Page 15 of Elias

Leah chewed on her bottom lip. “What if they aren’t beautiful? What if you don’t think I’m any good?”

He grinned. “You will never know. As your mate and your Daddy, I will always tell you your artwork is the most beautiful on Earth.”

Her breath hitched when he slid that word into the conversation. “Daddy?”

“Little girls who are mates of Alpha Protectors call their partners Daddy. It’s an endearment.”

She swallowed hard. Hopefully he hadn’t pushed her too far with that last tidbit of information. “You want me to call you Daddy?”

“When you’re ready.”

She shook her head as if pushing that last piece of information to the side. “You’ll really let me paint?”

He nodded. “I said I would, Little one. I won’t go back on my word.” He lifted his hand again. “Come.”

She hesitated before finally lowering her arms to her sides and shuffling forward. “I shouldn’t.”

“But you want to.”

“I should keep my distance. When you touch me, my brain will scramble. You have a weird spell cast over me.”

He chuckled. “I think it’syouwho has a spell cast overme.”

She giggled for a moment before stopping herself, but it was long enough for the sound to travel to his cock and make him want her in his arms even more. Damn, this mating was ten times more intense than he could have predicted.

Chapter Ten

Leah knew she should stand her ground. Stay against the railing or even move off the porch and put more distance between them, but she couldn’t stop herself. She felt possessed by a power far stronger than her freewill.

She knew everything would change when he touched her this time. They were stepping into new territory. Her heart raced from nerves. It seemed like her blood was pumping through her body too fast. She couldn’t stop it any more than she could continue to deny him.

As soon as she lifted her hand and set it in his, the world stopped spinning. A strange peace settled over her. She was scared out of her mind, but she was calmer at the same time. He did that to her. He made her relax.

Elias pulled her gently closer until he released her hand, reached for her hips, and lifted her onto his lap.

She gasped but didn’t fight him. It was futile. Whatever was going to happen between them was inevitable. She could stall it, but in the end, she would only be buying hours, not days. She knew that in her soul.

Elias wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close to his chest.

She was sitting sideways across his lap, and she leaned her head against his shoulder. He was so huge. When he held her like this, she felt every bit as Little as he said she was.

“I’m going to tell you more about what life will be like here, Leah. I want you to know everything so you don’t feel blindsided later. Can you sit with me and listen without panicking?”

She licked her lips. “I’ll try.”

“Keep in mind that my top priority is and will always be you from now until the end of time. It doesn’t matter that I tried to fight it. You’re here now, and there’s no denying Fate is correct.” He nuzzled the top of her head. Was he inhaling her scent?

“Okay,” she whispered. She understood because she felt the same way.

“Some of what I’m going to say will make your hackles rise. Know that we will take our time figuring out what works for us, but most of the traditions of Alpha Protectors are universal. Even if the customs may sound strange to you at first and make you want to run for the hills, I’m confident that in time our lives will not look very different from any other union among my people.”

Leah took shallow breaths, trying to control her reaction to his vague words. It was hard to focus with his scent surrounding her.

Elias had removed his jacket at some point, but he was still dressed in the suit he’d been wearing when she’d first met him. With his arms wrapped around her, he unbuttoned the cuff at his wrist and rolled back his sleeve before holding his inner wrist up for her to see.

She gasped. She’d known all her life that he would have a matching mark on his wrist—an exact duplicate of her own—but seeing it was eerie. She lifted a finger as if to stroke it, but he jerked his arm out of her reach.

“Don’t touch it yet, Baby girl,” he whispered against her ear.