them for a moment too before turning to catch my eye. "Look, Dear. I know our families fight over the same contracts and shit. But this is different. Let me know if you need backup. I give you my word that I’ll be there with the brood before you have time to blink. Oh, and about your priest friend? I know about the contract on him, too. That's one I wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole. Are you kidding? My mother would chew me up and spit me out. As far as I'm concerned, we never saw him or anyone but your family get off that plane. And I'll keep my ears to the ground. If I hear of anyone else coming after the priest, you'll be the first to know. The man was doing a good thing, from what my sources tell me. But even if he wasn't, the clergy are supposed to be sacred unless they're the nasty kind who deserve to be killed. So yeah, the Blythe brood has your back."
When he held out his hand, I shook it and found myself feeling strangely choked up. "Thanks, Gil. I appreciate it. Don't spread this around, but the priest is my true mate. Anyone coming after him will face the wrath of my entire family. And it goes without saying that they'll need to get through me first."
Gil looked impressed. "Your true mate is a priest? Nice. Have fun popping that cherry. Okay, I'm out. Don't forget to call if you need backup."
I was blushing as I closed the door, afraid to see the looks on my brothers’ faces after Gil joked about Nathaniel’s probably virgin status. Not that I cared one way or the other. In fact, I didn’t want to know. If he’d been with anyone else at any point in his life I’d probably have to find and kill them, so it was best if he just did us all a favor and kept me in the dark. And if he was a virgin, we could figure it out together. Although, I was pretty sure an alpha like him had at least a working idea of how to claim his mate.
Shockingly, when I looked up, I found that the room had cleared out with the exception of Nathaniel. He shrugged and reached for my hand. "I think they wanted to give us some time alone. Darius said something about not worrying about the research, they had it covered from here. Perhaps this would be a good time for you to show me where I'll be staying?"
Swallowing, I nodded and led him toward the stairs. My throat felt dry and I wasn't sure what to say. Until now, we hadn't really had a chance to be alone. Now that we were, I was a little nervous, to be honest. We were both silent as we walked hand in hand up the stairs and down the long hallway and around the corner to the wing my room was in. By the time we got there, the fluttering in my stomach had calmed and I felt like I could talk.
"My room is right here. The next one down is the spare room I mentioned where I keep my extra clothes. It's fully made up into a guest suite, if you'd like to settle in there. Or," I paused and lowered my chin, peeking at him from the cover of my lashes, "you are also welcome to stay in my room."
I had planned to wait, but screw it. If God decided that I was meant to be mated to a man of the cloth, who was I to argue?
Nathaniel didn't disappoint me. He scooped me up bridal style and walked right into my room, kicking the door shut behind us. "Don't be silly, Dear. Where else would I stay but with my mate? I hate to break it to you, but this will be our room now."
I lifted my head and gazed into his eyes. "I like the sound of that. Our room." We both leaned in, our mouths pulled together as if drawn by magnets. When his lips touched mine, it felt almost reverent.
That is, until he growled hungrily and brought his tongue out to play. As he licked against my lips, pushing for entrance, I shivered with delight and opened wide. It felt like the room was spinning as I lost myself to his kiss. It wasn't until I pulled away to take a deep breath that