by Jessie Lynn
"Actually yeah it is." Ed told him and had to laugh when Rafe's strides faltered for a moment. "I'll take care of the dinner part for you so you can focus on the feeding and getting yourself all pretty for your lil honey."
Rafe actually did trip to a stop on that one and Ed smacked into the back of him.
"Dude give a demon a warning before you throw on the e-brake like that. Kay." Ed grumbled.
"No offense, but you expect me to believe you know how to cook?" Rafe said turning around to look at Ed. "Let me rephrase that. You expect me to believe you can cook food that's actually edible for a human to eat?"
"Hey asshole I take that as an insult! For your information I'm a great cook." Ed said back to him.
Rafe shook his head and started walking again. "Sure Ed, whatever you say. Thanks but no thanks; I'll take care of dinner myself."
Ed grabbed Rafe's arm to stop him. "Dude just trust me on this, I promise I'll make your Ava a bad ass meal that she won't ever forget. It'll be the most mushy romantic shit she's ever seen." Ed assured him.
Rafe just glared at him a moment. Shaking his head, he said. "Okay I'm going to go out on a limb here and trust you. But Ed; don’t you fucking let me down on this one." Shaking his head, he started walking again. He called over his shoulder. "I have no fucking clue why I'm trusting you with this, but you better not fuck it up goat boy."
"Relax Romeo, I got this. Your little lady will be in awe of my mad skillz." Ed called back grinning from ear to ear.
CHAPTER 28
Rafe came out of his room buttoning his shirt a little before seven thirty. He was totally running behind. He'd wanted to be down in the parking garage way before now waiting for Ava, but things didn't seem to be going his way tonight. First it'd taken him a lot longer than he wanted to find a suitable donor, then when he'd gotten back to the club he had to deal with some BS dispute with one of the members. Finally getting that under control, he'd hauled ass up here to jump in the shower. Again, he didn't want to be holding his Ava with another's scent on him. He didn't give a flying fuck that everybody said there was no way she would be able to smell it. He would be able to smell it and all he wanted to be able to smell was his mate.
He walked into his dining room and his jaw dropped. The table was set like some ridiculously fancy restaurant, hell he didn't even recognize his own table. Ed put had candles, wine chilling, real silver and crystal. The whole nine yards. Long stemmed red roses sat in a vase off to the side so he and Ava would still be able to see each other across the table to top it all off. He didn't even recognize the damn dishes and silverware so he didn't know where the hell they came from and he wasn't about to ask.
He went into the kitchen to find Ed pulling something out of the oven. He set it on the counter and pulled the lid off, and for the second time tonight, Rafe was shocked to silence by the demon. Ed had made what looked like twin lobster tail and fillet mignon. With several side dishes that looked and smelled just as good. He hated to admit it, but the asshole had gone way farther than he would have.
The demon turned to Rafe and he got a good look at Ed's apron and that put them right back into Ed territory. The sarcastic son of a bitch had on an apron that looked like a woman's body in a skimpy polka dot bikini with big boobs, that said 'kiss the cook cause I'm sexy'. With his hands covered in big polka dot pot holders to match the apron, and a spatula in one hand and the lid in the other he looked absolutely ridiculous. What totally completed the ensemble was the big assed biker boots and a shit eatin grin on his face.
"Oh good dear, you’re just in time for dinner." Ed said all straight faced.
"Have you taken a look at yourself in the mirror Ed?" Rafe asked him.
Ed looked down at his apron and back up to Rafe. "What! You don't like my itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini?" He asked with a big smile.
Sloan and Ethan came in right then and both stopped short.
"You have got to be fuckin kidin me." Ethan said. Pointing at Ed, he continued. "Kay y'all, I may be a little on the twisted side, but I ain't got nothin on this fool. You couldn't even pay me to wear that shit. Ed have you finally caught your brains on fire with your damn tail?"
The only thing Sloan could manage was "I'm scarred for life." And turned around and walked out of the kitchen with his head down.
