Jo pulled to a stop in front of the movie theater. She eyed the still fast asleep female in his lap in the rearview mirror, before sighing.
‘Luke, this is a bad idea. You were supposed to be in and out. You weren’t supposed to take her somewhere.’
He glared at her. ‘Don’t you think I know that? I had every intention of doing just that, but I had to. She was in danger.’
‘Was she or did you just tell yourself that to ease your guilt?’
‘Shut up, Jo.’
He gently shook Lily awake. “Come on, Lils. We’re here.”
She yawned and stretched. She peered out of the window and her face paled.
“There’s a lot of people here,” she whispered, obviously scared.
He glanced out of the window.
“There are, yes.”
She gulped nervously. “I... can we do something else?”
“I won’t let anybody hurt you, sweetheart,” he promised.
“Lukas, please.”
Her tear filled voice made him want to give in to her request, but he knew part of building their bond was showing her that he would protect her, and that he was not ashamed of her. His shy, insecure future queen was so unaware of the beauty she already had, that she always had. He wanted to build her up, and not just because she would need confidence when she became his queen. He wanted to boost her up, because that was what one did when they cared about another. Or at least that’s what he told himself, knowing it was really because she was his mate, and nobody but his opinion mattered. He thought she was perfect and there was not a damned thing in this world he wouldn’t do to make her see herself the way he saw her. He tucked her silver, blonde hair behind her ear.
“Come on, Lils. If anybody is mean to you, I will punish them, okay?”
She stared up at him with tears glistening in her eyes. She blinked and one rolled down her cheek. He wiped it away. Sparks erupted on his skin and he had to remind himself yet again, that she was only twelve.
“Trust me, please. I got you, sweetheart.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
He opened the door and she climbed out. He flipped a grinning Jo off, before slamming the door. Lily jumped. He nodded towards the ticket counter.
“Come on.”
He turned around and began to walk towards it. After a few seconds, he noticed she wasn’t next to him. He stopped, looking over his shoulder. She was moving slower than usual, with her head hanging down. He went back to her and raised her chin.
“What’s wrong?,” he asked softly.
She pulled her face away from his touch. “It’s okay for you to walk ahead of me. I’m used to it.”
Her words made him feel like he had been punched in his gut. He growled and she jumped again, backing away. She stepped on her shoelace and started falling backwards, crying out. He caught her and helped her stand back up, before kneeling at her feet to tie her shoes. He looked up at her, still holding her foot in his hands.
“I will never walk ahead of you, Lilianna. I promise you that. I am not embarrassed to be seen with you. In fact, I am happy to be seen with you.” He stood up and put his hand on the small of her back. “Shall we?”
He slowed his pace to hers, taking special care to make sure he never stepped further than she did. She stood shyly by his side as he studied the movie list. He pointed to one.
“The only shark movie they have is ‘Great White: The God of the Sea.’ Is that the one you want to see?”
“Yes, please.”
He turned his attention to the ticketmaster sitting behind the counter. “Two tickets for the great white movie.”
“Your Majesty, this is a rated R movie.”
He raised an eyebrow. “And you’re telling me this why? She said she wanted to see the movie.”
The man handed Lukas two tickets and bowed to him slightly. Her hand gripped his shirt and he smiled down at her. It quickly turned into an angry frown when she was staring at a group of men, trembling. He turned his head to glare at the three men who were pointing at her and laughing. He gently removed her hand from his shirt, glancing at the ticketmaster.
“Did they buy tickets for movies soon?”
“Yes, Sire.”
“Okay. Keep an eye on her and do not let anybody approach her.”
He stalked over to them, grinning. He stuck his hands in his pockets.
“Well, howdy fellows. Is there a problem?”
“No, man. We were just talking,” said the biggest one, failing to stifle his laughter.
He let his aura flare out and even though they were only human, they grew nervous, exchanging glances.
“I would really love to know what is so funny,” he told them, seemingly pleasant.
“N- nothing. You have a lovely daughter.”
Daughter? Gideon growled at the word. She was so not his daughter. The smallest one laughed, proving himself to be the stupidest one, too. Lukas had to take a deep breath to keep from ripping the little fuckers throat out. He drew back and slammed his fist into the man’s face. He pointed over his shoulder at Lily.
