Tobias looked sad. I could see he was trying to hide it, but I was looking too closely to miss it. My eyes belonged only to him, so the darkness of his pupils could not escape me. I knew it had something to do with his family, but I didn't want to ask. It was obviously personal, and we barely knew each other. Moreover, I still didn't know how long he would stay in my life, although I hoped that we had a lot of time left, I also knew that one day that time would run out and I would try to forget his smell, even though I already knew that will be impossible.

My thoughts weren't helping this date. I'm sure a common date didn't involve two people trying in vain to cover up their depressive thoughts. I had to do something, and I had to do it fast.

"I'm starting to worry that your date with my sister went better," Tobias chuckled, but his true feelings could still be heard somewhere at the end of his tone.

“That's hard to say. I pretended to think, and Tobias raised an eyebrow as if he didn't believe it was something to think about. "On the date with her, she kept talking about you and how you're single. So…" I trailed off.

"Huh, since you started this topic... Can I finally see how she saved my number?" Tobias obviously liked the change of subject and decided to take advantage of it. The curiosity in his eyes was easy to read. And maybe I just watched him for too long and learned to read him like a book, so I didn't miss a single change in his mood. It sounded pretty creepy. I should stop.

"Definitely not," I responded right away. Of course, the charming young man in front of me took it as a challenge. Judging by his mischievous smile, I expected anything, but I still wasn't prepared for when he came so close to me that our chests were almost touching. His scent was suddenly right in my nose, and I felt like an addict. He drugged me so much that I almost didn't notice his hand slowly pulling my phone out of my pocket.

"You're playing dirty," I said in a husky tone, and his eyes suddenly connected with mine. Those hickory eyes. My eardrums almost burst from hearing the loud beating of my heart, knowing how close we were to our other half.

"You're the one to talk," he immediately replied in the same tone. His gaze drifted lower for a moment, and I didn't have to be a genius to know where he was looking. I swallowed hard.

Tobias was obviously more immune to our connection as he pulled away from me in a second and showed me what he was holding in his hand with a triumphant smile. My cell phone.

"Maybe if you ask nicely..." A few words and me and my wolf were ready to fall to our knees and beg. I had it so bad. The worst part was that the longer I was in his presence, the more power he had over me, although he didn't know it himself. As if he could, when he had no idea what was really between us.

"I hope you know I'll see you blush the moment you see it." I nodded my head to the phone.

"I'm done blushing," he stated forcefully, but we both suspected that wasn't entirely true.

"Oh, seriously?" This time I was the one who stepped forward. I didn't dare approach him as close as he had before, but I still noticed a change in his attitude. I reached for the phone and when he quickly pulled his hand back, I brought my hand back, but not without touching his face with my fingertips.

And of course, his cheeks changed their hue. But I had to admit that not as much as before.

"You're cheating," he accused me in a playful tone.

"Yeah, on your sister," I added with a chuckle. I saw the corners of his mouth twitch up, but he tried not to give in and show me his dazzling smile.

"What about the password?" I asked him. Even though he had my phone in his hands, he still didn't know my password. I thought he had forgotten about it, but his face said otherwise.

"You'll say it to me," he said confidently. I had no idea where that confidence came from, but it was sexy, I admit.

"Maybe if you ask nicely..." I decided to repeat his words.

"How original." He was provoking me. However, he forgot that I have two younger siblings, so I didn't let myself be broken so easily.

“You're too adorable to torture me,” I stated, though I knew it was far from the truth. His hickory eyes tortured me every night when I closed my eyes. He was my own devil sitting on my shoulder whispering to me what we could do together if I told him the truth.

"Trust me, I know a lot about torture." His words were meant to be flirtatious, but even though my body was reacting to it, my mind was aware of what it really meant. He was a hunter. His torture probably included wolves like me.

I hesitated. And he noticed. He read me as well as I read him.

"Did I overdo it?" he asked me, his tone somewhere between caring and insecure.

