Chapter 6
CHAPTER 6
K ari pushed out the strong metal door, and smiled when she saw Evander standing a few feet away. Even though he'd told her he would meet her in front of the building, he'd been waiting for her every night right at the edge of the small alley that led to the employee's entrance. He could still see the front door of the sports bar from his vantage point, but it thrilled her that he had taken it one step further and waited for her where she had to actually enter and exit.
So far, he had been waiting forthree nights in a row, and she couldn't deny that she liked it.
He made her feel safe, but he also made herfeel important.Treasured. He listened when she talked, and actually cared what she had to say, but it also seemed like... he cared about her.
The first night he had been waiting with his fingers wrapped around a small handled bag,and on the way back to her place, he'd told her that Eron had made her a bunch of protein bars. He'd also said Eron was taking requests for her favorite foods, but she felt odd asking his friend to make her stuff, and said she couldn't think of anything at the time.
When they reached her apartment, he'd walked her all the way to the door, and then checked to make sure the tiny place was secure before saying goodnight. It wasn't until later that she'd pulled out the metal case holding the sketch pencils. They were an expensive brand—a brand she coveted—which was why she'd never owned any, but that wasn't what had made her cry.
It was the fact that Evander had somehow seen her, even though she hadn't told him about her hobby.
She knew his insight was probably only because he'd seen the sketchbooks on her nightstand, but it didn't matter. She loved the fact that he hadn'tjust given her one of the standard gifts a man gave a woman.
He'd put thought into his choice and given her something meaningful.
Of course, he had no idea how meaningful, but it didn't matter. A little bit more of her fear had faded away on that first night, and it had continued to fade every night since.
The night before, he had brought her a cinnamon roll, and tonight, he was holding three lavender roses tied with a dark purple ribbon.
No one had ever given her flowers before, but she loved roses and she loved purple. Somehow, he knew those things about her, and suddenly she had the urge to kiss him. She had almost no experience with men, and the few times she'd been kissed hadn't been enjoyable, but she didn't think it would be that way with Evander.
Beneath the surface, her wolf stood up and paced, as if desperate to touch this man, and she understood the animal's desire. Still, that didn't mean she could just walk up and kiss him, especially not with her other coworkers filing out of the building.
Instead, she bounded up to him, and stood in front of him like an idiot as she looked up into his gorgeous eyes. They were lavender, too, and she suddenly wondered what color his dragon might be.
The dragons she'd seen had all been black, and she wondered if that was the case for all of them, or did their scales come in different colors. He would be big, she knew that, but suddenly, she wasn't afraid of his beast.
God! Was she actually thinking about asking him to show her his dragon?
Would he know who she was in that form? Her human brain still controlled her animal side, making her completely aware of everything and everyone around her, but was it the same for dragons? Would Evander still know she was his mate?
Evander smiled down at her, and she focused on his mouth again. She really wanted him to kiss her, but she wasn't sure he ever would without her asking for it. Could she do that? Could she ask this man to kiss her?
"Hi sweetheart," he said. "I want to kiss you so much it hurts."
Her eyes flicked to his, and what she saw there told her he was telling the truth. She'd never been in love before, and had never known anyone who was in love with her, but Evander was. He believed in the fact that they were mates, but it was more than that. He believed in her, and in that moment, she wanted to believe in him, too.
"You can kiss me," she said, her voice just a whisper.
He turned so that his shoulder was against the wall, and he was standing directly in front of her. Her coworkers were long gone, but it was late on a Friday night, and there were a lot of people still on the street. Always the protector, he was blocking them—her—from any onlookers.
One of his hands was still wrapped around the stems of the roses, but he slid the other to the nape of her neck and slowly leaned down, as if giving her the chance to change her mind. She didn't want to change her mind, though. She wanted to touch him.
She placed her hands on his waist and he let out a small gasp, and then he smiled before pressing his lips to hers.
The kiss was chaste, nothing but a press of his mouth to hers, and yet his touch seemed to send an electric current to every nerve ending. His lips were soft, and she could feel his warm skin beneath the t-shirt he wore. She didn't want that material between them, so when he put his lips on her again, she moved her hands under the fabric.
As soon as her skin touched his, he growled and took a step closer. She couldn't help but notice that he was mindful of the roses between them, but when his tongue swiped across the seem of her lips, she forgot all about the flowers and focused on his delicious tongue and the way he slowly claimed her mouth.
She moved her hands up his chest, wanting to touch him everywhere, and she was in awe of how powerful and strong he felt.
When he deepened the kiss, slowly moving his tongue in and out of her mouth, it was her turn to step closer. His tongue felt like heaven against her own, and though she didn't have a ton of experience with men, she'd never felt anything more perfect than this moment.Liquid heat dampened her panties, and when he inhaled and then smiled, she knew he smelled her arousal.
