Maverick doubled over, laughing.
“I’m glad you find this all amusing. Get your mind out of the gutter, asswad. Anyway, today was a huge step in the right direction. I’ll be hunting for her and making sure she eats enough to get her strength back.”
“That’s good. I hope she gets back up and on her feet soon. Oh, and I talked to Chuck. I guess you volunteered me to be his apprentice.”
“Actually, my dad suggested it. But it’s a good idea. We’ll need someone who can do specialized work so we don’t have to depend on outside help for everything.”
“That makes sense. It looks like I’ll be starting tomorrow.”
Damian paced outside the closed door, shielding Jordan and Mindy from view.
“I should knock on the door,” Damian said, then laughed.
Before Maverick or Damian could say another word, the door opened and Mindy emerged. She glanced at Damian, then shifted her scowl and gaze toward Maverick.
“You lied to me,” she hissed, then rolled her eyes and quickly walked down the hall and out the door.
Maverick inhaled deeply, then raised his eyes to meet Damian’s.
“I told you,” was all Damian said to his Beta. The look on Maverick’s flushed face and grimace was more than enough of a reply, letting Damian know how embarrassed he was.
“At least I got her here,” Maverick said.
“That you did. Let’s go see how things went. I don’t know about you, but I’m dying to know if Jordan made an ass out of himself. Maybe he asked for her number, again.” The two of them laughed as they entered the room.
Jordan’s brows furrowed. “What’s so funny? You guys better not be laughing at me.”
“And what if we are? What are you going to do about it, lying flat on your back?” Maverick asked, then chuckled.
Jordan looked at Damian, then at Maverick, then back at Damian before he crossed his arms. “You’re such a child, Mav,” Jordan said.
“Anyway, how did it go?” Damian asked.
“How did what go?” Jordan questioned.
Maverick sighed and shrugged his shoulders. “Oh, who knows? Maybe with Mindy? You know. She did just leave,” he said sarcastically.
“Oh yeah.” Jordan laughed. He lifted his head. “Well, when I explained I wasn’t dying like someone told her, we had a pretty nice conversation. Well, nice until we got to the shifter part. Since she’s a human that was a bit tough for her to comprehend.”
“I’ll bet. How was the conversation after you told her that?” Damian asked.
“Well, it was, um, weird. Not like weird like a bunch of small talk, but weird like she kept staring at me. I don’t know if she thought I was going to shift and show her, or what.”
“Well, that’s good to know you guys at least had a decent conversation. I’m sorry I lied, but I had to get her here to see you, and it just came out. I know she’s pissed at me right now,” Maverick said.
“I think she’s going through information overload. You told her Jordan was dying, then she gets here and finds out he’s a wolf shifter. How much can one human take?” Damian said.
“I agree with that. And the fact that I told her she was my soul-mate and that I loved her probably didn’t help,” Jordan said.
Damian smiled, and shook his head. “That poor woman. What did she say when you told her that?”
He looked up at Jordan, biting his lip in an effort to not start laughing. Poor Mindy. She had one hell of a visit, he thought.
Maverick stared at Jordan, waiting for the answer to Damian’s question.
Jordan ran his hands through his hair before he lowered his head onto the pillow. His gaze shifted from his friends to the wall. He took a deep breath and sighed loudly. “All she said was ‘thank you’.”
Chapter 19
When Damian made it back to his parents’ guest house, Trinity was preparing to leave.
“Just in time. I’m heading in to the hospital to take over the shift, and to get Jordan ready to be discharged. He should be leaving with his parents today,” she said.
He blinked several times and rubbed the back of his neck. “How is my mate? Is she well enough to just be left alone?”
Trinity smiled. “She won’t be alone with you here.”
“You know what I mean. I’m not medically trained. What if she needs something?”
