Paige shook her head. No use thinking about her mate right now. She’d have plenty of time later. The hunt was most definitely on.
Derek shuddered at the amount of lace and satin surrounding him. No man should have to endure this much femininity at once, yet there stood Eli and Caelan. Like sentinels. Arms crossed, feet spread shoulder width, eyes roaming as they kept watch.
He had to laugh. “What exactly do you think is going to happen in this mecca of women’s clothes? A stiletto might fly off the wall and strike one of them?”
Caelan lifted an eyebrow. “Paige is back there.”
Derek joined them and mirrored their pose. “Remain as you are.”
Eli snorted. “What are you doing here?”
Well, duh. “Paige is here.”
“Ah. So you’re doing your job.”
“Right. Exactly.” He nodded sharply. “Yep.”
“You can’t take her in the dressing room, Der,” Caelan said from the corner of his mouth.
“I have no intention of doing so.”
“Mmm-hmm. Right.” Caelan mocked.
“Exactly,” Eli echoed.
“Damn fool women turning us into protective freaks.” Derek let down his guard. Anyone walking in there would wonder what celebrity they had hidden. “I only came to ask her to dinner.”
“Yep,” Caelan continued. “Think you’ll actually make it to dinner?”
“Can’t imagine it.”
“That’s the way, Der.” Eli clapped him on the back. “Always be honest with yourself.” He leaned closer. “You hurt my cousin and I’ll kill you myself.”
Derek shrugged him off. “Already got the speech from big brother, thanks. So they’re back there, huh?”
“Oh, friend,” Eli said, looking pointedly at Derek’s groin, “you have RDS bad. Something I am damn glad I don’t ever have to deal with again.”
“Whatever. Your dick is just as reckless as mine, you just have a permanent place to call home now. How ’bout we say we both know what we want and leave it at that?” And what Derek wanted was probably standing mostly naked a thin wall away.
His dick stirred the same way it did every time he thought about her. Maybe E was right. Maybe he did have reckless dick syndrome. But right now it was being picky. It knew exactly where it wanted to be buried.
Caelan’s leftover grin from their banter turned into more of a grimace as he leaned back to peer around the corner. “How the hell long does it take to try on a damned dress?”
“Let’s see.” Eli flicked counted on his fingers. “Three women in a confined space, changing into wedding attire, talking about the men they know are standing overprotectively not fifteen feet away… I come up with a long-ass time. They’re gossiping, Cael, ’cause you know how long it’s been since the last time they were able to speak to each other.”
“About a half an hour, I’d say. Two of them live together, for God’s sake, and I know Nikki’s been calling Paige every day. There couldn’t possibly be anything new for them to talk about.”
“Did you miss the part about three women in a confined space?” Derek shifted, getting more antsy himself. “They don’t need a reason to yap.”
He wanted to go in there and drag her out. He wanted to stick her in his car and drive away to a remote cabin where she couldn’t leave him in the morning. Where she couldn’t hide who she was from him. He’d known why she was running, and he’d let her go rather than scare her off by insisting she stay. When she was ready to tell him about being a wolf, she would.
He hoped.
An ache raked at his chest. What if he was only a passing interest to her? A way to assuage her heat until her true mate came along? Is that why she’d been “clean and everything”? Because she’d known she’d never get pregnant unless he was her mate?
“Ta-da.” Nikki flounced from the dressing room, her arms out to direct attention to Tieran and Paige, who followed in her footsteps. “Derek? What’re you doing here?”
Derek heard his sister speak but didn’t respond because he was focused only on Paige, who looked stunned to see him. Those beautiful big blue eyes widened, he saw her breath hitch and she took a misstep, nearly plowing into Tieran. Her gaze darted from him to Caelan and back, and her cheeks turned pink.
The dressing room idea was looking better and better.
“Derek,” Nikki snapped.
“What?” He finally turned his attention to her. “I’m here to ask Paige to dinner.”
Paige’s pretty little mouth dropped open and he barely refrained from swooping in to taste her.
Nikki’s brows lowered in confusion. “Paige? But how do you know—”
“We met last night.” Derek stepped forward and took her trembling hand in his. Her blush deepened. “So how about it? Will you have dinner with me?”
She nodded.
“Good.” He angled his head and whispered in her ear, “You almost done here?”
“I think so,” she murmured back, and he felt her shiver when he licked the shell of her ear.
“You met last night and you’re already nibbling on her?” Nikki asked.
“Mmm…she’s sweet.”
“Okay,” Tieran interjected amidst Eli and Caelan’s laughter. “We’ll get finished up so the little lovebirds can go somewhere private.” She reached out to separate Paige and Derek, but the second her fingers touched his arm, she yanked them back with a gasp.
Tieran cocked her head and stared at Paige. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
“Because I wasn’t ready.”
“Oh.” With a sheepish smile, Tieran backed away into the circle of her mate’s arms.
What the hell was going on? “Weren’t ready to what?” Since he hadn’t let go of Paige’s hand, he tugged her close.
She searched his eyes. “Can we talk about this later?”
“Only if you aren’t hungry.”
