“Where are we going?” she asked as he drove, her hand tucked into his lap.
“You’ll see,” he said, aiming a smirk in her direction.
“Should I be scared?”
“That depends. Are you afraid of water?”
Ember giggled. “Water? No. Jeez, what did you plan? You told me to dress up. I’m not prepared to go for a swim.”
“No need to swim, love.”
After a short drive, Ember gasped. “You’re taking me to the pier.”
Kai smiled at her. “I am, yes.”
“But—” she arched a brow in confusion. “There’s no restaurant at the pier.”
“Nope,” he answered, pleased that she was trying to decipher his plans but even more satisfied that she would never figure them out. He had planned quite the surprise.
He parked his car in the marina’s lot before rushing around to open her door. He tucked her hand in his as they walked the length of the docks. The moon was high up in the sky, a sliver of glowing silver in the black, starry sky. The pale light was reflecting on the dark water, a small amount of fog was rolling on the surface of the minuscule waves.
The boat, a small yacht named My Toy, Get Your Own, was illuminated with fairy lights. Kai would have liked to take credit for the lights, but that wasn’t his doing. His client, a wealthy businessman who contracted Mason Security to guard his properties, liked to have the lights on his boat when he hung out on the deck.
The man, Tobias Huff, had been kind enough to lend Kai his boat for the night. Kai knew that it was a gamble, perhaps a bit pretentious to bring Ember on a yacht that wasn’t his, but a regular restaurant date hadn’t seemed like enough.
He wanted his first official date with his mate to be something memorable. Something that they could look back on one day when they were old and gray and surrounded by their grandchildren.
“What is this?” Ember asked as he helped her onto the deck of the ship.
He explained his ties to Tobias, even giving her a brief rundown of what his family’s company had done to protect Tobias from corporate espionage a few years prior.
“So, he just lent you this boat? Wow, that is trust.” Her features were illuminated by the moon and the soft glow of the fairy lights above. On the deck of the ship, a small table was waiting for them. Kai quickly lit the candles before helping Ember to her seat. He poured her a glass of wine, allowing himself to kiss her forehead as he pulled away.
He had a few more tricks up his sleeve.
“I have to say, it’s not easy planning a date for a baker. You spend so much time in the kitchen, I didn’t know which restaurant would be good enough. This was the alternative.” He motioned toward the small grill a few feet away. “I’m not much of a baker, but I can grill stuff like a pro.”
“You’re cooking dinner for us on a boat?”
He winked at her. “Yup. Hope that’s okay.”
“No one ever cooks for the cooks, you know. Everyone is always too intimidated. It doesn’t matter that my specialty is baking. People are always nervous about making a meal for me. The only person who doesn’t give a crap is my mom, and that’s because it’s her job too.”
Kai listened to her while he started up the grill. Once it was hot enough, he placed two salmon steaks, a couple of sweet potatoes, and a folded bundle of aluminum foil containing green beans, broccoli, and red peppers drenched in garlic butter, on it. It was simple fare but delicious. He was confident that he couldn’t fuck it up.
Dessert had been trickier to figure out, but he was sure his plan would go over well.
“This is so nice,” Ember said after taking a sip of her wine. “It’s so quiet out here.”
“It is, yeah. I’m not a fan of open bodies of water. I fully believe that you have to respect the ocean and stay the hell away from it. But this? It’s far enough away from the bustle of the city to feel like another world without going out to sea.”
Ember giggled and pointed her finger at him. “You asked me if I was scared of the water, but it’s you who is.”
He was a lion. A big cat. Of course, he was wary of large bodies of water. He felt a blush creep up his cheeks, and he was thankful that the night was just dark enough, the lights just dull enough to mask it.
“Yes, so we won’t be going out with the boat. I wouldn’t know how to drive it or sail it. I just find it beautiful out here.”
“Well, you did good, Kai. I’m very impressed.” A smile curled the lips he wanted to kiss.
Anything to make his mate feel loved and special.
“I should help you with dinner,” she said, coming to stand next to him.
“Nope. That’s my task tonight.” He wrapped an arm around her waist to bring her closer to him. He kissed the top of her head, taking a whiff of her scent. She smelled like sunshine and sex. Like love and happiness. The scent was like catnip to his lion, who was all but rolling around in his mind, presenting his soft underbelly as if Ember could reach inside of his brain and give him a belly rub.
“Is grilling part of your family leader duties?”
“It sure is,” he answered. “I grill, and Mom prepares the sides. Usually, my sister-in-law, Carmen, helps with that, but she’s very pregnant at the moment. She’s due in a few days, but the doctors have already warned her that the baby might be late. The little bundle of joy doesn’t seem too eager to come out.”
“This is Lee’s wife?”
Kai felt his chest puff up in pride. He had only mentioned his family member’s names a couple of times, but Ember had made an effort to remember.
“That’s right. Carmen is Lee’s wife.”
“And Silvester is their little boy, Sophie is the baby.”
“Right, though, I guess we won’t be able to call her that for much longer with the third one. Sophie is almost two.”
Ember’s eyes went wide. “Two? And there is going to be a newborn? There is basically no time between pregnancies.”
“Yeah, it was a surprise to them.”
Not really, though. Kai didn’t think it was the time to explain to his mate that shifters had pretty potent sperm. When those swimmers got to where they were going, they wouldn’t stop until another shifter was baking.
“They are really good parents, though. They can handle it. Besides, my parents love being grandparents. Sometimes, Carmen has to put her foot down and explain to my parents that the kids can’t always do sleepovers.”
Ember’s face lit up. “I have a feeling that my parents would be the same if any of us girls had kids.”
Kai nodded. “Do you want kids?”
It wasn’t the kind of conversation to have on a first date, but this wasn’t an ordinary first date. She was his mate, and he was already imagining having a bunch of kids with her. It would be good for him to know if it was even in her plans.”
“Oh, I would love to have kids. It’s just never happened, you know? I don’t keep the easiest hours when I’m working at the bakery.”
“I imagine not. But if you want a family, I’m sure it will happen for you.”
The act of producing said family made him shiver.
It would mean he would have her bare, without any latex between them. He could empty himself inside of her. He could watch her delicious curves swell as their child grew in her womb.