Chapter Four

Get yourself together. You’re not sixteen on your first date. The voices in her head weren’t paying attention. They were taking sneak peeks at him while the butterflies were making it hard for her to eat. She should enjoy it. There was no guarantee it would happen again.

She cut her steak took a bite and closed her eyes as she moaned. It was that good. Food hadn’t tasted this good since she was a kid. Exactly what was in that drink he made her?

“Taste your steak it’s excellent.”

Her mouth twitched as he cut it and raised it to his lips not taking his eyes off her. She was going to blush if she hadn’t already. She was used to getting her share of attention, but he didn’t seem to notice anyone except her.

His eyes blazed a little as he ate his steak and she gave up thinking her panties would be enough of a barrier to keep the wetness from trickling down her legs. This could get embarrassing.

She ate some more and fidgeted. It was the way he looked at her as if she were precious or special.

“You have a strong jaw and firm lips.” Open mouth, what was she thinking? “I meant to say maybe one day you would let me draw you.”

“I would like that.” His smile almost took her breath away.

She could picture him as a warrior defending the Earth against enemies. There was her imagination running wild again. Not knowing what else to do she reached into her purse and pulled out a case that she kept filled with pencils. Their drink menu was on paper, and the back was blank. She flipped it over, and with a practiced eye, she began to sketch him.

He ate as he watched her. She held it up when she was done. It was raw and fast, but it was him.

“This is good. You're very talented.”

“Thanks, I always liked to draw even as a child. I think the thing that took me by surprise was that I could make a living at it. Not immediately but eventually I became good enough that people were willing to pay for what I do for fun.”

“Do you do portraits?”

“Sometimes, I started out that way. I also had a street vendor license and sold my pictures that way for a while.”

“How do you sell them now?”

“Website. I find it easier than renting space in a mall. My reach is greater. Over the years, I have built up a special clientele who like more futuristic pictures. That pays the best, but I have a special site for those.”

He opened his mouth but closed it as the waiter came back to their table.

“Would you like dessert?”

“We would today is Safire’s birthday.”

“We have a birthday girl in the house. The waiter gave her a genuine smile.”

“I’ve got just the thing for you.”

“I’ll have whatever she’s having.” The waiter nodded and headed off.

“They’re going to sing now.” She gave a half groan.

“You deserve it.”

“I like you. I mean, I like the way you treat me. You don’t know me, but you keep thinking the best of me.”

“Isn’t that the way it should be?”

“Sometimes, but in this day and age everyone always seems to be suspicious.”

A few of the men she had relationships with came back to her. They taught her that being suspicious was the name of the game.

Several waiters and waitresses came to their table singing. The people around them got into the act and the birthday she thought would be pitiful ended up being one of her best.

“Thank you.” She waited until they walked away to say that.

“Your welcome. The day of your birth should be celebrated.” They dug into their hot fudge chocolate cake.

His eyes lit up as he tasted the chocolate and the vanilla ice cream. He needed to get out more often to eat.

We could help him with that.

Take him out to dinner more often.

Jump his bones when we get home.

Suck his dick like it’s a…

Enough. She had spent years quieting the voices in her head so she would fit in with polite society. One date was all it took to bring them back. She was so screwed.

“Thank you for dinner.” She wanted the night to continue, but now that the voices were back, maybe she should call it and just go home.

“Your welcome.” He paid the waiter when he brought the check, now they were standing in front of her car.

What should she do? She couldn’t leave him stranded, but the more she was in his presence, the more she felt different. It wasn’t anything she would have noticed at another time, it just seemed like tonight was monumental.

“Can I take you somewhere?”

Her neck went back as she looked up at him. She should say no, safety first, except she trusted him. Deja wouldn’t have let her walk out of there if she thought her friend was in any trouble.

“Yes.” She handed him the keys and walked to the passenger side of the car. She would know soon enough if she had made a mistake.

He got in and pushed the seat all the way back. She watched wondering where males as tall as him came from because the whole club was like him. Did they have their own special town?

They drove in silence with the radio playing low. He brought her to a neighborhood she knew about but didn’t frequent. He parked the car, and she got out. They were on a dead-end street with about six houses and a view of the city that was breathtaking.

“I found this site when I was exploring the city one night.”

There was a hillside with a steep drop off. There was a barrier with a sign telling them to stay back. He helped her cross the barrier, they walked until they were standing at the edge of the hillside that went straight down. The water was lit up from the lights on the bridge. It looked ethereal almost as if it were a different planet.

