His Forbidden Mate

I’ll take you home

DIANE

My head wasn't resting on the usually soft pillow in the room my kidnapper gave me. This one was hard. Or was it the floor? My sleep was interrupted by the questions my subconscious kept asking.

I opened my eyes, really hoping I wasn't going to face something bad again today. It seemed like every minute in this house had another bad experience to offer.

I slept on his lap. What? How was that even possible? My mind was still foggy so I couldn't pinpoint the exact time I agreed to rest my head on not his shoulder but his lap.

I wasn't sure if he was sleeping and to be honest, I didn't want to jerk up and wake him — if he was sleeping — without figuring this out first.

My skin tingled. No. No, it couldn't be. This guy may have been going crazy but he was too much of a gentleman to force himself on me. A tear slipped out of my eye as my hand slowly traveled to my groin. It felt…normal. So why was I palpitating this way?

Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to go back to whatever lucid dream I was having prior. Sleep didn't come and at this point, I was sure the goddess he always talked about was punishing me for disbelieving her messenger. The thought made me giggle.

"You're awake," came his voice. "You can sit up now."

I don't know why I waited for him to sit me up himself but he did. Almost as if he was respecting my body and my choices. Yeah, right.

Opening my eyes better for the first time since I woke up, I noticed dimmed lights. Maybe he didn't like bright lights? But then they were multicolored. My confused eyes trailed all the decorations and then settled on the boxes and cake on the table a little distance from us.

"Do you like it?" he asked. I just shrugged and he let out a long breath. When he faced me, I was convinced beyond space and the sun that this man had to be Lucien Kane. But why didn't this person fit the real one? Why were they too different?

"I realized that you're not only pissed off at my approach to you. But you were celebrating your birthday when I took you away. I'm very sorry for that. I wouldn't be happy if someone I don't know made me miss such an important event in my life.

"I thought you might want it even if it's a virtual experience of that night. So this is it."

My heart almost bursts with mixed feelings. This would have been very sweet if I was into him. But I wasn't. "Uh, thanks?"

An unfamiliar maid appeared when he clapped his hands. She looked rather elderly. Gosh, how many of them did this man have? She held up two beautiful dresses. One of them was a tight mini dress, and it was sea green. My favorite. The other one was a dark pink off-shoulder floor-length dress. The stones beautifying the waistline were so stunning. I wasn't one to enjoy very long dresses but this was too good to pass up.

"The pink one," I giggled. I didn't mind showing my excitement. I could go back to hating him later.

He told her to take me to my room and help me get dressed, which she did. She had this motherly touch and always smiled at me. "You're a very beautiful girl," she said.

"Thank you."

"Alpha Kane is a very good man, dear. I think you should give him a chance," she continued.

Alpha Kane? Hilarious. She soon got the hint that I wasn't interested in talking to her. We were soon finished and she took me downstairs but stopped at the foot of the stairs. "You look very lovely," she whispered before leaving.

He beamed at me which made my face hot for some reason. "You look stunning."

"Thank you," I whispered.

A melodious slow song was playing. "Would you like to dance?" he asked me.

Still lost in the beauty of my surroundings, I agreed. I bit the walls of my mouth to avoid asking any questions as we danced. "You want to say something?" he asked abruptly.

I chewed my lip hoping it'd keep me from answering but two bites and I was already gone. "I have some questions."

"Go on."

I convinced myself that this was the best way to determine if he was really the state's richest billionaire. "Can you tell me how Kane and Scents work?" Looking up, I mostly saw his jaw but it was rather good-looking.

"I can tell you how Scents. Cane wasn't founded by me. Is that good enough for you?" I nodded.

He got right into it. I was so engrossed in what he was saying that I didn't realize when the music stopped. By the time he was done, I thought I knew more than half about his company to last me a lifetime when indeed, it was just the surface.

The dance had become as interesting too. It was like a Cinderella and Prince Charming scene.

Noah.

I jerked myself out of his arms. It was Noah and me who should have been dancing like this. Hot tears ran down my cheeks as I remembered my friends. They should have been the ones here.

"It'll never be like home," the bastard started. "But I guarantee you that I'll make sure to don't even feel it-"

"I want to go home. You've kidnapped me, made me delusional and made my mom and dad worry and maybe even think I'm dead. And all this because you're religious? Please just let me go."

"The Moon goddess isn't who you think she is. She knows what she's doing. And I can't survive without my mate," he spat crap.

"Would you get over yourself already? It's not worth it! She won't descend to the earth and reward you for this!"

We relapsed into an awkward silence.

"Give me a month. One month to make you believe and whether or not I convince you, I'll take you home."

"You mean that?" I expected to hear a no.

"Yes."

Relief surged through my body and in my excitement, I jumped into his arms and kissed him.