Chapter 9
Artem dropped Promise off at her little cabin after they spent several hours in the workshop together, while he and his dad worked. She loved his mom already, she was so sweet. And his dad had a great sense of humor and clearly loved his family.
And she was one hundred percent falling for Artem too.
Such a sexy, sexy male.
They went for a walk on one of the hiking trails and had lunch with his sister and their friends at the welcome center, where a large kitchen had space for everyone to sit and eat meals together.
“I’ll be back in an hour,” he said.
His gaze was heated as they stood together on the porch, their arms around each other and their bodies pressed together.
“Can we shift together sometime? I’d like to see what you look like.”
“Are you sure you won’t get scared?”
“How could I? You’ll be like a myth in the flesh.”
She squeezed his biceps, feeling the firm muscle under her fingers.
He let out a soft growl. “I’d love that. I haven’t voluntarily been in my shift in a while.”
She understood what he meant. She knew he just as easily could have lost his own life in one of those fights, so she was thankful he was done with it.
Or that he would be, as soon as he let the owner know he wasn’t going to fight anymore.
“I’ll see you soon,” he said, his voice gruff.
She went onto her toes and kissed him.
They’d been sneaking kisses all day. And sometimes boldly making out when they were alone.
She loved kissing him, loved how her body responded to his and her wolf was always howling happily in her head. They fit so easily together, she understood now why people waited for years to find their truemates: it was incredible to find the other half of your heart in the flesh.
He pulled from the kiss and reached over, opening the front door. “Bye, beautiful.”
She let go of him and walked into the cabin, smiling at him as she closed the door. Leaning against the door with a happy sigh, she pulled her phone from her pocket and called her mom.
“Hi, sweetie,” her mom said. “How are the mountains?”
“Amazing!”
Her mom paused and then said, “Did you find your truemate?”
“How could you tell?”
“Because you sound so happy!”
“I am,” she said, making her way to the couch and sitting down with a contented sigh. She waited while her mom grabbed her dad so he could hear the good news too, and then she told them both about the dream and finding Artem.
“A minotaur shifter?” her dad asked. “I’ve heard of them but never met one. It’s pretty neat that you were both able to have a dream about each other.”
“What are your plans?” her mom asked.
“Well, the only real plans we have right now involve a first date in about an hour. But after that? We haven’t gotten that far.”
“You’ll stay in Pennsylvania, though?” her dad asked.
That was one thing they had discussed. “Yes. I’ll obviously bring him down to Allen with me so he can meet you two and also help me pack up my place and move up here. The timing of that is open, as is an official mating ceremony.”
“If we can be there for the ceremony, we’d love to come,” her mom said. “But we also understand that sometimes outsiders aren’t welcome. I’m sure Alpha Jason would handle your mating ceremony here in the ways of our people, even if Artem won’t be joining up.”
“I’ll keep you guys posted.”
“Well, have fun on your date,” her dad said. “Love you, honey.”
“I love you too,” her mom said.
“Love you both,” Promise said.
The call ended and she rose to her feet and headed to the bathroom to get ready for the last first date of her life. She couldn’t wait to see Artem again and see where the night took them.
Artem hadn’t worn dress clothes since Isolde’s twenty-first birthday party, when she’d insisted that everyone wear dressy clothes at a fancy restaurant in Philadelphia. He wore that same outfit: black dress shirt and pants with dress shoes. He’d borrowed a tie from his dad since the only one he had was cherry red and reminded him of Christmas.
He’d stopped by Angel and her mates’ cabin before getting in his truck. She’d cut a bouquet of wildflowers that she cultivated in her garden to use in craft projects at his request. The pretty purple and yellow blooms smelled amazing and he hoped that Promise would like them.
He drove to her cabin and got out, carrying the flowers with him. Promise opened the door as he approached and he froze in place.
She looked incredible in a curve-hugging black dress that showed just the right amount of cleavage to make his mouth water. She had a gauzy floral wrap around her shoulders, and her dark hair was curled and looked like a glossy waterfall around her shoulders.
“My wolf let me know you were close,” she said. “Even before I heard your truck’s engine.”
He closed the distance to them and gave her the flowers. “You look amazing.”
“Thank you, so do you. These flowers are gorgeous.”
“The only gorgeous thing I see is you, Promise.” His voice was gruff, his beast wanting to forget the plans to romance her and simply haul her over their shoulder and take her to bed immediately.
Her cheeks pinked and he loved the blush on her skin.
Lowering his head, he kissed her just once, even though he wanted to do much more.