"What?" Ed called after him. "This is my in the zone master piece apron. Whenever I wear this my dishes come out magnifique." he said kissing his pot holder covered fingers. "Don't hate cause I'm sexy."
"Get the hell out of my kitchen before there's any chance my mate sees you and runs screaming out the door." Rafe said pointing at him. Then left the kitchen to head to the garage. "I expect to come back to an empty apartment." He called as he opened the door.
"Fine you hurt my feelings so I'm taking my soufflé with me and not sharing." Ed yelled following him out of the kitchen with the soufflé in his hands.
Rafe stuck his head back in the door. "Good now get the fuck out!" He yelled back and slammed the door after him.
Ed looked down at his soufflé as it caved in. "Now looked what he's done!" He yelled throwing up his hand. "I slave in that hot kitchen all day and for what? Not even a 'thank you, the food looks wonderful darling.' Then he doesn't even care that he's positively ruined my soufflé." Ed looked over at Ethan standing next to him.
"Dude are you even listening to yourself? Seriously you need help." Ethan told him. He held out his hand. "You totally forfeit your demon card so hand it over asshole. The moment you put on that apron it should have been confiscated and now it needs to be burned after what just came out of your mouth."
"I'll have you know I'm not the only demon that has feelings." Ed said stomping off to gather his cutlery. "And we all are awesome chefs." He yelled from the kitchen. Grumbling he gathered up his tools and checked on the chocolate covered strawberries and rich chocolate mousse he'd made earlier just in case the elephants that lived here ruined the soufflé'. A fire eater is always prepared dammit.
The champagne was perfectly chilled and the glasses spotless. The chocolate was absolutely decadent. Everything was ready for Miss Ava Rose. All Rafe had to do was not fuck it up from here on out. The candles were in place, the china set along with the silver. The roses were absolutely the best. It was all perfect so far, all he had to do was the last little finishing touches.
Ed had gone out of his way to make this night special for Ava. Rafe was just along for the ride as far as Ed was concerned. Ed had felt like the worst scum known to demon kind when he saw how bad Ava looked. He hadn't meant for her to suffer like she had. Ed would regret that he'd been the one to cause her to endure that pain for the rest of his miserable life. None of this would make up for it, but at least he knew everything he'd done tonight would help put a smile on her face.
He took one last look around the kitchen and dining room. Everything was perfect. He dimmed the lights, lit all the candles, and called it good. He took the rose petals and candles he'd saved for Rafe's room and scattered the petals over the bed and the candles around the room. He turned off the lights in there and lit all those candles. He walked back into the kitchen got his mess and phased the hell outta there. Rafe was on his own from here on out.
"Don't you fuck this up buddy." He said as he disappeared.
CHAPTER 29
Ava hated Dallas with a passion! Yes, she lived in the damn city, but it didn't mean she could ever find her way around it. She had to be the most directionally challenged person on the face of the planet, dammit! She always had trouble getting places, that's why she was so thankful when they came out with GPS. Too bad hers never worked right. Course it could also be operator error... No, it was the machine.
She didn't live that far from Lair and had left a good thirty minutes before she was supposed to be there. After having to turn around about ten times she was now fifteen minutes late and was about to pull her damn hair out. She passed the same building for the eleventh time and decided it was a sign th
at she shouldn't have agreed to go back to meet Rafe again tonight. She pulled into a parking lot to pull out her phone to call Marie and get directions back home. She finally managed to dig it out of the bottom of her purse when it started screaming at her. Arrrg! She snatched it up and answered the call without looking at the caller id.
"Hello." She said exasperated.
"Ava? Beautiful are you okay?" Rafe asked when Ava answered her phone.
"No I am not okay! I am the exact opposite of okay Rafe."
Rafe instantly tensed up. "Baby what's wrong? Where are you? Ava answer me dammit!"
Ava pulled the phone away from her ear, put the speaker right against her mouth, and yelled at him.
"I'm trying to if you would just shut up and actually breathe."
Rafe took a deep breath. "Okay baby talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong."
