Passionate mates

Mine

As our eyes met, all sorts of feelings came to me—attraction, interest, enthusiasm, excitement. I swear I stopped breathing for a while. We held each other's gaze, and nothing else mattered to me at that moment. I only saw him. And he only saw me. His eyes drifted downwards. He was sizing me up, taking in all of me. My dress. My brown hair. My blue eyes.

I let my eyes scan him too. He was taller than me, which was impressive since I was tall for a girl. He was broadly built, probably twice as wide as me. He wore black jeans, a tight-fitting white t-shirt, and a black leather jacket. God, his t-shirt. I could see all the bulges in all the right places in his chest and stomach.

I reminded myself to breathe, and our eyes met again. I blinked, trying to get myself out of the trance.

"Kira, need I to remind you of your manners?" dad spoke, and my eyes snapped to him. I flushed a bit, wondering if my dad saw the intensity between us. I walked up to our visitor and nervously reached my hand out.

"Hi, welcome to our territory. I'm Kira", I said with a shaky voice, holding his gaze. He looked at my hand for a while, then took it.

Sparks shot in my hand, and I tried to retract it from his grip, but he held on to it. He held my hand for a few more moments, probably a few moments too long, and then let it go.

"I'm Jax," he said. Nothing more, nothing less. But it was enough for me because my heart was pounding in my chest.

"We are so happy you are here, Jax. Come, let's eat", my dad said and brought a hand around Jax's shoulders and steered him outside.

Jax sent me a look over his shoulder, and I averted my eyes. Holy crap. Holy crap. Hooooly crap. This is my mate! My wolf howled in happiness and urged me to go get him. And by getting him, she meant, go get that man in your bed. Right now. I flushed by her behavior and chose to ignore her. I didn't know what to do with that. She may be happy, but I was nervous. I have always hoped that my mate would be in my pack so that I didn't have to move to another pack. I wasn't ready to leave my dad or my brother.

Speaking of my brother, Aiden came and linked his arm with me and started walking to the dinner table outside. I heard a low growl and followed the sound with my eyes, which landed directly at Jax. I looked at my brother's arms linked with mine and rolled my eyes inwardly. Jeez. Jax kept his eyes on me while we approached the table and sat down. I ignored him the whole time. I was too shy to look at him. He and my brother shook hands, and Jax blinked a couple of times when he learned Aiden was my brother and then shot me a look. I looked away again.

My father sat at the end of the table, with Aiden and me on one side and Jax and his beta on the other side. Jax and I sat opposite each other, making it really hard for me to know where I should look. I eyed his beta instead for a while. They were both older than me, but only by a few years.

"So, where have you been hiding this daughter of yours? As your neighbor, it surprises me that I haven't seen her yet", Jax spoke.

His question was directed at my father, and I could hear a slight irritation in his voice. Probably because he had been waiting for his mate since he turned 18, not knowing she was so close. Father smiled and spoke proudly of me. It warmed my heart, and I squeezed his hand. While Jax gave my father attention, I took my time to study his face. We were so close, yet I felt like it was too far. He had dark, full eyebrows, dark brown eyes, and a powerful jaw. His hair was dark, almost black, and full as well. I wanted to rake my hand through it.

I flushed at my thoughts and looked down at my hands. I could feel Jax's eyes on me, so I focused on eating my food. The whole dinner went by like that—him staring at me while talking to my father and me looking at everything else. I felt hot and bothered, and the time went by slowly. I just wanted to go inside and get away from his stare for a while, to cool down. I had always pictured my mate, but he was nothing like that. He was handsome, big, and his dominance engulfed me—nothing like the carefree guy I had envisioned.

***

We went to desserts, and I needed a cold shower by now. Who knew only a look from a mate could do these things? Or was it just me? Am I so inexperienced that it didn't take more than this? This was definitely something I needed to talk with Anna about. Jax's beta, Corey, started talking to me. He asked me questions about my brother and me and what I liked to do. Typical over-the-table conversations. He made a few jokes and seemed easy to talk to. Aiden also joined in on our conversation.

While the conversation slowly started to change topics to football, I excused myself to my father and said I would start the cleaning in the kitchen. It was just an excuse so I could relax a little. I rose from my chair and nodded politely to Jax. His eyes darkened a tad, and I turned to walk. I felt his eyes lingering on me until I was inside. I leaned against the door and took a few steady breaths.

My wolf whimpered because of the distance between our mate and us. She was definitely eager to be with him. I went to the kitchen and took my time cleaning. What will happen between Jax and me? What if he isn't what I had pictured him to be? What if he isn't caring and fun? I felt so unsure suddenly, and I even felt uncertain about myself. I've always been told that I am a real beauty because of my long legs, lean figure, and blue eyes. But now, I felt unsure. What if I wasn't what he pictured? Will I be a disappointment?

I shook my head to get those thoughts out of my head. We haven't even spoken yet, we only said hello to each other. There's no point in getting ahead of myself.

The dinner was going well. I could hear the chatter and laughter all the way inside. I smiled to myself, happy for my father. He was so stressed earlier today, but it all went as it should. I heard the door clicking shut, and I immediately felt who had entered the house. My skin felt a pleasant tickle all over. I focused on the dishes, but boy, was it hard. I listened closely as his footsteps came closer. I stayed with my back against him, but eventually, my curiosity got the best of me, and I turned around.

He was surprisingly close, only a couple of steps away from me. I tilted my neck and looked up at him. He said nothing, but he took in all of me. I felt self-conscious, but I stood still. His eyes went up to mine again, and I swallowed.

"Mine," he said, with a growl so low I could barely hear it. He took a step closer to me, and I squeezed myself closer to the sink, creating more distance. He took another step, and now we were barely touching. I had to tilt my neck even more to look at him now. My breathing was unsteady, and I gripped the counter tight. He looked at me for a while without moving a muscle until he leaned down as if he were to kiss me.