“Let me, ah, put these in water,” she said, biting her bottom lip. “Artem.”
“Yeah?”
“You make me want to pull the Murphy bed down..”
“I want that too,” he said, grasping the doorjamb and squeezing until his knuckles turned white. “But let me show you how important you are to me and take you out. You’re special, you’re my truemate. It shouldn’t be a race to the bed.”
Her eyes softened, amber peeking around the edges of the brown he adored. “I’m feeling pretty dang lucky.”
“Me too.”
He followed her into the kitchenette and told her where he got the flowers, and then when she’d arranged them in a vase and set it on the coffee table, he took her hand and led her to his truck. After closing her in on the passenger side, he got behind the wheel and said, “There’s a place I want to take you. You can look up the menu online and make sure there’s something you’d like to have. It’s a steak and seafood restaurant called Elysian Grove. It’s about thirty minutes from here.”
She took her phone from her small, black purse. “Do you know what you want?”
“They have a filet that’s supposed to be out of this world. And I’m a meat and potatoes kind of guy so I’d get the truffle mashed potatoes.”
“That sounds good,” she said.
While he drove them to the sophisticated restaurant that was known for its rustic charm coupled with modern elegance, they chatted about the menu and the types of food she enjoyed.
“The pictures make this place look amazing,” she said. “The menu looks really good. I’m thinking about the filet, but maybe the salmon. I don’t get to have that very often.”
“You can always have some of my filet if you want to get the salmon.”
“That’s sweet.”
He brought her free hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. “Everything I have is yours.”
“That’s extra sweet.”
He grinned. It was easy to be sweet with her. He wanted her to have every good thing.
By the time they reached the restaurant and were seated, she’d decided on the salmon. They both got a glass of wine and placed their orders, then looked at each other over the candlelight.
He took her hand. “I don’t know what to say, all I keep thinking is how beautiful you are and how damn lucky I feel that we met.”
“I feel the same way.” When she smiled, her eyes crinkled at the corners. She told him about her conversation with her parents and a call to her sister while she was finishing getting ready for their date. “Everyone is happy for us and can’t wait to meet you.”
“We can go visit anytime you’d like,” he said. “I’ve got the whole week off and even if we don’t go down this week, my time is flexible so I can take off whenever you need me.”
“That means the world to me.”
After the food arrived, they both split their entrees and shared with each other. While they ate, they talked about the wolf mating ceremony, because minotaurs didn’t have a mating ceremony that was performed in front of people.
“Maybe we could come up with a mating ceremony of our own,” he suggested. “One that combines your traditions and mine.”
“I’d love that, but what would we use for your traditions if your people don’t have a ceremony?”
“Well, I think the tattoo is the first thing.” At her curious look, he unbuttoned his sleeve and rolled it up to reveal the black symbols inked on his skin. “This is ancient Greek used by minotaurs for millennia. The symbols mean: loyalty, honesty, and bravery. When my dad mated my mom, he added two more: family and love.”
Promise traced the symbols with her fingertips, and his skin felt like it was on fire from her simple touch.
“I love the meaning behind the symbols,” she said. “Okay, so wolves use sacred oil, blood from a fresh kill, and ash from an olive tree to mark each other, and a leather tie is wrapped around their joined hands as a symbol of unity. What do owls do?”
He wasn’t a fan of owls because his mother had been treated so badly by her people. With a grimace he told her the story of how her mother was nearly forced into a mating with a male who’d beat his first mate to death. “If it wasn’t for a wolf and her hyena mates who came through the owls’ territory and rescued my mom, I wouldn’t be here.”
“Ah, okay, so probably we can skip owl mating stuff then.”
“Definitely.”
When they’d finished their meal, they opted against dessert because they were both stuffed. He laid enough bills in the black folder to include payment plus a generous tip and rose from his seat. He stood next to Promise and looked down at her, rubbing his fingers up the nape of her neck. She shivered and held his gaze.
“I have an idea for the rest of the night. How do you feel about a little adventure?”
Promise raised an eyebrow. “What kind of adventure?”
“A walk through the woods,” Artem suggested, “to a secluded hot spring. It’s a beautiful spot, especially under the moonlight.”
“That sounds wonderful.”
She stood slowly, her body bumping against his, and took his hand. They left the restaurant and got into the truck. As the engine roared to life, he glanced at his mate and smiled, then put the truck in gear and pulled away.
Heading toward the campground, Artem’s excitement grew, his thoughts filled with the possibilities of where the night could lead, and the promise of a deeper connection to his beautiful mate and a future he couldn’t wait to explore.