Page 25 of Knot Your Damsel

She smiles, leaning up and kissing my chin. “Good.”

I snort, pulling her against me more, burying my nose into her hair as I take in her sweet scent. She’s so adorable and headstrong at the same time. I love her so much, especially when she’s like this.

A slight sound makes me look at Mathew and he’s laughing at us. A pure happy laugh that makes him look so much younger and a lot less scary.

“How old are you?” I blurt out, before catching myself. “If you don’t mind telling. You don’t have to. It’s not like…” I think it’s best to stop talking now, it’s not like I’m making much sense.

His face falls, regret in his gaze. “I’m older than Vera but closer in age to her than to you. I’m not comfortable sharing more than that right now.”

“Why not?” Vera’s voice is clear but curious, and she leans over me more, her focus on him.

“Because I’m sure that you’re aware of how long I’ve been in this business and it would bring up questions I’d rather not answer right now.” He looks out over the fields and trees, his gaze far away. “I’ll tell you some day, but I think we’ve been through enough today without diving into that too.”

“Why?”

Vera squeaks as I poke her in her side, I don’t think this is the best time to interrogate the man…

“Because it includes a lot of things that only very few people know about me. And I’m not in any mood to explain them.” His eyes focus again and land on Vera. “Is it weird, having a bonded mate who’s so much older than you?”

She shrugs, nuzzling into my chest before looking up at him with a smile. “It’s not like we already knew each other or something like that. He wasn’t a teacher or some other adult I’d known from when I was young. He was just…” She lets out a soft sigh.

“He was the man who saved me and I was aware of his scent, of his body, of his protectiveness over me, well before I became aware of his age. I guess I was lucky that we met when I was an adult, it made things less weird.”

‘Less weird’ is definitely one way to put it. ‘Legal’ would be another one.

“Right…” Mathew’s eyes glaze over and he’s staring at something on the leg of my chair that I can’t see.

“Does it weirdyouout?” Vera’s voice is careful, quiet, and I keep my gaze on Mathew’s face, my heart hammering in my chest as I wait for the answer.

He closes his eyes, shaking his head slowly. “No. I guess it’s the same for me. I was aware of your scents way before I was aware of other details about you. I knew that you were mine before I even knew your names.”

I blink. “What?” Whoa, whoa, whoa! “What do you mean?” He already knows? Vera’s pheromones are as confused as I feel, unsure.

He keeps his head down, not meeting our eyes. “Hubert brought some of your clothes when he asked me to find you. You know, to make sure we’d get the people with the right scents. I’ve known since then.”

“And you still hunted us down?” Vera’s voice is harsh, angry, her pheromones flaring with her emotions.

“Ihadto. You were mine. I had to protect you. The only way to do that was at my side.” His head shoots up, glaring at her, at me.

“Protectus?Youwere the one who put us in danger. We were doing just fine beforeyouhunted us down.” She sits up, her body vibrating with fury and my emotions aren’t much kinder than hers.

That fucker sent his people after us, put us in danger, even though he knew we were his?

“Doing just fine?” Mathew jumps up, his eyes wide. “Do you know how much money that bastard was willing to spend on getting you back? How many hoops he had to jump through to even be able to hire me? You might have been fine before, but he was getting desperate. I don’t want to?—”

He cuts himself short and turns to the railing, grabbing hold of it, his knuckles white. “I don’t want to consider what could have happened if he’d hired anyone but me.” He grinds out each word, his body so rigid it looks ready to snap.

“I know I’m only an Omega. But these feelings… This fury… I know it’s irrational… If I could, I’d go out and kill every person he’s tried to hire before he came to me. Every person he gave your scents to. Every person who knows who you are. Because each and every one of them is a danger to you, to mymates.”

Fuck…

To hear him say those words, to call us his mates…

That shouldn’t feel this good…

The low angry growl in my chest makes him turn to me, his eyes full of emotion, full of anger and pain. “I’d gladly help you out with that. Nobody will ever touch you or her. Nobody.”

I’d rather be killed than have them ever get hurt. Never again. Never.

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