She blinked, as if the sight of his smile had left her feeling a bit dazed, and he couldn’t help the surge of hot, masculine satisfaction that swept through his long frame, tightening his muscles.
That’s right, beautiful. You’ve hit me exactly the same way.
Looking adorably flustered, her cheeks bright with color, she shook her head a little as she turned her attention back to the family. Elliot took a handful of the roasted peanuts from the red bowl the hostess had left for him, and absently chewed as he continued to watch the delectable Skye. Deep inside, he could feel his wolf slowly stretching its way into awareness, curious about what had snagged his attention so thoroughly, while his brain finally kicked into gear, trying to figure out what the hell was going on with him.
He’d never reacted this strongly to a woman—not even with Marly—and the logical side of his nature wanted to know why. Why her? Why now? But the rest of him was simply too buzzed to care. His blood pumped heavily through his veins and his cock was as hard as a friggin’ rock, as he fought the instinctual urge to go and toss her over his shoulder, carrying her off—caveman style—until he could get them away from the crowded diner and he could have her all to himself.
The bell that signaled that an order was up dinged, and she hurried across the restaurant, collecting the plates of burgers and fries. Elliot found himself nearly panting as she headed toward him, or rather, the booth right beside his. She was coming so close, that sexy lower lip caught in her white teeth as she blushed and avoided his gaze, and he swore he could feel the searing attraction between them actually sizzling on the air. He growled low, tossing another couple of nuts in his mouth so he hopefully wouldn’t look too threatening. God only knew what kind of expression he had on his face. Then he caught a hint of something unbelievably mouthwatering on the air, and he sucked in a deep breath through his nose as she drew closer, only to find himself rocketing into a ground-shaking, mind-shattering state of shock.
Holy...shit! Just, um, yeah. He couldn’t... He didn’t... Shit! He didn’t know anything in that moment but one blinding, brain-melting fact:
She. Was. His.
This woman... Skye... She fucking belonged to him. With him. She was his life-mate! The one person in the entire world who was meant to be his and his alone.
Jesus, he was so stunned that he sucked in an even deeper, hungrier breath of her sweet, telling scent, this time through his mouth, his wolf ravenous for the smell of its mate, and that’s when it happened. The peanuts he’d been getting ready to chew lodged deep in his windpipe, making him choke.
Son of a bitch! Here he was, a powerful, deadly Lycan who had survived harrowing situations, and he was choking in the middle of some god-awful diner, right in front of the woman nature had chosen as his perfect match. It was like some twisted cosmic joke. After everything he’d survived, he was going down because of some stupid salted nuts!
With his beast howling in his ears and his lungs burning, Elliot was about to hurl himself against the table, hoping to expel the little demons, when someone suddenly whacked him hard on the back. He coughed so violently the peanuts shot from his throat, clear across the table, where they pinged against the opposite padded seat and scattered over the floor.
Heart pounding, Elliot sucked in a much-needed breath of air, and turned his head to thank whoever had helped him.
Then he wished he’d just choked on the damn nuts.
It was Skye. She was the one who’d hit him on the back—saving him when he was there to fucking save her—and he felt the heat rise in his face. Christ, he was blushing like some gangly teenager!
“Hey, are you okay?” she asked in the sweetest, huskiest voice he’d ever heard, before giving him a shy smile.
Elliot opened his mouth, ready to say a million things at once. But nothing would come out. Despite his embarrassment over looking like an idiot, he was stuck on one short, simple phrase that kept looping its way through his head, like something set on continual repeat. Something as shocking as it was... Hell, he couldn’t even think of any other way to describe it.
All he knew was that his world, and hers, had just been hit by a supernatural lightning bolt. One that was going to change them both. Change their lives. Their future. A shocking, cataclysmic event that was going to alter every goddamn thing they’d ever known about hunger. About desire and craving and lust...
And what it was like to need another person so badly you’d not only die for them, but they were the very reason you lived.
When Elliot failed to give a verbal response to Skye’s question—just sat there staring back at her with what was no doubt a poleaxed expression on his face, his head jerking in a stiff nod—she gave him another one of those sweet, shy smiles. Then she turned and hurried back over to the kitchen window, where another one of her orders was waiting. He watched her carry the heavy tray over to one of the nearby tables, and tried to get his damn head on straight.
He’d always wondered how his life-mate’s scent would hit him, when he finally found her. If he ever found her. Had always wondered what it would feel like, when it hit him.
And now he knew.
It felt fucking incredible. Unbelievable, yeah, but so good it was about to kill him. His pulse raced, heart hammering in his chest like a drum, beating double time...triple time. Beating loud enough he wouldn’t have been surprised if the entire diner could hear it.
In that moment, he wanted so many things from her...with her. He wanted to taste her full, pink lips. Wanted to bury his face against the tender side of her throat and breathe that heady scent deeper into his lungs, getting drunk on it. Feel her plush, soft curves pressed tight against the hardness of his body.
Was it wrong that Mine, mine, mine, was still playing over and over in his head, like those goofy seagulls in Finding Nemo? It was one of Katie Dillinger’s favorites, and since the little girl was like a sister to him, he’d done his duty and watched the animated movie with her more times than he could count. The other guys ribbed him like hell about it, but he didn’t care. If Mason and Torrance trusted him to watch their son and baby daughter—an adorable little moppet who seemed to think Elliot was the best thing in the world—then he was going to enjoy every moment of it. He owed those two everything, and the fact that they treated him like an important part of their family had always been the best thing in his world.
Until now.
Until the moment he’d realized Skye Hewitt was his.
Maybe another male—a better male—would have felt bad for the girl, given how twisted his past was. But Elliot was simply too grateful to have any doubts that he could hold it together. Because he would be good for her...and with her. Jesus, this was his life-mate. He’d chew off his own goddamn arm before he hurt her.
But there is someone out there who wants to harm our woman, his wolf snarled, and he slowly curled his hands into fists under the table. Christ, he couldn’t even think of a word to describe how furious that made him. Deep inside, he was burning with it, and he knew that when the time came, and he had the bastard responsible for this shit under his claws, he would be ready for blood.
With all her other orders delivered, she’d finally worked up the courage to
