The Werewolf's Sabbat Ch. 06

Janette laughed nervously, looking down at her hands in his. "Yes, that was quite awkward, I have to admit. I certainly wasn't expecting anyone to be there, especially not you."

"I can't apologize enough. I was out of line. I'm not sure what I was thinking, but it won't happen again, okay?" He released her hands and led her to his table with one hand at the small of her back. "Come sit. I ordered us a bottle of wine. I hope you like chardonnay." He pulled the chair out for her and waited for her to be seated before taking his own seat across from her and pouring her a glass.

"I love chardonnay. Actually I love all wine. I guess you could say I'm a lush when it comes to wine." Dumb! Dumb! Dumb! What was that? You don't admit to your date that you're some kind of a wino. Janette practically chugged the contents in her glass as her face burned with embarrassment, wishing that a team of assassins would storm the restaurant and shoot her right then and there before she had a chance to humiliate herself even more.

Damn she was cute when she blushed, Mitch thought, wondering just how far down her chest that pretty shade of pink reached. "I'm glad to hear that," he said, unable to contain his amused smile at her obvious nervous state. "I rather love wine myself. I can't say I'm a seasoned wine connoisseur, but I do enjoy a glass or two every now and then."

"What can I get for you this evening?" Janette hadn't even noticed the waitress approach their table and was shocked when she looked up to see the woman practically glaring at her with fire in her eyes. "Um... I don't know. I guess I'll have what he's having," she smiled politely.

"That's original," the waitress snorted before rolling her eyes and walking away.

"What was that?" Janette felt very out of place all of a sudden, as though she wasn't welcome there. "An old girlfriend?"

"Not even close," Mitch said, trying to contain the eruption of fury that was boiling in his chest. "I'm sorry Janette, but will you excuse me for a moment? I need to deal with one of my staff." He stood and took two steps towards her, bent down and kissed her lips lightly. He knew Darla had seen the kiss and walked towards her, leaving Janette at their table, stunned by the unexpected contact.

"Darla!" Mitch said through clenched teeth, not attempting to hide the disapproval in his eyes. "My office. Now!" She followed behind him while several coworkers stared, an obvious look of fear in their eyes. They knew that Mitch had a good hold on his temper, so when he got pissed at you, you'd really messed up. They also knew that it was a very bad idea to be the one who had pissed him off.

Mitch waited for Darla to enter before closing the door behind her. She didn't have a chance to even gasp in surprise before his hand found her throat, slamming her against the wall, holding her two feet off of the floor. His face was mere inches from hers, his breathing ragged as he fought to control his temper. "Heed my words well, because this is the only warning you will get," he growled. "If you ever, EVER disrespect my mate again, I will personally make sure that you regret it. Am I understood?"

Darla's eyes went wide in surprise. "Your mate?"

"Yes. My mate. I would advise you that you learn your place. Am. I. Understood?"

Darla had never seen Mitch this way and couldn't stop her body from shaking in fear. "Yes sir," she said, lowering her eyes in submission.

"If I even hear rumor that you so much as looked at her wrong, you will be thrown out of the pack. Am I understood?"

Darla nodded her head.

"And if it goes that far, I will see to it that no neighboring pack will accept you either. Take my word for it."

"That won't be necessary," she croaked out with her eyes lowered as submissively as was possible from two feet above the ground.

"Am I understood?"

Darla nodded her head.

Mitch's breathing slowed and his temper quieted as he let the terrified girl, with tears in her eyes, down from the wall. He turned away from her, not entirely sure what the hell had just come over him. "Get back to work. Oh, and Darla? Tell Tony he is our waiter for the rest of the night. You can finish out the rest of your shift busing tables."

He heard her shocked gasp when she turned and walked out the door. Mitch closed his eyes and took a deep breath, assuring himself that he had regained complete control, then walked out the door and back to their table.

"Is everything okay?" Janette said, a look of worry in her eyes. She wasn't sure what had just happened but knew it couldn't be good when she saw their waitress come from a back room looking as though someone had just run over her dog.

