He sighed and picked up the phone to call her. She answered on the second ring.

"Anais. Can you come away with me for the weekend? I...my family is having a barbeque and I would really like for you to see where I am from." He blurted it out before he could chicken out.

"Oh.." he heard her say, then pause. "I have to babysit Michael this weekend..."

"Bring him. The fresh air will do him well. We have a homestead" he offered. "If you are worried about me being some psycho or if your sister is worried, we can send her the location and you can promise her to videochat."

"You really have all the answers." She laughed.

"I just want to spend time with you. There are things about me that you can know only by seeing" he explained in a serious tone.

"Okay. I'll let my sister know."

He heard her exhale and continue to speak. "Jonathan, I've been feeling strange, like painfully missing you. It's a new feeling for me. I don't know what to make of it."

"You poor thing." He chuckled though he understood the pain she endured. "You like me don't you"

"Don't joke" she cautioned. "I...it's been weird. Just hurry back okay." She said before hanging up.

Jonathan sighed. In a few hours, she would know everything. He was terrified that things would go wrong.