“You fear me?”
“No. Not really.” If she was smart she might. He obviously had a temper. But he’d been nothing but kind to her mother tonight. Inviting her along. Being so patient when she forgot things or said the same thing over and over. It wasn’t every man who could have done that.
She just worried what he was going to do when she told him about the phone call she’d gotten today. “It was kind of you to bring Mom with us. I’m sorry we didn’t get to spend any time alone.”
“We are alone now.”
So they were. She licked her lips. “Would you like some coffee?” Jeez, she didn’t even have a cookie to offer him.
He grimaced. “No.”
“You don’t like coffee?”
“It tastes like dirty water.”
“I live on the stuff.”
“That does not sound healthy.” He gave her a chiding look. She barely managed not to roll her eyes.
“When your bed is a couch with springs that dig into your bac, and your mother sometimes manages to sneak out of the apartment in the middle of the night, then you don’t get much sleep. Coffee is all that keeps me going.”
He looked down at her couch. “This is what you sleep on?”
“Yeah, it’s not so bad,” she lied.
“You just said the springs poke into you.” He sat on the couch and then shifted around. “It is horrible. How can you sleep on this?”
“It’s not like I have much choice. This is a one-bed apartment. And it’s all I could afford.”
He shook his head and muttered to himself. “I do not like you living here.”
“I don’t like me living here either, but the rent is cheap and I have a kind neighbor who helps with Mom. If I couldn’t work then we’d be out on the streets.”
He scowled at that thought. “You need your rest. Your mother wanders at night?”
“Not often, but…” She sighed and came to sit on the couch as well. “The other night I woke up and she was missing. It was late and I didn’t know how long she’d been gone.”
“What did you do?”
“I went looking for her, of course.”
“On your own?” he thundered. “At night?”
She held her hands out. “Who was I going to ask to help me?”
“You found her.”
“No, actually.” She licked her lips. “By the time I got home, she had returned and was in bed fast asleep.”
She shuddered at the memory and he reached out to touch her shoulder. She’d learned he wasn’t much of a toucher. Well, except when he was kissing her. But he hadn’t touched her much tonight.
Maybe because your mom has been with you the entire time, Crista.
Yeah, well, she wasn’t right now and she really wouldn’t mind a hug. Having those big arms wrapped around her might go a long way to making her feel safe. And she could really use that right now. But all he did was lightly touch her shoulder. She bit her lip. Should she just dive on in against him? But what if he didn’t want to touch her? That kiss had been scorching, but maybe he didn’t feel that way.
Except, he was still here, wasn’t he?
“You were scared.”
“Well, yeah. I had no idea where she was. Or if she was all right. I ran up and down the streets and alleyways, calling her name, unable to find her.” She drew in a deep breath.
He scowled. “I do not like the idea of either of you wandering the streets at night. Or during the day.”
“It’s not that bad a neighborhood.”
He sent her a look. “Someone could have attacked you, assaulted you…” He trailed off and a look of comprehension filled his face. She suddenly realized that her hand had drifted up to touch her cheek. The bruising had faded a lot but was still visible if she didn’t have make-up on. “That’s what you were searching for the other night when you were hurt. Your mother.”
“Yes. Three scruffy-looking guys cornered me in an alleyway. Thank God, Mr. Angelo heard me when he was putting out the trash.”
Nax growled and she glanced over at him, flinching when she took in the stiff way he held himself. His face could have been carved from stone. He turned his intense gaze on her. “If they hadn’t been there…”
“I know,” she whispered.
He moved his hand up to cup her chin, turning her to face him. “They got away?”
“Yeah. Liam, one of Mr. Angelo’s grandsons, gave chase but lost him. Marc and Pop stayed with me.”
He snarled. “Marc. I do not like to owe that male something.”
“You don’t. I do.”
“I do. He protected my m—”
“Your what?” she asked, confused.
“Nothing.” He stood abruptly, started pacing. “These males need to be caught. Punished.”
“No arguments from me. But I reported it to the police. Other than that, there’s not much I can do.”
“I do not like that they hurt you and will get away with it.”
“I know.”
“You will not go out at night again. You will not put yourself in danger again.”
“I didn’t want to be out there. Believe me, I was terrified. But I couldn’t let Mom just run around the streets on her own.”
He looked over at the door. “You need better security.”
“I know. You can get these alarms they use them for children. You put them under the mattress and when the child gets up the alarm goes off. They’re not that cheap, but I think I could stretch to one. I’ve hidden the key to the door in a different place, but I still don’t know how she found the last one.”
He nodded. “There is another option.”
“I’m not tying her to the bed.”
He stilled and turned to her, his eyes wide. “I would never suggest that.”
“Sorry.” She looked down at her hands. “I had someone suggest that to me once.” She’d kicked him out on his ass. Jerk.
Nax came over and crouched before her. “Crista, look at me.”
She raised her gaze to his.
