“I—” She felt dizzy again, and she had to lower her head for a moment and breathe deeply. Then she lifted her gaze to look at him—really look at him. The sun seemed to spark the highlights in his golden-blond hair, and his eyes were clearer than any winter morning sky she’d ever seen. It was like she had been smothered with a blanket her whole life, and now it was lifted off so she could see the world in a whole new way. Was this how he felt, too, when he looked at her? Yes, a new voice whispered inside her, banishing all the self-doubt from her mind and warming every dark and dreary part of her. “I can feel it.”
The smile that spread on his face was more dazzling than any sunrise she’d seen. “Good. I love you, baby. Now, let’s go home.”
There was nothing she wanted more.
Chapter Eleven
Gabriel watched Temperance in wonder as she slept in his arms. They were truly bonded and mated now, and he couldn’t be more content. His lion roared with pride, too, then swished its tail back and forth smugly as if telling him, I told you so.
You did, buddy, he replied, happy for his animal to have this one. His arm tightened around her as he nuzzled her temple. She stirred, but didn’t wake.
Yet despite it all, there was something bothering him, an inkling that things weren’t as settled as they should be. Call it a gut instinct, but he had a feeling getting rid of Vicky had been almost too effortless. The lioness was never one to give up so easily, at least not without destroying as much as she could before she did eventually go down. The last apartment he rented had suffered so much damage, it had been cheaper to buy it from the landlord. He knew he would have to stay on his guard until he could find out if Vicky was going to retaliate so he could protect Temperance with everything he had.
Of course, it wasn’t just Vicky he had to watch out for. There was the issue of his family, Gen in particular. It had been a relief that Temperance didn’t believe in Vicky’s lies, and that she didn’t break up with him for keeping his family “tradition” a secret. He didn’t mean to keep it from her, really, it was just he’d been too concentrated on winning her first. But the truth was, though Gen would find out one way or another, he couldn’t dig up any fucks to give. Temperance was his mate, they were fully bonded, and no one could get in between them.
He caught a couple hours nap before it was time to get up again. After getting ready, he drove Temperance to the cafe and made plans to pick her up after five. He was unhappy about her car and house situation, but he knew she liked her independence and her job, too, so he wasn’t going to push it. His lion, of course, was having none of that. It was urging him to move her into their den as soon as possible, but he wanted to let Temperance set the pace.
“Everything okay?” Damon asked when Gabriel walked into his office later that morning.
“Yeah. I just wanted you to be the first to know that Temperance and I bonded last night.”
A rare smile spread across Damon’s face. “Are you serious? Congratulations.” He got up and rounded his desk to give Gabriel a quick hug and pat on the back. “Anna Victoria will be thrilled. Listen, I was thinking we should have dinner tonight. It’ll give the girls a chance to get to know each other.”
“Sounds great, but we can’t stay out late,” he said.
“I’ll call Anna Victoria, and maybe we can meet on Main Street? How about Giorgio’s at six thirty?”
“That should give me enough time to drive down and pick her up.”
“Great. Anna Victoria’s been dying to meet your Temperance.”
Your Temperance. He had to admit, he liked the sound of that. “Awesome, I gotta go start my patrol. See you later, man,” he said, waving as he left the office.
Later, while on break, he called Temperance and managed to catch her on the phone to tell her about dinner.
“I don’t know, Gabriel …” she trailed off.
He didn’t need to know why she was so apprehensive. “Damon’s my best friend and Anna Victoria is his bonded mate. I really, really want them to meet you. But if you need some time, I understand. However, you should know that eventually, I’ll have to introduce you to them.”
“I …” She paused. “All right. I’ll meet you at the restaurant, is that okay? I wanna go home first and get dressed up.”
“Whatever you need, baby,” he said, feeling relieved. “See you there.”
The rest of his shift was uneventful, and soon he was driving down to Main Street. Gabriel was the first one to arrive, but Anna Victoria and Damon were there, and to his surprise, J.D. was there too.
“We were doing wedding stuff,” Anna Victoria said sheepishly. “I hope you don’t mind that I invited J.D., too.”
“I wanted to meet this genius who came up with that plan for Vegas,” J.D. said with a chortle. “I can’t believe you’ve been keeping her from us all this time.”
“I wasn’t,” he said defensively. “But Temperance is shy and self-conscious.” Actually, he was glad J.D. was here, too, at least he could explain everything to all of them in one go. So, he told them briefly about Temperance’s scars without giving too much detail about her past. He’d just finished as Temperance walked through the door. “Here she is,” he beamed as he strode to the door and put an arm around her. “Temperance, this is Damon and Anna Victoria. J.D. decided to join us as well.”
“Hello,” she said shyly, keeping the right side of her face turned away from them. Though it hurt to see her have to hide, he knew he couldn’t just
