Page 26 of Thrilled By Her Protector

“Sweet. Those are my favorite,” she replied with a smile she couldn’t hide if she tried.

“I know.”

Zircon started walking once she caught up with him, but it was that whisperedI knowthat had her tripping over her own feet. He reached out lightning quick with firm hands that steadied her, the grin on his face falling away. Every time he touched her, he lit fires where their skin met.

Sizzle. He makes my skin sizzle.

“Easy now, baby,” he murmured, those gorgeous eyes of his trained on her.

How was a girl supposed to think when a man looked at her with eyes like blue sea glass? Jennifer righted herself, cleared her throat, and tried to smile. Judging by the confused expression on Conny’s face, she doubted she’d succeeded.

Oh well.

“Thanks,” she murmured.

By the time they made it to the theater room, every nerve in her body was standing at attention. For some reason, he’d brushed past her a dozen times or more when he’d been gathering snacks from the kitchen. She was so frazzled she thought she might take off like a rocket if he so much as breathed her way again.

“Raise your hand if you want a snack pack,” Zircon yelled, and everyone clamored for him to toss them a goody bag.

He made good ones, too. Peanut M&Ms, pretzels, popcorn, gummy bears, and a half dozen other movie time favorites. He laughed and teased and tossed out bags of candy till he ran out, and she frowned. She forgot to ask for one.

“Here,” he murmured, pulling a yellow bag of her favorites from his pocket before snagging the seat next to her.

It was silly, she knew, but she couldn’t help but warm at knowing he’d saved that bag just for her. Jennifer opened it, all smiles, and offered him some before popping one into her mouth.

“What’s your favorite color?” she asked, smiling as she offered him more.

“I never really look,” he confessed, and she noted how beautiful his smile really was.

He had straight, white teeth, with full, even sized lips. They were soft and tender, she knew, and damn, but she wished she had the right to reach over and kiss them now. Wrong time, wrong place. Too many eyes were on them, and it wouldn’t be fair for her to do that.

She looked around, smiling at Aliza and Luna before turning back to her snack. Jasper was warning Ox and Xabat about interrupting the show with their incessant snarling and growls, and the others were getting comfy in their lounge chairs.

“Wow. You never look, huh? I like the blue ones,” she muttered.

“I know,” he said, and she felt her cheeks flame.

He was observant, she knew, but that he paid attention to something as small as her preferred M&M color did something funny inside Jennifer. Zircon handed her a soft drink, and she took it, popping the top and taking a sip. She hardly ever drank the stuff. But she did whenever she had popcorn and candy. He probably knew that, too.

Someone darkened the lights, and Jennifer sat back as the infamousRed Weddingepisode began. But her mind wasn’t on the bloody, incestuous drama about to unfold before her. Oh, don’t get her wrong, She loved Game of Thrones and all its complicated plot twists and the detailed dirty gore.

But even the genius of the Jersey born author was no match for her own tempestuous thoughts. Her mind was firmly fixed on the one man in the world she should not be thinking about.

Zircon Wessex.

Truth was, he was a topic she’d avoided for so long, it was like second nature. But she couldn’t get away from it now. Not with his delicious crisp cool scent wafting into her nostrils, and the sound of his deep chuckle reaching her ears as he traded shots with one of his brothers.

Boys will be boys, and the brothers Wessex were no different from any other group of males she’d ever met. How incredible that they’d readily taken Medjed into their fold. Why the Egyptian Warrior Demigod Demon—whatever—fit into the fold just as comfortably as if he’d been born into it.

It was different when he was just Conny. The youngest of the four Wyvern Shifter brothers she handled for the DPCA. But he was Zircon, Prince of the Flamebound now, and boy, did that warp her perspective. He deserved better than a nobody like Jennifer. Especially someone with as many hangups as she had. But that didn’t mean she could just turn off the tide of emotions churning inside her.

It started the first time she saw him, but she’d managed to stave off the truth of her feelings for years. Jennifer hid behind her work and her role as their handler, using that excuse to ward him off. She never allowed herself to focus on him before, but now that she noticed him, she simply could not stop.

Images of the one night of passion they’d shared haunted her. He was so much better than she’d ever imagined. A talented, thorough, and completely selfless lover, Zircon had taken her to heights untold. But he was more than good in bed.

He was her best friend. Conny was in every one of her favorite memories. He’d always been there for her. Strong and silent, taking care of her, watching over her, even when she’d raged against it. He was there to offer counsel, to listen, to pick up the slack, and she never gave him any credit.

Zircon Wessex was the best man she knew. He took better care of her over the years that she knew him than anybody else ever had. And he’d loved her. Fuck, he really loved her. But she threw it away. Now he was offering her friendship, tentative at that, but what if she wanted more? Was it too late?

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