“What does it have to do with eating?”
“You have to be crazy if you think I’ll be able to be civilized through a meal wondering what the hell Tieran saw when she touched me.”
Then it hit him. He narrowed his eyes and knew the second she realized he’d figured it out. Everything in him shouted for joy when he would have thought he’d be running the opposite way in denial, screaming, “I’m not ready to settle down!” The image of Dereklets flitted through his brain again and he smiled. Hell, his chest puffed out. Any second he’d be parading around like a peacock.
“I’m your mate, aren’t I?”
Caelan’s phone rang at precisely the wrong second. The one where you could hear a pin drop and everyone was holding their breaths. The shrill peal cut through the silence like Janet Lee screaming in the shower scene of Psycho.
As one, the group’s gazes swung his direction. Caelan unclipped the cell at his waist, saw who it was and answered it with a push of his thumb.
“Graham.”
“You need to get down to St. Michael’s. They just brought Matthews in. Some couple discovered his car at the bottom of a hill and he was in the trunk, trying his best to get out.”
“Motherfucker.” He shoved a hand through his hair and ignored the round of “whats?” thrown his way. “I’ll be right there.” He first established eye contact with Paige. Matthews had been following her, so coming to the conclusion the man had been stuffed into his own trunk because of whatever was going on with Paige didn’t take a huge leap.
“What?” she asked after a second’s hesitation. He didn’t have to be a rocket scientist to see he’d scared her. Derek stepped closer, hovering in protective mode.
“They just found Garret Matthews in the trunk of his car.”
Paige swallowed and her face lost its color. “It’s because of me, isn’t it?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No,
but you’re thinking it.”
He couldn’t deny the fact.
“He was supposed to be watching me. I saw him at the office. But that was the last time.” Her lower lip trembled, and Derek’s hand went to her upper arm to rub.
“Shh,” he softly consoled. Caelan watched as she leaned into him, though he didn’t think she was even aware of the action.
“It was the last time he checked in with me too. He was only supposed to be doing a drive-by type thing. Trust me, I didn’t think things had escalated this far.”
“She obviously can’t stay alone tonight,” Derek said. His arm tightened around her shoulders.
“No,” Caelan agreed outright. He had no clue what they were even up against. Better to play it safe. “Stay with her no matter where you go.”
“His house,” Paige chimed in, visibly shaken. She glanced up at Derek. “If you don’t mind, that is.”
“Nope.”
Caelan nodded once. “I’ve got to get going. Eli, would you—”
“I’ll get Tieran home safe with us.”
“Thanks. Do what E says, my own. Don’t leave his sight.”
She rolled her eyes like he knew she would, but she wasn’t stupid either. She’d do as he asked.
“You’ll keep her safe, Der?” This time it was Nikki who spoke. There was panic on her face. Caelan guessed it was a mixture of anxiety over her wedding party problems and sheer concern for Paige’s well-being.
“Yes, Nik. Everything will be all right.”
“I’ll be fine, Nikki, please don’t worry about me.”
“I’m not worried.”
Derek, Paige and Eli all snorted.
“I’m not,” she insisted. “Okay, I am. Ever since the guys told us about what was happening to you, I can’t help but be nervous. Especially when this guy’s gone to crazy, ugly lengths in a very short time.”
“We don’t know for sure one has anything to do with the other. This could very well be payback from one of Matthews’s old cases.”
Paige sighed. “But you don’t believe that, do you?”
“To be honest? No.”
She gave the slightest jerk he was sure she hadn’t wanted anyone to see, but Caelan did.
“Stay with Derek. Tonight at least, until I can get a better handle on things. Let him take you to work in the morning. Or better yet, take the day off.”
Paige shook her head vigorously. “I can’t do that. We’re nearing the end of a project and we took today off because of what happened to Katie.”
“I’ll make sure she gets where she needs to be,” Derek declared.
“Fine. I really have to go. So long as we’re settled here.”
“We are,” everyone agreed, and Eli added, “Go find out what the fuck happened to Matthews.”
“Tell him I’m sorry,” Paige called as Caelan walked away. The apology made him stop and turn.
“He’ll never accept it, Paige. Whatever happened to him isn’t your fault.”
“Tell him just the same.”
“Will do.”
“You looked gorgeous in the dress back there. The color made your eyes pop.” Derek glanced over to her, sitting silently in the passenger seat. They were about halfway to his house after she’d decided against going home even to pick up a few things for the night, and neither of them was really up to going out to dinner. Instead they’d decided to order in at his place. Now she was quiet. Too quiet, which meant she was definitely thinking too much.
“It’s nice of you to try and change the subject.”
“Yeah?” Derek took hold of her hand, kissed it and brought it to his thigh. “Is it working?”
“Not so much.”
“How ’bout if I ask why you didn’t tell me I was your mate?”
She turned in the seat and faced him. Because of the traffic, he couldn’t look at her the way he wanted to. “Because I didn’t know who you were.”
“What does that have to do with anything?”
“You’re human.”
He laughed. “I love an observant woman. Is that all?”
