Cupping my chin, he breezed his thumb along my lower lip. “I spent almost a year without you, baby. Not real keen on being away from you now. Just give me this, all right?”
I swallowed. “Okay.”
“Good girl.” He turned, grabbed our plates, placed them on the bar, and took his seat. “Now eat.”
As the taste of biscuits and gravy hit my tongue, I groaned. “I have to say, your cooking skills are much appreciated.”
He smiled. “I’m glad, but you won’t be benefitting from them tonight.” I must have looked petulantly disappointed, because he chuckled. “The new Mexican restaurant opens tonight, remember?”
I’d completely forgotten about that. “Then I don’t mind missing your skills for one night.”
After breakfast, we dressed and headed for the conference room. It was the first meeting we’d had in three nights, since Sam and Jared had wanted us to focus on training and being at our best. Silence fell as we entered. Only Ava, Salem, David, and Max greeted us. Some of the guys frowned at Butch, the others ignored him. As for the rest of my squad...they didn’t even glance my way. Butch’s hand supportively tightened on mine.
We took the empty seats between Salem and David, and I cast them both a smile—acting like it didn’t hurt that my friends were behaving this way. Butch’s arm hung over the back of my chair, his hand rested on my shoulder. The move was both possessive and protective, and I very much doubted it went unnoticed.
It wasn’t long before Sam, Jared, and Luther entered. Once they had taken their seats, Sam said, “Evening all. We have some news. Marco called an hour ago. The dragon shifter Alpha agreed to speak with Imani.” She looked at me. “He’s refusing to allow you to step on his territory, though. He’s much too wary of the legion, and he’s far too protective of his drove to take any chances.”
“So where will the meeting take place?” I asked.
“The land that borders both theirs and Lazarus’ territory. Marco will be with you as a friendly face. Butch, David, and one of Evan’s vampires, Ian, will go with you.”
Paige frowned. “Ian?”
“He can teleport,” said Sam. “If there’s a problem, Ian will get them away from there fast.”
David was also a good choice because, one, he had the gift of knocking someone into a coma with a psionic blast and, two, he was Butch’s partner during assignments; they were used to working together. It helped that there was no tension between him and Butch. Tension would be a distraction, and we didn’t need distractions in a situation like that.
Sam continued, “The rest of you will wait in the castle with me and Jared in case we’re needed.” She stood. “Right, time for training.”
The session was as gruelling and demanding as always. After lunch, Jared set a punishing pace that left me aching afterwards. But by the time Butch and I were showered and changed, my muscles were once again fine.
As I stood in front of the mirror putting on my earrings, Butch came up behind me and settled his hands on my waist. In his designer shirt and pants, he looked like something out of a GQ magazine. “Love this dress, baby.”
The little black sleeveless dress was one of the many garments that Fletcher chose for me; he was a great shopping partner. “Thanks. You don’t look so bad yourself.”
Smiling, he spoke into my ear. “I’m going to spend all night imagining whipping this dress off you.”
“There are worse ways to spend an evening.”
He chuckled. “Come on, let’s go.”
The restaurant was heaving, so it was a good thing that Butch had booked us a table in advance. The interior had a hacienda look to it with the colour scheme of terracotta, gold, green, blue, and mandarin. The Mexican pottery suns, paintings, tapestries, and metal art geckos added to the theme.
Waiting to be seated, I heard a laugh that I knew as well as my own. Paige. That was when I realised that the girls, with the exception of Ava, were here. Great. I would have liked to put them at the back of my mind so I could enjoy my evening. No such luck.
Feeling Butch’s grip on my hand flex, I looked up at him.
“We can go if you want.” So he’d noticed the girls, too.
I shook my head. “I’ve been looking forward to this meal all night.”
He studied me for a few moments and then nodded. The waiter then appeared and guided us to a circular table, which fortunately was far away from the girls. After we ordered our food, Butch moved his chair next to mine and gave me his full attention.