"Everything's fine. I just had a situation to deal with, that's all." Mitch reached across the table and took Janette's hand in his, holding it gently and lightly rubbing a thumb over the soft skin of her knuckles. "Thank you for coming tonight. You look absolutely amazing, by the way."

Janette's gaze went from their joined hands to Mitch's eyes, her face still covered in that never-ending blush that he caused her. "Thank you. You don't look so bad yourself." Absolutely lickable was more like it, but she wasn't about to say that out loud. "So, you own this place along with the club, huh?"

"Yes. My brother Liam and I own both of these places, along with two others here in town. I don't own them entirely to myself." Janette's expression turned suddenly suspicious. "My grandmother told me that you had been to her house last night. How did you know where she lived? How did you know that I would probably be there?" Please God, don't let this edible morsel of a man be a psycho stalker.

"Melissa told me," he lied. "I hope you don't mind that I went there looking for you. I just wanted to return your phone in person, that's all." He caught a slight flicker of hurt in Janette's eyes before she quickly looked down at the table. "Speaking of Melissa, I want to clear things up. I was never with her, Janette. Yes, I asked her to meet me at the club last night, but only because of my brother." He released Janette's hands, took another sip of his wine and leaned back in his chair. "Liam seems to think that I should be chasing every skirt that walks by me. He doesn't understand that that's his thing, not mine. I agreed to the date with Melissa to shut him up."

"Mitch, you don't have to explain things to me. I mean, we just..."

"I know I don't owe you any explanations," he interrupted. "I just wanted to talk to you about it. I didn't want you to get the wrong idea about me."

"I admit the words 'vain egotistical bastard' might have crossed my mind for a moment." Janette laughed when Mitch's eyebrows rose in surprise. "I'm kidding. You're fine. I understand."

"So what is it that you do for a living?" Mitch moved the wine bottle and their glasses to the side when Tony came to their table with the food they had ordered.

Janette's eyes widened when she caught sight of the enormous T-bone steak sitting in front of her. If I eat all of that, surely they will have to wheel me out of here on a dolly, she thought. It smelled divine. She grabbed her knife and fork and sliced a small piece from the steak but grimaced when a little blood squirted out of the rare piece of meat. She immediately put her knife down and took a forkful of asparagus, one of her favorite vegetables, instead..

"I'm a registered nurse," she said, swallowing and sipping her wine. "I went to nursing school at the local college here in town, got a job at the hospital and have been there every since." She looked up at Mitch, surprised to see him not eating, but smiling at her in a weird way.

"I'm sorry, I should have warned you about ordering the same thing as I did. I usually like my steaks pretty rare. It didn't occur to me that they would cook yours the same. I can get you something else if you'd like."

"No, I'm good. There's enough asparagus and potatoes piled on here to feed a third world country," she laughed, spearing a potato and popping it into her mouth. "So what is it that you do? I mean, other than run a slew of businesses? What do you do for fun?" Janette found herself starting to relax, feeling more comfortable in Mitch's presence rather than wanting to run screaming for the hills.

Mitch picked up his knife and began slicing away. "Well, I love to hunt, for one," he said, taking a bite of steak. "I'm not much into the club scene, though."

"What? But you own two of them."

"They are business endeavors, nothing more." Mitch didn't go to his clubs often. All the scantily clad youthful figures bouncing around in a drunken state, reminding him of his own youth, just made him feel old. "Now you."

"Hmm?"

"Now you. What do you like to do for fun?" Mitch watched her as she put down her fork, took a sip of her wine and thought about his question.

"Oh, I like to do a lot of things," she said smiling. "I love gardening. Horseback riding. Cooking. The list goes on and on." She knew of something she'd like to do and it was sitting right in front of her. She reached across the table and poured herself some more wine and then refilled his glass.

"Do you like your job?" he asked, unable to mask the smile that crossed his face when he pictured her in a naughty nurse uniform.

"I do, actually. I didn't think that I would but I can't imagine being anything else now." They sat together eating and chatting like long lost friends for the better part of an hour. Janette only had two glasses of wine, but already was feeling the dizzying effect it had on her. She pushed her glass and plate away with a sigh. "I'm stuffed."

"Yeah, I'm getting that way myself." Mitch wiped his mouth with his napkin. "Take a walk with me."