"I'm lost and I'm pissed that I'm lost and I am very sick of passing the same damn building literally eleven times Rafe. Did you get that? Eleven freaking times I have passed the same god-damned building and I still don't know where the hell I am. Except that I've passed the same building..."
"Eleven freaking times. Yeah I got that." Rafe finished for her laughing. "Okay since you are so well acquainted with that building can you tell me which one it is and what street it's on?"
"No I absolutely cannot tell you which building it is and what street it's on because I am LOST Rafe! Lost as in cannot be found. As in, have no freaking clue as to where I am. As in tired of going in circles and just want to go home and curl up and cry." She said the last word choking back a sob.
Rafe pulled the phone away from his head when he heard Ava start to cry.
"Shit! Fuck! Dammit!" Rafe yelled sending a text to Dom that Ava didn't know where she was and he needed their location like fifteen minutes ago.
"Ava don't cry baby. Please don't cry, I'll go crazy beautiful. I can't stand the sound of you crying baby. I...”
"Oh well excuse me for driving you crazy asshole! I'll just hang up and find my own way home like I was going to do when you interrupted me with your phone call in the first place." Ava told him then hung up the phone. He immediately called her back. "WHAT!"
"Ava I swear I am going to paddle your little ass for hanging up on me. Don't you dare do that again beautiful. Do you understand me?" Rafe was seriously about to lose it. His mate was lost and incredibly upset. She was crying and she needed him to hold her. He needed to hold her dammit! "Dom where the hell are you, you fucking wolf?"
"What did you say?" Ava asked him sniffling.
"Nothing. Okay take a deep breath and look around you. Can you describe the buildings around you? Maybe I can figure out where you are that way." Rafe told her in the most soothing voice he could muster. Just then Dom texted him back giving him her location. Finally. The only reason he wasn't running out of the garage the second she was late was only because Dom and Michael had been following her here. He knew they wouldn't let anything hurt her before she could get here safely.
"Ava? Baby did you hear me?" He asked looking at his phone to make sure she hadn't hung up on him again. He heard her sniffling some more and it made him grind his teeth in frustration.
"Yes I heard you." She said in the most miserable little voice he'd ever heard. His control broke even more and he had to fist his hands forcing himself to stay in the damn garage.
"Okay that's good, so take a look around you and tell me what you see. You can do it baby, I promise I won't hang up on you. Just let me help you get here."
Ava started describing what was around her to Rafe. He immediately knew where she was and stayed on the phone with her as he guided her straight to him. Turns out, she was literally right around the corner from Lair. She pulled into the garage with him still on the phone and she saw him standing where he'd been standing earlier when they left. She pulled into the parking spot and he didn't even let her put her car in park before he was yanking open the door and grabbing a hold of her.
Rafe was so damned relieved to see his Ava that he practically pulled off the damn door to get to her. He tried to pull her out immediately, she was buckled in.
"Rafe stop. I have to put the brake on and turn off the engine so my car doesn't roll away." Ava said as Rafe was fighting with the seat belt.
"Then I suggest you do it quickly." He grated back to her.
Finally he had her out of the damn car and was wrapping her in his arms. He was holding on to her so tightly that he literally picked her up off the ground. He had to bury his face in her hair and make himself calm down before he looked at her. The whole glowing eyes thing was starting to piss him the fuck off.
After what seemed like an eternity of being squished Ava pushed at Rafe.
"Um seriously, you’re squishing me. It's kinda hard to breath. Can you lighten up a little?"
"Ava I'm telling you right now, don't ever do that to me again. Okay?" Rafe said sitting her back on the ground and putting his forehead to hers.
"Do what to you? I was the one that was lost in the middle of Dallas at night. Alone."
Framing her face in his hands he told her. "Exactly baby. You were lost alone and upset alone. And there wasn't a damn thing I could do to fix it. You have no idea what that does to me."
Ava looked at Rafe funny. There he went again acting like they were way more than they were. They had only known each other since last night for goodness sake.
"Okaaay. So um did you say something about dinner?" She asked trying to get them out of this awkward moment.
