Someone for Ransome

Chapter 4

Vivianne

It had been two weeks since I ran from Ransome and the future he told me was mine. I needed time, a lot of time to come to terms with this. Ella and Pris know I ran out on him, but they think it was about the dogs, which is part of it. I mean come on seriously fate or mother nature or whatever being makes things happen you had to throw someone at me that had the one breed of dog I’m petrified of. You made me his mate and you just had to go and let him have pitbulls.

Uh, rich, just rich.

I hate you, destiny.

I spent the two whole weekends either pissed off or crying. I was also distracted in class and I know my students could tell but I couldn’t bring myself to care. Why do I get the hunk of a man who wants me… I mean really wants me and I can’t have him. I mean I can, but I can’t, he has those death machines.

Tossing my keys and iPhone on the table beside the apartment door, I notice my phone light up again and moving around the table while it vibrates. I roll my eyes knowing who it is even without looking. I had no choice but to give him my number he wouldn’t let me leave that night until I gave it to him. That was two weeks ago, and he calls me every day, a few times a day always leaving me messages. And I know he has someone watching me during the last few weeks. During the weekdays it is Nikolai, and on the weekends, it is someone else I haven’t met yet. They try to hide but I know they are there watching me and reporting back to Ransome. They follow me to the supermarket, to the school, and to pick up Ella a few times at night when she let herself have one to many. I always get a call or message stating he hopes I made it home safely and to have a good night. Some were telling me that he will wait for me for as long as I need him to because I am his mate. He even went as far as to tell me that he would have Nikolai take his girls away to stay with him, so I would feel comfortable in my new home.

Ugh…. This man is driving me crazy. I have stopped listening to his messages and I just them on the lock screen now. The sound of his voice makes me want to cave in and run to him. Also, hearing him talk to me makes my little golden dragon head tingle at his raspy deep voice. My stupid body betrays me at every turn when it comes to Ransome. I just don’t know if I’m ready for all that love, marriage, and babies stuff. I was barely loved as a child; I am afraid I can’t love someone like they deserve to be loved. The very thought of having children makes me sick to my stomach. What if I don’t love them or I don’t want them anymore like my mother? What then?

I need to be honest with him. Just tell him I need more time, that I’m not ready yet. I have always been an honest person, so I need to be now too. Grabbing my phone, I send him a quick text hoping it does this situation some good.

V- Ransome, I’m just not ready yet. I am sorry.

R- I can wait until you are ready. You are now the most important thing in my life.

V- But why me? I’m broken when it comes to love. And I’m a virgin. Who wants a 24-year-old virgin as a mate that can’t love you?

R- I do.

R- You are not broken you just need someone worth loving. And someone to love you like you deserve to be. I can be that mate for you if you just give me a chance.

I left it at that for now. How could he want me when he knows no one has wanted me? I am full of self-doubt and uncertainty. Pushing these feelings aside I sit down with the tests from today’s classes on writing translations. Before I do that, I head to the kitchen to grab a bit to eat and a nice tall glass of vodka, then head back to the living room to get comfortable on the couch.

I can start to feel the warm fuzzy feeling you get after drinking more than you should. I only have a few more papers to grade but the words are starting to run together. Maybe I can just give them B’s and be done with it. As I try to hold it together long enough to grade these last few, I feel my drift to Ransome and his so sure attitude… I do. But he doesn’t know what it’s like to be me and be unloved by almost everyone in their life. The other night with him felt like nothing I have ever experienced before, being in his arms and the feelings he set loose inside me. I didn’t think he would be able to hold me like that pressed against the door for as long as he did, I am a curvy girl. And his body is amazing, all hard-cut lines and strong muscles.

“Ransome, I need you.” Moaning as I think of our time together at his house. It has me feeling those arms around me right now as if he were here with me. I have that feeling of floating on air. I think it is just the vodka taking me under all the way now, or maybe it’s Ransome carrying me to his bed to lay me out on soft sheets and now he is taking my clothes off, one article at a time. First, he starts at my head, unpinning all that hair I piled up today. Slowly running his fingers through it and giving it a little tug to get me to look at him.

