“Why?”

“I couldn’t respect myself if I went after a kid, no matter how dazzling she was.”

“I’m not a kid now. And I had four years of mate dreams to deal with.”

He winced. Oh, the mate dreams. He’d begun having those, and they were driving him insane. She had to be the strongest woman he’d ever met if she’d been dealing with them for four fucking years. “I’m sorry.” He brushed the back of his knuckles across her cheek as gently as he knew how. “I’m having them too.” His gaze followed the line of her jaw as he pressed his thumb to her lips. “Boy, am I having them.”

“And?”

Oh, the filthy things he wanted to do to her would make that pretty little blush turn even brighter. “If I thought you’d allow it I’d have you for dessert.”

Her face turned redder than her hair, but she leaned into his touch. “Thanks.”

He stroked her cheek. “You’re welcome.”

Chapter Five

Dinner hadn’t quite gone the way she’d expected, but they’d cleared at least some of the bad between them, and now they were walking off the absolutely decadent dessert they’d shared. His reasoning for not accepting her was sound, even if she didn’t agree with it. She could understand it, but not like it.

The man had ethics, she’d give him that. While she might have felt ready for the adult relationship he needed, all he’d seen was someone barely out of high school, and therefore barely legal.

Grr. Fine. She totally understood now that he’d sat her down and explained it to her. But at the time all she’d seen and heard was rejection, plain and simple.

He’d been waiting for her to grow up, and she hadn’t even seen it.

His arm tightened around her shoulders. “You okay?”

“Mad.”

“At?” He didn’t sound concerned, but he did sound…absent? Like he was listening to two things at once.

“Me.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t understand why you wouldn’t accept me when I knew we were bent to be together.”

“But now you do.” He kissed the top of her head. “I was human. And honestly? Even now, I feel a little wrong because of how young you are.”

She poked him in the side. “Get over it.”

He laughed, but the tone of it was still off.

“What’s wrong?”

He shrugged casually, but the way his body stiffened next to hers told her that there was more going on than he wanted to let on. “Nothing.”

Uh-huh. Chloe sniffed discreetly, catching a whiff of…cat?

Jim tilted his head toward her and whispered in her ear, “I hear footsteps.”

She kissed his chin, adding, “I smell cat. The shifter kind, not the Tom and Jerry one.”

They exchanged a worried glance but didn’t hurry their pace. They didn’t want whoever was following them to know that they were aware of him.

And it was a him, from the masculine scent that was layered all over the scent of cat. Chloe sniffed again and rubbed her nose, trying to see if the scent was familiar. “So.”

“So?”

“What do you have up your sleeve for date number two?” Whoever it was, it wasn’t a Puma. She knew that scent inside and out after so long in Halle.

“I was thinking perhaps a trip to the beach.”

She stumbled. “Overnight?”

“Mm-hm.”

Well. For a man who’d been reluctant to claim her he was certainly willing to move fast now. “I’d have to ask my mommy if I can have a sleepover.”

“Brat.” But he was smiling, his gaze bright with laughter.

She skipped for a few steps, humming tunelessly.

“You are never going to let me live this down, are you?”

“Nope.” And now that she had the full picture she was going to have fun with it. Maybe it would help them both get over their hang-ups.

He chuckled. “Little girl, would you like a taste of my lollipop?”

She began to giggle uncontrollably, actually snorting once or twice before she got herself back under control. “That was so bad.”

“How can you tell? You haven’t even tried it yet.” He winked when she stared up at him, shocked.

She licked her lips, blushing even harder when he groaned.

Jim pulled her tighter against him, focusing once more on where they were going. “Stop distracting me, little vixen.” He shivered. “For now, anyway.”

Chloe put her head against his chest. “It’s not a Puma,” she breathed.

“Anything familiar about it?”

She shook her head. “I fish there was.” She frowned as the scent began to fade. “College student?”

“Are there a lot of shifters at U of P?”

He sounded so surprised she had to laugh. “Yeah. Max, and Mr. Freidelinde before him, were both cool with shifters attending this branch. Not all Alphas are, so those that are okay with it let the Senate know. The Senate then sends a list out to all the Alphas for their college-bound high school students to choose from.”

“Sounds complicated.”

“It can be, especially for the hosting Alpha, but the students are aware that while they are under their home Alpha’s jurisdiction while here, they’re also subject to Max’s authority if they cross the fine he’s set for acceptable behavior.” The scent faded further, making her think they’d been worried over nothing. “I’m willing to get that’s all it was, just someone out for a stroll.”

He shrugged. “We still haven’t found your attacker, so sorry, I’m still going to worry.”

“Thanks.” She patted his chest.

“You’re mine to protect now.” The soft growl in his voice told her the Wolf was once more peeking through his control. As new as he was, she was surprised it wasn’t happening more, but Jim was turning out to have awesome self-control. “That means I worry when I sense something is wrong.”

The unknown cat scent was almost completely gone. “Whoever he was, he’s gone now.”

Jim still seemed tense, so she petted his chest, hoping to calm him. “My attacker might not be one of us. I was told there were no witnesses to who did this to me, just someone who called 9-1-1 from a payphone. Gabe never found out who it was.” She didn’t remember much of that night, just pain, pain and more pain. “But Gabe told me that other half-breeds had been attacked in the same way and left for dead.”