His Broken Human Mate (Book 13 of The Regal Eclipse Pack Series)

Chapter 22

Cade watched her face light up as he handed her the helmet he'd spent time picking out for her this morning. He wasn't going to tell her that he'd bought it for her, simply because he knew her well enough already to know she'd argue with him over it. Like she had yesterday over coffee and lunch.

"You remembered," she murmured, smiling up at him. He wanted to kiss her again when she gave him that look. Surprise that he'd remembered.

"Of course," he answered. Like he was likely to forget. He remembered every detail of their time together, and he'd gone over it a million times since.

He was glad he'd chosen to meet her after work. He could tell, watching her walk across the parking lot that she'd had a bad day and she was in self-destruct mode. His appearance had immediately stopped that. But he also knew she'd needed comfort, something he could provide her with.

He wondered now if he should have made a point to visit her during work. He'd considered it but figured he'd leave her alone, since he had plans to spend the evening with her.

He eyed her thoughtfully, deciding she'd be warm enough in what she was wearing, then climbed on his bike and pulled on his own helmet, tipping the visor up. Maybe eventually he'd get her a leather jacket as well. Or something. He wanted to spoil her since it seemed like her ex never bothered to.

Callie climbed on behind him and settled herself up against him, her legs on either side of him, her arms tightly around him. He smiled to himself as he started his bike. It felt so good to have her wrapped around him like this again.

He pulled out of her driveway and they headed down the road. They'd go for a little drive, then have dinner together. He knew she had to be hungry, and he was always up for eating.

They drove for a while and Cade felt the tension in Callie's body begin to dissipate as she slowly relaxed against him. She'd needed this, he realized, happy he was able to provide it for her. The fact that she was growing this comfortable with him this quickly gave him hope as well. Maybe she'd really let him in quicker than he thought she would.

He finally pulled off into the same park they'd come to the other day. Callie climbed off and pulled off her helmet. Cade pulled his own off as well.

"Why here?"

He smiled at her and opened one of the bags on the side of his bike, pulling out a tablecloth. He handed it to her before opening the other bag and pulling out a soft cooler.

"Are we eating?"

"We are," he said, taking her hand and leading her over to a picnic table that was sort of secluded. He sat the bag down, then took the tablecloth from her and spread it out over the table. Then he opened the other bag and pulled out the food, glad it was still warm.

He'd had to sweet talk Brianna into helping him with this, turning on the charm, though she'd just rolled her eyes at him and wanted to know what he was up to. He'd explained then, and she'd been more than willing to help once she'd learned he was trying to romance his human mate.

Brianna was newly mated herself after waiting an incredibly long time for her own mate, and she was happy Cade had finally found his. "Still better than waiting several hundred years, Cade."

He couldn't disagree with that.

Cade glanced at Callie, who was looking at the table, a little surprised. "Sit."

She looked up at him. "You planned a picnic?" She almost looked like she was in awe.

"Well, I wasn't exactly planning on you bringing me over to your house today, and I just wanted to hang out. This made sense," he said.

She smiled, and he realized she was actually close to tears. "This is really sweet."

He smiled back, a bit surprised by her reaction. Like no one had ever done anything like this for her before. The more time Cade spent around her, the more he disliked her ex. He walked around the table and sat down. They needed to eat before it got dark outside and the temperature dropped even more. He didn't want her getting cold. Especially on his bike.

Callie sat down across from him and dug into her meal. A soft moan from her went straight to his dick and he swallowed as he watched her eat. She was incredibly beautiful in her outfit tonight. He liked the way the top she was wearing clung to her perfect breasts, showing them off a bit as it dipped low enough for him to see her cleavage, though not as low as he'd like. 

"This is really good," she said. "Did you make it?"

He laughed. "I'd like to take the credit, but no. I asked our chef for help."

"And they agreed?" 

He nodded. "I had to explain why, but she was more than happy to help."

"It was nice of you to plan this, Cade," she said, giving him a heartfelt smile.

He smiled back at her. Anything for her. Anything to win her, to draw her closer to him. But he couldn't say any of that out loud. She'd think he was a stalker. He realized he was going to have to go slow with her, whether he wanted to or not. Humans moved annoyingly slow when it came to relationships. If she was a werewolf, she'd already be marked and sleeping in his bed every night. But she wasn't, and she had her own issues that she was dealing with. Issues that had led her to put up a wall around her heart and not let anyone in. But Cade didn't care. He'd find a way over those walls. Or under them. Maybe through them. Whatever. 

They finished their meal, and Cade glanced over to the water, noticing the sun was starting to set. He quickly cleared up the meal, tossing everything back in his bag, then took Callie's hand. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" 

"Down to watch the sunset," he said, looking at her. 

"It's getting dark. Don't we need to head back?" He watched her bite her lip in that sexy way she did that turned him on.

He leaned in close to her, taking in her scent. "I'm a wolf, Callie. I see pretty damn well in the dark."

Her lips parted as she stared back at him, then she smiled. "I didn't think of that. Okay."

They walked down to the dock, and out over the water, before settling down on the bench again. Cade let Callie sit first so that he could make sure there was no space between them. He slipped his arm around her and she leaned a bit into him, making him smile. She felt so good. She belonged in his arms.  

"So your wolf is gray and white?" Callie said suddenly, though her eyes were on the setting sun and it's reflection on the water. 

"Yeah, he is," Cade said. "His name is Akela."

She looked at him. "He has a name?"

He smiled. "Yeah." Akela was excited that she was asking about him.

"Did you name him?"

"No. He just told it to me when we first started talking," he said quietly. 

"How does that work?" She leaned her head into the crook of his arm and he smiled. 

"We start to hear our wolves when we hit fourteen, though we don't get to shift for the first time until we're fifteen, but it gives us time to form a bond with them. Then we can find our mates at the age of eighteen." He let his gaze travel down to her cleavage again, which he had a better view of from this position. He wondered what it would be like to have his cock nestled there, moving between them at a steady pace while he cupped those perfect globes of hers and played with her nipples.

"Can I ever see your wolf?" Callie asked him. 

"Yeah. He'd be thrilled with that," Cade told her. Akela had been very excited ever since Callie had agreed to go to coffee with them. He just wasn't happy that she wasn't with them all the time. Cade wasn't either, but they'd get there. His wolf just didn't like leaving her alone. He wanted to make sure she was safe all of the time.

"Is he.. dangerous at all?" she asked, looking up at him curiously.