"What?"

"An after dinner walk. Just to help digest." Mitch stood, pulled out his wallet and threw a wad of bills on the table for the waiter. He reached down and grabbed Janette's hand, pulling her to stand with him. "It's a nice night out. We can walk a bit and then I will bring you back to your car." Seeing the hesitation on her face, he rolled his eyes at her. "Come on. I promise to have you back before midnight when you turn into a pumpkin... or however that goes."

Janette laughed lightly. "The carriage turns into a pumpkin."

"Yeah, yeah I knew it was something like that. Let's go." Mitch entwined his fingers with his mate's and led her to the door, nodding to Tony as he held the door open, leading her outside.

They walked in silence for a block before he led her down a strip of concrete leading to a bike path by the river. She hesitated for a moment, noticing that it was night and the walkway was far from well lit, with only a few street lamps. "Come on. It's okay, I won't let the big bad wolf get you." She looked into his laughing eyes for a moment before following his lead, heading down towards the river. "So what's the story with your grandma anyway?"

"What about my grandma?"

"She seems like a real nice lady, but where are your parents?"

Janette let out a long sigh. "My mom and dad died in a car accident when I was five. I've lived with my grandmother and aunt every since. I have been staying with grandma for awhile because she injured herself and needed a little extra help."

Mitch paused suddenly. He thought he had known everything about her, from things her grandma had told him and all the snooping he had done, but he didn't know this. "I'm sorry to hear that." He put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her to him, and kissed the top of her head.

Janette was surprised at how natural his contact felt, and how at ease she had become. Just a little more than an hour ago she would have jumped out of her skin if he had touched her. "It's okay. It was a long time ago. I don't even remember them. It's crazy. It's as though my memory begins at the time of their death. Then again, how many memories would I have I retained? I was only five." She looked up at him, seeing nothing but shadows on his face in the dark. "Do you remember when you were five?"

Mitch laughed at the idea. He hadn't been five in one hundred and fifty years. Of course, he didn't remember it. "Not really," he said, leading her by the hand to sit on a bench just off the walkway near a light post. He slid his arm around her and playfully nuzzled into her neck.

Janette laughed. "Stop it, you naughty, naughty man," she said teasingly, in her best English accent. Her burst of giggles just egged him on and he nuzzled her even more. "Stop it. You're tickling!" she squealed.

"You think that's tickling?" he said, before wiggling his fingers against her ribcage. "Now that's tickling."

Janette couldn't control the laughter rolling from her, as he assaulted her ribs mercilessly. Her laughter came to a sudden halt when she saw the expression on Mitch's face. She looked in the direction of his glare and saw a man walking towards them on the path. He was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with the hood pulled up, shadowing his face.

"Come on, lets go," he said, pulling her to her feet and quickly leading her in the direction they had come from. They walked in silence, approaching the walkway leading back up to the street to his restaurant. "Don't say anything," he whispered to her, making her nervous. What was going on, she thought.

They walked a block or so when Janette sighed her relief, seeing the hooded man head in a different direction. "What was that all about?" she said, looking up to Mitch.

"I don't know," he said, glancing once more behind them. "I just had a bad feeling. I had to get you out of there." Mitch said with a stern look on his face. The man approaching them smelled of death and rot and he wasn't about to put his mate in danger.

He walked her to her car, not wanting her to leave. "Meet me the day after tomorrow," he said, pulling her close. "We can catch a movie or something."

"I have to work." She said, feeling her heart skip a beat with his sudden closeness.

"The movie doesn't even start until eight or nine in the evening. When do you get off work?"

" I get off at two."

"How about if you come to my place and I will cook you dinner before we go to the theater?"

"You cook?"

"Of course I can cook," he said grinning down at her. "I'm not completely helpless, you know."

"I have a better idea. How about if I cook for you instead, at my place. You obviously already know where I live."

"You're not going to smack me with a pillow again are you?" he said, winking at her.

"No, silly," she laughed, shaking her head, thinking of the bewildered, sleepy expression on his face when she hit him with the pillow.

"Okay, dinner at your place. Six o'clock. But before you go, I have to warn you of something," he said, a serious expression covering his features.

