Page 46 of Sinful Mates

“Why not?” Zethan teased with a nudge to my side. “I’ll be walking her down the aisle.”

Slade glanced up and growled, “No, you’re fucking not,” and Zethan and I burst into laughter.

Castor’s chest rose and fell with his laughter. “I suppose I’ll be beating up any guy that wants to date or kiss her?”

Slade whacked him in the shoulder. “Fuck off! I get the privilege of killing them.”

That made Zethan, Castor, and I howl with laughter so hard it hurt when the curse became too much and Zethan and I sprang apart.

My skin buzzed with enjoyment that they already fought over the rights to special occasions with my daughter. No, our daughter.

Slade slipped into the space previously occupied by Zethan, and I leaned on his arm. “No killing, my bloodthirsty mate.”

He squeezed me to his side. “Not making any promises, Nurse A.”

Of course not. My war god loved the thrill of it.

The rest of the day continued the same way. Slade playfully bickered with Alaric, hamming it up with Mia for laughs. Castor and Zethan quipped at Slade, and me, the peacemaker, kept everyone’s emotions in check.

The only thing that destroyed the afternoon was the persistence of Danny’s demon trying to get my attention. I did my best to ignore him, but he was always there, always haunting me.

“Angel?” Alaric’s voice and fingers coming behind my ear and neck brought me back from the dark, decaying menace of a corpse cursing my nightmares and waking hours.

I shook off Danny, coming back to the present, acting like I hadn’t been lost to my demons, smiling at Alaric’s return to my side.

Two hundred feet north, Mia looped back at Slade’s whistle.

Sweet baby girl lapped up all the attention from my mates watching her, whistling, cheering, and clapping. My chest stung, wondering if her adoptive parents gave her as much attention or if they ignored her.

I glanced up at Castor, drawing his maple gaze to mine. “What were her parents like? What did they do for a living?”

Daddy’s hand shifted from my ass up to my lower back, beneath Slade’s arm curled around my shoulders. “You want to open that can of worms?”

“Not really. I just want to know if they were good to her.”

Castor’s disapproving sound discouraged me. “Dad was a fire chief, and Mom had a doctorate in Psychology. High achievers. Community spirit, participating in church activities. No arrests, drunk driving. One speeding ticket. Pretty much model citizens.”

Mia waved at us because we’d quieted, and I raised one back. “What about Mia’s school reports?”

Castor shook his free hand as if his watch bothered him. “The ones I wiped?”

That didn’t help me. “Never mind.”

Castor’s fingers scratched my back. “I kept backups in case.”

“Good, Daddy biker.” He prickled at my comment. Never did before when I called him Daddy.

Yesterday’s revelation turned me into a crazy mate that broke everything down and analyzed it. Daddy had a whole new meaning for him now and it felt a little taboo and dirty to call him that with a child in the picture.

“Does the worddaddymake you uncomfortable?”

He rolled his shoulder as if shirking it off. “A little.”

“I won’t say it again.” I gave him a reassuring squeeze, wanting to avoid anything that fed his demons and chased him away. “Thank you.”

Sensing he needed a moment, I smiled and moved to stand with my daughter.

Give him space,my body screamed.Let him come to terms with his demons. Show him you won’t abandon him.

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