Skylar’s Devotion (4 page)

By the time Skylar was ready to head back to San Francisco to pick up Braelyn, Roxie and Beowulf had already left the mansion. Dirk and Kye had gone with them. Later that night, Skylar would take Kye’s place and stay the night along with Dirk. Until Roxie gave birth, Saskia had decided two Protectors needed to spend the night with the couple to be on hand in case their former brother-in-arms made a power play during that time.

Miles, who was Saskia’s true brother and at one time a Protector, had gone to the dark side when he’d made the decision to make the switch five hundred years before. Instead of protecting the one they’d all sworn to do so with their lives, Miles wanted to gain control of the foretold one and use that person as a figurehead to rule the werewolf packs himself.

So far they’d managed to keep Roxie’s identity a secret from him. And, with the events that had occurred after Miles had taken Leif hostage, as far as Miles knew, his own daughter was the foretold one. It had been Jaden’s idea to pose as Roxie when her father had demanded the foretold one in exchange for Leif, her mate. At the time none of them, not even Jaden, had known Miles was her father. But when Roxie had turned Jaden before making the exchange her scent had changed, bringing out some of Miles’ recognizable scent that declared him her father.

As Skylar slipped out of the mansion and went to the garage, he pushed thoughts of Roxie, Miles and Jaden from his head. He got into his charcoal grey Infiniti G37 sport coupe and backed out onto the drive. Once he hit the street, he drove in the direction that would take him to the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco.

Thoughts of Braelyn surfaced while he made the drive. He’d done a lot of thinking about her during the hours he’d had to wait to see her again. It also hadn’t helped when he’d come out of the shower to find someone—more than likely Leif—had shoved a copy of the latest Victoria’s Secret catalogue under his door. Skylar had looked through it a half dozen times at least, staring at every page Braelyn appeared on. It was bad enough he’d have erotic dreams of her when he slept that night—thanks to the mating urge—but the catalogue only added fuel to the fire of burning need that hadn’t really left him since he’d met her.

Finally across the bridge and in the city, Skylar drove to the address Braelyn had given him. When he arrived, he pulled over to the curb and parked in front of the house. It was situated in a modest neighborhood. He saw Braelyn’s BWM parked in the drive along with a Buick Regal. She’d said she had come to San Francisco to visit family, and from the look of the house, Skylar bet this was where Braelyn’s parents lived. It only made sense she would stay with them while here.

Skylar got out of the car and took a moment to straighten his clothes. He wore black jeans, a dark grey button-down shirt and his shit-kickers. When he’d dressed, he’d thought he would be dressed up enough for the Supperclub, but he hadn’t thought about the chance of having to meet Braelyn’s parents on their first date. He knew he would have to at some point since she was his mate and he had no intention of walking away, but he’d figured it would be sometime down the road after he’d claimed her.

After he shut the car door and used the remote on his key ring to lock it, Skylar walked toward the house. On the porch, he smoothed his hand along his hair to make sure all of it was still inside the ponytail at his nape, then rang the doorbell.

The door opened, and Skylar met the gaze of a smiling woman who appeared to be close to fifty. She had the same emerald green eyes as Braelyn and shared some of her looks. This obviously had to be his mate’s mother.

“I’m here to pick up Braelyn,” he said.

“You must be Skylar,” she replied. “Come on in.” Once he had, she closed the door behind him and held out her hand. “I’m Braelyn’s mom, Bev.”

Skylar took her hand and gave it a shake before he released it. “Yes, I’m Skylar. And it’s nice to meet you.”

“Braelyn will just be a few minutes longer. Why don’t you come and take a seat in the living room while you wait?”

He nodded and followed Bev into the room just off the front entranceway. The living room was done in light colors and had a loveseat, couch and armchair. He chose to sit on the couch. Braelyn’s mom sat in the armchair kitty-corner to the couch.

“My husband is working late tonight, something spur of the moment, or you’d be meeting him as well,” Bev said. “I’m sure you didn’t count on having to meet Braelyn’s parents when you asked her out.”

Skylar smiled. “I can honestly say the thought hadn’t crossed my mind.”