“She’ll be fine. Go in and see for yourself. I think you’ll be very pleasantly surprised. Don’t worry, I’ll stop back on my way home, tomorrow after my shift. I gave her something of mine to wear. Just remember, she’s not one hundred percent yet, no matter what she tries to tell you.”
Damian turned on his heels, thanked Trinity over his shoulder, then jogged to the door. When he pulled the door open, he was surprised to see the stunning beauty, his soul-mate, sitting on the couch, facing the door, staring at him.
“Welcome back,” she said. The gust of wind from the door being open caused her long blond tresses to whip around her face. She closed her eyes, then slowly opened them. To Damian, it looked like a golden halo on this exquisite, angelic woman.
Damian stood there, speechless. His face was expressionless with the exception of his lips being slightly parted. His eyes never left her large, dark doe eyes. His heart was beating faster than if he’d run a marathon, and his breathing had become ragged. He’d seen and been with pretty women before, but she surpassed their beauty by leaps and bounds. He’d never seen such a gorgeous woman in all his life. And she was all his. His soul-mate.
“Say something, please,” she whispered.
“What’s your name?”
“Angelisa to my parents, but I’m called Angel by everyone else.”
Her voice was the perfect song to make Damian’s heart feel like it had skipped a beat. His wolf was hopping around, eager to claim her and make her theirs.
“I’m Damian,” he forced as a reply.
“I know.” Angel’s heart was pitter-pattering in her chest. Damian was more handsome than she’d originally thought. His dark hair and tanned skin were perfection. And his bright stark blue eyes were breathtaking.
“You were following me. Why didn’t you present yourself?” Damian asked.
Her face flushed. “I don’t know,” Angel said, then lowered her head.
“Look at me, my beautiful soul-mate.”
Angel’s eyes slowly rose to meet Damian’s. In that moment, she saw something in him she never saw before. She saw his love for her beaming through his eyes. He wasn’t angry, like she thought he might have been.
“Please, don’t ever turn away from me. I just wanted to know why you didn’t approach me. You had to have known I could sense you.” Damian slowly approached the couch where she was sitting, then fought the urge to sit down next to her and wrap her in his strong arms.
“I knew. I …” She took in a deep breath. “I wanted to see if I could learn more about you by just watching you from a distance.”
“And did you?”
Angel shifted her gaze from Damian to the floor. She didn’t want to ask him why he appeared to be a vagabond. After all, he was back at his parents’ home. Where she’d seen him for the first time.
“My Angel, answer me. Did you?” Damian asked again.
“Well,” she said, then hesitated. “I don’t want to say, my Alpha mate. It’s not my place to question you.”
“You have every right to ask me anything. I’m yours and you’re mine. There shouldn’t be any secrets between us. Ask me.” Damian stood and walked to the window seat. He didn’t sit down, instead, he stood and faced his mate, waiting for her query. His nervousness had him wondering if his mate would ask him a question that he couldn’t answer, or worse yet, didn’t want to answer. How long had she been following him? He wondered if she knew about the Werecats.
“Alpha, with all respect, I’m trying to understand why you left this home and ended up at the other place with the three small cabins. It doesn’t mean I love you any less, because th
at’s not possible, but I need to know where you plan to live. With me.”
“It’s a long story, my love. We can talk about all of that later, but we’ll be living on my new Pack land gifted to me by my ever so gracious father. I knew you were near the homes. It’s small, with only three houses, but it’s a start. Actually, only two homes are there right now. One had to be demolished and will be rebuilt.”
“Who will be rebuilding the house?”
“My father’s best handyman and his men will, along with Maverick, one of my Betas.”
“Do you think three small houses will be enough?”
It’s something we can build up over time.” Damian noticed the look on her face as her brows scrunched and her eyes slightly squinted. “Did I answer to your satisfaction?”
“You did.”
“Then what is it? Is there something else?”
