Page 68 of Taming Raptor

She took a deep breath that lifted her chest and made my mouth suddenly water.

“As I’ll ever be.”

“You look stunning, babe.” I might’ve pulled off acting cool, but inside I was a horny motherfucker. It should be illegal for a woman to look that good. Then I had to fight wanting to rip off that dress and worshipping her body and soul.

“Thank you,” she murmured.

Dinner passed in a bit of a blur, though we talked about damn near everything under the sun—except for us. As I paid the bill a strange sense washed over me and my skin prickled. Casually, I glanced around as I wrapped a protective arm around Sage and pulled her to stand slightly in front of me.

When nothing seemed out of the ordinary, I took my receipt from the cashier, and I ushered her out of the building and into my truck.

“Can we get ice cream?” she asked. I didn’t have it in me to refuse her, despite the odd sensation I’d had in the restaurant. Though nothing stood out and the feeling had passed, I remained alert.

“Anything you want,” I told her. “But it might cost you.”

With a playful waggle of my brows, I started the truck and left the parking lot. By the time we were a few blocks down the road, I was sure we were being followed. The last thing I wanted to do was ruin our night by freaking her out if I was wrong.

“What if we get the ice cream to go and I take you somewhere that used to be special to me?” I was thinking fast, but when her beautiful smile lit up her face, I felt a little shitty that I had an ulterior motive. The clubhouse was too far away, the ranch was closer.

“Really?” Her expression screamed that her heart was melting because I was sharing a piece of my past with her. “That’s… so awesome. Yes, thank you.”

While we waited in the drive thru line after placing our order, I shot off a text to Gator, Phoenix, and Blade. By then I was sure we had a tail. The dark colored SUV that I suspected was behind us had pulled into the car wash across the road, but didn’t get out to do anything. Prepared to jump the curb to get out of the line if I needed to, I told them what I suspected and where we were heading.

They replied that they would head to the location ahead of us and wait until we got there to see if the car kept after us. Blade had me share my location with him.

Then, though I hated to involve them knowing it would get back to Evan, I messaged Drago to let him know we’d be out there.

“Everything okay?” she asked. The brief flicker of worry that I saw in her eyes pissed me off. She should never have to feel like she wasn’t safe—especially when she was with me.

“Yeah, just letting the boys know where we’re heading. Gator can be a bit like a mother hen.” Though I wasn’t feeling it, I laughed.

“So can Blade,” she said as she laughed. Fuck, I loved that sound. I prayed nothing happened tonight to take away that smile.

I made it to the window without the car or the person inside, moving. As quick as I could, we had ice cream in hand and were heading out to the ranch I used to call home. Appetite lost, I ate about a third of mine, then tossed the rest out the window.

She gasped and I almost shit my pants. “That’s ice cream abuse!”

“Fuck, you scared me for a second,” I muttered, heart slamming against my rib cage. I tried to make light of my reaction with a shake of my head and a smile.

“Sorry.” She laughed. “Where are we going?” Sage asked as she watched the miles pass by as the sun sunk lower and the sky darkened. Horses grazed in some pastures, longhorn in others. The occasional ranch home dotted the landscape in between.

The car had backed off quite a bit since we left the lights of town behind, but despite the other cars on the road, I knew it was still there.

“You’ll see,” I replied with a wink. It wasn’t long before the two live oaks that flanked the driveway came into view. I turned in, entered the gate code and we drove through. I waited until the gate closed to continue. It wasn’t my imagination that the SUV slowed down to a crawl as it went by, but I breathed a sigh of relief when I watched a hawk swoop around it, then follow us.

“Adrien?” she asked as we went around a curve in the gravel drive.

“Patience,” I teased.

Finally, we pulled up in front of the house. My mom was already out on the porch. It didn’t surprise me, but I knew Sage was wondering where we were. At least until a hawk landed on the railing. I cursed under my breath, because I’d forgotten she knew my family’s secret.

“Oh my God. You didn’t. Adrien!” she harshly whispered. “Please tell me you didn’t bring me to meet your mother!”

“I didn’t take you here to meet my mother.” It essentially was the truth as I wasn’t planning on it—yet. But when I didn’t know who was following us, I wanted to get to the closest place that I knew we’d be safe.

She angrily flipped the visor down to look in the mirror. “Holy shit, I look like doggy doo!”

When my dad came outside, she silently raged. If she could spit fire, my truck would be up in flames—me along with it.

---