“Well, don’t worry too much about it. Neither my husband nor I are the type of parents who have to know everything our grown-up daughter is doing. So you won’t be getting grilled this evening.”

He felt himself relax. Bev reminded him a lot of Braelyn personality wise. They both were down to earth and a bit on the laidback side. Skylar could see himself having no problem getting to know his mate’s parents—at least her mother—better and grow to like them.

Just then, he heard the sound of someone walking down stairs. A few seconds later, Braelyn stepped into the room. It took everything he had not to jump up, take her in his arms and kiss her senseless in front of her mother. She wore the same short, black dress she’d bought that afternoon. He remembered it well since she’d modeled it in front of him. The dress showed off her long legs. He wanted them wrapped around his waist as he sank his cock into her pussy over and over again.

Desperately trying to pull his mind away from anything dealing with Braelyn and sex, Skylar swept his gaze up her body, starting with the black, strappy high heels she wore all the way to her face. She wore makeup, which she hadn’t had on during the day, giving her a sexier look. A small smile played across her lips as if she knew exactly what he’d been thinking seconds before.

He stood and closed the distance between them. “Are you ready to go?”

Braelyn nodded. “Yes.” She then turned to look at her mother. “Sorry to leave you alone, Mom.”

Bev waved her daughter’s apology away with a flick of her hand. “I’ll be fine. I’m used to being alone when your father has to work late. Go enjoy your date.” She stood and walked over to them. “It was nice meeting you, Skylar. If I were single and my daughter’s age, I’d be making a play for you.”

“Mom!” Braelyn said with a laugh. She then turned back to Skylar. “Never mind her. She isn’t serious. She’s been head over heels in love with my father since they first met, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.”

“So true,” Bev said. “But there is no harm in me admiring a good-looking younger man like Skylar.”

“All right, I think it’s time we leave before my mom gets out of hand,” Braelyn said as she shook her head.

He chuckled at the banter between his mate and her mother. They were obviously very close. If only they knew he was way older than they thought. They had no idea he’d celebrated his thousand and sixth birthday four months before.

With a goodbye to Braelyn’s mom, Skylar guided Braelyn out of the house and to his car. He held the passenger door open for her and closed it once she got in. He walked around the front and climbed into the driver’s side.

Skylar started the car and pulled away from the curb. He took a quick glance over at Braelyn. “Are you hungry?” He knew he was, and not just for food.

She turned her head in his direction. “Yeah, I’m starved.”

“Now don’t take this the wrong way, but you are going to order something more than a salad, right? I know most models tend not to eat enough to keep a bird alive.”

Braelyn shook her head. “I’m not like that. I do have to watch I don’t overindulge too often, but I’ve been blessed with a fast metabolism. I eat pretty much what I want so long as I do it responsibly.”

“Good, because it takes a hell of a lot more than a small salad to fill me up.”

Out of the corner of his eye, Skylar watched Braelyn look him up and down. “Seeing you, I never would have guessed,” she said with a grin. “I would imagine you have the opposite problem from me—not getting enough food.”

“More than you know. With five brothers who are as tall and as muscular as I am, and a brother-in-law who weight lifts, it’s hard to keep food in the house. My sister and my sisters-in-law are always complaining about the number of trips to the grocery store they have to make.”

“You all still live together? That’s a big family. My parents only had me so I can’t picture what it would be like with that many siblings around.”

“We’ve lived in the same place for quite a while now. I’m used to it. We all have our own separate rooms. If it gets to be too much, I can go up to mine and lock myself in.”

“You’re house must be huge. Where do you live?”

“In one of the mansions in Marin County.”

“I’m impressed.”

“I’ll take you there sometime and you can see it for yourself. Just be forewarned that it will also mean I’ll have to introduce you to my entire family. And it won’t be the same experience I just had with your mom.”

Braelyn laughed. “I’m sure it won’t be that bad.”

“You have no idea,” he said drolly. “I have one brother, Jager, who basically says whatever crap is on his mind and doesn’t care who he offends. Then, until recently, my other brother, Leif, used to consider himself a ladies’ man and would flirt with anything female. Now that he’s married, he no longer does it. The others will just be nosy.”

“I think I can handle your family.”