She'd never had sex before, had never wanted to,but suddenly, she wished they were alone in her room instead of out in the open. She wasn't sure she was ready to go all the way, yet, but she desperately wanted to see his body with no barriers between them.
A group of people walked by the alley, and their laughter echoed around them. Evander pulled back slowly, and sighed, pressing his forehead against hers.
"Fuck,sweetheart," he said, his voice hoarse. "You are so fucking amazing."
The combination of his words, the intimate moment, and his labored breath whispering across her facecaused more liquid heat to gush out of her core. He inhaled deep, and then brushed his lips against hers one final time before taking a step back. He didn'tgo far, but it was far enough that her hands had to let him go, and sheimmediately missed the warmth of his skin under her palms.
As if reading her mind, he reached down and closed his free hand around one of hers, before thrusting the flowers in front of her.
"These are for you."
"Thank you," she said, inhaling the flowers' sweet scent. "Purple is my favorite color, and these are gorgeous."
"They are pretty, but you are gorgeous," he smiled, tugging on her hand. "Come on, it's getting late."
She followed after him dumbly as his words rolled around in her head. Evander thought she was gorgeous? How could that be? As much as she wanted his words to be true, they couldn'tbe. Could they? She'd seen the sexy haired woman, Petra, who he'd been with on Monday, and that was a gorgeous woman. But Kari didn't look anything like his friend.
She took an involuntary glance down her body, and wanted to wince when she noticed there was some kind of food stuck to her shoe. Nothing about that was gorgeous, and she knew what she looked like. As if to drive the point home, they passed a shop that had closed for the evening, and she caught her reflection in the glass.
Not only was she way too curvy, but she was plain, with boring dark brown hair that she currently had pulled back into a messy bun and dark brown eyes that were completely unremarkable.
She glanced at Evander out of the corner of her eye, and wondered what he saw in her. He was tall and muscular without being too bulky, but his black hair and lavender eyes made him look slightly exotic. She hadn't been anywhere in public with him yet, except for the walk to her apartment, but she'd seen the way other people—both women and men—looked at him as they passed by.
"What's going on in that head of yours, sweetheart?"
They were almost to her apartment, and suddenly, she was glad she was off work for the weekend. Evander wouldn't feel the need to walk her to and from work, and that meant that she wouldn't see him for the next two days. It would give him time to really think about being tied to her forever, and she was sure that come Monday, he would find some excuse not to show up.
An invisible band tightened around her heart at the thought of never seeing him again, but she knew it was for the best. She didn't belong in his world, and they were too different to be a mated couple.
"Nothing," she said, shaking her head. Her building came into view, and her stupid eyes started to fill with tears. She tried to blink them away, but it was too late, and he noticed when they stepped into the light of a streetlamp, right before crossing the street.
He looked down at her, and then scanned the street before tugging on her hand so they could cross.
"We'll talk inside."
E vander had no idea what had happened to make Kari so sad, but it was as if as soon as the elation from their kiss faded, something else took over, and the sadness he felt rolling off her startled him.
They were walking back to her place in what he considered a comfortable silence, but while the sudden sadness confused him,the tears in her eyes nearly broke his heart. He had no idea what was going on in that pretty little head of hers, but he did know he wasn't going to like it.
Was it becauseof the kiss? He didn't think so—or at least, he hoped that wasn't it—because that kiss had been amazing. He knew that she didn't have a lot of experience with men, not that it mattered to him, but when their mouths touched, it confirmed what he already knew.
She was destined to be his, and she was the perfect mate for his dragon.
Even though something was bothering her, he took it as a good sign when she didn't try to pull her hand out of his, and when they reached the door to her apartment, he did the same thing he did every night after they were secured inside.
He would be able to smell an intruder easily, but that didn't stop him from checking her shower and closet, and looking under the bed.
It was a silly ritual, especially because her place was so small and she was a shifter, too, but it gave him something to do other than tossing her over his shoulder and insisting that she move in with him.
"Okay," he said, sitting down on the couch, and pulling her down next to him. "What's going on, sweetheart?"
"Nothing," she shrugged, and looked away. "I just..."
She picked at an imaginary thread on the sofa while refusing to look at him, and once again, the urge to throw her over his shoulder and leave this shithole rode him hard. He also hated the fact that she was trying to hide from him, and cursed the fact that he had pulled her down beside him.
"That's enough," he said, pulling her into his lap.
She was sitting across him sideways, with both legs hanging off to one side, and he'd pulled her so close that one of her thighs was pressed against his cock. The feel of her touching him there immediately made his dick go hard, but that couldn't be helped, so he didn't try to hide it.
"What's going on? What made you so sad? Is it because we kissed?"
Fuck!
He sounded like a madman grilling her, but he needed answers, and he needed them right now.
"No," she said, looking down at his chest.
Her finger was drawing an imaginary line over his shirt, and she watched her hand intently, as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. It wasn't interesting; it was fucking distracting, and he grabbed her hand and linked their fingers together.
