Right.
He brought her to stop me from feeding from Nova. “Well, then she can meet the rest of the group. You will all treat her with the respect due as my fated mate.”
I don’t miss Axe’s slight wince, which puts me on edge. “What did you do?”
“Nothing,” he replies, clearing his throat. “I was pissed that she hadn’t fed you, and you had to go to Nova even though I knew it was killing you.”
“Axe,” I snarl in warning.
“I just asked her a few questions.”
“Like?” I press.
If he upset her in any way, I’m going to kick his ass. He might be the heir here, and the next king, but no one hurts what is mine.
“Like if she can cook. She can’t, by the way.” He smirks.
“I don’t give a fuck. What else did you ask her?” I snap, knowing that isn’t the worst of it.
“If she thinks she’s worthy of you…” He can’t even get another word out before I have him by the throat and slammed up against the brick kitchen wall.
“Bane—” Kai barks as he and August try to pull me off Axe.
I lower my face to his. “I’m the one not worthy of her. If you say anything else to her or upset her in any way, we’re going to have a problem.”
“I’m sorry.” He swallows, not fighting me back. And I know he could. With my hands on him, Axe could mirror my magic and give me an evenly-matched fight or even use my powers against me if he wanted to.
I let him go, and he takes in a deep breath of air. “Fuck. If I become this unhinged when I meet my mate, someone just do me a favor and put me out of my misery.” He pushes off the wall and storms out of the kitchen, turning back to Kai and August. “Come on, I need to get laid and work off some tension.”
Kai looks at me and smirks, then walks out after him.
August lingers, rubbing the back of his neck. “Fuck, I wish I were you right now,” he finally murmurs, then also leaves.
I strip down to a pair of shorts and go outside to punch a boxing bag, getting some of my aggression at Axe out. Saylor never said anything about Axe, and I wonder why she didn’t tell me. I’m dripping in sweat when I feel her presence behind me.
“Sunshine…” Her name is like an oath on my lips as I turn around to take her in. She’s wearing a long pink and purple dress that clings to her curvy body like a second skin, and her hair is in a bun with some long wisps framing her round-shaped face.
“Don’t stop on my account,” she murmurs, licking her lips. “I’m enjoying the show.”
“Come here,” I order, and not caring about my sweaty body, she wraps her arms around me. “How did it go with your brothers?”
I feel her smile against my skin. “It was surprising, actually. They seem to be happy to make me your problem. They even wished you good luck.”
Grinning, I kiss her temple. “What, no threats of bodily harm?”
“There was some of that,” she admits, surprising me by licking my nipple. I don’t know why, but after the toe thing, I should know to expect anything from her. “Do you know how sexy you look right now?”
“I was just thinking the same thing about you,” I say, lifting her. She wraps her legs around me. “I’m going to take you to my bed and show you how much I missed you. But first, I want youto tell me what Axe said to you before he brought you to me and why you didn’t tell me.”
Her eyes widen slightly. “He just asked me a few questions. It was annoying and, yeah rude, but he was just looking out for you. I never felt unsafe with him.”
“Anyone even breathes in your direction the wrong way, you tell me,” he orders, and I nod.
“Okay, but you know I’m a big girl, right? I can handle myself. And I can definitely handle your brothers,” she replies, burying her face in my neck and kissing me.
“No one disrespects you, Sunshine.”
She lifts her face and cups my cheeks with her silk-gloved palms. “You can disrespect me all you want,” she says in a low, sultry tone.