“I do not always say the right thing. In fact, I rarely do. I do not have the nicest temperament. I can be impatient and often I get involved in my projects and lose track of time—”
“Jeez, Nax, you might want to stop talking yourself up, your ego is out of control.”
He tilted his head. “Talking myself up?”
She waved her hand. “It was a joke. Sorry.”
“Oh. Should I have laughed?”
She let out a huff of laughter. “If you have to ask if you should have laughed, then you shouldn’t laugh.”
“Is that meant to make sense?”
She thought over what she’d said then started to giggle. “No, I don’t think it was.”
He shook his head. “I do not understand females.”
“Might have something to do with why you’ve never been on a date.”
“Dating is not something that we do.”
“What? You don’t date where you come from?” That sounded strange. “Where is that, by the way?”
“A place you probably have not heard of. The point is, we do not date. And I would not wish to date anyone other than you.”
Okay, he might not always know what to say but when he did, boy he nearly made that protective shell around her heart melt.
“That’s a lot to live up to. I’m not that special.”
“You are very special to me. My point, before I was interrupted, is that I am not perfect. But I would never suggest restraining your mother.”
“Sorry. Guess I’m just a bit sensitive about that.”
He nodded. “That was not my suggestion to help this situation.”
“Okay, sorry I interrupted. Hit me with your suggestion.”
“Hit you?” His eyes widened. “I would never hit you.”
She thunked the palm of her hand against her forehead. “Language difference. I’m an idiot.”
“You are not an idiot. Although I do not like it when yo
u hit yourself.”
“Right. Okay. Sorry. I just meant, tell me what your suggestion is.”
“My suggestion was going to be that you move in with me.”
Her mouth opened. Then closed. Then opened again. “Um, Nax, that’s really kind and all—”
“I have never been described as kind.” And from the way he was frowning, he didn’t care to be described that way right now.
“But I hardly know you. I can’t move in with you.” Talk about moving things fast. They’d been on one date and they’d had her mother with them. Not exactly romantic. And they hadn’t really had a chance to talk. To get to know each better. They’d shared one kiss. And while there was certainly a physical attraction, she didn’t know him well enough for moving in with him to even be on the radar.
“I would keep you safe. Both of you.”
He sounded a little offended. She licked her lips. “I know you would. However, what happened the other night was a random event. Mom hardly ever leaves the apartment and it was only bad luck I ran into those guys. It’s a really nice offer but I can’t accept. I don’t know you well enough to move into your house. And I can’t see your brothers being too impressed with you moving me and my mom in there.”
“They will not care. They would want you both taken care of.”
“Oh. Well. That’s actually really sweet. But honestly, we’re fine.” Shit. She couldn’t tell him about that phone call from her boss now. He was going to freak out. But she couldn’t not tell him either when it affected him.
She ran her sweaty hands along her legs.
“I do not like you living here but I suppose I cannot force you to move in with me?” He said it as though it was a question.
“No,” she said firmly. “You can’t.”
He made a grumbling noise under his breath.
“Nax, there is something I have to tell you.” She took a deep breath. “I got a call from my boss earlier.”
“Yes?”
“He wanted me to get his client into your house.”
Nax froze. “What?”
“I wouldn’t, you know. And I told him that. I’m not even sure how he expected me to achieve that since I hardly know when any of you will be home and I don’t have a key or anything. But his client, whoever they are, really want to get into your house, and I can’t understand why.”
He thought this over. “There is something in our house they want.”
“Yes, I’m guessing so. Eden and Frankie told me that you had an attempted break-in.”
His gaze narrowed. “Could be related.”
“I’m guessing so.”
“I need to speak to Ioin about this. I do not like it.”
“No. Neither do I.”
“You are scared. Worried.”
“I’m all right. I’m just concerned about what is going on. My boss sounded stressed.”
“He should speak to us directly, not use you.”
“That’s not his style and he’s out of town at the moment. I was thinking about it. If his client wants into your house, they will have to meet with me. What if I met with them and then—”
“No.”
She blinked, looking up at him. “No?”
“No.”
“But then we would know who they are and I might be able to figure out what they want.”
“Too dangerous.”
“We don’t know that they’re dangerous.” Although she had a bad feeling about this.
“You will not meet with them.”
She let out a breath. “You do realize you’re not the boss of me, right?”
He narrowed his gaze. “You do not do enough to protect yourself. Running into the dark alone. Offering to meet with people you do not know who could be dangerous. You will not do any of this anymore.”
“You know, sometimes I think this protective thing is cute, but most of the time, it’s annoying.” She stood up and glared at him. “You cannot stop me from meeting with them.”
“I can if I lock you up in my room and do not let you leave.”
“That is kidnapping! That will get you arrested!”
“Only if I am caught.”