Throughout the next hour, we ate, talked, and laughed. He was sure to touch me constantly. Every touch was somehow sweet, sensual, and possessive all at the same time. It had been a while since I’d had this much fun on a date, and I was pretty sure there was a Barbie-like smile on my face.
“Hey, you two,” greeted an excitable voice.
My smile dimmed. “Hi, Jen.” Butch merely nodded at her.
Jen was one of the females who worked at the shoe store. She was also…familiar with Butch—the last female he’d been with before he and I got together, to be specific. I reminded myself that, like with the others, it had only been a one-night stand; Jen hadn’t meant anything to him. That didn’t stop me from being pissed the fuck off at the flirtatious, nostalgic smile she flashed him.
I wished I could say that I didn’t like her. I actually did. Jen was a nice, bubbly, friendly person. She could just be a little too friendly with guys, even if they were spoken for. That didn’t discourage her. Maybe she was just so insecure that she needed that constant reinforcement that guys thought she was beautiful, or maybe it was something else—I had no idea.
Sitting on the table adjacent to ours, she angled her body toward Butch. As the night went on, she laughed too loud and did just about everything to get his attention; stroking her hair, arching her neck, playing her fingers over her cleavage, and licking her lips. He shifted so that his back was to her and he was better facing me. That didn’t make her stop.
I supposed I’d have to get used to bumping into his past encounters, since it was a small island with more males than females.
Butch nipped my earlobe, no doubt irritated that he didn’t have my full attention. “What’s wrong?”
“What do you think?” Okay, that came out a little harsh.
His eyes widened. “Jen’s getting to you? I thought you’d find it more pathetic than anything else.”
“It is pathetic. That doesn’t mean it isn’t irritating. I blame you.”
“How is this my fault?”
“It’s not, but I’m still blaming you.” I knew it was pointless and petty to get annoyed about being around females from his past, but I couldn’t help it. “I did warn you about my jealous streak.”
“Baby…” He stroked his thumb over my jaw. “She’s not important to me. Never was.”
“I know. It’s still not a pleasant situation.” Hearing Jen’s way-too-loud laugh once more, I grit my teeth. “I’ll say one thing for her: she’s persistent.” She was also close to having my fork shoved down her throat.
He just shrugged, as if she was none of his concern. “If she can’t clearly see that you’re someone to me, she’s either blind or stupid.”
I was leaning toward ‘stupid’ because it sounded better while I was feeling bitchy. “You were with her when I was with Dean, weren’t you?”
“With her? I wouldn’t phrase it that way.”
“Does it bother you that people call you a hit and run?” Even before we started this relationship, I was considered special for the simple reason that I’d lasted a month with him, even though it had been a month of casual sex.
He flashed me a crooked smile. “I’ve been called worse.” His arm slid around my neck until I was burrowed into the crook of his elbow. “None of them wanted more than a night of fun, baby. No one got hurt.”
“You’re wrong, you know. Plenty of girls wanted more from you, including Jen. She’s nice.” But still at risk of having her hair shaved off with a blunt razor.
He shrugged. “She’s not you.” He kissed me. “None of them were you, and that was the problem. I didn’t want a pale substitute. I wanted you. The real thing. I just didn’t think that would ever happen. Especially not when I heard that Dean planned to be Turned.”
As a human, Dean could never have been a real mate to me because we could never have Bound. He’d claimed to want to be a vampire so that we could have a real life together. But…“Sometimes I wonder if he played me, hoping I’d Turn him to keep him with me.”
Butch tilted his head. “You didn’t offer to ask Sam and Jared’s permission to Turn him?”
“I made it clear to Dean that I don’t plan to Turn anyone. Starting a line is a serious thing and involves responsibilities that I don’t want.”
His mouth twisted. “How long was it after that conversation that he cheated?”
“A week.” Which made it very likely that I had indeed been played. God, I was dumb. A part of me was hurt by his behaviour, but it was a teeny, weeny part because I now had something much better.