Page 82 of His Rejected Alpha Mate
“I don’t think that Kade would appreciate the reminder of seeing Hiroshi double teamed just half an hour after meeting him.”
That stopped Jasper short. “Seriously?”
It was my turn to laugh. “Oh yeah. Hiroshi gets off on being watched. So Kade might not want to remember they’ve met.”
Jasper made a weird face. Part amused, part disgusted, or maybe curious, it was difficult to read. “Okay, you can introduce both of us as if he had never met Kade before.”
“Let’s give him a few days and see how he’s feeling. He’s probably in shock.”
“True. Your dad said he was fine, didn’t he?”
“His contraceptive was strong. Poppy did a great job with it, but we won’t know for a couple of weeks if it did the job correctly. Dad gave him another one, just in case. It’s highly unlikely he’ll get pregnant. It’s in the hands of the goddess now.”
“The Luna save him! I’d hate to be in that situation. I’m so glad that Roan ran when it nearly happened to Kade.” Jasper had helped Roan get out of there, saving them all from a heartbreaking situation.
“He was quiet after Hiroshi arrived, wasn’t he? Do you think things have settled down with the alphas?” I was worried about the younger man. He’d become withdrawn since the beta sickness. The other alphas of the pack insisted he wasn’t with Kade because Blake didn’t trust him.
Georgia’s house up ahead pulled me from my thoughts. The sounds of children playing, shrieking, and laughing could be heard down the street.
“Papa! Can I have a sleepover with Grady and Trey?”
What do you think? A night alone?Images flooded my mind. Jasper raised an eyebrow. The suggestive turn of his thoughts sent heat through my body.
Sounds perfect.
“Of course, little kit.” Jasper said. “Let’s get you home and packed. Say bye and thank you to Georgia and Cadence, please.”
Angelica ran off to thank them and Jasper chatted with some others before we took our leave, heading along the path towards the back gate. Angel kept up a steady stream of chatter as we walked, our daughter between us, our earlier conversation forgotten.
It didn’t take long for us to pack her off to the enforcers. Grady and Trey were trying to be friendly, at least. I wanted to let go of the hurt of that first week with them, but my heart wouldn’t let me. I reminded myself of the advice Papa had given me. It would take time. They had to show that they believed in our mating, that they supported it, in order to earn my friendship. Perhaps it was petty of me. I just couldn’t let things go so easily.
“Hey, go get your feet up. I’ll clear up dinner.” I shooed Jasper off to the living room and our overstuffed couch.
“But you cooked!” He protested.
“You are cooking our baby in there! Rest. You heard the doctor.” I hit back.
He muttered as he took a seat about doctors being my dad and other less than complimentary things that I pretended not to hear. Jasper was tired after a long, stressful day, and he was grumpy about it. Guaranteed, he would fall asleep in front of the TV and wake up feeling much better.
Sure enough, by the time that I’d finished clearing the kitchen of the mess our meal caused, he was snoring lightly, his feet resting on the coffee table and a blanket covering him.
I sat in an armchair and surfed the channels for a bit, settling on some supernatural league football. There had been little time to keep up with the league or how each team I liked was doing, but the game was fast-paced and had me on the edge of my seat by the time it finished.
“Hmm.” Jasper let out a sleepy sound as I roused him from his nap with my enthusiastic encouragement of one team. “Did I fall asleep?”
“You did. Sorry I woke you.”
“No, it’s fine. Come here.” He held his hands out for me and I went to the sofa, turning him so he could rest his feet in my lap. I yanked off his socks and started massaging his feet while I caught him up with the game. He pretended to be interested, which was cute, but unnecessary.
My hands roamed up his calves, easing the tight muscles there. He wriggled and moaned. “Dakota, please.”
“Please, what?”
“Can we go to bed?”
“How about we have a bath first?”
“That sounds amazing.”
