Help Me Out

Ronan tossed and turned all night, his mind filled with thoughts of Sophia. The way she had looked at him when he asked out Minerva lingered in his mind.

Was she jealous? It sure seemed like it.

But why did he care? His brain felt all kinds of messed up. Sometimes, he convinced himself that he didn't care about her, yet he hated it whenever Matthew touched her.

He knew Matthew was in her room again, and it bothered him, but he forced himself not to interfere this time.

Ronan bottled up his anger, but he knew that if he saw them together again, he would lose it. Despite his efforts to stay distant, he couldn't shake the urge to see her.

[Just go see her if you really want to. I'm sure Matthew left already], his wolf suggested.

[No. If I go there, she'll think I miss her or something], Ronan barked back.

[Well, you do miss her], his wolf pointed out.

[What the fuck? No, I don't], Ronan protested.

[Stop kidding yourself, Ronan. You miss her], his wolf insisted.

[Just shut up, okay? I'm going back to sleep], Ronan growled.

[Alright, go ahead and try], his wolf cackled.

Ronan tried to sleep for another hour, but eventually, he gave up. "This is dumb," he grumbled under his breath. He was acting like a pathetic, lovesick loser, and he didn't even love her like that.

[Fuck it. I want to go see what she's doing], he finally admitted to himself.

[She's obviously sleeping, moron. It's 2 AM. Are you going to watch her sleep like a creep]? his wolf teased.

[No, I'm not gonna sit there and watch her sleep. I just want to check on her, that's all], Ronan insisted.

[You sure are clingy for someone who claims to hate her], his wolf retorted.

[I am not arguing with you], Ronan muttered as he stood up, ready to leave his room. But before he could reach the door, he heard a light knock.

He froze, taken aback. Sophia was on the other side. He hadn't asked her to visit him tonight; she had come on her own. That was surprising.

Ronan quickly put on a frown, wanting her to think he was annoyed. "What do you want?" he barked.

Sophia twirled her hair nervously and looked at him with uncertainty. "I was just wondering if I could talk to you for a minute."

"At 2 AM?" he snarled.

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Did I wake you up?" she asked, her voice soft.

"Yes, you did," he lied.

"Sorry," she mumbled, biting her lower lip. Damn, she looked kind of cute when she did that, he thought.

"What do you want to talk about? Just say it and leave," Ronan demanded, though he didn't want her to leave at all.

"Can I come in first?" she asked.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her inside, slamming the door shut behind her. "Alright. Here we are. What do you want to talk about?"

"Well, I just wanted to…" she hesitated, her eyes dark and avoiding his.

"What is it? Just spit it out," Ronan said impatiently.

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that Matthew came to my room earlier and…"

"And what? Did you guys fuck? Don't tell me that, or I might kill you both," he snarled.

"Stop it! Why do you have to jump to that conclusion?" she rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Okay, well, if you didn't fuck, then what's the problem?" Ronan asked.

"He was really jealous that you marked me first, and he felt like it wasn't fair," she hesitated again.

"So?" he urged her to continue.

"So he did it too," she said quietly.

"Did what?" Ronan looked at her in confusion.

"He marked me, Ronan! Look," she pulled down her nightgown to show him Matthew's mark above her heart. That cheesy bastard, Ronan thought, rolling his eyes. Look at him trying to be romantic.

"Alright. Matthew marked you too because he was jealous. But why are you telling me this?"

Sophia looked at him with wide eyes. "Does it bother you?"

"I expected him to do that, but it does make me angry. I'm not going to fight him over it since I did it first anyway," Ronan said dismissively. "Why do you care whether I'm bothered or not? I thought my opinion didn't matter."

"I didn't think it mattered either, but I couldn't sleep because I felt kind of guilty. I've never been with a guy before, so it doesn't feel decent to be marked by two men," she rambled.

Is this chick for real? Ronan thought, amused.

[She's so innocent. How can you not love her]? his wolf cooed.

[Shut up], Ronan snapped internally.

A mischievous smile crossed Ronan's face as a thought entered his mind. It was time to mess with his little runt. "Yeah, you're right. I am actually very angry. So angry that I need to punish you," he said.

"Punish me? What kind of punishment?" she gasped.

"You'll have to make me feel better by pleasuring me," he smirked.

Sophia gasped even louder. "Are you asking me to do what I think you're asking me to do?" she whispered.

"That's right, babydoll. That's exactly what I'm asking," he said, touching her chin.

"No…no way. I'm not doing that." She shook her head frantically.

"I'm not saying you have to have sex with me, but you could touch me," Ronan leaned closer to her ear and added, "inappropriately."

"It's kind of the same thing as…" she stopped, unable to say it.

"Fucking me?" Ronan teased.

"I don't want to say that word, but yes. Touching you like that is the same because it's still sexual, and I don't want to touch you that way," she pouted.

"Oh no?" Ronan wiggled his eyebrows.

"No." she shook her head. "It's highly indecent of you to ask me."

"Indecent? Who are you kidding, Sophia? We're mates. So nothing is off the table. We'll do this and a lot more eventually, but if you don't want to touch me, then just go away. By the way, what does your wolf have to say about it?" he winked.

[Her wolf wants it. I can't hear her yet, but I can feel her arousal], his wolf let him know.

Bingo.

"It doesn't matter what she wants," Sophia snarled. "What's in it for me anyway? Are you going to be nicer to me if I do this?"

"I don't know, but I'll consider it," Ronan shrugged.

"You know what? You're disgusting for even asking something like this. I'm not your personal whore, alright?" she barked.

"I just thought you could help me out a little bit. Go away if you're not going to do it. I bet you would've done it if Matty asked."

"That's not true," she protested.

"Okay then, get out."

She looked at the door but didn't walk out yet. Ronan could tell she was considering it.

"If I touch you, are you going to be nice to me or not?" she whined.

"Alright, if you do this for me, I won't bully you for 24 hours," he said.

"That's a terrible deal. Twenty-four hours isn't long," she complained.

"Okay then. Two days or no deal. I go back to torturing you like usual, and then I'll find a different punishment for you for letting Matty mark you."

"Ronan!"

"Your call, sweetheart," he chuffed.

She stared at him for a long time without saying anything. Ronan listened to her thoughts and realized she was having an inner battle with herself. He almost felt bad for asking her. He was sure she would say no. Little Miss Innocent couldn't see herself doing something dirty with him.

"Okay, I'll do it," she said after a while.

What? Ronan didn't see that coming!