Dear Enemy, You're My Mate

Chapter 24 **

Patricia

The windows to the lake house are broken when I return from the woods with Dior. People are standing on the porch, talking loudly about the monster snake that attacked. It worries me that almost every teenager from our school saw the monster, including humans.

"Damn," I whisper. "Don't you think this will become an immense problem? Humans knowing about our existence never ends well."

Dior sighs next to me. I'm refusing to peek at him, knowing the bastard is still naked. Focusing around him is hard enough as it is already. The mate-bond is trying to pull me towards him, making it feel like I'm fighting against the force of a powerful magnet.

"I have a friend who could erase their memories later."

"Oh?" I lift an eyebrow. "A witch?"

Dior huffs a laugh at me. "No, an elegant and old vampire named Elijah. He has existed for a long time and is very skilled with compulsion and erasing a person's memories."

I grimace. "I don't trust vampires."

"Meh," Dior shifts beside me, and I assume he is shrugging, although I'm too much of a chicken to find out. No way am I facing those plains of perfect abs again. "Elijah is trustworthy, but I might owe him afterward. The guy has an expensive taste and would probably ask for a bottle of Dom Perignon in return for his services."

I laugh. "So Elijah is a wine-drinking vampire?"

"Yes, what is so funny about that?"

"Nothing!" My lips twitch. "I just assumed they all drank a different kind of red to their dinner."

"You're so judgemental, Patricia. Shame on you." I can hear the smile in Dior's voice. He then adds. "You can't just judge people without getting to know them first."

I crack a smile because I know where this is leading. "Is that so?"

"Yes," Dior says in a voice filled with mischief. "Which is why you should let me take you out on a date."

I snort a laugh. "No way!"

"Why not!" Dior is laughing too. "Come on! It will be fun!"

"No, it won't!" I exclaim, and strangely enough, I'm smiling out into the night. My cheeks hurt. I'm having fun, although we are bickering. "We have absolutely nothing in common!"

"Sure we do!" Dior sounds so positive my heart gives a little squeeze. He is rather cute for a guy over six feet tall who turns into a monster during the full moon.

"Like what?" I ask, aware of the curiosity flaring inside of me.

"Let's see," he hums. "You love baking while I enjoy eating it."

I crack up. "Is that sentence supposed to win me over? So what if you love sweets? Half the guy population does as well and would love for me to bake for them! Jesus Christ, Lavigne, try harder!"

There is actual laughter. I swoon a little, hating how tiny flutters are starting from my toes.

"So I need to toughen my game, huh?" Dior clears his throat. "Okay, then how about this: Patricia, I've been in love with you for years. When I treated the other pack members like shit, they didn't care and sucked up to me only because I'm their alpha. Meanwhile, you never did that. You always stayed honest with me, and-..."

"Holy shit, is that Dior naked?" A girl exclaims from the porch. She sounds like a complete fangirl, ready to blow him off at the spot.

I'm too curious about where Dior's sentence is going to make a move. I stand there waiting, expecting a continuation that never comes. Footsteps are bouncing over the planks of the porch, and I shriek when the large man jumps over me, effortlessly taking me with him.

"Shit!" Dior swears. "I don't have clothes! Hide me, Patricia! I don't want anyone to see me naked—it's embarrassing!"

"You're such a liar! A moment ago, you were bragging about your appearance. You sure as hell didn't care about me noticing your entire package, and now suddenly you're acting like a nervous little girl because your pack members are about to see you naked? You're unbelievable!"

Laughter erupts from my mouth even as I'm lifted from the ground and then used as a shield to cover Dior. Without warning, he falls into the autumn leaves with me on top of him. His hands are gripping around my upper arms while my nose gets buried into something hard. When I realize it's his naked chest, I freak out.

A musty scent too strong to ignore overwhelms me. Dior's chest is shaven, and his pecs are two rocks on either side of my cold nose. He is so broad that my palms struggle to find the ground, and as I try to sit up, things turn even worse. My pussy brushes against something rock-hard, and shit, it's enormous—Dior is big everywhere!

I can barely even speak. "Is that?"

"Mhm."

I lift my head, glaring at him. "You disgust me."

Dior cracks a half-smile, showcasing the dimple in his cheek—he is charming as hell. My brain cells are currently committing suicide by jumping out through my ears. It is the only explanation for—fuck, I hate to acknowledge this, but I think Dior is hot.

"Is that code for you being aroused?"

"Shut up!"

My sentence would have been more effective if I didn't breathe it out. I even sounded horny! My breaths are shaky, and I stare down at Dior, who smirks at me!

His hands let go of my upper arms, sliding down to my hands before he rests them behind his head. With a cocky expression, he stretches out beneath me, letting me know exactly how much he is packing.

"They say hate sex is the best, and my pack members aren't anywhere close—they probably ran inside to fetch me clothes."

I dig my eyes into his blue. My heart is pounding, and my nipples are pressing into the fabric of my shirt. I want him, but I resent myself for wanting him!

Dior is too much Dior—way too much arrogance and confidence stuffed into one man!

"I don't wish to have any sex with you!" I snarl.

Dior offers me a telltale smirk, and his eyes, god his eyes, seem to glisten with glee. "Is that why you're rubbing up against me like a cat? And was that a purr right now?"

My eyes widen when I realize the bastard is correct, and without a second to spare, I bolt off him.

"Oh-my-god..." I chant that sentence multiple times. "What the hell have I done?"

I'm shaking.

The mere idea of me having fucking purred around this man is giving me a headache. I have to wash my freaking eyes with soap when I get home—my brain as well!

Fuck me. My life is officially over. The image of Dior naked is one I'm sure I will never forget, but that smirk he gave me after figuring out how sexy I find him? Kill me. Kill me now!

I hug my knees, ready to go into foster position. Dior chuckles, then stand up, not shy of flailing that battleax for the entire world to see. I try not to look, but I can't and end up checking him out with a slacking jaw.

Dior is gorgeous; more than that, the guy got hot guy swagger. I know I should look away, turn tail and run while I can, but I'm entirely enchanted, absorbed by the view.

I can't take my eyes off him!

I really, really should, but Dior is just so big.

Large.

The guy got the complete Ken-doll luxury package: tanned skin with some scars here and there, impossibly broad shoulders, and ropy muscles that travel down his back.

Then that peach of an ass.

Oh my god, I'm ready to pass out and enter the gates through butt-heaven.

I'm sitting there, entertaining the idea of going down on my knees and biting that apple and-...

"Are you sure you don't want us to get a room?"

My cheeks heat to a million degrees, seeing that smirk on Dior's face, and I abruptly stand up. His fellow pack members aren't far away now, and my nostrils flare.

"Thank you for tonight," I tell him. "Without you, June might have gotten me and-..." I gasp and almost choke at the view ahead of me. "And stop posing in the moonlight!"

"What do you mean?" Dior is stretching, deliberately showing off those cobblestone abs like some bodybuilder on stage. "I'm innocent."

Muttering to myself, I bend down and grab a rock to hurl it at Dior. He laughs in response, and I hurry away from him. I never want to see his stupid face again!

"Good night, Lavigne!" My voice is upset.

There is amused laughter behind me. "Night, Princess," there is a pause, then another chuckle. "You know where I live. In case you want me to take care of your little problem, wet underwear and all."

By now, I'm burning brighter than the sun. "Oh-my-god! Shut the fuck up!"