Page 14 of Tara's Warriors

A look of pain flashed over his handsome face as he held out a hand. “Wait, I am sorry. Please forgive me for my offense.”

Tired, mad at herself for desperately wanting what she couldn’t have, and over everyone looking at them, she started for the back of the restaurant. “Nothin’ to forgive. Gotta go. Please enjoy your meal.”

“Please…” He closed the distance between them, almost close enough to touch. “Let me take you on a date.”

Blushing furiously, ignoring the customers literally leaning in their chairs in order to hear their conversation, Tara shook her head. “Look, I’m flattered, but you’re way too young for me.”

“No, you are not.” The guy leaned closer and lowered his voice. “You are prefect.”

“Honey, I’m so far from perfect, it isn’t even funny. I’m not only old enough to be your mom, I’m a grandmother.”

“You have children?” his expression grew stricken. “You are mated?”

“What? I don’t know what mated means, but I’ve got a daughter who is the sun of my life and a granddaughter who is my moon. Your reaction proves that you’re way too young for me.”

She didn’t give him a chance to respond, instead ducking back into the kitchen like a coward.

Sugar Baby glanced up from her grill, her thick brows raised as she smirked. “Looks like you got an admirer. Sweet young thing that’ll be easy to train.”

“Shut up,” she muttered as she went back to the storage room to basically hide.

Once the door to the large storage room closed, she leaned her head back and stared up at the long florescent lights extending out over the water stained ceiling tiles.

Her body burned, ached, and she was so turned on, she was fairly sure she could get herself off with just her hand—which would be a miracle because she usually couldn’t orgasm without one of her trusty vibrators. But her throbbing pussy assured her release would be easy. For a moment, she was tempted, which only showed how screwed up in the head she was. The thought of being caught masturbating in the restaurant helped kill her out of control arousal, and she set her bin down on a nearby table with a huff.

Okay, it was official—she needed to get back out there and date. Someone closer to her age. A grown man who knew how to please a woman, not that ridiculously handsome creature who’d made her feel more alive, more like herself, than anyone else had in ages. He was probably terrible in bed, used to his looks getting him by. The kind of guy who’d be selfish and wouldn’t make an effort to do anything other than get himself off.

He’d probably be the kind of guy that liked to watch himself fuck in a mirror. She could just picture it. He’d have some ridiculously big bed, and a giant antique mirror facing it on one wall. No doubt he’d have his woman on her hands and knees, his enormous form dwarfing her small, pale one as he filled her with one long, slow stroke, holding her gaze the whole time. And she’d bet he was the kind of guy with a big dick. He’d probably also have an amazing set of abs, that would flex and ripple as he began to move behind her, his cock stroking her just right…

Squeezing her thighs together, Tara moaned at the sensation and chastised herself once again. Okay, so obviously he’d be ‘private time’ material in her future bedroom sessions with herself, but that was it. He was probably long gone, just another person drifting in and out of their small town. But how did he know her name? She didn’t wear a nametag like the waitresses.

Maybe he was a trucker and had heard about her. Her family’s diner was well known among the truckers that drove through this rural part of Georgia as a great place to stop for a refuel and a bite to eat.Yeah, that is probably it.He probably asked for a recommendation from his fellow drivers on where to eat and her name came up.

Feeling better about the situation, she tried to ignore the sensation of melancholy that came over her. What she wouldn’t give to be twenty years younger, to have been able to smile back at the handsome young man without a care in the world, to see where things would go between them. But he was just too young for her, a kid with his whole life ahead of him. Besides, he’d been genuinely shocked that she had a grandchild. Yes, she’d had Lacey when she was eighteen, and Lacy had Jillian when she was seventeen, but Tara was honest enough with herself to know she had the fine lines and wrinkles of someone who’d lived a busy life and didn’t always use enough sunblock. Even if she indulged the silly idea of going on a date with him, people would see them in public together and assume mother and son out to dinner instead of a man and woman out on a date.

Placing her hands on the table, she rolled her neck, trying to release some of the tension. Normally, she was happy with her life, content with what she had and who she was, but every once in a while, she was reminded of all the wonderful things she was missing because her husband died so young. If she was being honest with herself, she was terribly lonely. Not just for the warmth of a man’s arms, but for the companionship, for the security that came with knowing a good man had your back. Yes, she was proud of herself that everything she had she’d worked for and provided herself, but it would be so nice to come home to a handsome partner who’d meet her at the door with a glass of wine and a kiss. Someone she could share her days and nights with who’d fill the empty space in her life with love and laughter.

A man with teal eyes and skin like gold.

Tangled up in yearning dreams of the present and the past, Tara flicked off the light switch on her way out of the storage room then wiped away a tear and returned to her normal, lonely life.

Chapter 5

Phin

The moment his blood brother exited the transport deck, looking odd in his human disguise and clothing, Phin sprinted to his side. While Phin had been on the African continent trying to catch a hint of theiralyah’ssoul, Karwin had been in North America and had found their wife. Their future. Their salvation.

Grasping Karwin by the shoulders, Phin was practically vibrating with anticipation as he asked, “Where is she? Who is she? Tell me all about her!”

Instead of joy, a profound feeling of despair radiated from his blood brother, and Phin’s happiness at finally having found their bondmate withered in his chest.

Dropping to his knees, Karwin lowered his head and whispered, “Forgive me, brother. I have failed. She rejected me.”

The sight of a Kadothian Warrior on his knees brought those around them to a halt, curious as to why a Warrior would debase himself in such a way. A Kadothian male would normally only kneel before his bondmate, his Matriarch, or someone he had grievously wronged. Phin barely paid any of them attention, dropping to his knees instead to rest his forehead against Karwin’s. The physical contact steadied them both.

“Tell me,” he said gently. “What happened?”

“I was a fool,” Karwin said in an anguished whisper. “I felt her almost instantly when I reached our base in the Earth territory known as Georgia. Her soul shone so bright, it was like…like a beacon calling me. Instead of following protocol, instead of alerting the base that I had found her, instead of taking time to research her, I charged right in like an immaturebaldainbull on his first run outside of the birthing pit.”

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