Moaning again at the pricks I feel in my scalp, “Yes, Ransome. Keep going, please.” Growling at me he continued to undress me. Running his hands up my thighs pushing my dress up as he goes higher and higher. His hands roam over my stomach and head for my breast. It feels like heaven after so long of just touching myself. As his fingertips grazed the underside of my breasts, it was as if he was touching lava he hissed and made quick work of taking my dress off the rest of the way, all to careful not to touch me again.

“Ransome, touch me, please.” I was not opposed to begging him at this point. He started on unlacing my wedge heels from around my ankles. After removing both shoes, he began to rub my tired feet. “Mmmm… Ransome that… oh, feels so good. Don’t stop.”

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, his hands were gone, and my blankets were pulled up my body. Kissing my forehead, he whispers in my ear, “I have to go my love. I can’t stay with you, Vee. You get some sleep, goodnight my angel.” I heard him leave then and whispered back to him.

“But Ransome I need you.”

Ransome

Taking a couple much needed deep breaths as I close the door to Vivianne’s apartment. Nikolai called me telling me that Vivianne was in her apartment calling out for me. I ran over her faster than any shifter ever thought of moving only to find her passed out on the couch with half graded papers on the coffee table and an empty cup that still smelled like vodka. Reaching down for the papers on the floor, I finally caught wind of the other smell in the room and that was my sweet Vivianne. Something that she was dreaming about was making my little vixen hot. I know it was about us, she kept telling me the whole time I put her to bed to touch her, to not stop. It took everything I had as a man and a shifter to stop touching her once she was under the covers. I walked into her place with her calling out like a cat in heat. And I left her, alone and wanting. But drunk and I am not about to make her mine while she could have an excuse to regret it later.

My dragon is beyond pissed at me. He is in a full-on outrage. He doesn’t understand why he just can’t take her now. She was calling out for us and wanting us to pleasure her. I don’t know how much longer I can hold him back, the need to claim his mate to ensure his lives and has what is his, it is overpowering me.

Before I left, I straightened up a bit. Putting away her left-over pasta dinner and washing her dishes. Picking up her papers that were all over the coffee table and floor, placing them in a neat pile on the kitchen table. I went back to her room and slowly opened the door to check in. yep just like I thought still in the same spot I left her. Only now she was holding on to her pillow with a smile. I noticed as I walked back out to the front door of her three-bedroom moderate size apartment, it is very homey. I hope Vivianne will see my home, no- our home like this one day.

I must make her see that I am being serious about us and her being my mate. I need to see my mother for this one. I pull my phone out and dial my mom as I head to my car.

“Ransome, where have you been? I have been trying to find you. The council said they were looking for you. What is going on?” My mother can be a bit drastic sometimes. Also, no hello from her always straight to the point.

“Hello mom, how are you? I am fine. Thanks for asking.”

“oh Ransome, stop your s**t and answer me now.” She was getting frustrated and this has me perking up a bit now.

“Mom, mom slow down and breath. Meet me at my house I’m headed home now, and we can talk, okay?” Making my way to my car on the side of the road right out front of Vivianne’s place. I wave Nikolai over and tell him that she’s sound asleep and thanks for calling me. I sent him back to his post of watching my mate. I raced home to see what had my mother upset. I pulled into my drive at the same time my mother was getting out of her car. As I parked my car, she stood on the steps waiting for me.

“Hi, mom. How have you been?” I asked as I leaned in to kiss her cheek.

“I was fine until the council called me liking for you. Ransome what is going on? I don’t like this at all my son.” She looked worried and she had that cared tone to her voice.