"You need to start talking, sweetheart, because I'm going crazy over here."
"I'm off the weekend," she said, trying to pull her hand away. When he didn't relent, she gave up, and covered their laced fingers with her other one. She lightly traced his thumb with hers, and he really liked the feel of her skin touching his own, but he didn't know why time off work would make her cry. "And I'll miss you when you're gone."
So... she thought he would abandon her over the weekend? Like he was only walking her to and from work out of some sort of obligation? That didn't make any sense, and he wondered how she could think so little of him. But then he remembered that sometimes fear didn't make any sense, especially when you'd been abandoned by everyone you loved, even if it wasn't their fault.
He had to tread carefully.
"You can't miss me if I'm stuck to your side like glue,and I'm really glad you have the whole weekend off. Now I can take you on a date.Do you have the same schedule every week?"
She looked at him then, searching for what he didn'tknow, and he leaned in and quickly brushed his lips against hers. One side of her mouth turned up in some sort of semblance of a smile, but other than that, she was looking at him like he was crazy. Her forehead was all scrunched up, as if tryingto solve some sort of challenging puzzle, and she looked absolutely adorable.
Hewanted to laugh at the confusion on her face, but he didn't dare. At least not yet. They weren't at a place where they could laugh at each other yet, at least not like that, but he hoped they would be soon.
"Yes," she nodded. "The place is pretty empty on the weekends because none of the offices are open, so weekends are only staffed with a skeleton crew. I worked weekends when I first started there, and it's really boring. There's only so many times you can wipe down clean tables, you know."
She was babbling again, and that was a good sign. He liked it when she talked, and sooner or later, she would trust him enough to tell him the truth.
"Yeah, that sounds tedious."
"That's an understatement," she laughed. "Anyway, he gave me a raise and a permanent schedule a few years back, and I love it."
"What do you normally do during your time off?"
"I go to the State Park and let my wolf run. It's a long bus ride, but she needs that at least once a week. When I worked two jobs, I could only make the trip once a month, and we were both tired and cranky. I know I should get another job, but I hated that part, and my animal did, too. I'm not sure I could do it again, but I know I can't live here forever."
"You're not getting a second job," he growled, "and you're not living here forever."
He knew he was being bossy and possessive, but he didn't care. There was no way he was letting her get a second job.
"Evander..."
"No," he shook his head. "You're my mate, and even though we haven't completed the bond, nothing will change that. It's my job to take care of you, and I have loads of money. You don't need to work ever again if you don't want to, and I know that scares you, but that's the way it is."
"But..."
"But what, sweetheart?"
"I'm not..." She took a deep breath, and seemed to force the words out. "I don't fit in your world. What if you get tired of me?"
How could she think she didn't fit in? Because he had money and she didn't? Or because he had family and she didn't? None of those things mattered, especially not to mates. Obviously, he hadn't done a good job of trying to convince her of that, but in fairness, he hadn't seen it as an issue.
"That's not how mates work," he said, trying to gentle his voice. "I will literally never get tired of you, and of course you fit in my world. You belong wherever I am."
"I don't," she said, shaking her head. "Look at your clothes compared to mine. Hell, look at you compared to me. We don't even look right together. Petra looks like someone who should be your mate more than me, and I don't even know how to be part of a clan. I'm sure I'll mess something up and embarrass you or something, and then what? What if I ruin things for you and the Alpha makes you leave? It would be all my fault, and you would hate me forever."
Her voice cracked on the last word, and then tears started streaming down her face.
Evander pulled her against his chest, kissed the top of her head, and held her close while she cried. Hehad no idea that she'd had all this bottled up, but he knew he shouldn't be surprised. They'd known each other for less than a week, and though he'd been trying to take things slow, to earn her trust insteadof taking it, he'd apparently gone too slow, because she really didn't know him at all.
Luckily, there was still time to learn, and the fact that she had the weekend off only solidified his plan.
Starting tomorrow, his mate was going to learn everything about him.
He was going to take her to his home, introduce her to his clan, and show her his dragon. He wasn't looking forward to explaining about the hierarchy in their clan, especially not when he knew how inadequate she felt, but he wouldn't keep that information away from her.
He would also keep watch while her wolf ran in the forest, and explain about the other shifters living in Emerald Haven.
Alric had already reached out to Zane, and the other man had agreed to meet with Kari whenever she wanted. If she had questions about wolf shifters that he couldn't answer, or just wanted to talk to someone who wasn't part of their clan, then he trusted Zane enough to answer her questions.
Of course, he wouldn't leave her completely alone with the man, but that was a challenge for another day. Alric had been banned from Petra's meetings after the second one, and he wasn't sure he would be any better. He would try, but if he failed, then Anton or one of his other friends would take her.
It was a lot to cram into a weekend—he knew that—but it was a start. Soon she would know, without a shadow of a doubt, that they were meant to be together.