Was that a threat? Yep. That was definitely a threat. “Not a chance,” she snapped, drawing on anger to camouflage panic.
Nick turned Freddy and shoved him toward the door. “We need to take this somewhere else,” he muttered.
“Not me,” Freddy said. “Really. This isn’t my fault.” He pushed back against Nick, his voice dropping to a whine. “I just wanted to get laid. Whatever she’s into, I’m not a part of it. Please. Let me go.”
Nick opened the door and propelled him into the snowstorm. The wind shrieked, blowing snow inside.
Adare grasped her upper arm. “Now.”
She tugged free. “Absolutely not.”
“I wasn’t asking.” For a big male, he moved surprisingly fast. He ducked his head, and within a heartbeat, she was over his shoulder, heading toward the door.
Her chin hit his lower back, and her stomach lurched, the alcohol she’d consumed stirring around. She pounded against his waist with her good hand, not close to stopping him. This was a disaster. Panic grabbed her, and she tried to struggle but could barely move. “Let me go. Now.”
“Hold on to your strength, Grace. You’re going to need it.” With that, he took her into the storm.
Chapter 2
Adare waited with supreme patience in the driver’s seat of the SUV while Grace glared at him from the passenger seat and Nick delivered Freddy, not so gently, to his front door. Or rather, to his mother’s front door, since the moron lived in her basement. By the time Nick was finished with his lecture, Freddy would not only forget they existed but would never try to pick up a woman on the internet again.
Grace huffed.
He held on to his patience because he was a patient male. Damn it.
“I could’ve taken my own car,” she muttered.
“That was barely a car,” he retorted, watching the snow billow outside. The female was lucky he’d allowed her to fetch her belongings from the death trap. He didn’t have time for this, considering his mission commenced in less than twenty-four hours. “I’ll have somebody pick it up tomorrow.”
She crossed her arms. “I could pick it up tomorrow.”
The tightness of his jaw was beginning to give him a headache, so he took pains to loosen it before answering her. “You have a bank account with a hundred thousand dollars in it as well as unlimited funds on various credit cards. Why you were driving that heap of junk is beyond me.” She had to be smarter, since he probably wasn’t going to make it past the week.
She turned toward him, setting one leg beneath her to face him. “I don’t want or need your money.”
“You’re my mate,” he said.
“Hah.”
What the hell did that mean? He exhaled slowly. Out of all the females in the universe, why did this one small human get under his skin? “I understand it wasn’t a conventional mating, but it happened nonetheless. You’re my responsibility.” By the widening of her eyes, he could tell she didn’t like that. Too bad. It was the truth.
The back door swept open and Nick jumped inside the car, bringing snow and wind with him. “We’re good. Let’s get out of here.” All pure-bred demons had rough voices that sounded like their vocal chords had been mangled; after the night they’d had, Nick sounded like he’d been eating gravel all day.
Adare owed him one for this. He backed out of the driveway, turning the vehicle toward the mountains. “Nicolaj Veis, please meet Grace Cooper. My…mate.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” Nick slid to the side to better study Grace from the back seat. “Although you are a surprise. Adare? Why do you keep so many secrets?” The question in his eyes was more than obvious. How could Adare go on their mission the following day when he had a mate?
She twisted even more to face him. “It’s nice to meet you, as well. I’m not really Adare’s mate.”
Nick rubbed his smoothly shaven chin. “Okay.” He glanced from one to the other. “Proposed mates?”
Adare sighed. “No. We mated.” He glanced in the rearview mirror. “Can’t you sense it?” Normally the mating bond was easily discerned by other immortals, but what did he know?
Nick studied Grace. “Well, kind of, but it’s not as strong as I would’ve assumed.”
“We didn’t really mate,” Grace said, a slight pink flushing her cheekbones. “I was in a coma, about to die, and Adare bit me and marked me. No…well, ah, sex.”
Nick’s eyebrows shot straight up. “You can’t mate without sex.”
