Laughter burst out of my body like a cannon firing. There was no holding it back. The very idea of the high and mighty, perfect killer having his boots covered in—well, I wasn’t exactly sure what my mate had eaten—but whatever it was, I wish I’d been there to bear witness. “Mate, you please me.”
“Because I puked all over Helion’s boots? I couldn’t help it. I was too nervous about what was happening to you. Wondering if they got you out in time, or if you were in that place dying alone because someone decided to do it early. Or what if they’d tried to execute you and they’d messed it up somehow? I saw this movie where the prison guard purposely didn’t wet the sponge for this guy’s head when they electrocuted him, and it was horrible. He just…burned or something. It was disgusting. And I kept thinking about you and—”
I pulled her to me and placed a finger over her lips. “I am very much alive, mate. No need to worry about me.” I would make it a priority to discover what thesemovieswere and their purpose. Were they educational material? Had she watched this during her schooling? More, I would chastise the idiot who had exposed an innocent female to such violence. “I can take care of myself. And I will take care of you.”
She pressed her cheek to my chest, then lifted her chin, looking up into my eyes.
Gods, she was small. Fragile. I would need to be most diligent in protecting her. It would be my honor to do so, my reason for breathing.
“Are you sure? You told me to get out of your cell. You refused to talk to me, let alone touch me. It was all the beast. Not you.”
I lifted her, her bottom resting on my forearm, her arms wrapped around my neck. My beast, who had been fighting to come to the surface at her words, settled because we were holding her. “The beast and I are one.”
“But—”
“No. No argument. We are one being. One heart. One mind.”
“Then why would he touch me when you refused? I don’t understand what is going on. He told me you tried to stop him.”
I saw hurt in her eyes and I hated myself for putting it there. A true mate would never harm his female, physically or emotionally. I had failed her so much already. It was a wonder she was here.
“I was trying to protect you.”
“Protect me? From what? From you?”
“No. I will never harm you. You are mine. I will protect you with my life and destroy your enemies. I will kill anyone who tries to harm you.”
“That’s a bit much, but I know. I’ve heard all this before.”
“From whom? A beast has vowed to protect you? Are you his? His mate?” I would have to challenge this male. Rip him into small pieces. I would tear his head from his body and bathe in his blood. I would protect my mate. Mine.
MINE!The beast agreed. He was ready to go to battle. Now. Right fucking now.
“No. From Max. Warlord Maxus. He’s my mom’s mate. But now he says we are his daughters, so we are under his protection, too.”
Daughters?
I had forgotten the other female, the one who looked like my mate but with brown hair instead of Adrian’s red.
I preferred red.
I calmed as her words registered. The male in the corridor. The elder female who had called my mate ‘baby girl’. Her mother. The pieces of what happened before my beast took over and fucked her—saturated our senses and our memory—slowly made their way back to me.
“If Maxus is your father, it was his duty to protect you.”
“Was?”
“You are mine now.”
Our faces directly opposite one another, my mate stared into my eyes. Searching for something. What did she need to find? Truth? Commitment? Obsession? Honor?
“I am yours, Adrian. Do you know what that means?”
“Yes. But you’re mine, too. And…I have to tell you something. It’s about how I found you. How I knew you were there. That you were mine. And it’s what made me cover Helion’s feet in chocolate chip cookies.”
“You will tell me now.”
“Don’t get bossy. I already said I was going to tell you.”
