Page 15 of Cherished By Her Guardian

“Oh sure,” he said, waggling his brows. “I plan to keep youverybusy.”

Her stomach took that moment to growl, and she pressed her hand to her belly, but it didn’t do a thing to cover the sound.

“Hungry?”

“How could you tell?”

She slid from his lap. He rose to his feet, and she got an eyeful of the erection that strained his pants, the outline of the thick length making her mouth water and her body heat another hundred degrees or so.

“Hey, my eyes are up here,” he said. He pulled her to her feet, and she leaned against him with a laugh.

“Sorry, you’re sexy.”

“So are you. Now how about we go to the cafeteria for breakfast. I have coffee, but that’s about it.”

“Sounds good to me. Then?”

“Then I’d like to take you on a date, and I’d like to ask you to stay with me tonight. Would you like me to take you to your place to pack a bag?”

“That would be great. Then I can talk to my parents too. There’s a really nice bistro outside of town, we could go there to eat.”

“Perfect. I’ll put in a request for an escort, and you can reach out to your parents about a visit. I’m sure they’d appreciate knowing you were bringing home a wolf.”

“Not just any wolf,” she said. “My mate.”

After breakfast in the employee cafeteria, which consisted of made-to-order omelets and a buffet of every imaginable breakfast item, Winterlyn reached out to her parents and spoke to her mom about finding Declan and wanting to bring him home for a bit that day. Her mom wanted all the details, but Winterlyn said she’d explain everything in person.

She hung up the phone in the security office and turned to face Declan. “My mom wants us to have dinner with her and my dad, but I told her we’d do it after the holidays since we have a date tonight.”

“She sounded surprised,” he said.

“I’m sure she is. Plus, she’ll be even more surprised when she hears how we met. What with me being an idiot and everything.”

“You’re not an idiot,” he said. He pulled her close, his fingers digging lightly into her back. “Plus, if you hadn’t come here,we probably would never have met. The foxes aren’t part of the Guardians, just polar bears, wolves, and snow leopards.”

“I’ve always wondered why that is. Our people are great in cold weather.”

“I think because at the time the Guardians were established, ours were the three groups that were willing to send people to the North Pole to guard the Well. I think if Santa asked now, more groups would join, but it’s not necessary.”

“Are any of the Guardians mated?”

“Two, three if you count me. Storm is a polar bear and his mate is Seren and she’s human. They’re deciding where to live after Christmas—Pennsylvania or Ohio. And Knox is a snow leopard, and his mate is Ivy, an elf. Since he’s the alpha, they’re moving down to his leap after the holidays. He was filling in for one of his leopards who had an ill family member, and he’ll be back after the holidays.”

“That’s pretty neat,” she said. “Sounds like this has been a good year for mates.”

“It’s certainly been great for me.” His voice dropped low at the end.

“Hey, none of that,” Hunter said as he looked over his shoulder at them. “We all have to work still. And most of us are still single.”

“Sorry,” she said with a laugh.

“I’m not. Who’s escorting us to Arctic Pines?” Declan asked.

Hunter swiveled in the chair to face them. “I’ve got Finn and Carver on deck. They’ll meet you in about ten minutes. How long do you think you’ll be?”

“We’re going to dinner too, maybe nine,” he answered.

“Okay, you know the drill. Holler when you’ll be back at the meeting spot, and we’ll have people meet you there.”

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