“No, no,” I responded instantly. "I just don't like the word very much." It was honest, though he had no idea what actually bothered me about the word.

"Well, I can assure you that I am many things, but I am not cruel," he said, stepping closer to me. Immediately afterwards, he reached out to me to give me my phone back. I took it from him but didn't put it back in my pocket as I'm sure he expected. Instead, I typed in the password and opened my contacts. He craved knowledge and I craved him, despite the fact that we were from different worlds. I could at least give him something.

“I'm reminding you right away that I’ve warned you,” I told him while my finger lingered over his contact.

Tobias gave me a look that pierced my soul. Those eyes the colour of hickory were going to kill me one day, I knew it.

"You're giving up without a fight?" He asked me, and I remembered our first meeting. It wasn't a good time for that, though, as I barely prevented a smile from appearing on my face as I remembered who had actually fled the fight and why.

"Maybe I just want to make you happy." I shrugged like it was no big deal. Then I quickly added though, not wanting to ruin the relaxed atmosphere that had set in among us: "And maybe I just like the sight of your blushing cheeks. It's cute."

And as if on cue, his cheeks turned an almost crimson red.

And like I said, it was a priceless view.

My ever so incredibly cute mate, who was also a deadly weapon to my entire species.

"What if I'm already happy?" He asked, his voice suddenly different. Sweeter, more relaxed, and I just hoped I was at least partly to blame.

"Good. I don't want anything more." I admitted honestly. It was too soon for any confessions, but I couldn't help it. He was my mate. My everything. And I could barely control myself in his presence. The more time I spent with him, the more my soul wanted to connect with his.

"Seriously, you'd better stop or I'll get on my knees. And not for the fun stuff," he declared, playing my cards perfectly. My face stretched into a wide grin resembling a Cheshire cat.

"Oh, really? I think I was already counting on that anyway," I said, turning the phone in his direction so he could see how I had his contact named.

"That bitch." His mouth fell open blankly for a moment and he automatically took the phone from me again, as if a closer look would change anything.

I chuckled briefly and said: "More of a witch, I guess." It was quite a paradox since I knew that Annie had hunted witches at some point in her life, but if I didn't know much or anything about the supernatural world, I would have thought that she must be one. At the very least, she could be an oracle.

"Is there anything that your sister doesn't know?" I asked him. Who knows if it was the experience or a woman's intuition, but I was sure Annie had the answer to everything.

"Does baking count?" I definitely wasn't expecting that answer from him.

He handed the phone back to me and I automatically put it in my pocket.  Just like before, we just moved on to the next topic and I had to admit that the longer we talked, the easier it got. The original awkwardness had somehow faded away and only the unfunny jokes and flirting remained.

"Annie can't bake?" I asked him a question back.

"She once managed to burn cookies in the kid's oven. It's literally one of my core memories. My parents wanted to make her happy, so we all had to taste them. I didn't want to make her happy. They were awful," he confessed.

I couldn't help myself. The idea of little Tobias munching on burnt cookies with disgust and little Annie terrifyingly standing over him, watching to see if he liked them, was a comical gem.

"Don't laugh. I didn't eat cookies for half a year after that because I got sick just looking at them." He hit my shoulder with his hand, but I couldn't stop laughing anyway. Tobias was cute now, I couldn't even imagine what he must have been like when he was a kid. Of course, I didn't mean that in a creepy way, more of a I hope our kids will be like that too way.

That thought made me blush. It was pathetic, but I blushed in front of the object of my desires because of the idea of a future with him. That's how bad I had it.

"Are you seriously blushing because of cookies?" Tobias' look was between amused and confused, but his smile said otherwise. He thought he'd won and that he'd finally made me blush. And while he was right, it was actually Tobias from the future who was winning. If we had one.

"Don't think you won," I immediately decided to ruin his joy, "My blushing has nothing to do with you."

His look betrayed that he didn't believe me one bit. " Right, 'cause people blush for no reason all the time."

