Shit! Get those thoughts out of your head right now, Mel. What the hell is going on with me?
* * * *
“She is so beautiful, Damian. Her hair has so many colors and it looks like it’s threaded with fire, and her eyes! Man, her eyes look like emeralds sparkling in the sun, and her body. Shit, I have never seen such a fragile little thing. Even though she is average height for a woman, she’s so slender it looks as if a slight breeze would whisk her away.” Luke was fascinated with his mate and couldn’t stop looking at her. He wanted to scoop her up into his arms and hold her against him forevermore.
“She is absolutely gorgeous, Luke. Her face reminds me of a pixie. Her eyes remind me of a cat with that tilt at the end. She is going to be one little wildcat in bed. She is trying to ignore the mating musk but she keeps breathing in our scent. My wolf is clawing at me to claim her and it’s a struggle to keep it under control.” Damian smiled at Melissa.
Her eyes looked hazy from the effects of the mating musk and Luke wondered if she would be able to stop herself from doing what came naturally when a werewolf met their mate. Their Alpha’s mate, Tessa Michaels, had kept Lucien, Rafe, and Gabe on their toes when they were trying to court her. He wondered if Melissa would do the same or if she would be more accepting of them.
When Melissa shifted in her seat and looked from him to Damian, Luke realized they were making her feel uncomfortable. Neither he nor Damian had said anything out loud since they’d taken their seats and neither of them had been able to take their eyes off of her. He felt a little bad about that, but he just couldn’t seem to pull his gaze away from her. She was so damn beautiful and all he wanted to do was strip her down until she was naked and sink his hard cock into her until he was balls-deep, and claim her.
“What? Why are you staring at me?” Melissa snapped.
“Sorry, little one, we don’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable, but your beauty is breathtaking,” Damian said in a low husky voice.
“Oh for goodness sake. Please don’t lie to me.”
“What makes you think I’m lying, Melissa?” Damian looked at her through narrowed eyes.
“Don’t you dare piss her off, Damian!”
“I have no intention of making our mate angry.”
“Yeah, well, you just seem to have a knack for annoying people.”
“Fuck you, Luke.”
“Anyone can see I’m not beautiful. I’m too thin, I have freckles, and my hair can’t seem to decide what color it wants to be, plus I have red in it.” Melissa glared at Damian and crossed her arms over her chest.
Oh baby, you aren’t beautiful, you’re fucking gorgeous. Luke wished he could say that out loud, but he wanted to see how Melissa interacted with his arrogant brother and didn’t want to distract her.
“Who told you that you aren’t beautiful, Melissa?” Damian almost growled that question and Luke could see that his wolf was coming to the surface. He stretched out a leg and gave his brother a kick, hoping he would get the hint and control his beast.
“No one. I’m just stating the obvious.”
“Melissa, your ‘obvious’ and mine are polar opposites.”
“Mmm,” Melissa hummed as though she still didn’t believe Damian, and then changed the subject. “Where are we?”
“We are about half an hour away from the Shifters Inn we met inconspicuously at last night, near Sugar Creek.” Damian gave her a speculative glance but didn’t say anything more.
“Shit! That’s quite a ways from where I wanted to be. Where is my car?”
“It’s still in the parking lot of the inn. I asked our friend Flynn, the manager of the inn, to keep an eye on your car. You don’t have to worry about it,” Damian explained.
“Thank you for looking after me, but I really think I should be heading home now. If one of you could give me a lift back to my car I would really appreciate it.” Melissa got to her feet and started swaying.
“I don’t think so, honey.” Luke jumped to his feet to steady her. “Doc Jonas said we had to keep a careful watch on you for the next forty-eight hours and since it’s only been just over fourteen hours, you’re not going anywhere.”
“I’m feeling much better. I’ll be fine.”
Her face had lost all color and Luke knew she wasn’t fine at all. There was no way she was leaving until she was one hundred percent healthy. If he and Damian let her go, she could end up passing out in her car while she was driving. A shudder wracked his body and guilt assailed him. If it hadn’t been for him she wouldn’t be hurt at all, but there was no way in hell she was getting behind the wheel of a car.