Page 34 of Unforgivable Fate

“See you tonight.” He gave her another quick peck on the lips before turning and jogging back towards the Enforcers.

He didn’t look back. He couldn’t. If he did, if he saw her staring after him with that mix of heat and desire in her beautiful eyes, the last shreds of his control would snap and he’d lose it. He didn’t glance back but he knew she was watching him because he could sense her eyes on him and feel her nearness through the burgeoning bond.

“Okay, okay. Show’s over.” Darius barked at his men, “Get back to work.”

“And you…” He pointed at Griffin, his hard stare at odds with the smile he was trying to hide. “You’re running laps.”

“What?” Griffin gaped.

“You heard me. Laps. Nobody walks out on my training sessions, not even my future brother-in-law.” Darius laughed but nudged his head towards the dirt track, “You better get started or you’re never going to make that date.”

Griffin snorted, shaking his head but jogging to the track before picking up his pace. He should have known with their enhanced wolf hearing that Darius and the others had heard everything he said to Nova. Not that he cared that they’d been listening in since she’d agreed to go on a date with him. And he knew Darius was only making him run because it’s what he’d have done to any of his wolves who walked away from a practice.

He ran sprints until he felt sick from the heat and was so exhausted he thought his legs might give out. He ran until Darius took pity on him and told him he could stop. And even when he collapsed to the ground, covered in sweat and panting for breath, he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face.

Because Darius had called him his future brother-in-law. Because the guys were treating him like he was as much a part of the pack as they were. And because tonight, he had his first date with his fated mate.

This, he thought, was what he’d been looking for all his life.

CHAPTER TWELVE

It was two minutes until seven when the knock sounded on Nova’s door. She narrowed her eyes and waited but the knock came again. With more curiosity than she could contain she moved to the back door where the knocking had come from. She’d been waiting by the front door but clearly Griffin was up to something since he’d snuck around the back and she couldn’t wait to see what it was he had planned.

She’d been so nervous all afternoon that she’d called Maya to tell her what was happening. Her sister had sounded surprised that Nova had changed her mind about keeping her distance from her mate but she’d also seemed happy to hear it. All of her siblings had made it clear they thought she should give Griffin a chance and though she’d tried to ignore them, and him, she knew that she couldn’t push him away forever. Maya had offered to come over and help her choose what to wear but she’d dismissed that idea. She was a grown woman and she could pick her own clothes, even if she’d never really been on a date before in her whole life. She’d promised Maya she’d call her tomorrow with the details and hung up with her sister feeling even more anxious for her first date than she’d been when she picked up the phone.

Her first date. Tonight was her first date with Griffin but it was also her last first date. He was her fated mate. However tonight went, she knew that she wouldn’t be able to hold herself back from the mating heat and ignore the bond between them for much longer.

If she didn’t give in to it before the full moon, her wolf would make sure that she did. Nova didn’t want things between them to be like that. She might not know Griffin well yet but that was her own fault for pushing him away. She would get to know him better, starting tonight, and once she did then she was certain she’d know for sure if fate had been right to put them together or if it all really was some sick joke.

“Coming.” She called before she pulled the door open, which was good, because if she’d waited until she saw Griffin she wouldn’t have been able to speak.

The sight of him took her breath away.

He wore hiking boots with dark wash jeans. A simple army green t-shirt clung to his biceps and stretched across his broad chest. With the sun setting, the October night had a slight chill and he’d tossed a beanie on over his short hair which somehow had the strange effect of making him look adorable and dangerously sexy all at the same time.

He’d showered since their run-in earlier and she could smell the fresh, woodsy scent of his skin and something musky that could have been cologne or soap. Whatever it was, her wolf scented her mate the moment she opened the door and purred in response, pressing against Nova’s skin, wanting to be set free so she could rub herself all over him and mark her mate.

Nova clenched her fists to keep from reaching out to him. All she wanted to do in that moment was grab him by the front of his shirt and pull him into the house. She wanted his mouth on her again, his hands on her body, and she wanted her fantasy to be made real.

“Wow.” Griffin’s deep voice drew her back to reality and she suppressed a shudder when she met his heated gaze. “You look incredible.”

She shrugged as if she hadn’t spent an hour agonizing over if she was too dressed up or not enough. She’d been frustrated as hell that he wouldn’t tell her where he was taking her. Didn’t he know that women needed to know their destination so they could dress appropriately? They weren’t like men who could get away with nice jeans and a pair of Timberland’s anywhere from a fancy lobster house to a shack down on the bayou.

Eventually she’d decided that even though he’d told her to dress casually that there was nothing wrong with going a little bit above and beyond her normal attire of shorts and tank tops. She’d found a cute floral patterned sundress that she’d only worn a couple of times and tossed a knit cardigan over it to keep warm in case the restaurant was cool. She’d paired the dress with some sparkly sandals that she was certain she’d bought for a special occasion but never worn and to top it off she’d added a dab of eyeshadow and lipstick.

“Thank you.” She felt her skin heat at the compliment, “You clean up pretty well yourself.”

“I’m glad you think so.” He grinned that wide, white-toothed smile that made butterflies twirl in her belly. “Are you ready to go?”

“That depends. Are you going to tell me where we’re going now?” She teased even as she flipped the porch lights on so she wouldn’t be coming home to a dark house and stepped outside.

“I can give you a hint.” He held up the hand she had only vaguely noticed he was holding behind his back and she laughed.

“Where on earth did you get a picnic basket?”

“Bear actually.” Griffin grinned. “He dug it out of a closet for me when I told him what I wanted to do.”

“He’s one of the good ones.” Nova agreed before glancing from the wicker basket back at her clothes. “Maybe I should change if we’re…”

---