Page 27 of Roman
Roman nodded. “That was probably Ella. She is his and Oscar’s little girl. Monroe has a little sister, Maelie, but she’s a toddler, and I know that when Oscar isn’t watching her, they have her in the childcare center. Same for his little brother, Mason.”
“I understand you used to work with him, so my question is do you just remember people easily? I couldn’t tell you any of Monroe’s kids’ names. You just named three.”
Roman chuckled. “I’m good with names, yes. It helps when you have a classroom full of students and you need to call out one specific one. Add in that it’s not uncommon to have three or four classes a day, that can be quite a few students I need to remember who is who.”
Roman turned, then stopped. I looked ahead as he rolled down his window, and after he did something out the window, the gate in front of us slowly rolled open. You could see the houses through the fence, but it was a bit of a surprise to see such large houses. There were some that were bigger up on Treasure Ridge, and I quickly learned they belonged to the different created ones.
“This is where you live?” I asked as he pulled through the now open gate.
“Yes. You as well once you’re ready.”
I couldn’t pull my eyes off Roman. He glanced at me as he turned the vehicle again. “Did I say something wrong?” The vehicle slowed even more, and then it moved into the house. I learned that this was a garage, and it was normal for vehicles to be kept inside them.
I shook my head. “No.” There was nothing in the garage except the vehicle.
“No?” Roman asked before he turned off the vehicle. “That’s good. I don’t want to push too hard with you. I know your brother isn’t exactly happy about me, and I’m sure I have that coming with how I was with the twins when they met their mates. But I also don’t want you to ever think that I don’t want you or us. I absolutely do.”
I smiled. “Good. How about we go inside and do something about that, then?” I asked. Roman looked at me, and once again, I saw his eyes darken.
“You can’t mean what you’re implying. I’m trying to behave, Beau. I promised I would.”
“I’ve never even been kissed, Roman, so I know nothing about seducing an alpha,” I told him. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t want you. I do. In my village, we would have already been mated. We would have left together yesterday. That’s just how it works. Which is why Evan reacting like he did upset me as much as it did. I don’t want to wait, Roman. Will you claim me?” I was probably pushing things, and I absolutely didn’t know what exactly I was asking for beyond sex and exchanging bites. But Roman did, didn’t he? Would he turn me down? Would I be able to survive if he did?
Chapter 11
Roman
At Beau’s question, my tiger roared in my mind. Our mate wanted us. He was ready. The human side had to stop and question things though. Did he truly know what he was asking for? It couldn’t be undone. Once we exchanged bites, we would forever be linked together.
Then he had to go and tell me just how innocent he was. Not that I hadn’t suspected. Master Edison had said much the same thing this morning, and at Beau’s words, my body went through a range of emotions: nervousness, elation, and, of course, immense desire. My mate was completely untouched. I would be the only one to ever know him in that way. It wasn’t that I was so old-fashioned that I demanded my mate be innocent, but he was, and that did things to me that I wouldn’t have expected.
“Did I say something wrong? I wasn’t supposed to say that, was I?”
At the sound of Beau’s voice, I finally snapped out of my thoughts. “No, you’re fine. What you said didn’t upset me; I’m just trying not to mess things up.” I took a deep breath to not only calm myself but hopefully get my tiger to shut up. “I don’t want to rush things between us.” I looked at Beau, who appeared like he was about to cry. “I’m not saying I won’t claim you. I will.I just want to make sure this is what you want. We can’t undo it once we claim one another, and I don’t want you to have any regrets.” I didn’t know how else to say it. I had a feeling he knew what he was asking but possibly wasn’t considering exactly what it would mean.
“We can wait,” Beau said quietly.
I wanted to kick myself just then, and my tiger roared in my mind at me. “Let’s go inside, all right? I think this is something we should discuss in there and not in the garage.”
Beau nodded and started to reach for the door. I stopped him with a gentle hand on his other arm.
“I’ll be right around. Just give me a moment.” I didn’t wait for another response and slid from the vehicle before I rushed around it to open his door. When he gave me a smile, I felt a bit of relief, but it was short-lived. I could scent that Beau was no longer as happy as he’d been just a bit ago. He now scented a bit apprehensive, and I wasn’t sure if it was because of the possibility of what we might possibly be about to do or if he was concerned he’d upset me in some way. No matter my own feelings about it, I needed him to be reassured, so I led him from the garage and into the house, where I hoped to be able to convince him that I wasn’t going anywhere.
“Oh, wow,” Beau said as we entered the house and he got a look of the inside.
“It’s pretty great, isn’t it?” I asked as I gestured to the kitchen, which wasn’t far away. “I’ve been told I’m not a terrible cook. I’m really great at simple things, but if you want anything gourmet, we will need to go out and get it somewhere.”
“I don’t need anything fancy,” Beau said.
He might not need it, but I wanted to give him everything. I was already planning on taking him out for a nice meal sometime in the very near future; I just needed to find out what he liked most. My tiger’s need to spoil our mate was strong, andthe hope was that Beau would let me pamper him as much as possible. “Do you have a favorite food? Something you would pick to eat over anything else?”
Beau smiled at me. “Apples. I absolutely love them. I think that’s why I have them in so many things at the bakery. Which isn’t right of me because I know not everyone likes apples.”
There were people that didn’t like apples? “I’m not sure how many dislike apples on Treasure Ridge. It was one of the most purchased fruits when I ran the store. We were always restocking them.” Beau’s eyes lit up. I gestured to the back room. “Can we talk? For just a bit? I want to discuss some things before I start supper.”
The happiness on Beau’s face disappeared. I absolutely didn’t want that, and I mentally kicked myself as Beau walked away from me. He was going exactly where I’d gestured, and I knew I needed to fix this without hesitation. It was easy enough to catch up with him—the house wasn’tthatlarge. When he made it to the couch and turned, I was right there and cupped his cheeks. His mouth parted with a quiet squeak, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me. I stared into his eyes as I slowly lowered my face to within an inch of his.
“Don’t ever doubt that I want you, Beau,” I whispered to him. “I’ll claim you right now if that is your wish. But it cannot be undone, and my tiger isn’t going to allow you to not be with us all the time once he’s claimed you as ours.” Beau’s eyes looked unfocused just before he closed them, and I felt him gently push his face upward toward me. I took that as permission and closed the distance between us.
