Page 116 of Damaged Protector

I gave him a mirthful shake of my head as he wandered off to continue his rounds.

I parked in the garage and entered the house through the kitchen to find Mallori pulling a pan out of the oven. Even wearing one of my T-shirts and a forest-green oven mitt, she looked stunning.

“Hey,” she said, smiling up at me as I approached. Cupping one hand possessively around the back of her head, I pulled her to me for a long kiss. When I released her mouth, she blinked flustered eyes up at me. “Wow, that’s quite a greeting.”

“I’ve been wanting to do that all day.”

She wrapped her hand around my tie and tugged until my lips met hers once again. “And I’ve been wanting to do this.” We made out for a long while, her gloved hand curling up around my neck.

Mal patted my face with the oven mitt once we’d ended the kiss. “Go sit down. I made chicken and sour cream nachos.”

This all felt so… domestic and completely unlike me. Weirdly enough, it also felt natural. She felt natural.

“Good, I’m starving. Thanks for cooking.”

“No big deal. You’ve been on your feet for two solid days. Sorry it’s not a very fancy meal. I got distracted by my book, and when you called and said you were on the way home, I slung this together.”

“Are you kidding?” I scoffed, tugging off my tie. “I’m a guy. We would eat nachos for every meal if we could.”

Mal slapped me on my ass and shooed me toward the dining room. “Go sit down, frat boy. I already put the beer on the table.”

The nachos were fucking delicious. Mallori had coated the chunks of chicken with some kind of sour cream sauce before spooning the mixture onto chips and covering them with cheese and jalapeños. I took a long pull of my beer and eyed her.

“You’re being awfully quiet, Bee.”

Her eyes rose from her plate and she gnawed on the tip of her thumb like she always did when she was nervous. “You’re really big,” she blurted.

I took her hand and pressed my lips to the back of it. “I know, sweetheart, but it will be okay. Your body was made to take mine, and we can take all the time we need, all right?”

Her lips tipped up into a soft smile, and she looked so goddamn beautiful with her big vulnerable eyes. “Okay. I just worry since it’s my first time.” With her cheeks pinkening adorably, she dipped her chin.

The nacho I had in my hand fell back to my plate. Did she just say…

“Ever?” I croaked, and she nodded.

“Yes, I’m an official V-card carrier, still have my lady cherry, a rookie, my cork is unpopped, I have yet to open Pandora’s box, my treasure map is uncharted.” Her eyebrows lifted when I barked out a laugh at her list. “Are you surprised?”

“You could say that,” I managed to say. Rising from my chair, I rounded the table and lifted her before sitting with her in my lap. “How the hell are you still a virgin, Mal? Did you grow up in a colony populated by blind men or something?”

She giggled, and her teeth sank into her bottom lip. “I wasn’t allowed to date in high school. When I went to college, I still lived at home, but my mother couldn’t really stop me from having a boyfriend then.”

“Was your boyfriend really religious or something?”

She gave a mirthful shake of her head. “No, not at all. When Curtis found out I was still a virgin, he said he wanted us to wait.”

“Dumbass,” Hawk muttered into my hair.

“We did other things though.”

Jealousy speared through me. Which was crazy because I was certainly no saint.

“Are you sure about this, Bee? I don’t want you to feel pressured into doing anything.”

My feelings were mixed about what I wanted her answer to be. Of course I wanted to be the first one to slide into that tiny pussy of hers. What man wouldn’t? Besides that fucking moron Curtis.

On the other hand, her first time should be with someone special, not me.

Her big eyes looked up at me. “I don’t feel pressured. I want you to be the one, not because we’re in love or anything. I just know you’ll take care of me. I don’t trust anyone else.” Her hand lifted, and she nibbled on the tip of her thumb. “Unless doing it with a virgin grosses you out or something.”

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