Chapter 23: Jeremy Stanton vs. Ryan Hicks Feral attraction in the midst of hatred… The mate pull!

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By the sixth day, Ryan was going out of his mind. He wanted to see Jeremy. Ryan didn’t understand why he wasn’t coming to see him anymore. After that first day in the hospital, Jeremy had disappeared into thin air. The only people who came to visit him were Gloria, Philip, his dad who was a really nice man, and the guy who had captured him that first night in the woods, Stan. He’d apologized profusely on his first visit for not believing him that night and asked for forgiveness.

Ryan had forgiven him because, besides the fact that the man looked extremely regretful, he was crazily funny and made Ryan laugh. Though he’d wondered what had happened to Jeremy, Ryan had never asked of him from anyone…he couldn’t. In a way he knew he’d driven Jeremy away from him with those last words. But he hadn’t envisaged Jeremy not coming back to see him. He would die before admitting it to anyone but…it hurt that Jeremy hadn’t been to see him.

“Are you okay?” Gloria asked softly. They were sitting under a big tree, enjoying the cool breeze.

“Yes,” Ryan answered quietly.

“Ryan…”

“I’m fine, Gloria.” But he wasn’t. And he knew he wasn’t fooling the elderly woman.

“You know you can talk to me don’t you?”

“I know. It’s just that…” He sighed deeply.

“Come here.” Gloria gathered Ryan into her arms and held him tight, rocking him as though he were a child.

By the eighth day, Ryan could walk without aid. The doctor promised that his slight limp would disappear in no time. Ryan himself was amazed at the speed of his recovery. That kind of injury would have taken months to heal…sometimes even years, if he were human. Thanks to Jeremy, he wasn’t. But then, he wouldn’t have gotten injured in the first place if it hadn’t been for Jeremy. He was such a dick. But Ryan couldn’t help but acknowledge one astounding fact: he’d missed Jeremy so fucking much!

By day ten, Ryan was ready to scream. He didn’t just want to see Jeremy, he needed to see him. Though he dreamt about him every night and sometimes had orgasms when the dreams turned intense, his need to see Jeremy wasn’t sexual. It went beyond sexual. He needed to be in his presence, needed to see that Jeremy was okay, needed to touch him. It was almost as if he was addicted to drugs and was having withdrawal symptoms from deprivation.

“I want to see Jeremy, Gloria.” Ryan blurted out immediately Gloria entered his room that morning. He hadn’t slept a wink that night and the bags under his eyes testified to that. Ryan watched as a knowing smile spread across the woman’s face. He also noticed that she didn’t make any move to call her son. “Please, Gloria.”

“He’s out of town, Ryan. Had to fly to Florida for a meeting yesterday. He’ll be back today by noon.”

“Ugh.” He grumbled, making Gloria laugh softly.

“Relax.” She sat beside Ryan on the couch and took his hands in hers. “Took you long enough.” She chuckled.

Ryan wasn’t amused. “I don’t think I can go till noon without seeing him, Gloria.” He groaned. He didn’t know what was happening to him. All he knew was that he needed to see Jeremy or he just might go insane.

Gloria went to her bag, took out her cell phone, and called her son. The call went straight to voice mail so she left a message that Ryan wanted to see him. Then she went back to sit beside Ryan and rubbed his arm soothingly.

“Knowing my son, he’ll be here as soon as he can. That should be in about…” She looked at her stylish and obviously expensive Swiss-made diamond wristwatch. “…four hours.”

“Fuck.” Ryan muttered and then promptly groaned. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry.” Gloria chuckled. “For what it’s worth, he’s missed you too.” Gloria was so thrilled she hugged Ryan.

Frankly, she was surprised at how long Ryan had lasted. Once mates got even the tiniest contact with each other…even before they got marked and properly mated…it was almost painfully difficult to be apart. There was always an uncontrollable urge to be together no matter what. To have lasted that long just showed how hurt and angry Ryan was at Jeremy. Gloria had noticed how flustered and restless Ryan had been and had known the reason but had decided to wait till he figured it out on his own. She knew her son was struggling just as badly and would rush to Ryan’s side immediately after he got her message.

But Gloria was in for a shock. They had to wait for nine hours before Jeremy finally put in an appearance. And during that period, Ryan was a wreck. He wouldn’t eat, couldn’t work, and wouldn’t talk except to ask what was taking Jeremy so long. Gloria tried calling both Philip and Jeremy to ask what was taking so long but both had their cell phones off. At a point, Gloria wondered whether Jeremy was deliberately punishing Ryan for telling him he didn’t like him. She hoped that wasn’t the case because in her opinion, Jeremy didn’t have any right to pay Ryan back that way. She was getting angrier by the minute. Gloria finally took a look at Ryan’s bloodshot eyes around five p.m. and decided she’d had it.

“Okay, that’s it. I’m taking you home.” A thrilled but very tired-looking Jeremy heard his mother say just as he reached out to open the door to Ryan’s room at the hospital. “Let him look for you when he…”

“Take me to him, please.” Ryan whimpered.

“No. We’re not going after that boy. You’re going to have to be strong, Ryan. We’ll go to my place. And when he eventually shows up, I’ll give him the spanking he deserves...”

That did it. Jeremy burst into laughter, causing both his mum and Ryan to turn in his direction with gasps. But he had eyes for just Ryan though. Damn, he looked sick. His eyes were bloodshot, his hands were visibly shaking, showing his obvious distress. Jeremy still thought his mate looked sweet and amazing. Ryan looked delicious in blue jeans and a black tank top that stuck to him like a second skin. And that hair… He looked totally hot. Damn Philip. Picking out such sexy outfits for his mate…

“Really mum?” Jeremy chuckled as he shrugged out of his leather jacket. “I went to a lot of trouble to get here.” He said simply.

“You expect me to believe that?” Gloria hissed, her eyes flashing with anger.

“Mum I’m here now. I would have come sooner if I could. Okay?” He tossed the jacket onto one of the couches in the room and started towards a dazed Ryan.

Ryan had completely tuned out the voices of both Jeremy and his mother when he’d laid eyes on Jeremy. He couldn’t tear his eyes off the alpha. Ryan had never seen a sexier man like Jeremy in a black t-shirt, black jeans, and black combat boots. The man looked hot as fuck. And those lips... Ryan was just dying to know how they would feel against his.

“How are you doing, Ryan?” Jeremy asked softly when he stopped in front of Ryan. He gave a tiny smile when Ryan actually jumped, obviously startled. It was as though he hadn’t even noticed Jeremy had moved to stand right in front of him. Ryan’s eyes were glued to his mouth. “If you don’t stop staring at my mouth I won’t be responsible for what I do next?” The alpha said huskily.

Ryan swallowed audibly. “Wha…what will you d…do?” Came the whispered stutter.

“I’ll kiss you,” Jeremy whispered back.

“If you touch me, I’ll kill you.” A promise.