Page 27 of Protected By Her Mate

Taking her face between my palms, I ravage her lips again, using my fingers against her jaw to access her mouth, sweeping my tongue inside her sweetness, tasting her nectar.

I try to surface, try to push my wolf back, try to be a gentleman, at least make sure she’s willing before I continue to touch her, taste her. A dim part of my mind registers her arms wrapping around my neck, dragging my head up to hers for a deeper kiss.

Finally, she breaks it, lifting her face from mine, gasping. “I have court tomorrow.”

“Uh, what?” My wolf howls his dissatisfaction at our cut-off kiss, filling my head with noise.

She shoves her blue bangs off her face so she can look at me. “I can’t spend the night; I have court tomorrow.”And a child to care for, she thinks to herself but then mentally arranges babysitting, then remembers she has court again and cancels her child-care plan while my wolf mourns silently.

My brain fries at the possibility that she might have stayed if she didn’t have court tomorrow, then properly registers what she said. I sit up, still holding her on my lap. “Why do you have court?”

She presses her lips to my jaw and lets out a tiny moan as she explores me with her mouth, mumbling, “I’m the witness for an insurance claim.”

My heart feels like it’s about to explode out of my chest and my arms shake with the effort of holding back from crushing her to me. “Prosecution or defense?”

“Prosecution. It was definitely arson.”

“I should take you home so you can get some sleep.” Everything in me is fighting the idea.

“I drove us here,” she whispers, her breath caressing my neck and sending a shudder through me.

“Right… I’ll…” So hard to think with her perfect ass perched on top of me. “I’ll go with you, make sure you make it home safe, then I’ll run home.”

She smiles. “That’s pretty old-fashioned, but I’m not gonna say no. I like hanging out with you, Lennox.” A tiny frown knits her brow. “Who’ll keep you safe while you’re running home?”

“Who’s gonna fuck with a giant wolf shifter running through the streets?”

She thinks seriously about the question. “You’ve seen some of the rats in this city, right? Those buggers are ruthless. Take no prisoners.” She pecks my lips, and crawls out of the circle of my arms, climbing to her feet.

Fuck, I want to beg this woman to spend an eternity with me. But I can’t. Not yet. Not until she’s safe from my enemies. And from my family’s curse.

I push to my feet as well and join her at the door. “Let’s go.” The words are grim as I fight to leash my wolf who wants us to force her to stay forever.She can’t, I tell him.She has to go home to her son.

Surprisingly, this settles him down.

Chapter 11

Drop it like it’s hot

CHARLIE

Ileave the courthouse feeling good, reminded of why I moved from firefighting to investigating. Well, one of the reasons anyway. While putting out fires helps with the immediate danger, putting bad people behind bars helps in the long-term.

The sentencing isn’t for a few more months, but I’ll probably try to come back for it. The building owner was damn lucky none of her tenants were killed when she set the building on fire to collect the insurance. Her all-inclusive trip to the Bahamas will now be time spent in prison.

There’s a skip to my step as I head up the concrete stairs of the parking garage a few blocks away from the courthouse.

The scrape of a heel on the pavement has me looking around, but I’m alone. The floor where I parked my truck is about half full of vehicles, but that’s not surprising given the ludicrous price of parking in NYC. Thankfully, the city pays for mine.

The hair on the back of my neck stands as I approach my truck and I stop, turning to survey the garage. I’m not a jumpy person but I have a healthy respect for my intuition. It’s saved my ass in more than one firefighting situation.

“Hello?” I call out. “Lennox?”

Okay, that was stupid. Why would my shifter partner follow me into a parking garage and not reveal himself?

Because he’s a weird guy, my intuition tells me.

“He’s not weird,” I whisper defensively. “He’s super old.”

---