“See it from my point of view.”
“That’ll be kinda hard being as I’m not a woman, sweetheart.” He did his best to rile her up, if for no other reason than to take her mind off everything else that had happened.
“Hear me out,” she growled, and he smiled. “You’re a woman. Not only that but you can shape-shift into a hairy beast whenever you so desire.”
“I bet you’re hot as a hairy beast.” He caught sight of her lip curling up on one corner and bit back a grin.
“Do you want me to explain or not?”
“Explain. Yes. Please. I’m sorry.”
“I’ll just bet you are. Anyway. A hairy beast of a woman, I say, and you smell this man across a crowded restaurant while you’re with your coworkers. And you know immediately he’s your mate just by the way his scent makes your heart go into overdrive, your nipples harden and your clit tingle. The blood is pouring through your veins and fur is about to sprout all over your skin. Meanwhile, you nose is twitching and your teeth are getting sharper and sharper.”
“All that happened?” Damn. His cock twitched thinking about those tight nipples and tingly clit.
“Yes,” she hissed. “It’s happening now. It happens whenever you’re within smelling distance.”
Derek’s heart hammered and he nearly drove off the road. He swerved in the nick of time, bringing the car back between the lines.
“Don’t say shit like that while I’m driving.”
“Hmm…what if I did this instead?” She slipped her hand from his and cupped his erection through his jeans.
“Fuck.” His foot slipped off the gas pedal and the car slowed. A horn blared behind them.
“Keep driving, Derek.”
“Fine,” he gritted between his teeth, and felt her fingers squeeze in a rhythm that left him gasping for breath.
“So,” she continued, fondling him while she spoke, “you meet this man and all you know is he’s human. Your mate, the one man destined to be yours forever and ever, is not a shifter. He doesn’t know the things you can do. He can’t possibly understand it. Most likely, you think, he’ll freak out and run the first time he sees it happen.”
“You’re assuming quite a bit about the man, sweetheart.” Her thumb raked against the head of his cock and he sucked in a breath, wishing she were touching actual skin.
“But see, I can only go on previous experience. Human men, when it comes to seeing their lovers turn into wolves, tend to take on womanly qualities. They make this really high-pitched squeal and back up, waving their hands in the air.”
“If that happened to you, I’m sorry.” What dick had done this to her, he wanted to know.
“Of course it happened. How else would I know what your reaction might be? He was my first and last time with a human.” She paused. “Until you.”
He raised a brow. “But I’m not like him. E and I are best friends. I grew up around him and Caelan. I knew from the moment you headed to our table and hugged them,” he rumbled, not hiding his spurt of jealousy, “what you were.”
She shrugged, and the motion made her hand move up his cock. “Maybe. How was I supposed to know who you were?”
Derek conceded the point. “So you knew I was human, came to investigate, couldn’t leave, waited for me, made love with me and got scared I would see your postcoital shift and freak, so you ran.” He gripped her hand to stop the tiny squeezes that were driving him crazy.
“Pretty much.”
“I understand, sweetheart.” He lifted her fingers to his chest, away from the danger of his premature ejaculation. “We aren’t going to make it home if you don’t stop.”
“Maybe I don’t want to make it home.” The purr in her voice nearly d
id him in.
“Maybe the car doesn’t have enough room for me to do what I want to do to you.”
“Maybe you should drive faster.”
“I believe I will.” He bore down on the accelerator and both of them were pressed into their seats. “When are you going to take me home?” he asked—anything to help take his mind off stopping anyway and fucking her in the car.
“To meet the parents?” There was something sad and wistful in her question. “Unfortunately I can’t.”
“You’re ashamed of me?”
That got a laugh. A small one, but a laugh nonetheless.
“No, they died three years ago. That’s why I’m living here.”
“I’m sorry.” Truly. He couldn’t imagine both his parents being gone. His sister was marrying a wolf this weekend, and from the sound of things, Derek would be following in her footsteps shortly, but both his mom and dad supported their children one hundred and ten percent. They were a little—okay, a lot—weirded out by the whole shape-shifting thing, but they’d accepted it.
“S’okay.”
She turned in her seat. Great. Now he’d made her sad. Talk about losing an erection. He’d have to remember this look on her face the next time he had a hard-on at an inopportune time.
“You wanna talk about it?” Lord, he really didn’t want to open a can of worms, but she sounded so despondent. And what kind of mate would he look like if he didn’t care? Thing was, he did care. A lot. If she hurt, so did he. Crazy.
Paige sighed. “Nope.”
Phew.
“They were killed in a car wreck.”
He didn’t wince like he thought he would, but smiled because he’d gotten her to talk. “I’m sorry.”
“You said that.”
“Well, I am. I can’t imagine what you might have gone through. How come you weren’t living here? I’ve never met you before, so I’m assuming you weren’t.”
“Not till three years ago, no. My mom and Caelan and Eli’s mom were sisters.”
“So, humans.”
“Right. Which makes me half human, half shifter. The kind able to shift at will. Yay me.”
Ultimatum: Graham Pack Mates, Book 3 Page 10