Rafe looked at his mate a moment longer. He shook himself out of the freak out mode he'd been in. Ava was here safe now and he'd promised her he'd take it slow. He told himself. He kissed her forehead.
"Yes I did. Come on let's get you fed beautiful."
Rafe led her through the back halls up to his loft. He made sure he kept her far away from everything going on in the club for right now. He didn't want her getting scared so soon. He would decide whether or not he'd take her around after he saw how dinner went. They got off the elevator and he walked her straight to his door. He let her in ahead of him and he ran into the back of her because she stopped right inside the door.
Ava was shocked by everything he'd done. The entire place was lit by candles and whatever he'd gotten them for dinner smell incredible. She felt Rafe's arms surround her and felt he bend down to whisper in her ear.
"Are you okay beautiful?" Rafe asked. He totally owed that demon big now. Ed had done way more than Rafe had planned to do, and judging by Ava's reaction, she was shocked by it as well.
"I... You. You didn't have to do all this." Was all she could come up with to say.
Now she felt bad for not dressing up like Marie had told her to. Rafe had gone out of his way to make this dinner romantic for her and she'd barely made any effort to put make up on. She was in her favorite pair of jeans and a semi nice shirt.
"I'm sorry had I of known, I would have dressed better." She told him fidgeting with her shirt.
Rafe turned Ava around. "You look absolutely beautiful Ava." Rafe said sliding his hand into her hair to pull her in for a kiss. "You look beautiful no matter what you’re in baby."
Ava's breath caught as she felt Rafe's lips touch hers. This time she couldn't even think to fight it. She just wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. She felt him growl as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her flush against his body. Ava felt surrounded by him and she loved it. They both moaned when he deepened the kiss.
Rafe had to stop and he had to do it now before he couldn't. He started kissing his way down Ava's jaw to her ear.
"Ava, baby tell me to stop." He whispered before he kissed his way to her neck. "Tell me to stop now baby before I can't."
Ava tilted her head back to give Rafe better access. This felt too good. He felt too good.
"No. Please don't stop Rafe."
Ava cried out when he pulled back to look at her. He almost looked wild. The candlelight was making
his eyes glow bright green. Rafe reached up to caress her cheek and she leaned into his touch. He seemed to come to a decision. He nodded once then bent and picked her up and carried her to his bedroom.
CHAPTER 30
Rafe laid Ava down in his bed. His mate. She was his mate, and he finally had her where she belonged. He settled himself between her deliciously long legs and found she was a perfect fit to cradle him, just like he knew she would be. He could feel her heat even through their clothes. She was already wet with her need for him and the scent of her sweet little pussy cradling his dick filled his senses. He wanted to rip her damn jeans off right god-damned now and bury his dick as deep as he could go inside her. But he wanted to enjoy her too. To savor his first taste of her entire delectable body. He wanted to run his hands and then his tongue all over her and commit every luscious inch of her to memory.
“Fucking finally.” Rafe breathed as he kissed her lips again. "So soft." Kiss. "So very." Kiss. "Sweet." Kiss.
Rafe licked the seam of Ava's lips letting her know he wanted in. On a sigh, she obeyed and opened for him. He slid his tongue inside her hot mouth. Rafe kissed his mate like a man starving. Hell he was a man starving. Well vampire starving actually, but who the hell cares. All that mattered was that he finally had his mate beneath him where she belonged. And he wasn't going to stop till he wore them both out with as many orgasms as he could give them.
Ava moaned and arched into Rafe pressing her breasts harder into his chest. She was soft a0ll over just like a woman should be. Just the right amount of curves to cushion and cradle his hardness as he held her safe against him. Rafe kissed his way from her mouth down her jaw and over to her ear.
"I'm dying to get inside you beautiful, but I don't want to rush this." he said. He nipped her ear and licked the little sting away. And she rewarded him with another one of her sexy little moans. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she grabbed hands full of his hair trying to pull him closer to her. She spread her thighs wider giving him better access to her center so he could grind his aching dick harder into her pussy.