Her hands clasped over her lower belly and she straightened her shoulders. “Thank you. That’s sweet to say.”

He stalked closer. “Not sweet.” His attention strayed to the vee of the shirt and he licked his lips. “None of my thoughts are.”

She stared at him. “I don’t understand.”

He gently gripped her hands, stilling their motion “You look sexy and I’d like nothing better than to remove those clothes from you. I would toss you over my shoulder to take you back to bed if an SUV wasn’t waiting outside. I’m going to do that later though. Expect it.”

That seemed to surprise her. “I’m not even wearing makeup. I mean, I look a lot better with it on.”

“No, you don’t. I prefer you just like this.”

Her gaze lowered to his mouth and he wanted to kiss her. He knew better. He’d end up following through and taking her to the bedroom. As tempting as it was, he didn’t need Justice, Fury or Jericho on his ass for ruining their plans to dispel the horrible rumors the church had started. He didn’t care what humans thought of him but they’d damaged Vanni’s reputation as well.

“We need to leave.”

She nodded and finally stopped staring at his mouth. “Okay.”

“It’s going to be fine. I won’t leave your side.”

“I trust you.”

A warm feeling settled in his belly. That was one hurdle down in the path to gaining her as a mate. “Good. I would pity the human who tried to harm you.”

Her eyes widened.

He just smiled. “You’re mine to protect and I won’t fail you.” He released her hands and stepped back, offering his arm the way he’d seen gentlemen do in films. “Allow me, beautiful. Let me escort you to the SUV.”

Vanni curled her fingers around his forearm. He wished he’d worn a short-sleeved shirt so he could enjoy her touch better. He liked skin-to-skin contact. He glanced down as they walked forward, getting a better view of her cle**age. His dick stirred at the thought of putting his mouth there later. It took effort to contain his desire enough to control his physical reactions. A raging hard-on would be noticeable.

He led her outside. Slash, Jericho, Wager and Flame were the four males he’d requested for the Species team. They were human-friendly and trustworthy. He shot a warning glare at Wager, who stared a little too intently at Vanni’s legs. Wager frowned but averted his gaze immediately. Smiley paused beside them.

“You’ve met Wager and I heard you were introduced to Jericho yesterday, Vanni. This is Slash and Flame. They are friends of mine and have been assigned to protection duty. They will travel in our SUV with us. A second vehicle will carry our human task force team members.”

“Hello.” Vanni smiled at the males. “It’s nice to meet you.”

He watched her face closely, hoping none of them would appeal to her. She didn’t keep her gaze on any of them for longer than a few seconds. He did notice that she glanced at Jericho again. The male had said his eyes frightened her. Smiley drew her a little closer against his side.

“It’s good to meet you.” Flame grinned. “We’ll have fun shopping. That’s the main point of this, besides showing the humans that Smiley isn’t a monster you hate.”

Smiley snarled, not liking the way Vanni’s smile faded at Flame’s remark.

Flame backed away. “I’m sorry. That was intended to be a joke.”

“She didn’t laugh.” Smiley tried to control his temper but it was hard to do, knowing Vanni had been offended. “You drive, Flame. Silently.”

“Okay.” The male fled around the SUV.

Jericho opened the passenger door. “Please get in, Vanni. You take the middle seat. Smiley and I will sit by the doors.”

Smiley helped her climb in and watched her fight the skirt to keep it from inching up her thighs. Jericho clamped a hand on his shoulder when he attempted to scoot in after her.

“Get a grip,” the male whispered.

Smiley wasn’t sure what he meant.

“You’re acting irrational. You’re Smiley, not Grumpy Ass, ready to tear off the heads of males who look at your female. Everyone knows she’s yours.”

Smiley jerked out of his hold and climbed into the SUV. Jericho slammed the door and he winced. His friend had a point. He wasn’t behaving as he normally did. Vanni drove him a little insane. Wager had no business appreciating the sight of her legs and Flame shouldn’t speak to her at all.

She put on her seatbelt and he tried to relax. He didn’t want her to see his stress. She touched his hand. He met her gaze.

“Are you okay?” She sounded worried.

“Yes.”

The door opened and Jericho took the seat on her other side. He didn’t like his friend that close and fought the desire to remove her belt and place her on his lap instead. It was unreasonable and stupid, yet the urge still goaded him.

Vanni stroked the back of his hand. “I’m not afraid. I feel safe. You can relax.”

He wished it were that simple. Jealousy was a new emotion and he didn’t like it one bit. He recognized it though. Vanni wasn’t his mate. Yet. That left room for other males to draw her attention. He had to resist glancing at her stomach. His son might be growing there but that wasn’t why he wanted her. It just meant he’d have a valid reason to beat on any male foolish enough to flirt with her.

“Listen to her,” Jericho ordered. “Chill out. We have two teams on this mission and this will be a short, surprise outing. We don’t expect any trouble but we’re prepared if anything happens. We even have the helicopter on standby in case we need an emergency airlift.”