“No, my dear Alpha. I’m just tired. I think I want to lie down.” Angel scooted to the edge of the sofa and Damian was immediately by her side. He held her forearm with one hand and her hand with his other, then helped her to stand. Her honeysuckle scent filled his nose and triggered his arousal. He desperately wanted to make her his completely.
“Thank you, Damian. I’ll be fine,” she said.
He didn’t leave her. Instead he walked with her into the bedroom. The bed had fresh linens on it and Angel’s honeysuckle scent wafted in the air.
She climbed in the bed and laid on her back. Her eyes met Damian’s and she held her hand out to him, beckoning him to come closer.
“Lay with me,” she whispered. Angel’s lips parted, then she licked the bottom one before pulling it slightly into her mouth and biting down gently. Her heartbeat quickened and the nerves in her tummy tingled in anticipation of being claimed by her soul-mate. She felt a craving in her apex, stronger than the desire she’d felt when she followed and watched Damian from a distance. And she felt a wetness between her legs that she could only think was from her neediness. She was ready for him to take her. He was her destiny. He was her forever love.
He closed the distance between them with two steps and took her hand in his, then bent down and kissed her palm. The overwhelming desire was difficult for Damian to fight. His Wolf wasn’t helping anything. He was sitting there like he had on devil horns, telling Damian to do it. To take her. To claim her. Damian swallowed hard.
He released her hand and made his way around to the other side of the bed and climbed in, moving so close to her that a pin couldn’t be wedged between them. He wrapped his arm around her middle and held her tight against him. His nose sank into her hair and he inhaled her scent. She smelled divine and was driving him insane. He knew she had to be able to feel his growing bulge. The scent of her arousal made him ache to feel her. To sink into her sweet flesh. To feel her writhe beneath him as he claimed her, but he remembered Trinity’s warning that she wasn’t one hundred percent yet. He would just hold her tight as he continued to fight against his strongest urges to make love to his mate.
Chapter 20
He felt her hand stroke softly along his hairline, then her fingertips glided down his face from his temple, over his cheek, and down his stubbled chin. He could feel her nails tickling across his lips. Damian moaned as her soft lips touched his. His hard cock was begging to be freed.
When Damian opened his eyes, his mate was staring at him. He inhaled deeply and could feel the warmth flush his face with embarrassment that he’d moaned and woke up with a raging hard-on. His dream had felt so real. Her touch was everything he’d yearned for. Nothing in reality compared to what he’d felt while dreaming.
“Hi, sleepy-head. Are you hungry?” Angel asked.
“I’m starving,” Damian said in a raspy voice.
“I am, too. Want to go hunt? I haven’t been hunting in a while.”
Damian sat up fully on the bed, leaning back against the headboard. “Are you sure you feel up to shifting and hunting? We don’t have to. There’s food in the refrigerator.”
Angel ran her fingers through her long blond mane and pulled her tresses over one shoulder where she twisted and stroked the handful of hair. “I want to hunt with you, my Alpha love. We can save what’s in the refrigerator for later.”
Damian looked at the clock sitting on the nightstand. It was four-thirty. Not too late. The last thing he wanted was to get into the woods too late on a good hunt and have his mate not feel well.
He glanced at Angel, who was staring at him through her lashes, continuing to twist at her hair. She poked out her lower lip and pouted.
“You’re sure you feel up to this?”
“I do. And I’m starving. “
“Okay. Let’s go now, then. If Trinity hollers at me for this…”
“It’s my idea. I’m fine. And I’ll tell her that, if she asks. I really doubt she’d want me to go hungry. She’s made sure I was nourished while I was Wolf, and she was so excited when I shifted. I have to keep getting my protein to keep up my strength.”
Damian turned his head, trying to hide his smile as he thought back to the conversation he’d had with Maverick. Damn Maverick and his filthy mind, he thought.
“What are you laughing at?” Angel asked.
“It’s nothing,” Damian chuckled.
“Something has you laughing. I thought we weren’t keeping secrets.” She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Damian.
