Page 14 of Alpha’s Secret Baby Girl (Nightfall Island Alphas #1)

“Yesterday. When that demon attacked, you just took off after it. You left me and Lianne, and you went chasing after a demon. You could have gotten killed!”

“I know how to handle myself in a fight,” Rafael told her, forcing himself not to react too harshly.

Gwen clenched her fists and waved them in the air. “Against a demon? You know how to fight one of them, do you?”

Rafael sighed. “I held my own, didn’t I?”

“What if it had circled back? It could have attacked Lianne and me again when you were running off in the forest. It could have led you into a trap. It could have—”

“It didn’t,” Rafael said softly.

Tears glimmered in her eyes as her cheeks flushed darker. “Oh, yes. Because since it didn’t this time means that you can just fuck off and do whatever, is it?”

“No,” he answered.

“You could have been killed.”

“I could have.”

Gwen’s nostrils flared. “What would the pack do then? Michael would be the Alpha, and would he carry on your work?”

“He would, but that is a lot of pressure to put on him,” Rafael said.

His calm agreement with her ire only seemed to agitate her further.

Clearly, she had been working herself up toward an argument, and now she wasn’t sure where to put the excess energy.

She folded her arms, dropped them, and stomped her feet.

She instantly looked ashamed of herself at the childish display and dropped her chin.

“Don’t do that again,” she said, her voice low.

“Okay.”

“I mean it! If there are demons that show up, I want you to turn your tail and run.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t care if you think it’s unmanly or any of that nonsense. I’d rather you stay alive.”

Rafael couldn’t stop himself from grinning. The proof of her being worried about him was touching, but her orders were already doing something to him. Just like how he’d enjoyed her ordering Michael and Joshua, it seemed he enjoyed those orders being directed at him, too. “Okay.”

“You men are just stupid when it comes to these sorts of things,” she continued, working up more emotion.

“You guys think that the only way to protect people is to throw yourselves headfirst into danger. But you know what would happen if you got yourself murdered? Nothing good! Protecting isn’t about putting yourself in danger.

Sometimes it’s about being a coward because that’s the braver thing to do. ”

Gwen paused, concern furrowing her brows.

“I understand what you mean,” Rafael told her gently.

Her eyes cut back to him, and she let out a deep sigh. “You’re humoring me.”

He smiled back at her. “I understand what you’re saying.

Maybe I am humoring you a bit, but that doesn’t mean I disagree.

I need to practice being more of a coward.

” He paused, his grin turning wicked. “But it needs to be a different sort of cowardice than I displayed so shamefully seven years ago.”

“What coward—oh.” Gwen huffed, shaking her head hard. “We’re not going back there. You apologized for that, and I might still be angry, but I do understand the instinct to lie to your father. So don’t bring up that old nonsense when I’m trying to discuss the present day.”

“Okay.”

Gwen narrowed her eyes and pointed an accusing finger at him. “Stop saying, ‘Okay’ all the time when I know you don’t mean it.”

He couldn’t help himself. “Okay.”

“Bastard,” she snipped. “You think you’re so clever, but you’re not.

You’re nothing but a ratbutt bastard. Bastard!

” Her cheeks were growing a darker and darker red, but the tension was starting to ease out of her shoulders.

“Fuck, it feels good to swear again. And I can swear at you all I want, you ratbutt.”

“I can’t say that I’m impressed with the mother of my child saying such a terrible word as ratbutt,” Rafael teased.

“Ratbutt.”

Rafael stalked forward. “Mmmm. No, I really don’t like that at all. Fuck and bastard are fun, but the ‘r’ word is going too far.”

Gwen stepped backward, but not far enough.

Rafael stared at her, need pulling through him.

Her concern, her orders, and then followed almost immediately by the lighthearted teasing that had made him fall in love with her in the first place, was too much.

Yesterday had been terrifying. She didn’t even know how frightened he was.

“I didn’t chase it because I was worried about being a coward,” he said, his hands moving out on their own accord.

They rested on her hips and drew her forward, digging into the dark fabric of her skirt.

Their bodies aligned. “I did it because I had to get the demon away from you and Lianne. If I didn’t chase it, it could double-back at you. ”

“It wasn’t smart,” Gwen whispered.

“It was necessary.” One of his hands slid around her waist, pulling her flush against him. His other hand slid into her hair, the warmth of her scalp bleeding into his hand.

Gwen tilted her face upward. Rafael caught her mouth with his.

Heat built between them as he slid his tongue into her mouth, tasting her.

Her scent filled his lungs, and he sighed, so much tension and resistance disappearing all at once.

This was what he needed. His mate in his arms. He held her tighter, slanting his face the other way as he deepened the kiss.