Maddox and Tatiana held hands and walked in silence to their destination.
Maddox had so many things he wanted to say to Tatiana, but the moment their hands connected, his brain short-circuited, and he ended up using the last bits of his mental capacity to guide them to the right spot.
Tatiana was not sure why Maddox invited her for a walk, but the big block of pure hunkiness was visibly nervous, and she wanted to see what he was up to.
After their talk in Tatiana's room, Maddox feared that Tatiana will have a list of conditions he needed to fulfill but when she agreed right away, Maddox was delighted.
Damon was right. Tatiana was willing to make things work. It was not hopeless!
Tatiana wanted to ask Maddox what's up with the picnic basket. Aren't they just going for a walk? He was wearing a shirt and shorts, so she quickly put her dress on. Before she could ask anything, Maddox held her hand and the addictive sparks shoot through her body, and she ended up following after him obediently.
When they reached Keith's hookup spot, Maddox took a mental note to thank Damon for this idea.
Tall rocks formed a u-shape, dense grass was perfect to cushion the area where they will sit, and massive oak trees provided nice shade without obstructing the view of the lake. A big bonus was that there were no other people in the area. It was their own little cove of privacy. Perfect.
Maddox quickly patted the grass down and gestured to Tatiana to sit and he was relieved that she didn't refuse.
"So… will you tell me why we are here?", Tatiana asked when Maddox took a seat next to her.
"To talk."
"About?"
Maddox was confident she knew the answer to that. They were not here to exchange recipes! Why was she making this difficult?
"About us.", he said.
Tatiana looked at the basket. "What's inside?"
Maddox frowned. Was she avoiding the topic?
But they were already here, and he won't leave until he gets some answers. A minute or two of delay won't make a big difference.
Maddox opened the basket and he found in there grapes, cheese, bite-sized pastries they had as appetizers for lunch, and there was a bottle of wine. Ice-packs kept everything chilled. He was impressed that all this was prepared in a short time.
"Wine?", Tatiana asked with amusement in her voice. "Are you planning to get me drunk, Alpha Maddox?"
'That's not a bad idea', Maddox thought. "Will one glass make you incapable of rational thinking?"
'Your touch makes me incapable of rational thinking', Tatiana thought. And his scent was also making her crave coffee, the spicy kind she tasted that morning. Maddox brand.
The fact that it was just the two of them, with the rest of the world out of sight, conjured racy images in Tatiana's mind, mostly with her on top of Maddox, and there were few with him on top of her... coffee all around her and inside her… But there was no way she would admit to it.
"One glass of wine is nothing.", Tatiana said defiantly, mostly angry that his presence affected her so much. "Pour away."
Maddox rummaged through the basket until he found two glasses and a bottle opener that was wrapped in napkins. He silently praised Omegas who packed this. They thought of everything.
'POP!'
Maddox opened the wine easily and filled two glasses.
"Tell me about yourself, Tatiana Wilkow", Maddox said in a deep sexy voice that shook her insides.
Tatiana squirmed in her spot. Why was she getting aroused now? Was it because of his broad chest? She still remembered how hard his pecs are. Or was it because of his scorching gaze? The scent… must be the scent. Or probably all that combined.
She accepted the glass of wine and there was a moment of stillness when their hands touched.
Damned sparks were muddling her mind! How can she make him repent if she gives in easily?
Tatiana reminded herself that he asked her something… what was it? Oh, yes.
"Will you listen this time?", she answered with a question. Seeing his confused expression, Tatiana explained, "I was telling you about myself over breakfast, yet the only thing on your mind was to get in my panties. I don't want to waste breath the second time."
Maddox paused.
She was right.
During breakfast, Maddox didn't hear much of what Tatiana was saying because he was aroused and he wanted to sink his cock into her, but to be fair, she didn't show much interest in his life either. Now that he thought about it, even though he missed most of it, he was confident that Tatiana was talking about fashion and company and cities in Europe where she has apartments, yet she didn't ask him any questions.
Maddox pushed those thoughts on the side.
He didn't bring Tatiana here to argue.
Maddox wanted to have an open talk and clear up the air between them so that they can move on to the good stuff. Of course, the good stuff was sex. And lots of it!
"If I say that I'm still thinking about getting in your panties, can we skip the chatter?"
Tatiana narrowed her eyes at him. "Why are you pushing your luck?"
"I am only speaking my mind. You can find my honesty insulting or refreshing. It's up to you. I am not playing games, Tanya, but it seems that you want to play so… tell me, what are the rules here? I need to know because it won't sit well with me if I lose and I don't know how it happened."
Tatiana pressed her lips into a line. She only wanted him to be polite, and he ended up turning that into her wanting lies.
She remembered Mindy's words about how Maddox is not good at guessing or waiting. Well, by now Tatiana confirmed that Maddox is not a patient guy.
"I am not playing.", she said. "I told you this morning. Your first impression was bad and if you want me to drop my guard, I need to believe it won't happen again."
"How do I do that?"
Tatiana gestured toward the basket. "This impromptu picnic is a good start. As long as you don't make it sleazy and about sex."
Maddox was not sure how to respond to this. Her demands didn't seem like too much, but it was vague, and it hinted that it would take a long time.
She liked the picnic (Damon's idea) and didn't want to talk about sex (Maddox's goal)?
And it's not that she just didn't want to talk about sex, but it seemed that she didn't want to do it either. Surely, she was not a virgin. Well, even if she was a virgin, Tatiana definitely saw a lot of what the world had to offer. If she was playing hard to get, did that mean she didn't want to have sex with HIM? No, no… the mate bond was making the attraction unbearable so… what was her problem?