“This is beautiful.”

“Your right.”

She looked up to see him staring at her. A smile touched her lips, and she didn’t care because when a male showed this much appreciation, she would be a fool not to enjoy it. They sat down, and she scooted a little closer. He took her into his arms keeping the slight chill of the night away.

“Where did you plan to be tonight?” His deep voice was quiet when he asked the question making her not want to brush him off.

“When I was growing up I had this plan to go to medical school. I was going to be a doctor, a surgeon. The best you’ve ever seen. By the age of thirty, I was supposed to have a thriving practice, a husband, at least one child, and a beautiful house.”

“How close did you come?”

“I went to school but ended up taking art classes. I don’t regret it I love to draw and paint, but I can do phenomenal things with an art program and have even been instrumental in helping several companies get off the ground with my graphics. I have no children. I never got married. I’m close to buying that house. I almost have enough in savings to get my dream home. So, in the end not too bad.”

“Why were you so upset today?”

“It’s silly but I assign things a time table and when they don’t happen when I think they should happen or how I think they should it sometimes rocks my world. What about you? Have you ever felt that way?”

“No, I never had that opportunity. I grew up knowing that my life was planned for me. I accepted it and did what I was told, or the consequences would be unimaginable.”

“That doesn’t sound like you had a nice childhood.”

“Calling it a childhood would be a stretch.” He stood and extended a hand to help her up.

They walked back to her car before he turned over the keys.

“I can take you back to the club.” She was adjusting her seat when she spoke.

“You could, or you could take me home with you.”

Hot damn, did he just say that?

Think! He’s nice, but we don’t know him well enough.

You don’t do one night stands remember.

So break a rule.

The last was the alien that lived in her head. She had done everything by the book, and here she was thirty and alone. There was no shame in that, but she wanted a different life.

Quietly she started the car. She knew better, of course, she knew better. This was her crossroads. Either she took him home and walked down the path set before her or she tried a different path that might be filled with heartbreak. With the possibility of heartbreak came the possibility of love. Her head shook, she wouldn’t think of love she would simply exist in the moment.

He was quiet until she came to a stop pulling into the parking space she considered hers.

“This is home.”

He got out and came to stand beside her door as she slowly collected her things and got out. A sense of fate weighed her down. She took the hand he offered and led him into the building.

“I live on the third floor. It felt safer to me when I moved in. Harder for anyone to reach me, and yes I know if they want to get up here they will.”

She opened the door and allowed him to enter her apartment. She scanned it with a critical eye at least it was clean.

“Thank you for bringing me home.”

She swallowed hard and closed the door.

“I think we should talk about what you expect.”

“I don’t expect anything.”

“Sex.”

“No. I don’t expect sex. I want to spend more time with you.”

“What aren’t I good enough for you?”

He’s looking at us like we’re crazy.

That’s because we are crazy.

Well maybe—.

Shut up. She worked so hard to fit in. How could it all go up in smoke in a matter of hours?

Her head rose looking at him the fear that she was going crazy was in her eyes.

He walked over to her and took her into his arms holding her tight.

“Hold on Fire. I should have waited, but I didn’t. I needed to know if you had the potential.”

“The potential?”

Her head was buried in his chest as the voices went silent for a few minutes.

“I needed to know if you were Alpha. The drink I gave you.”

“You think I am Alpha because I drank some alcohol?”

“Yeah. You’ll understand eventually, but it may awaken some things in you that have been lying dormant. You can handle them.”

“Thanks, the next time you give me a drink tell me what’s in it first.” She stepped back and looked at him a frown on her lips.

“I told you, Alpha.”

Her lips quirked before she laughed. “You know most Americans aren’t into that Alpha, beta thing. Although I did some research on it when I was younger. I found it kind of fascinating. It’s popular in the wild, and I hear it a lot when it comes to wolves. The Alpha leads the pack and the beta backs him up.”

“I’ve read that also.” He took her hand and lead her to the couch.

“Did you know that there was an Alpha female?”

“I’ve heard. Do you know what the Alpha female does?”

She gave him an incredulous look. “Everyone knows that. She protects her male.”

“And he protects her.”

“I guess it’s a two-way street.” She looked up at him. His eyes were shining, and the look on his face called to her.

Kiss him.

Now Fire.

Who was she to argue with the voices in her head?

She lifted up and kissed him.