Gold(40)

He stayed away from the bridal party and mostly hung out with a group of male friends that Dante suspected might be shifters, too, based on the similar heights and builds between them.

That explained why Cliff had been stronger than he’d expected when they fought.

On the other hand, Dante didn’t know what would happen if he had to fight Cliff in shifter form while he himself wasn’t able to shift.

So right now, all he could do was keep an eye on him.

Which wasn’t easy when all his eyes wanted to do was stare at his mate.

“Last song for me I think,” she said breathlessly. “You okay to do one more?”

“I could do this forever,” he replied, meaning it with all his heart.

A youngish-looking man came up beside them, tapping her on the shoulder, “Can I butt in?”

“I will kill you,” Dante said flatly, and the man’s face paled as he turned and ran.

“He’s joking,” Ella called after him, stifling a laugh.

“I wasn’t,” Dante said. “He put his hand on you. He had no right.”

“And you have the right?” she asked, looking up at him with those sweet eyes that were allowing themselves to be more and more vulnerable.

“Of course I do,” he said. “You’re with me, right?” And as far as he was concerned, that was forever.

She sighed and let him sweep her up in another spin. The dancing they did here was different than his time, but he’d quickly picked it up. It was more like moving while lightly hugging, and he loved it. She took his lead, looking into his eyes with admiration, and he got to admire her beautiful body as they moved around the floor.

When they finished, everyone clapped for the musicians, who started another song.

Ella looked over at the table where her parents were still eating, talking to relatives, and her sister was sitting next to her fiancé.

“Do you want to get out of here?” he asked.

She looked over. “I suppose we should stay a little longer. Just to be polite.”

He didn’t want to, though. He wanted to get her home and put his hands on her. He couldn’t believe he’d even waited this long. He could already imagine peeling that dress off of her, all the things he wanted to do.

All the ways he wanted to win her over, making her fall so hard for him that by the time she found out his secrets, she would be hopelessly won.

So she would never leave.

The thought of her not choosing him struck pure fear into his soul, because now that he’d found her, there was no way he could live without her.

His eyes wandered over to Cliff again. Why did she want him to stay away from Cliff? Was she worried he’d kill the other man or that the other man would kill him? At first, he’d been offended, thinking she’d implied he was weak.

But what if it was the other way and she was worried about him hurting Cliff?

That was a dark thought, and he pushed it away. It was paranoid, and while that was normal for males in love, he wasn’t going to let it affect their time together.

“Are you okay?” she asked. “You’re getting that shady look again.”

He raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“You know, sometimes tonight you’ve just been looking off in the distance and squinting and then scowling really hard. Is something bothering you?”

Oops. “No.”

“Good,” she said. “Let’s go eat some cake.”

“Sounds good,” he said, leading her back to the table, making sure Cliff was nowhere in sight. Mine, his heart said. Mine.

While she ate, he would sit there and think about all the things he would do when they got home together. All the ways to show her exactly how he felt.





Thirteen





Ella felt nervous as she sat in the bedroom later that night, just after getting home. They’d left before the rest of their family because she’d been tired, though not wanting to admit it.

And also because she was a little worried about Dante starting something with Cliff, despite his promises not to.

She’d often caught him scanning the room, and while he didn’t admit it, she knew what he was doing.

And she was kind of flattered because she’d never been able to depend on anyone like that before. Never trusted them like that.

Maybe she was ready to trust him in other ways, too.

Or maybe not. She didn’t know.

She wanted to try, though. All night, she’d felt sexier and more beautiful than she ever had in her life. That was thanks to him.

She’d given up on trying to be beautiful. She’d satisfied herself with feeling competent. Smart. Good at her job. A good person.

But there was something about seeing a handsome man’s eyes just melt when he looked at her that just made everything inside her light up.