"And what might that be?"

Mitch paused, looking deep into her eyes. "I'm going to kiss you now."

She didn't have a chance to protest before his lips found hers, placing a soft, gentle kiss on them, his fingers entwined with hers, pulling her to him. His lips sent a wave of electricity through her, starting from her head and ending at her toes. His hands left a trail of blazing heat as they slowly slid down her sides and rested on her hips.

Mitch pulled his lips from hers and looked down at her, lightly brushing his knuckles along her jawline. He didn't want to move too fast with her, afraid that he might scare her away.

Janette wasn't sure what was happening. She woke up that morning hating the man standing in front of her, so why was it that his touch was igniting a blazing fire within her? She gazed into his heated brown eyes and felt the warmth of his hand against her cheek, somehow realizing at that moment that she could trust him. She wanted him to kiss her again, needed him to kiss her again, but he just stood there looking at her with a small polite smile on his face. She had never been one to initiate things with men. She had always been too shy for that kind of thing. She stood there for several moments longer, waiting, wanting. To hell with it, she thought. She wrapped her arms around his neck and stood on her tip toes, pulling him into an even deeper kiss than before, their tongues battling each other fervently.

Mitch was caught off guard when Janette began kissing him, and he paused for a moment. It was not what he was expecting but he wasn't going to complain. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tightly to him, exploring her mouth with his tongue, feeling her heart race against his. Reveling in her sweet honey taste, he couldn't get enough of her. She was like a drug to him. Her amazing scent overwhelmed him. He slid his hand up her back, feeling her tremble, and placed it on the back of her head, not willing to let her go. "Janette?" Mitch groaned before returning to her tasty, bruised lips. "Janette, come home with me?"

She froze for a second, not knowing what to say. Of course she wanted to go home with him. For some reason, at this point, she felt that she would follow him anywhere. "I can't." She looked at him with regret. "I'm sorry, but I just can't.

Mitch leaned over and kissed her again, intending it to be an acceptance of her decision. He softly brushed his lips against hers and started to pull back thinking he would say 'okay' and then open her car door for her, and watch her drive away.

Janette felt the electricity race through her the instant his lips brushed hers. If anything, his soft, almost chaste kiss somehow had more of an effect on her. She knew that he really was okay with her decision and that he intended to act gentlemanly, but that only added fuel to the quickly escalating fire roaring through her body. When she felt him start to pull away, she couldn't help herself, she pressed her lips back to his, and opened for his tongue, drawing him into another heated kiss. She felt his strong hands moving up her sides, pulling her softly to him, as they crossed over her back and reveled in the duality of strength and softness. They both pulled their mouths away slowly at the same moment.

"Come home with me?" he repeated, his voice a mere whisper, as they stood together with their foreheads touching, almost panting from the shared intensity of their first real kiss.

A voice in the back of Janette's mind was screaming at her to fling herself into his arms, letting him sweep her away and into his bed. She desperately tried to suppress that wanton part of her mind and pay attention to her morals. They had only known each other for two days at the most. She had never been the promiscuous type and didn't plan on starting anytime soon. "Mitch, I... I just..."

He smiled, letting out a tormented sigh. He wanted nothing more than to be with her right now. Forever. He knew her quite well, but he had to remind himself that she didn't know him. Trying to keep her perspective in mind, he took her hands in his. "I understand."

"I... I'm sorry, Mitch. It's just that..."

"No, it's okay. I want to be with you, Janette, but I'm willing to wait until you are ready." He reached up to the side of her face, tracing one thumb along her earlobe. "But you're still stuck with me. Dinner, and then a movie, agreed?"

She nodded her head. "Agreed."

"Until then." Mitch placed one last light kiss on Janette's forehead and opened her car door for her. She slid into her seat and he closed the door, went to his truck, got in and drove away.

Janette sat there for a moment, her body still buzzing from his touch, grinning from ear to ear. She wasn't entirely sure what had just happened but she knew that she loved every second of it. She hadn't been kissed like that in a very long time. Who was she kidding? She had never been kissed like that before. She slid the key into the ignition starting her car, backed out of the stall and drove away, as their former waitress glared out of the restaurant window after her.