he didn't so much as budge.
Much to Billie's horror, Royce kept her pinned to his chest with one arm as he held out his other hand to her father. Billie figured Royce wouldn't be earning any brownie points from her father for manhandling her in front of him.
"You must be Billie's father," Royce said calmly, as if it was an ordinary occurrence for him to be holding Billie so close against him.
Her father accepted Royce's proffered hand and shook it briefly. "And you must be Royce. If you wouldn't mind, put my daughter down."
Royce let Billie slowly slide down the length of his body. She bit her bottom lip to keep the moan that rose up inside her from escaping. There was no mistaking the evidence of Royce not being unaffected by her closeness. It made her wish she and Royce were alone somewhere, able to pursue what they were both feeling.
Once her feet hit the ground, her father turned his attention to her. "Billie, why don't you go and take a shower before you change your clothes. You must need one after working out. The boys and I will keep Royce company for you."
Yeah, right. There was no way she was going to leave Royce to the sharks for that length of time. "Actually, Dad, I only managed to do one set on the bench press before I noticed the boys had cornered Royce. So I'm good. All I have to do is change my clothes, which I'll go do now. Just promise me you won't tear him to pieces before I come out."
"I promise we'll be on our best behavior."
Somehow Billie didn't think that would last long after she was out of sight. Feeling the need for speed, she almost ran to the women's change room.
* * * *
Royce let his eyes rest on each of the York men. They all looked to be cut from the same cloth. There was no mistaking Billie's brothers as anything other than the offspring of the man who stood in front of him. Billie's father was the total opposite of his daughter. He was tall, muscular and seemed to be the type of man who had no qualms about getting in your face if he needed to, same with her four brothers.
He decided to let them try to intimate him with their hard stares. It of course wouldn't work. All he could think about was Billie. She had been all he had been able to think about for the last two days. She was inside him so deep, he didn't think he could ever get her out. The one taste he had of her was far from enough. Even though he hated it, and had fought it to the bitter end, he could no longer deny what his whole being was clamoring for him to complete. He had to claim Billie as his mate fully or he would suffer the consequences. And so he had finally broken down and come to the gym to see her.
Billie's father was the first one to break the heavy silence that had descended after she had gone to change. "My daughter didn't think you would be coming to see her, but I told her you would be around eventually."
"Well, I found myself unable to stay away."
"Billie does tend to leave a lasting impression on people."
"That she does."
"Do you mind if I ask you your age? You're a lot older than the others Billie has taken an interest in."
There was no way Royce was going to tell her father his actual age. Being a werewolf, his lifespan was exceedingly longer than what mortals considered normal. His kind wasn't immortal, but they were pretty darn close. The oldest of their kind lived to be three thousand years old. Royce had already seen more than fifteen hundred years. To a mortal, he looked no older than thirty-five.
"I can't see what bearing my age has to do with anything."
"It doesn't," Billie said as she approached them. "Now would the five of you back off and leave Royce alone?" She came to stand next to Royce. "I'm going for the day, if you haven't already guessed that. I'll be back in tomorrow. If I'm a little late, don't go forming a search party or anything."
Billie didn't wait around long enough to see if the males in her family had anything more to say. She turned on her heel and headed for the gym's entrance. Royce fell into step beside her.