"You're a looker, Tobias Raekan, but don't think every blush of mine is because of you," I lowered my voice again so he couldn't doubt that I was flirting with him. It was dangerous, but my fate was sealed nonetheless, and I couldn't ignore it even if I wanted to badly.

"You do realize I've only heard the looker part, right?" He waved his hand as if all my other words were irrelevant. And though his words said one thing, his eyes said something else as his gaze slid to my lips again. He was torturing me, proving to me that he really knew a lot about torture.

"So you're seriously ignoring me, huh? On our first date? Your sister would never do that to me," I decided to continue the playful atmosphere we had created. Tobias's initial shyness faded away and all that was left was a playfulness I hadn't experienced in a long time. Sam was playful too, but never like this. As we bantered, I had no desire to pull him closer to me and tease him in other ways. That was obviously reserved only for Tobias.

"Oh, my sister will do anything for the child support." With that sentence, he could no longer keep a straight face and burst out laughing. It was a ringing sound that stirred my insides and made my wolf's tail wag happily. Of course, it wasn't long before I joined him, matching his loud laughter.

"Oh my God, your sister is actually the witch of the gingerbread house," I suddenly realized, associating the cookie story with luring innocent men.

Tobias clutched his stomach as he let out a wheezing sound after that sentence, bent over with laughter. His black hair covered his face and spilled all over his forehead, obscuring my view of his eyes.

"Oh, man, I can't remember the last time I had such a good laugh," he said as his laughter was dying down, and the moment he straightened up, I got a glimpse of his tear-stained eyes, shining with happiness.

Was I as proud of myself as I could be after that statement? Of course, I was. Was my wolf extremely proud of me? Of course, he was. Once again it was proving that Tobias was indeed my mate, whether it was right or not.

"I have to admit, I was beginning to think Annie was the fun Raekan sibling, but I guess I was too quick to judge," I stated with a straight face.

"Well, for starters, Annie's a Harrington now not Raekan, and secondly, I've always been the fun sibling. She was the 'I'll kick your ass if you touch my little brother' sibling." Despite his statement that his sister used to defend him when they were children, even though she was a girl, he didn't seem at all embarrassed by it. Not that I expected it, but not all men would be willing to admit something like that. It was another quality that made me attracted to Tobias Raekan.

"I get the feeling you're trying to be my favourite Raekan sibling," I accused him with a playful accusatory tone.

"Oh really? What gave it away?" He grabbed his chest, acting it out with me.

"I don't know if I can admit it to you, but the fact you considered my feelings when you told me the harsh truth that ducks die when they eat bread. I seriously appreciate your honesty." I nodded, lips pursed, trying to suppress the twitching corners of my mouth. It didn't take much, and I'd be laughing like a fool again.

Tobias didn't even try. I'd barely finished my monologue and he was already bending over with laughter again, bracing his palms on his knees.

"I can't with you," he blurted out hastily between laughs.

"Well, you didn't want to blush. It's not my fault," I reminded him. The sight of him laughing because of me, however, was much better than the sight of him with blushing cheeks. But the main thing was that I managed to get past the barrier of sadness that suddenly formed during our conversation and Tobias seemed carefree again. He was happy and so was I.

"You know, the idea of dating has been unimaginable for me for a long time, but I'm glad I'm here with you today." His confession was sincere, and so was his gaze, which burned its way to my heart.

Now it was me who was blushing.

“Aww, look who has red cheeks now." He reached out and cupped my cheek between his thumb and forefinger. Not in a painful gesture like old women do though, more like a caress as he slid his thumb down to my sled and left his hand there a bit longer than expected. It was an intimate gesture. Not something people who were strangers did.

He was testing my patience.

I knew I couldn't kiss him. I knew I was teasing him and told him that the kiss depended on how our date went and that I would have to come up with an excuse at the end of it, but his lips tempted me like nothing else. They were literally calling me to them.

I had no idea how much longer I could last. Especially when he was looking at me with those big hickory eyes.