Page 71 of The Alpha’s Unclaimed Mate

“Nothing you need to worry about right now.” He crosses to me and takes my face in both his hands, and the sharpness is gone, only urgency left. “If anything feels off. Even a whisper of it. Even if you can’t say why. You take the girls downstairs, you call me, and I come. Fast as I can run. Do you hear me?”

I bring my hands up over his. “Go. We’ll be fine.”

He holds my eyes another breath and then lowers his mouth and kisses me fiercely. I should push him away, and my fingers curl into his jacket to do just that. But his kisses are addicting, his touch making my knees weak. It’s so hard to think when he’s got those large hands on my body. It was like that our first time and yesterday at the festival. And even now, I can feel wetness between my legs. Just from a kiss.

Then he moves back, a regretful shadow passing over his face before he disappears out of the back door. He doesn’t go to the front of the house where the cars are but toward the tree line.

I’m too dazed to think about it. I watch until the woods swallow him. My heart’s going too fast, and I realize with some annoyance that I’m worried about him, this infuriating man, on top of everything else.

Turning around, I pick up my cup of coffee, one hand going to my lips. My teeth sink into the lower one. His hands against my cheeks—they were so big. I set down the cup without drinking. If it had been anybody else last night, I wouldn’t have trusted them the way I did Marcus. Even now when part of me wants to go to the police, another part of me wants to believe that he’ll protect my daughter. No, our daughter.

I sink into a chair, murmuring, “He should know. I should tell him.”

But what if his smiles turn into anger, fury that I kept his child from him? Even if his people did turn me away, what if they never told him? I’ve seen him with Bella. A man who is willing to raise his orphaned niece wouldn’t have turned away his child. Or he would have looked for her. Marcus has never once mentioned having a child.

I knot my hands anxiously. I don’t want to gamble with Mia, but if today was any indication, she likes having Marcus around. She feels safe with him, much like I’m starting to. I don’t want to rip her from her father’s side, even if the two don’t know about each other.

Before I can come to a decision, there’s a knock on the door. Opening it, I come face to face with two burly looking men.

“You must be Jessa,” one of them says.

I’m just staring at them. I know them. They’re soccer players, two of Marcus’s old teammates. They’re still on the team.

“I am. Can I help you?”

“Marcus told us to come hang out here.” The taller one leans on the frame. “I’m Cole. This clown’s Tomas.”

“Is there food?” Tomas is already walking past me, heading for the kitchen. “We ran here. I’m dying.”

Both of them are shirtless. I have no idea why.

“Why are you—?” I gesture at the general state of them.

“It’s a long story.” Cole strolls in like he lives here. Tomas disappears up the stairs before I can object.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to go up there,” I call after him.

“It’s fine,” he calls back and comes down a moment later with two of Marcus’s shirts, tossing one at Cole. They pull them on, already cracking open beers from the fridge, entirely at home.

“So.” Cole drops onto a stool and looks me over, amused. “You’re the girlfriend.”

“What? No, I’m not.” Heat climbs my face. “I’m not his girlfriend.”

Tomas grins around the neck of his bottle. “Is that so? Then why are you standing in his kitchen at nine in the morning?”

“Marc doesn’t bring women here.” Cole shakes his head slowly, enjoying himself. “Not ever. You’ve got to be something special.”

“You got something on him?” Tomas leans in, mock-conspiratorial. “You blackmailing him? Because I wouldn’t say no to a piece of that action.”

I stare at them. “I’m his niece’s friend’s mother.”

The two of them exchange a look, then Cole leans forward, grinning. “You married? You two having an affair?”

“Are you deaf?” I glare at him.

Cole immediately leans back, offended. “I’m all for love and let live. I don’t judge.”

“I’m not his girlfriend, and I’m not having an affair with him,” I snap.