She stared at him open-mouthed. Snapping it shut, she said sarcastically, “Is this some type of joke?”
His brows furrowed. “No. Why would you think that?”
“Have you looked in the mirror lately?”
“What has that got to do with you being the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen?”
She laughed at him so hard she held her stomach. “Now you’re a joker—right?”
“No, I never joke.”
“Okay.” Kirby took several steps away from him. He pursued her until her back hit the wall of the house.
“Can I kiss you?”
Her eyes widened and she nodded slightly. He smiled, taking the last steps, and picked her up. She squealed as he dived in, taking her lush lips to his. He moved his hands to hold her up by her arse, and when she moaned into his mouth, he deepened the kiss and nipped her bottom lip. She gasped as his tongue snuck in. He then trailed kisses down her face and neck.
Kirby moaned and ran her fingers through his hair. “Oh God, you’re good. Oh yes.”
Nipping at her shoulder, he groaned, knowing he had to pull away before he did something he shouldn’t. He glanced up at her. She was so sexy right now. Her hair had fallen out of the messy bun she had it in, and it was now everywhere. Her eyes flashed with desire, and her lips were puffy and pink. God, he could stare at her all day long. The way she looked right now was about to make him come in his pants like a teenage boy.
“What’s wrong?” she moaned.
He chuckled. “Not a thing. I just don’t want to claim my mate against the back wall of Faith’s house.”
She instantly froze. “Your what?”
“My mate, you’re my mate. I knew the moment I saw and smelled you.”
“You’re saying I smell!”
He chuckled again as, with a frown, she lifted her arms to check to see if she smelled. Then her frown turned into a glare. “Yeah—”
She whacked him on the chest.
“Ow! What did you hit me for?”
“I do not smell.”
He released her and held his hands up in surrender as he rushed on. “Just let me finish. Yeah, you sure do. You smell like apple and cinnamon. It’s my favorite.”
She shook her head. “Are you sure? Maybe you got hit on the head last night by one of the demons. You’re saying me, Kirby, me, I’m your mate?”
He chuckled. “Yep, I’m one hundred percent sure.” He moved back, caging her against the wall again.
She pushed against his chest. “Do you not have a choice?”
Rane frowned. “I don’t want a choice. I want you.”
“But you’re…” She moved her hand up and down and then pointed to herself and then pointed to him again.
“I don’t get it.”
She sighed. “You’re gorgeous. What’s wrong with you? Have all the other women had enough of you? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to be mean, but I just think you’re a bit too good looking for me.”
“What are you going on about, woman?”
“I’m just saying that you’re way too hot for me. I mean, look at that body. I could maybe stretch myself to a five, but you’re well over a ten, and fives and tens don’t go together.”
Rane stared at his mate. What was this woman going on about? “What do fives and tens have to do with anything? Let’s forget numbers.”
Kirby raised her eyebrow at him.
“I know I’m rough around the edges, but give me a chance. Get to know me.”
“Well, I wouldn’t call it rough, more like hard…very, very hard.”
He shook his head, ignoring her last comment. “I took the military route in the family. I know I can be a bit controlling, like yesterday.”
“Ha, controlling.”
Grinding his teeth, he continued. “I would never hurt you. Come on, give me a chance to get to know you, and for you to get to know me. Be my date for the concert tonight. Please?”
“Err, I don’t know. I’m here for Faith. I was here for Faith.”
“I’ll check with Faith, but I know she’ll understand. If she’s okay with it, then will you go with me?”
She nodded her head as they walked hand in hand back inside.
* * * *
A few hours later, Rane left Kane’s house and headed to the human military base to meet the new recruits. He had also called a small meeting with Tray, Blake, Sebastian, and his brother Devlin. They needed to hear the news he had, and see the new recruits. He was hoping they would agree to help out.
He found them all waiting in his office. He told them what the military was going to do. “We need to brainstorm and talk about training strategies. I’m not looking forward to training fifty humans. I’ve already had huge problems convincing the six that are here that shooting the demons won’t work. I was nasty enough to show them how wrong they were. We all know that demons absorb the lead, metal, it makes them stronger. I’m telling you, it took Arden and I a good twenty to twenty-five minutes to bring down the demon after having his powers boosted. I kid you not, they then suggested wooden bullets. Yeah, like that would work. It would just make them more pissed. I swear I’ve only just healed from that demonstration.