Sneaky link

Zina's POV

Jared placed his hand, again, to the small of my back and pushed me through the door.

We walked down a darkened hallway, only lit with small red bulbs here and there until we got to another door. He punched in a code on the keypad and turned the knob.

"Watch your step, Zina," he said with concern, his right arm going around my waist, fingers lightly digging into the skin there, his left hand reaching out to hold my left hand so he had slight control of my movements.

And I saw what he meant as we immediately went down a flight of stairs.

Wherever this place was, whatever it was, it was underground. But I didn't mind as the feeling of his large warm hands holding me in various places had my heart pounding.

I must've been trembling a bit because the hand he had holding my hip pulled me into his body and opened to begin lightly rubbing in a soothing manner as we got to the bottom of the stairs. 

Calm down, you stupid mutt. You're a werewolf not a damn weakling.

I saw a faint light as we walked around a corner and then into what looks to be a restaurant. It was dimly lit

with glass lanterns and candles, very private.

"Two," Jared said to the hostess at the podium, finally letting go of my left hand and moving his right hand to the small of my back.

"Of course, Sir. Follow me, welcome back, by the way. It's been a while."

She grabbed two menus from her side of the podium and ushered us further into the restaurant. We walked to what felt like the back of the restaurant and around a small wall to a very secluded and intimate round booth

.

"Is this okay, Mr. Blackstone," she asked with a pleasant smile.

"This is fine, Leslie. Thank you," he answered..

After he helped me into the booth, I moved to the middle and he followed, his left thigh touching my right.

"Your waiter will be with you shortly," Leslie said, putting our menus in front of us and walking away.

"Very private and very exclusive," my voice a notch above a whisper as I tried to focus on anything else but him.

He gave me a smile and looked over his menu, "Do you see anything that you might want?"

Innocent enough question. "You"

I looked over the menu, seeing a few good options, all fairly simple but none with any prices, "What would you recommend since it seems that you come here often?"

'Is that jealousy? Are you jealous he's been here

before?'

I mean, I know he has a history… He's gorgeous for Christ's sake!

I'm sure he could be with any woman he wanted and he was here with me...but I couldn't get the thought out of my mind that this wasn't a restaurant you'd come to alone or even to bring a business associate to...this was a private, secluded, dimly-lit restaurant where you take someone when you want to go out, but don't want to be seen.

There was even a guard at the front door… I don't think he's a werewolf, I don't think any of them are werewolves.

'So, maybe he has brought other women here before but he's with you now and that counts for something.'

I sighed and watched as he looked over his menu again, "The Mushroom Florentine Pasta is good...if you like pasta, that is."

"I'll have that then," I said as I closed my menu. I couldn't take my eyes off of him anyway. He was too good to be true and I still had no idea what I was doing with him.

I don't know if I should accept him being my mate.

The waiter came and took our order with Jared ordering something with salmon, "And a bottle of Domaine Leroy Chambertin Grand Cru 1990."

"Yes, Sir. I'll be right back with your wine."

When the waiter left, Jared turned to me and put an arm around the back of the booth over my shoulders, 

"Now, tell me about yourself, Masai," he commanded.

"What do you want to know," I asked as I flipped my hair over my left shoulder.

He was silent for a moment, just looking me over, "I want to start with why you didn't tell Damien he has a child?."

Damn, I didn't want to think about why I was forced to drop out, but he was staring at me, searching my eyes.

I sighed and began, "Well, I was pregnant when I was still in the pack. In fact I was coming from the doctor that day, the day I caught him cheating on me. Anyway, I just left the pack because I couldn't bear to see them together. I went back to my parents' pack but I was informed they were killed in a rogue attack."

His face softened and he grabbed my hand in his right, his left hugging my shoulder as I continued,

"We were close and before I left for the Mooncrest pack, we talked basically every day. They were my rock and they supported me when I told them about me wanting to be a doctor. But how did I repay them? by being a spoiled brat, by leaving them and going to meet a man that didn't value me."

I paused to collect myself, suddenly feeling very emotional.

"Sorry" I whispered as I looked down at the table. It hurts to think about them .It still felt like yesterday. I still can't accept it."

I regretted leaving them and regret meeting Xaden and falling in love. 

His thumb rubbed against my knuckles, his other slightly caressing my shoulder, "You're fine, little girl. Don't ever apologize for showing emotion." 

"Sorry about your wait, Mr. Blackstone. Would you like me to pour this for you," The waiter held the bottle above his glass.

"Yes, thank you," Jared answered, but his eyes never leave my face.

The waiter poured the wine into our glasses and put the bottle back into the bucket of ice before leaving it on the table.

"Your food should be out shortly" he stated before disappearing behind the wall separating us from the rest of the restaurant.

"Continue," Jared lightly commanded.

"Um," I began, "So, I went to my grandma's house and she was the one that informed me of my parents death. After sulking for a few days, she got angry and demanded I go back to school. So I went back and became a doctor and I became damn good at it. I gave birth to Asher three months after my graduation and it's been us ever since." The thoughts rush out of my mouth and I blush at the suddenly shared information.

"You have me. If you ever need anything, Zina, please just ask," he said and I could hear the sincerity in his voice and it made my heart skip a beat.

"Thank you," I whispered, suddenly self-conscious about my over-sharing, "You truly have no idea how kind you've been to me. You probably didn't realize

how much you made my life tolerable when I was living with Damien.

He was silent for a moment and I saw his eyes

darken, "Well I'm glad, but please what I did was just nothing, but now you're my mate and I'm not going to let you go through the same thing." he reminded me in a low voice and he squeezed my hand.

"Jared," I whispered, my voice breathless and my eyes wide.

I wore a black heart choker with my outfit and on the pendant, it said choker.

He looked down at the pendant on the choker around my neck and when he returned my gaze, his pupils had overtaken the color in his eyes and whether that was due to the small amount of light in the restaurant or something else.

I was all but sure of what his next question would

be.

"'Are you?" he asked, his thumbnail lightly digging into the skin on the top of my hand.

"Am I what?" I breathed out, knowing what answer he wanted. He's been eyeing the pendant all evening  and I was wondering when he'd comment on it.

"A slut?" he asked through clenched teeth.

I clenched my thighs together and gasped, "Jared."

He let go of my hand and grabbed my knee before running his hand up and under my dress, "Answer the question, Zina," he commanded, his voice low and husky, his hand traveling higher up my thigh.

"Yes," I whispered and grabbed his hand.

"Yes, what," he squeezed my thigh and my eyes closed.

Was this really happening? Was I really having this

conversation with him? And in public?

And how far would I let this go?

"Zina, answer me. Yes, what," He asked, his lips at my ear.

His voice was deeper so I knew his wolf was fighting for control.

My breathing was heavy and his hand was steadily traveling higher, a few more inches and his forefinger would be touching my panties.

"Yes Jared, I'm a slut," I heard myself whimper. He growled low and nipped at my ear lobe, his finger hitting the intended target.

"Yeah, you are. You're such a fucking slut in this outfit, You wanted me to see your body, didn't you, little slut," he asked as he moved his hand so his fingers were rubbing my sensitive nub over the cloth.