“Do not look at her. If I hear you making fun of her again, I will whoop your asses. Now, go apologize to her,” he ordered gruffly.
He strolled quickly back to her and they trudged behind him. They all apologized, before scrambling over themselves to get away from him. He took her inside and after telling the ticket taker to not let them in, guided her to the correct theater. He inwardly groaned when he saw that there was not a single other living soul in the enormous room.
“Where do you want to sit?”
She hurried to the center of the middle row as Lukas followed behind her, amused at her excitement for something so simple as a matinee. An employee came up to them and asked for their order. Lily turned to him.
“C- can I have some popcorn?” She paused. “Wait no! Can I have some nachos?”
He smiled at her. “Order whatever you want.”
“Anything?”
“Anything and everything you want.”
“Can I have popcorn, nachos, twizzlers, skittles and a big blue Icee, please?,” she asked, glancing at Lukas, who nodded.
“And for you, your majesty?”
“I will take a cherry Icee, a pretzel with cheese sauce and make it into a large popcorn. I will share hers. I will also take a Snickers ice cream bar.”
Her eyes widened. “There are snickers ice cream bars?”
Lukas chuckled. “Make it two ice cream bars. Is there anything else you might want?”
“Uhmm… I already ordered a lot. Thank you though.”
He turned towards her and the embarrassed look on her face made him give into touching her the only way he could at the moment. He laid his fingers on her cheek.
“What do you want?”
“Can I have a pretzel, too?”
“Of course.” He raised an eyebrow at the attendant, fully aware he was linking the concession stand staff their order. “Did you get all of that?”
“Yes, sir. It will be here in five minutes.”
He bowed and left. The lights went down and she sat forward in her seat. He shifted in his seat so that he could watch her face. When the food was brought, she immediately sucked down half of her slushie, before gripping her head, giggling.
“AH! Brain freeze.”
He chuckled, leaning over to blow some warm air on her, to ease the pain in her head faster. “Slow down.”
The trailers were fast forwarded through and the movie started. He reached for a handful of popcorn. He slowly ate it as she watched the movie. The shark dragged a girl under the water and she jumped, screaming. She covered her eyes. He pulled her hands down.
“Are you scared?” She nodded. “You chose the movie,” he teased.
She beamed at him. “I like to be scared.”
Her attention went back to the movie. She watched in awe as the movie progressed. When the shark came up out of the darkness suddenly, she screamed, and the popcorn was flung everywhere as she climbed into his lap to hide her face in his chest. He froze, not trusting himself to move. This was a bad decision. He knew this was a bad move. His hand went to her thigh.
“Lily...” He murmured, his voice strangled.
She looked up at him. “Oh, Goddess, I’m so sorry. Please, forgive me. I- I’ll go back.”
She tried to climb off of his lap, but his hand tightened on her leg, holding her in place. Gideon was urging him to touch her more and it was weakening his resolve. He wanted to answer her mate call from earlier. Desperately, if he was honest with himself. He licked his lips, and let her go, breathing deep to help him maintain control.
“Go.”
She hopped off of his lap and he shifted. She blushed, and he wanted to give her a real reason to blush. He wanted to kiss her for real and feel her soft hair sliding through his fingers. He cleared his throat, and forced Gideon to look away from her. The easy going atmosphere changed into a tense one for him, but the continued joy on her face let him know that she was unaware of his brief lapse of pure thoughts.
‘Gideon, you have to stop. I understand she is our mate, but she is 12. We can not think of her like that. It is wrong. She is a child, and she needs to remain a child.’
‘In the grand scheme of things, 7 years is not a big deal. Dragons live forever, if we want,’ he retorted. ‘Just look at her. Tell me you don’t want to take her home with us.’
‘That’s not even the point. You know I do, but not for that. Please, relax. We need to wait for her. She can’t even accept us right now. I want her to truly accept us, and in order for that to happen, we have to let her make that decision. She is too young to know what she wants.’ His eyes scanned her profile. ‘We have to go slow. She will be our queen. I will move heaven, and earth, to make sure of it. I promise.’