His Purrfect Mate by Aliyah Burke

and
struggled for a few seconds to regain some control. He stared at
her when she opened them again.
    “ I fully believe my words,
Aida. It’s the truth. We belong together.” He dished up a plate of
food for each of them. “Come eat.”
    Remaining on the counter, she turned her
head to watch him. He looked at her, causing her belly to flip a
few times. Dane arched one black brow and pulled out a chair before
looking pointedly between it and her. Aida obediently slid off the
counter and walked to him, allowing him to seat her.
    “ No more questions, Aida?”
he asked sitting across from her.
    “ Oh, I have plenty more,
but…not really sure I want to know the answers.”
    “ Then tell me where you
were today.”
    “ Out with Kees.” She could
feel his body tense immediately. “We had some branding to do.” Dane
stabbed a piece of steak and ate it. She held his gaze calmly
before asking one of her own. “Does your family know you’re alive?”
He remained silent. “Dane?” She pointed her fork at him. “You need
to tell them.”
    He sighed. “Okay.”
    Aida frowned. “Okay? Just like that?”
    “ Just like
that.”
    “ Are you worried they may
be in danger?”
    “ No, my family is…very
capable of protecting themselves.”
    “ Then what is it?” Aida
drummed her fingers on the table. “What gives, Dane? I have a right
to know since I’m in this with you.”
    “ I would never let anyone hurt
you,” he said on a low timbre. A sound which brought her boys to
full alertness.
    His protectiveness warmed her deep in her
body. “Not what I meant. I’m harboring a wanted man, if I’m to
believe what you’ve told me, which given the handcuffs I’m inclined
to do. I’d really like as few more surprises as possible. So do you
want me to pass along a message to them?”
    “ I don’t want them to get
involved.”
    But involving me was no
problem? Not sure how I feel about that. “I see.” Aida focused on her food.
    “ Look at me,
Aida.”
    She refused, instead keeping her gaze on her
plate. Her breath hitched when she heard a chair slide back across
the floor. In her peripheral vision, Aida saw him crouch down
beside her.
    “ Aida,” he murmured. Dane
moved her head so he could see her eyes. “Don’t think for one
second I value your life less than theirs and that’s why I’m
willing to involve you and not them. Your life is the most
important thing to me. My family can be…difficult at times for me
to deal with.”
    The stark honesty in his words made her
shiver slightly. Never had a man said such things to her before,
let alone with such conviction. “I don’t understand you, Dane.”
    He sighed. “What can I explain better?”
    Everything! Aida realized something in that moment. He must
truly believe what he said for he didn’t seem like a man who shared
much. Getting to her feet, Aida walked outside to her hammock and
sat in it, needing a minute to compose herself. Do I really want to go down this path? I feel already like my
life has changed just from my first meeting of him.
    A large shadow blocked the evening sun, and
she looked up to see Dane. She sat up. Aida worried her lower lip
when he sat beside her in the hammock. He lay back and drew her
down beside him. Her cheek rested on his shoulder, and her hand
settled familiarly on the warm skin of his naked chest. She took a
deep breath as contentment flowed over her.
    “ Tell me how I can explain
it better, Aida.”
    Start from the beginning
and use smaller words, maybe. I haven’t a clue, none of it makes
sense to me. “I don’t understand why you
think I can help.”
    “ You keep me grounded,
Aida. I don’t fear losing myself with you near.” His fingers
lightly skimmed her shoulder. “I didn’t lie when said I was a
simple man, Aida. But at the same time, I am also a complex one.
Putting forth many personas. I don’t want my family to see me until
I get through them to the brother they know and trust. Does that
make