“Let’s go inside. I have something I need to tell you before we figure out why they want me.” After getting the call about Vivianne, I rushed out of my business meeting at Palkin before dinner was served. I’ll have to reschedule that as soon as possible. I led my mother into the kitchen to make myself something to eat. As I pulled out the makings for a sandwich, I just blurted it out. This was the best thing when it comes to my mother.

“I found her mom, my mate.” The sharp gasp and silence were all I got for a moment. Unsure of the reaction by my mother, I looked up from my half-made sandwich and found her staring at me with tears in her eyes. She came around the counter and hugged me like she has never hugged me before.

“Oh my gosh. You know for sure? It’s really her? Well, where is she? Who is she? When can I meet her?” she rambled out a million questions and I just smirked at her and hugged her back.

“Well mom that’s why I called you. She is not here; she is at her apartment where she lives with her two best friends. Yes, it is really her. She has a dragon head on her hip, and it turned a gold color right in front of me. Not to mention my dragon has been going crazy for her, which it has never done that before. Her name is Vivianne Payne, and she teaches French, English, and German language at St Petersburg International. And I need your help on getting her.” My mother looks at me a little confused. “I know, I know. That sounds awkward even to my ears, but I do need help. I know she’s my mate and I told her, but she says she’s not ready. What am I going to do, mom? My dragon needs her. What if she doesn’t want me?” I finally let out my biggest fear. Looking at my mother I feel like a kid again, asking for help with riding my bike.

“Why wouldn’t she want you? You told her what the mark means right? What you finding a mate means for you? I don’t understand what the issue is. Ransome, how did you two meet, you need to tell me everything if you want my help.”

Taking a deep breath, I unleashed everything on my mother. Tell her everything from the beginning, how she walked into the bar and was dancing. How I watched her from afar. I told my mother about all the times Vivianne rubbed the mark on her hip before she knew. How she asked me to get out of there after I saved her from the drunk asshole. “So, I brought her here and showed her the girls and she bolted. Telling me she could never be with someone who has dogs of this breed. I could see the fear in her eyes and I locked them up on the sun porch for her. I didn’t want the night to end and then things turned steamy between us. She blurted out that she was a virgin and unwanted because her mother abandoned her when she was five. After that I told her what she was to me and she went home to think. Now she is telling me she isn’t ready for any of this, and how could I want someone to be my mate when they are so broken. I told her she is not broken and that I can wait for her. This is where I think I need your help, please.” I hope she can help me.

“Have you thought of dating her? I mean she is a human woman and we like to be romanced. Make her see you are worthy of her because she is so special. Do not make her feel like she needs to prove things to you. It will push her away more since she has never been good enough for anyone it seems. You can’t just say she is your mate and that be the end of it. Even though we know about shifters, we don’t think they are on the market. Or even into women who are not what society deems perfect. She is very insecure with her feelings since she has never known love. And she is insecure with herself, her body and her worth. Make that all go away, and she will choose you. But she will always be yours. There will be a drive inside her that pushes her to you. Her body will start to crave you more and more, this will work for you but don’t push it. Make her feel like she is your whole treasure.”

“She is all that and more mom.” Letting out a deep breath. “So, you say to court her and make her feel as special as my treasure and she will be my mate? Why can’t it be simple. I didn’t know I would have to win her over when she was already mine. Ugh.”

“I know I raised you better than that, my son. She is not yours and she will never be yours. You are partners, she is your mate, not your property. She is there to compliment you and to make you stable, to help you when you have no one else to trust. She is not something that is there to just give you babies and a warm body at night.” She all but yelled this at me, ending her rant with a big huff.

I could tell my mother was getting upset with me and that is not what I wanted. I know better than to talk and think things like this but the primal part of me is coming out now, it’s getting harder to control. “Okay, I am sorry mother. I think got it now. I court her. Make her feel what I say to her is true, that she is special to me and so much more than a woman to warm my bed. I need to make her love me. I need to make her feel like the queen she will be.” I chance a glance at my mother hoping I got it right this time. She was smiling at me and I let a smile slowly surface in response. I could do this. I can win the heart of my mate.

