When You Were My Mate (Demetra and Emris) novel Chapter 57

Chapter 57

Emris

Contd.

“I don’t want to-”

“I’ll reject you if you come with me.”

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She scoffs. Actually scoffs, but there’s a smile fighting to break though, and I watch her struggle not to give in to it. She covers her mouth but there’s the smile I love to see from her.

“I have some chips too.” I push my advantage. “I know you like corn chips and soda.”

“Whatever.” She rolls her eyes, but she’s already walking toward the exit.

As we push through the crowd toward the club entrance, I catch a glimpse of Slade near the bar, talking to some girl. I thought he’d be somewhere with his head in his hands after I took a part of his territory. Wait… I don’t think Demetra even knows about it yet. He’s probably keeping it from her because he doesn’t want her to think he’s failed as an Alpha.

Interesting.

But that’s a problem for later. Right now, my focus is on the woman walking ahead of me with her hips swaying with every

step.

We step out into the night, and Demetra walks ahead of me, looking at the line of cars parked along the club parkway, trying to figure out which one is mine.

I pull out my keys and press the start button.

My car growls to life and everyone stares.

It’s a black-on-black Conquest custom built, engineered specifically to purr like a jaguar. The body is glossy black with chrome accents that catch every flash of neon. Custom rims. Tinted windows so dark you can’t see inside.

A group of guys and a couple taking selfies near my car quickly shuffle away at the growling engine.

They know to get the hell out of my way.

I open the back door and pull out my coat. It’s a black cashmere one. I turn to her and drape it over her shoulders. It drowns

her.

Demetra looks up at me, and I don’t say anything. Just set it properly on her shoulders while my fingers brush her skin for half a second longer than necessary. Then I reach passenger side and open the door for her.

Black Salt Private Beach.

That’s where I drive us.

The soft R&B playing through the speakers fades to nothing as I turn into the private lane. So, now there’s just the sound of tires on gravel and the distant crash of waves. I watch her. Watch the exact moment she looks out the window and realizes I’ve actually parked the car close to the sea…like, close close,

The beach stretches out before us in the darkness. It’s not the biggest beach in the city but it’s the most exclusive. I bought it from the government three years ago after one too many weeke ds of trying to have family time with Milo while fifty other

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Chapter 57

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families crowded around us, screaming kids and people treating the ocean like their personal bathtub. I couldn’t stand it. So I wrote a cheque that made certain officials very happy, and now Now this stretch of sand belongs to me.

Black Salt. Named for the volcanic sand that gives it that dark, shimmering look under moonlight.

No one is allowed here unless I invite them. Tonight, I invited her.

“I’m sorry…you own a beach?” She says in the enclosed car with my coat still sitting on her shoulders. Demetra’s legs are crossed as she looks at me with those glossed lips, and I swear my brain stops for half a second.

“Um…” I scratch my forehead, suddenly feeling like a teenager. “Yeah. I don’t like other people enjoying the beach around me.”

“Sounds exactly like you.”

Demetra opens

the door and steps out, leaving my coat behind on the seat. I do the same, watching as she kicks off her heels and gasps slightly when her feet hit the sand.

I circle to the back of my car and pop the trunk. Inside is a large beach mat that’s big enough for five. I pull it out and lay it on the sand near where she’s standing, smoothing out the edges.

The beach around us is beautiful. Waves are rolling in gentle and the water foam glows. Above us is a canvas of stars, more than you ever see in the city, spread out like someone spilled sugar across black velvet.

“And

you have a beach mat in your trunk?” She raises an eyebrow

“Believe it or not, Milo makes me bring him every time.” I adjust the sleeves of my hoodie before realizing I can just… take it off. I do, pulling it over my head, and underneath I’m wearing just a simple white shirt, thin enough that the night breeze finds its way through.

I look up and catch Demetra staring at me.

She snaps her face away so fast it’s almost comical.

“It’s really beautiful.” She says quickly, pointing at the beach like that’s what she was looking at. “And no one is here? Like… no

one?”

“Yeah.” I smile, “Come on, let’s take a stroll.”

I stand, reaching into my pocket for a cigarette out of habit. I roll it between my fingers, about to light it, when I realize she’s watching me. Demetra has never seen me smoke before. Never knew this particular bad habit.

I tuck it back.

We start walking along the shoreline and the sound of waves fills the space between us. I look down at how small she is next to me… the top of her head barely reaching my shoulder and I chuckle softly,

The silence between us is beautiful but I remember that there’s much I want to know about her. So many years I missed. And if I don’t ask now, in a place she loves, on a night this glimmering, I might never get another chance this perfect.

“I should have taken you to the beach more.”

“It’s alright. I took myself.” Demetra looks at the sand.

“Yeah.” I bite my lip at that little offense. “So… how did you start drawing?”

Demetra stops walking.

“I’ve always painted.”

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Chapter 57

“No, you haven’t. I say it gently, but firmly. I would know if she loved painting. I would remember.

“Right. Another thing you don’t know. The look on her face isn’t surprised. It’s resigned. Like she expected this.

“I think I would remember-

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“If you didn’t know I was scared of raccoons, of course you won’t know this either.” She walks past me, and I stop, thinking.

Trying to remember a time she told me she loved painting.

Wait. I remember her always drawing something on my chest after we made love. Little patterns, shapes, was that painting?

“Demi.” I start following her again.

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