Page 37 of Protected By Her Mate

“We didn’t get to see him shift!” One of the children screeches, sending a shot of dread through me. It was one thing to do it for a gaggle of children, but adults can be jumpier around what they perceive as supernatural.

“Absolutely not happening,” Charlie snaps, using my body as a ram as she pushes me to the door of the apartment. I take a breath of relief when I’m pushed into the hall. Before closing the door behind us, Charlie yells, “Bedtime is 8:30, cookies are in the Tupperware on the counter, and no scary movies. I want everyone out by bedtime except Ariana.” She slams the door on them, grabs my hand and rushes for the stairs. “C’mon, let’s get out of here before they realize they can follow us.”

We run down the stairs laughing, me finding the humour in the situation now that the shock has worn off.

“I can’t believe the whole lot of them showed up,” she says, shaking her head, but her words are affectionate and I can tell she expected it. “Maria has a big mouth.”

“They want what’s best for you.”

“Yeah, but do they have to do it every single time?” I reach around her to open the door of her building and she walks through ahead of me, her sweet scent touching my nostrils, awaking my wolf.

I have to resist the urge to demand she tell me how many times this has happened. How many dates have warranted the family inquisition?

Oblivious of my jealousy, she laughs, “It feels like my very first date.”

“It is my first date,” I say without thinking and she stops so suddenly, I nearly bowl her over.

She turns to face me. “What did you say?”

“Uh, this is my first date.” I didn’t think it was a big deal, but her brain is lighting up with so many thoughts it’s a struggle to catch any one of them.

How does someone who looks like him…? It’s not possible a 700-hundred-year-old man… Has he been living under a rock? What is wrong with the women of…? Seriously, no relationships in…?

I try to shake her thoughts from my head so I can hear what she’s actually saying.

“I’m really the first?”

“Yes,” I confirm starting to think she hates the idea of being my first date.

“I can’t believe it.”

“I’m sorry.” I don’t know what else to say and now there’s silence in her head, as though she doesn’t have a single thought, which is impossible. Unless we’re asleep, we’re always thinking, whether we like it or not. Have I really stunned her this much?

“Don’t be sorry,” she says. “It’s… it’s just so unbelievable.” I wince and she’s quick to assure me. “I think it’s sexy that you’ve been holding out for so long.”

Sure, sexy.

Not wanting to sound like I’m completely new to this, I say, “I’ve had sex before.” Judging by the crushed look on her face, I’m guessing that wasn’t the right thing to say. Maybe if I’d practiced dating, I wouldn’t be so bad at this. “Only a few times.”

“Um, no offence, Lennox, but I don’t want to hear about your past conquests any more than you want to hear about mine.”

Before she has time to blink, I grip her arms and lift her off the sidewalk. Aware of her discomfort, I push her back against a tree and use my body to hold her up.

“We need to end this line of conversation, sweetheart. You do things to me that makes the wolf inside me unpredictable and I don’t know if I can leash him.”

She licks her lips and her voice is breathy when she says, “What specifically shouldn’t I talk about?” She loops her arms around my neck and lifts her knees to my hips. “You don’t want me talking about the men I’ve fucked?”

A growl erupts from my throat and I take her lips in a punishing kiss. I’m shouting at my wolf to go easy, not to bite her, but he’s in a frenzy, trying to imprint us all over our mate, trying to show her how much she belongs to us and only us.

I don’t ease up until a shout catches my attention. Breaking the kiss, I swing my head around, glaring up at the sound. Charlie’s family has piled onto her fire escape to watch me maul her. This date is not going how I imagined.

Charlie laughs and pushes my chest, hopping out of my arms when I move her away from the tree. She waves at her family, who are whistling and catcalling, grips my arm and drags me further down the sidewalk.

We catch an Uber around the corner from her apartment and make our way to the restaurant. As we drive, she asks, “Where are you taking me?”

“It’s a surprise,” I tell her.

She raises an eyebrow. “As you’re a true blue prince, I imagine you can probably get us into any place in the city with a single phone call. Am I right?”

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