Under the Alpha's Protection by Doris O'Connor Page B

sporting, and he pulled one of his mother's frilly cushions onto his lap.
    What was it with women and their need for scatter cushions?
    " No idea, son, but your mother loves them."
    His father's amused reply chuckled in his brain, and his mother's glare reduced him right back to a quivering five-year-old afraid of her wrath. Amazing how she could do that with just one look. No doubt Nikita would perfect that look for their offspring, too. His heart turned over and shriveled at the thought that this might never happen. He had no idea how she felt about babies. Other than a discussion about her being on the pill, following on from that first night when he hadn't used a condom, kids hadn't entered into the equation.
    He knew she hadn't fallen then. The physician's best guess had been that she'd fallen shortly before business had taken Raoul away. She'd come down with food poisoning the week before, which must have been when her contraceptive proved ineffective.
    "Well, I dread to think what’s in that concoction, but yes, I do feel better, thank you. In fact, I need to be out of your hair soon. I hope to be able to get my job back, and I've got things to sort for the start of term, and—"
    "Like hell you will." Raoul's growl stopped her, and she froze.
    Lupe shook his head and his mother fixed him with another glare, but he couldn't just sit here and not say something.
    "Dammit, Nikita, stop ignoring me, and if you're gonna chew me out, then let's get this over with. Fuck knows I deserve it, but there's no way on this earth, that you'll just walk out of here, as though nothing's happened. There's the … fuck it."
    He'd almost blurted the news out in anger, and that's not how he wanted her to find out.
    His mother came to the rescue, like she always did.
    "May I suggest a little turnabout in the garden? You've been cooped up in doors for far too long, and Raoul and you can chat in private. Plus if you kill him his blood won't stain my new flooring."
    That brought a weak smile to Nikita's lips, and she nodded her confirmation.
    "You mess this up, son, and you'll have me to deal with. That girl loves you with all her heart. No woman fights like she did, unless she's in love. Now swallow that stupid male pride, stop thinking with your dick, and sort it."
    His mother's reprimand rang in his ears, and he stepped up to Nikita and held out his hand.
    "Let me explain all this, please, squirt." He willed her to take his hand, but she just stood there, ramrod straight, and for once her usually so expressive face did not portray her emotions. Only her eyes showed such depths of pain and hope, it brought him to his metaphorical knees. He reached out, and cupped her face, and her breathing hitched. Electricity arched up his fingertips, and seared his heart as the bond his bite created worked its sexual spell on them both.
    The air heated between them, and time stood still as he waited with bated breath, until she slid her little hand in his, and the world righted itself again.
    "You better make this good … Sir ."
    The whispered add on had his wolf howl in joy, and his cock tried to punch itself out of the rigid denim of his jeans, but now was not the time for sex.
    He coiled his fingers around her hand and tugged, so that she tumbled into him, and he fisted his other hand in her hair, and inhaled deeply. Nikita trembled in his arms, and then sank against him, her little nipples hard bullet points against his chest, and they both groaned.
    ****
    How they had made it out of that living room and into the relative privacy of the garden Nikita had no idea. From the minute Raoul had touched her, her anger fled. Whether this was just due to some of that mated mumbo jumbo bond thing they now seemed to have going between them, she had no idea. All she did know, was that she wanted to sink to her knees in front of him, audience be damned, and let him take care of everything. She was tired of fighting, tired of being scared, and she'd missed him so