They fell silent as Skylar turned into the parking lot of the Supperclub. It looked on the full side, and he wondered if they’d be able to get in when he pulled into one of the few empty spaces. He hadn’t thought about calling to make reservations.

Once he helped Braelyn out of the car, he said, “I don’t know if we’ll get a place to eat. It looks busy. I didn’t think to get a reservation.”

She wrapped her arm around his and started them walking toward the restaurant. “Don’t worry about that. I took care of it. They were booked, but once I said who I was, they had a sudden opening.”

Skylar chuckled. “I guess dating a famous model has its advantages.”

“Yes, it does,” Braelyn replied with a smile.

Inside the restaurant, he let her do the talking when they stood in front of the hostess. The woman put on a big show of greeting Braelyn and then taking them to the bed reserved for them. Once they took a seat on the mattress, the hostess smiled, and with one last gushing welcome and the assurance their server would be with them shortly, she left them alone.

Skylar shifted closer to the center of the bed. “This should be an experience.” He looked around, noticing how some of the other diners sat up like he did while still others reclined on their sides.

Braelyn folded her legs to the side and moved closer to him. “You’re going to enjoy this. You don’t get to order food. The menu is picked by their chef and served throughout the night in small portions. As you can hear, they have a DJ playing music. They also have live performances.”

He wasn’t exactly sure if he liked the idea of the food coming at such a slow rate. He’d planned to get through a leisurely dinner, but not too leisurely, and then take Braelyn someplace for the rest of their date to get to know her even better. But if it would take most of the night just to eat, he didn’t think there would be time for it.

Looking at Braelyn, he found her watching him expectantly as if she waited for his reaction. This wasn’t the first time he’d seen her do it, either. While shopping, he’d gotten the feeling she used some of the things she did or said to test him in some way. He had no problem with it. The only thing that bothered him was the fact she felt she had to do it in the first place. Something must have happened in her past that had her putting a new man through a series of tests. Who and what she was seemed his best guess for the root of it. A lot of men could be dumb fucks when it came to beautiful women.

“It sounds different,” he said. “And should make for an enjoyable evening.” Skylar watched the expectant expression on Braelyn’s face turn into a bright smile.

“It will be. And the meal is basically all finger food.” She leaned closer. “We’ll also have to share from the same plates.”

“I guess that means I can’t make a pig of myself and eat everything off the plate before you get your share,” he said jokingly.

“If there’s a chance of that, I guess I’ll have to hand feed you. That way I’ll be sure to get my portion of it.”

Skylar’s cock twitched inside his jeans at the thought of Braelyn feeding him. He knew he wouldn’t be able to resist licking off every last bit of food from her fingers while she did it. He’d then have to feed her, of course. He could almost feel the warm wetness of her mouth closing over his fingers.

Horny as hell from his thoughts, Skylar cupped the back of Braelyn’s head and brought her lips to his. He kissed her thoroughly, sweeping the inside with his tongue before he released her. “You can feed me so long as I get to feed you in return,” he said huskily.

“I’d like that,” Braelyn said, her voice just above a whisper.

At that moment, their server arrived at their bed. She asked what they wanted to drink. After she took their orders, she left to get them and returned a short while later with his beer and Braelyn’s glass of red wine.

Soon after that, their food started to arrive. Skylar only recognized half of what was on the plate for the first course. It figured the food would be just as trendy as the restaurant itself. Having never been a picky eater, he didn’t care one way or the other. As long as it tasted good, he’d eat it, especially if the food came from the hand of his mate.

Braelyn reached into the square dish that sat on the mattress between them and picked up a shrimp that had been cooked in some kind of citrus-type sauce. The smell of lemon and lime filled his nose when she lifted it to his mouth. He opened it only wide enough for her to place the morsel inside. As soon as she did, he closed his lips around her finger and gave it a gentle suck when she pulled it free.

Skylar chewed and swallowed the food without really tasting it. He became completely focused on Braelyn when he detected the faint smell of her arousal. Encouraged, he reached into the dish and plucked out a shrimp. His gaze focused on her mouth, he fed it to her. Just as he’d done, Braelyn closed her lips around his finger, only she pushed the bite of food to the side of her mouth and swirled her tongue around the tip of his index finger.