Page 17 of Purrfectly Kissed

No one touches.

No one but me.

The sound of his name brought his head up and immediately he was taken in by a pair of shocked teal eyes. Uncle Uzzi was grinning like the sly old Witch he was, but Jessica looked downright stunned.

Uh oh.

Brayden had been caught in the act of spying on the Neta’s sister. Surely, there was some punishment involved. He only hoped she’d be the one to dish it out.

Images of Jessica and some handcuffs came to mind, and while it wasn’t necessarily his kink, he could so get into that with her.

Grrrrr.

Fuck. He needed to get his mind out of the gutter.

“Brayden Smith,” Uncle Uzzi repeated his name.

“Why don’t you stop hovering near the door and come on in here? Take a seat next to our lovely Jessica.”

Not ours. Mine,growled his Bear.

Brayden just ignored the animal and took a seat on the other side of the table. He did not trust himself to be close to Jessica at that moment.

He nodded his head in lieu of a verbal greeting, afraid to speak until he got his Bear more firmly under control. The facts that his fingernails had grown in length and darkened in color, and his arms now bore a dark smattering of fur, left little doubt that he was almost out of control.

“Should I go?’ asked Jessica.

“No!” Brayden exclaimed.

The word had left his mouth before he could rethink it. He winced and shook his head. Dammit, he was going to fuck this up already, wasn’t he?

“Well, kids,” Uncle Uzzi said and smiled.

“This is going to be easier than I thought. As you know, your Neta has asked me to help strengthen your Pride by finding mates for all eligible members. But here you two are, and I didn’t even have to leave the Pride House!”

“Oh, I don’t think---”

“We’re not---”

But even a half-assed denial refused to leave Brayden’s mouth. The temperature in the room was boiling. His pants were too tight. Shirt too rough. Fuck. He really wanted to go for a walk through the woods in his fur to calm his inner beast down.

“Children,” Uncle Uzzi said, eyeing them both and daring them to disagree.

“You two have been dancing around each other for quite some time now if I am not mistaken. And unless my dearly departed wife, Betty, is the one correcting me, I am very rarely mistaken,” he said, his blue eyes still twinkling.

“So, this is what I am recommending. Go on a date. Together. Today. Now in fact,” the old Witch commanded.

“But I have work,” Brayden began.

A date? How could the old cook have come up with such a crazy plan so fast? His head turned, and he caught Jessica’s stricken look.

Fucking hell. His Bear snarled at him, and Brayden opened and closed his mouth, trying to fix the damage he just did.

If he said no, she would think he wasn’t interested in her. Nothing could be further from the truth, but with his past, maybe she was better off without him. Then the next thought came rolling into his head, and Brayden growled out loud, causing two sets of eyes to bore into him.

If he refused, Jessica would find someone else. Another male to wine her and dine her, kiss her, and stroke her, touch that sweet body, and claim her as mate.

Grrr.

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