Cry wolf! (Sequel of 7 mates for 7 brothers)

choked up about me?

But most of all he loved it when she blushed when he could not help but touch her hand when it rested on the table.  Her blush would color her whole face and the heat would creep down her neck and disappear into the blouse.  He caught himself just in time when he wondered how far down her body that blush would travel and he promised himself that he would make sure to find out one day.

They decided to go for a walk, Mandy said she would rather talk than sit and watch a movie.  On one side Tyler was grateful that he would not have to sit next to her in a darkened room.  He was not sure he would be able to keep his hands off of her.

While walking leisurely in the mall, Tyler found a lot of people shooting disapproving looks their way and he considered taking her home early.  But when she found someone staring at them with censure, she gripped his hand firmly and carried on walking, her head held high as she ignored the older couple with small children as they walked past them.  And then he nearly chocked on his cool drink as she pulled a face when they passed them completely.

“Are you OK?”  Mandy asked him with fake concern as she patted his back lightly while she tried very hard not to burst out laughing.  “Are you getting all choked up about me?”

Tyler wiped his eyes.  “You carry on like that and you could be the cause of my death, one way or another.”

Mandy made no reply when she correctly interpreted his words and she shivered as goose bumps covered her skin.  Tyler saw her shiver, and he rubbed his big hand along her arm.  It only made her shiver more.

“Perhaps we should get you home.”

If it weren’t for the obvious concern in his voice and eyes, she would have insisted they stay for a while longer on pure principal.  It did not bother her at all that humans would not understand the relationship between her and Tyler.  Besides, it had nothing to do with them.  And there was no chance in hell that Tyler would even try to act inappropriately.  No matter how hard she wished he did.

“OK.”  She relented, and she expected him to take his hand back.  Instead, he used his hand to twist her around so that they were walking back to the entrance the car was parked at.  Her breath caught when he pulled her closer and rubbed his hand over her arm again when she kept on shivering.

Ironically, his light touch only made her shiver more and by the time they had reached the car, Tyler was pretty concerned.  He carefully helped her into the car and even went as far as to fasten her seatbelt for her completely unaware that is was his close proximity that made her react the way she was.

Tyler frowned.  Why was her heart missing and skipping beats like that?  During the almost two weeks he had spent watching over Sam, a person’s heartbeat had become very important to him.  And Mandy’s especially.  He lifted his hand to her forehead and then ran the back of his hand down her cheek.

“Mandy?”  His voice was uncertain and full of worry.  She was slightly feverish and that really worried him.  His mother had said she was showing the early signs of shifting, and fever was not one of them.  He inhaled her scent deliberately to find out if there was anything wrong with her.

Her scent settled in him, filled him, and completely took over his mind.

Mandy did her best not to laugh at the concern in his eyes.  It was so darn sweet that he was this clueless as to what the real reason was for her shivering like she was sick or something.  After her seatbelt clicked in place he barely moved his face away and his dark eyes scrutinized her face, making her heart stutter.

Being this close to him was something she had dreamed about for such a long time now that she could hardly believe he was here; with her and it sparked something in her.  The longer he lingered this close, the more she burned up and when he started breathing in deeply, she was glad she was sitting because it made her knees weak the way he tilted his head towards her, his face coming closer and closer all the time until he practically had his whole face in her neck; his warm breath fanning against her skin and heating her up even more.

Her scent was so delectable and he was so close to her that there was no chance of stopping himself when the tip of his tongue traced a line along her neck.

“Tyler.”

The way she whispered his name sent a flash fire through his veins and he imagined that he was moments away from combusting as the heat soared through him and devoured his ability to think rationally.

“Tyler!”  Her shocked voice brought him out of the haze and he looked down at her to see that he had her blouse bunched in his hands.  Swallowing loudly he willed his hand to let go.  He had no doubt that he had been only moments away from ripping it off of her.

Frantically he searched his mind to find the right words to apologize to her.  Over and over he rejected everything he came up with.  Hell, why would he apologize for ravaging her like that when it was as clear as daylight that she had enjoyed it as much as he had?

“I am sorry if that was a bit much.”

Mandy blinked her eyes a couple of times to clear them, shaking her head in denial.  “Not too much.  Maybe a bit sudden, but definitely not too much.”

Tyler could not keep his eyes off of her lips.  Not once had he touched her lips with his.  He had always wanted their first kiss as couple to be something special with no mistaking the intention.  Now with the corner of her mouth lifted in a small smile, he craved to taste that smile; so much that it left him with a physical ache.  Heavens!  How was he going to resist kissing her, holding her now?  He had not wanted things to get this heated so soon.  It would only make waiting so much harder.

“We should go.”  Although he said the words, he made no effort to move.  He was still much too fascinated with the range of expressions on her face.

“Tyler, get in the car.”

“Yes Mam.”

It took everything he had to step away from her and close the door.  Ignoring the fact that they were in a very public place, he stealthily leapt over the hood of the car and climbed in on his side.  Allowing him only the one glance at her face, he started the car and drove them back home in silence.

Halfway home, he pulled over under a tree and switched the car off.  His fingers nervously played over the slight bulge in his pocket.  He had found this a while ago and had hoped to give it to her when he asked her to marry him one day, but now he was not so sure.  Look what waiting got him; a whole lot of trouble.  Now he only had to find the right words to say.  Darn, he had not even thought about it that much; he had only known that this is what he wanted to do.

“Tyler?”

Her voice had him looking at her.  Internally he sighed in relief.  There was no worry, no indecision or regret on her face; only a mild curiosity at his odd behavior.

“I asked your father if I could ask you to marry me.”  As soon as he realized what he had said, he slapped his palm on his face.  He hurried to correct himself.  “That is not what I meant.”

“Oh,” he was sure he could hear some amusement in her voice.  “You did not ask him to marry me?”

“No … yes.”  He sighed heavily and fingered the small package in his pocket again.  Then he shifted slightly and rammed his hand into the pocket and he took out the delicately folded tissue paper.

“What I meant to say was; that I had spoken to your father the other day.  He had known right from the beginning that you were mine; and he had been very decent about the whole thing.  He had not dictated me or given me a moment’s grief about how I should behave around you or tried to control our relationship.  I told him that I would be asking you to marry me as soon as you were done with school.  But I can not wait that long to tie you to me; and yet, I do not think that we should get engaged yet.”

His large fingers fumbled with the sheets of paper as he unfolded them.  From inside the layers of paper, he took out a delicate chain that held four rings.  One large one and three smaller ones.  His hands were shaking as he undid the clasp and let all four rings fall into his hand.  He selected the one thin band with the single amethyst and then he put the other rings back on the chain and fastened the clasp again.  With the single ring in his one hand and the chain in the other, he presented them both to her.

“This is a promise ring.  I would like it if you would wear this one on your finger while you keep the others on the chain around your neck until we decide to use them.”  His hands were shaking and he cleared his throat with a loud scratching sound.  “Will you be my girlfriend?”