grill, and closed the lid. A glance at Kingsley let him know to get lost. It was interrogation time, and Austin would just get in the way.
The warning in Austin’s posture was clear. Take it easy on her. Don’t hurt her. He winked at Jess before ducking back into the house.
“Thanks for the flow—” The door closed before she could get all the words out. “I feel like I should be helping,” she murmured.
“He’s cooking for you. Let him.”
A thoughtful expression stole over her face. Her eyes wandered; she was probably calling up memories of what Kingsley had said earlier about shifters cooking for their women. She crossed her legs, her discomfort incredibly plain, the reasons equally so.
His wife, Earnessa, should be having this talk with Jess, not him. It was borderline unacceptable for a male to talk this through with a female, at least when the female was this expressive, not to mention she’d been claimed by the strongest alpha in the world (or near enough).
Into the silence, he asked, “Are gargoyles protective of their females?”
She bit her lip. “The guys aren’t protective of their…of the women they meet in the bar. But I doubt that counts.”
“No, that doesn’t count.”
“Then I don’t know.”
“You?”
She shrugged. “I don’t think so. I’ve only been on a couple of dates since inheriting the magic.”
“So you know very little about gargoyle culture.”
“It certainly seems like it.”
Kingsley lazily swirled the wine in his glass, watching it in the glow of the deck light, the darkness having finally swallowed the last rays of the sun. “Shifters are territorial.”
“That’s pretty obvious.”
“Not just of property. In love, we are territorial of our partners, females as well as males.”
She sipped her wine, then said, “I’ve realized that.”
“Austin is an alpha, and that means his reactions are stronger in comparison to other shifters. You’ve seen what happens. It can get worse, if the offense is worse. It’s not his past that drives it. It’s his emotion fueling his animal, do you understand? It’s a primal reaction.”
“I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t necessarily understand what you’re driving at.”
“His intense reaction to someone touching you, or inappropriately flirting with you, will never go away. In possibly the very near future, it might get infinitely worse, at least for a time.” Until the mating bond was firmly established.
“Define ‘inappropriately flirting.’”
“If they’re too close, too aggressive in their flirting, we’ll say, and it’s making you uncomfortable. I’ve seen shifters flirt with you in a friendly way, and that doesn’t concern him. He has more control than he’ll ever give himself credit for. But the second you get uncomfortable, for any reason, it’ll flip his switch, do you get me?”
“Yes. Why are you telling me all this?”
“Because if you can’t handle that side of him, you need to leave now. Or maybe after dinner, because I agree, he is one helluva cook. But if you can’t handle that side of him, then you should not stay the night.”
Nervousness filled her expression this time. She shifted uncomfortably, squeezing her crossed legs, and Kingsley looked away.
“He has to ask me to stay over first…” she said quietly, and it dragged his gaze back.
She was such a riddle, this woman. Very intelligent, fast on her feet, but wow, did the obvious just fly right past her sometimes. That was probably the only way she could stay in that deathtrap of a house with those intensely weird caretakers.
Determination infused her bearing. “I can handle that side of him. News flash: women don’t like inappropriate flirting. Using him as a scapegoat will be good stuff.”
“You took down a thunderbird. You don’t need a scapegoat.”
“I mean, sure, I could handle it myself, but a lot of guys who get turned down, even respectfully, fly off the handle. They make a scene. It’s nicer to just avoid it.”
Kingsley was glad he didn’t have to hide his look of utter bewilderment and disgust. “Does that go on in the Jane and Dick world?”
“Doesn’t it go on here?”
He shook his head in disbelief, the situation with Kace making a lot more sense. “Listen, if someone makes you uncomfortable in the magical world, you tell them to piss off. If they don’t, you make them, or you’ll look weak. Don’t wait for Austin next time. Do it yourself.”
“I would’ve felt bad telling Kace to piss off. He was being respectful about the whole thing.”
“Did you feel bad when Austin ripped Kace out of his chair and made him submit in front of the