KADE
"There's no drama, Nicole. We're not mating." He plucked her hand off him and looked at his watch. One minute past six. Had Lilly changed her mind? He'd never considered that she wouldn't show up. His heart dove to his toes.
"Am I interrupting?" Lilly's voice made relief jitter through him.
He turned toward her, smiling, and nearly swallowed his tongue. She wore a flirty black dress with a plunging neckline; its rippling edges ended mid-thigh. Her simple, elegant high heels were as black as her dress and clutch.
The only color in her outfit was a gold pendant necklace—its large yellow stone rested at the top of her cleavage.
Her hair had been arranged in an up-do with ribbons of hair framing her face and touching those creamy shoulders. She wore a pair of small gold hoop earrings, but no baubles on her fingers. Here was a woman who knew how to let herself shine.
"Lilly," he said. "You're late." He flicked the warning into the last word.
She smiled, flashing that dimple, and said, "I know."
His balls tightened and blood rushed to his cock. Smacking the flat of his palm against her quivering buttocks was a sexy enough image that he wanted to ditch dinner, and take her to the nearest hotel. His inner wolf scrabbled. Growled. Yearned.
Nicole, who paled in comparison to sweet, gorgeous Lilly, inserted herself between them.
She wrapped an arm around his bicep and said, "My goodness, Lilly! It's been forever. You have grandkids yet?"
Her voice dripped innocence, but the mean curve of her lips bespoke the true intent of her question. Lilly flicked her gaze to Nicole, who was unprepared for the pitying look she received. While she sucked in an affronted breath, Lilly stretched up and cupped Kade's face with one hand.
Then she kissed him.
It was a full-on assault with her succulent lips pressed against his, and the lazy sweep of her tongue drawing his own into a delicious duel.
She took her time, stamped him with her own brand of possession until his body hummed with need.
When she pulled away, her eyes as bright as sapphires, he thought he might fall to her feet and kiss those pretty ankles of hers. He felt as though he was a supplicant chosen by a goddess.
She turned to Nicole, who gaped at them in outrage, and said, "Keep your hands off my mate."
Nicole's eyes widened and she snatched her hand off Kade's arm. "Mate! That's impossible!" Her nostrils flared, and she leaned in, sniffing at Lilly. "You scented her, Kade?"
"That's what an alpha does when he chooses his mate."
"Shall we go, Kade?" Lilly arched a brow at Nicole. "By the way, honey, if you touch him again, you'll need a plastic surgeon." She looked at Nicole in a drawn-out, insulting way. "Better than the one you use now."
Nicole's mouth dropped open. But Lilly was done with the bitch. She offered Kade a sultry look and sashayed away. He stared at her backside, his cock as hard as a fucking steel rod and grinned broadly. Damn, she was definitely an alpha's mate. His mate.
***|***|***
LILLY
I'm such an idiot. Lilly Addison sat in the curved booth thigh to thigh with Kade because he'd insisted on it, and she didn't back away from a challenge.
Being the alpha's mate was a delicate balance of strength and submissiveness. Alphas weren't interested in women who would cow down to their every desire. They wanted women who were strong, and strong women pushed back.
Kade had the surety of a man who knew what he liked and didn't mind working for it. He was confident, and had settled into the maturity of his own personhood.
She'd struggled with her own identity as a younger woman. Her parents had died in a car accident not long after she'd graduated high school, and she'd been their only child.
Her college fund went toward funeral expenses and the towering amount of debt her parents had left behind. Their house barely sold above market value, and she'd found a studio apartment to hole up in while she figured out what to do next.
She took a string of low-paying jobs and went through a host of loser boyfriends. After a while, she lost any thought of a better life because every day had been a struggle to pay bills, to move forward. To survive.
She split her time between waitressing and working part-time in an offbeat bookstore near the university. It was there she'd met Professor Addison, who'd encouraged her to go back to school.
She had a mind for business, he said, and she should use it. Then he offered to fund her education, and she accepted his generosity because she was tired, so tired, of not having something of her own.
She graduated summa cum laude, and the day after the ceremonies, Saul asked her to marry him.
He was in his fifties, a man comfortable with himself and his own habits. He introduced her to the Moon Pack, to the werewolf world, and she'd been fascinated with his dual nature.
He wasn't particularly handsome and certainly not fit, but he was kind. And she'd so badly needed kindness. He knew how to tease a laugh from her. He didn't mind her flaws, her impulsiveness, and he also didn't mind she didn't love him the way he deserved. He understood that and accepted it.
He'd been a good man, and while she adored him, he never once caused her heart to flutter—not the way Kade did.
When Saul died of a heart attack, he'd gone to part-time teaching with the goal of retiring at the end of the semester. The construction on Addison Books, their dream together, had just started. She followed through with their plans and opened the bookstore. He'd left her a wealthy woman, but the bookstore gave her purpose.
She didn't dishonor her husband's memory by falling into workaholic habits. She pampered herself with visits to the spa, she took off on impromptu road trips, she visited museums and whiled away hours at cafes. Saul had taught her many things, but the most important had been about taking care of herself. Only then could she take care of others.
She let Kade order for her, let him chose the wine, and let him direct the conversation. This evening wasn't about food or drink or small talk. It was merely prelude to the final step of werewolf marriage—the mating.
Her mating experience with Saul had been sweet. She'd heard stories about other matings—ones that left the room with broken furniture and the new mates bloodied. She enjoyed making love to Saul, but it had never been rough, exciting, or overwhelming.
After the salads arrived and Kade drizzled his with an inordinate amount of ranch dressing, she asked, "Who was the girl sinking her claws into you?"