Stubborn jerk. Asshole. So bossy. And arrogant. And handsome. She couldn’t tell him about Pete’s threats now. She’d end up in protective custody. She gasped as he reached for her, pulling her against him and leaning down to kiss her. Her anger morphed into something just as hot. She ran her hands over his chest, feeling how muscular he was. Her body stirred. She wanted him. Needed him.
She tried to keep his lips pressed against hers as he pulled back, but he drew his head up, his gaze locked on hers. “Promise me. I cannot leave until you promise me you will not do this.”
“But Nax—”
“No. Promise me or I stay. Or you and your mother come with me. Which is my preference since I do not believe I will fit on that couch.”
She barely fit on the couch. She could keep arguing but the truth was she didn’t actually want to know who this client of Pete’s was.
Hmm, pressed against him like this it wasn’t actually seeming like a bad idea. Not if she could have these kisses on tap.
Hell, who was she kidding? If they had any privacy, things wouldn’t end with a kiss.
“All right, I promise.”
He gave an arrogant nod, as though he hadn’t expected any other answer.
She shook her head. What was she going to do with him?
“You have my number?”
“Huh?” She had to admit, she was still a little dazed from that kiss. And boy, what a kiss!
“To contact me.”
“Um, right. I think I have Ioin’s contact number in my work phone.”
“I want you to have mine. You will contact me if you are in trouble. If your mother goes missing. If you are worried or concerned about something. Call me. Straight away. Understood?”
“All right. I will.”
10
Nax didn’t like leaving Crista. He wanted to insist that she move into the pack’s house where he could protect her and her mother. He would need to do something about their security system. He didn’t intend for them to live too much longer in that apartment, but he also knew that Crista wasn’t ready to move in with him.
He sighed. This would be so much easier if he could just tell her that she was his mate, that she was his to care for and protect, and she should therefore do as he ordered.
But Frankie and Eden had warned him that could frighten her and was not the best way to explain everything. So he would wait. But it didn’t mean he liked it. And he had seriously considered whether he could sleep on that couch.
He moved to his Humvee with a growl. He could get home much quicker if he could fly, but this was a densely populated area and the likelihood of him being seen, even at night, was too high to risk it.
Ioin wanted them to keep a low profile. But Nax was tired of pretending to be human. Humans were odd. And annoying. And strange.
Except for Crista. She was perfect.
He quickly drove home, not bothering to stick to the human speed rules. There was hardly any other traffic around. He pulled up outside the pack house. The lights were still on, so he knew some of them were still up. Walking into the house, he heard sounds coming from the living room. Someone let out a loud whoop.
“Die! Die!” Brogan yelled.
“You pungent son of a Jurgen!” Tecan screamed back.
He cracked a grin. Sounded like they were having fun. He walked into the living room to find Brogan and Tecan playing one of the vid games they enjoyed. Ioin was doing something on his tablet while Sacaren and Frankie were cuddled up on the couch. For the first time he could understand the attraction of having your mate sit on your lap. Yes, he would very much like to have Crista’s ass resting on his lap, pressed in against his rod.
“Nax! How did the date go?” Frankie asked with a smile.
“She is my mate.”
Everyone stilled.
&
nbsp; “Game off,” Ioin ordered.
Brogan quickly turned it off.
“Congratulations” Tecan smiled at him.
“You did not bring her back with you?” Ioin asked.
“Frankie and Eden were right. She is not ready for that yet. Apparently, she does not know me well enough.”
Brogan snorted. “What has that got to do with anything? She will have hundreds of years to get to know you.”
Frankie sucked in a breath. “But she won’t, will she?”
There was a note of misery in her voice.
“Mate? What is wrong?” Sacaren asked.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Sacaren frowned. “Tell me.”
She sighed. “Well, Eden and I don’t like to think about it much, but we were talking at the spa today about the Zerconians. Crista said how she’d thought about getting on one of those ships sometimes.”
“What?” Nax barked, tensing. She wished to mate with a Zerconian? What was she thinking?
“Relax, Nax. She didn’t really mean it. You’ve got to understand that her life is hard. Crista has no one except her mom and well, she has special needs. She said that she couldn’t understand why more women weren’t concerned about the fact that they would age while the Zerconians would outlive them. Obviously, it’s going to be the same for us, since you guys are long-lived.”
“You have never mentioned this worry, mate,” Sacaren said quietly.
She shrugged. “Not much that can be done about it and it’s not like we have to worry right now. Something for the future, I guess. Although Eden’s been worried about it more now that she’s pregnant. She’s not sure if the baby will outlive her or age like she will. You guys really didn’t think about any of this?”
“When you die, so will I,” Sacaren told her.
“What?” She sat up straighter.
“Zerconians mate differently than we do, they very rarely survive the loss of their mate,” Ioin told her. “We can live on without our mate.”
“But I would not want to,” Sacaren told her in a low voice.
She shook her head. “But what about children? What if I died young and we had small children?”
Sacaren frowned at the thought of that. “If they were young I would try to live on to take care of them. But my life would not be the same without you, mate.”
Nax Page 12