Slowly the smile on my mother’s face fades and is replaced by worry.

“What about the council? What do they want with you?”

“That, my mother, I do not know. Let’s find out together.” I pulled my phone from my pants pocket. I had an unread message that I needed to check first. It was from Nikolai telling me all was okay still. I silently thanked him as I scrolled to Alexei Petrov, one of our oldest councilmen to date.

“Hello, Ransome. We have been trying to get int touch with you.” He answers on the first ring. “Are you free to talk right now?”

“Yes, I am. My mother informed me you were looking for me today. What is this all about Alexei?” I was starting to get nervous. The council never seeks you out unless you have committed an act they deem against the rules.

“We were informed that you found yourself a mate. Congratulations.” He sounds sincere until he speaks again. “But there is a problem. We were also told you already have a mate. We have been shown proof by your first mate of that. Now I know you know better than anyone what happens when a dragon takes more than one mate. Right Ransome?” He says matter-of-factly. I feel the color drain from my face and all the air leave my body. My mother gasps and starts to pace. I have no idea where he is getting this information from, but I need to correct him.

“Alexei, I don’t know what you heard and whom you heard it from but that is not true. I did my find my mate a few days ago. I have never mated with anyone else before. Hell, I haven’t even mated with the one I know is my mate. Who is this person that claims to my mate? What proof does she have?” Now that I was getting this out my patience was wearing thin with this s**t. How did they already know about Vivianne? I needed to find that out to keep her safe from them.

“Well for her protection until this is resolved she will not be named. She does have a dragon on her that is the color of gold. Do you know who or what this person is trying to accomplish?” He wasn’t going to give me anything and then he acts all sincere about wanting to know her motive. I am going to have to bring in the clan on this one to help me figure out what the hell is going on.

“I don’t know who else would say they are my mate and have the same birthmark as my true mate. What is going to happen now, Alexei? What are the rules on this matter? I should remind you that it is the 21st century, we can’t just go around killing innocent women.” I was not being nice now. I was starting to get enraged. My mother was at my side, trying to calm me down at this point.

“It’s okay, Ransome. We will figure this out and Vivianne will be safe.” She says this with so much certainty that I started to believe her. See here’s thing with dragon mates is you only get one. If you for some reason ever have more than one, this only has happened about a dozen of times and in the middle ages, the second mate is killed by the council to preserve the mating ritual. We only mate with another when we know that person will be it for the rest of time. That is where the birthmarks on the human females come into play. To keep up the population, other animal shifters will take multiple mates because they have higher female death rates during pregnancy or while giving birth. This is because most of the other species have multiples during pregnancy and the gestation length is always shorter than a normal human. Dragons only give birth to singles and the gestation length is a little longer than a normal human pregnancy is. I hope to everything I can that he is not going to say that this is what will happen to my angel.

“Unfortunately, we will still be abiding by our laws no matter the time era, Ransome. If we change things now, we could end up living like hooligans. I am sorry Ransome. I do hope that the truth comes out for your mate’s sake.” He hangs up on my then and out of no where my phone is crushed in my hand and then slammed on the counter in front of me. Realizing I did that I slowly release my hand from around the now unusable phone and look at my mother. I was losing my s**t and she could see it. I took a few deep breaths and let out a roar that shook the china in the cabinets. I almost rip the house phone from the base on the breakfast bar and start slamming my fingers on the numbers.

My mother approaches me like timid prey, a cornered animal, and I guess that is exactly what I am right now. “Ransome, please, you need to breath and calm down some so we can work through all of this. I know what she means to you son, but you need to think of her safety first. Where is she right now? Someone wants her gone. We know that but why? Who would be mad enough at you to want that? Think my son.” My mother has always been the rational one. Even when my father was alive, and he would get upset she was the only one who could calm him. I needed Vivianne here with me now. I need to know she is safe.