“I’m not so sure you want to know, honestly. If I tell you, you have to promise not to get upset.”
“Okay. I promise.”
Damian told Angel about his conversation with Maverick. She shook her head, but she didn’t look like she completely understood the hidden meaning in Damian’s comments. After she’d said she didn’t get it, he explained it further, making sure to completely spell out exactly why Maverick had been laughing.
Her cheeks reddened and she began fidgeting. “That’s very personal. Why would he think that’s something he should laugh at, or even think about?”
“Maverick has been my friend for years. I’m sure he meant nothing by it except to laugh at what he interpreted as a play on words. I guarantee you, I wouldn’t tolerate any such talk or jokes. What happens between us will always remain between us.” Damian wanted to assure her there was absolutely no way he’d tolerate anyone speaking waggishly about the sex life of him and his mate. He also thought Angel may have been over reacting just a bit. Maverick was merely innocently laughing at the word play, something he’d done many times in the past. He hoped she’d be satisfied with his answer. He wanted to change the subject, and quickly.
“Good. I trust you. Now, we need to hunt. I’m starving,” Angel said with a smile.
A couple hours later, when the two returned and shifted back to their human forms, they quickly made their way into their temporary residence.
“That was so much fun!” Angel said. She smiled with a toothy grin. She flopped lazily into the cloth-covered chair in a corner.
“It was. And I’m stuffed.” Damian rubbed his hand over his protruding six-pack.
Angel giggled then rubbed her belly. “Me, too. I can’t remember the last time I ate so much. I’m going to end up getting huge.”
Damian’s smile widened and his cock twitched. He wanted to see her tummy expand as his seed grew inside her. The thoughts began filtering into his mind while they were hunting. He’d imagined them out hunting to make sure their son was getting fed properly so he could grow into a superior specimen of an Alpha, like his father.
“I’m going to take a shower,” Damian said. He disappeared into the bathroom, pushing the door closed behind him, but not completely shutting it.
Angel sat in the chair with a smile on her face, and thought about how much fun it was for their Wolves to frolic and hunt together. The playfulness. The sexy way Damian’s Wolf looked at her like he wanted to eat her up. How her Wolf was secretly hoping to be claimed.
Her attention was drawn to the water running in the shower and the though
t of Damian standing under the warm spray, completely naked, and wet. She licked her lower lip then crossed her arms over her chest as a shiver coursed through her. She craved his touch. His warmth. Him.
She stood from the chair and took a step in the direction of the bathroom before stopping.
“I can’t go in there,” she said to herself.
He’s your mate. He’s yours. You can go in there, she thought.
She took another couple of steps until she was within a couple of feet of the door. She inhaled deeply and sighed as she continued to ponder going to the man she loved.
I love him. And he loves me.
With her final thoughts circling in her head, she took the last two steps and reached her hand out toward the door handle.
Here goes nothing, she thought. She pushed the door in and saw his amazing form through the beveled glass door, standing in the shower. She knew it was too late to run out of the bathroom.
“Is that you, Angel?” Damian’s lust-filled voice asked.
“Yes,” she said, just louder than a whisper.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah.”
She stepped closer to the shower door and slid it partially open. It was just enough of an opening to reveal her beautiful mate covered in a soapy lather, and just wide enough for her to slip through. He turned his head and watched her as she stepped into the shower behind him.
The water was warm and she was shivering. Damian took her hand and helped her walk up so she was under the warm flowing water. His cock began to thicken.
He used the body wash and lathered up her back and shoulders, carefully washing her beautiful, soft, creamy skin. After helping her rinse the soap from her back, he took the shampoo and lathered up her hair. Her hands took over and scrubbed her hair gently before she closed her eyes and leaned back to let the water wash away all of the soapy residue.
“You’re so beautiful,” Damian said. His voice was husky with need. His dick was so engorged it felt like it would explode. He needed to feel her heat snuggly gripping his cock, milking him.
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