"I-- wasn't. When you presented I was down the street, making sure no one came to your house that shouldn't have been there," he confessed quietly. John already knew, but he'd had to make sure that Stiles was safe. It'd been hard not to go into the house, to see to his mate, care for him through his presentation, but Stiles hadn't known then and Derek wasn't going to force himself into the house when he was already scared.
The hiding might have worked, except that Derek was watching his mate, and grinning at the flush that covered his skin. That was a definite yes to getting down on one knee and proposing then. Especially when that fresh wash of contentment hit Stiles' scent and all he could do was breathe it in deep.
"You do," he agreed. "Not every alpha is like they are -- but they are a few. And what they said -- that was making you miserable. You're going to have a wonderful life that isn't full of being subjected to the nearest alpha's attention." Except if the nearest alpha was him, and then, maybe that was a little bit true.
He smiled and kissed the side of his offered throat lightly before turning back to his meal. "I like hearing that." Even if he didn't know what it meant.
The stuffed shells were as always, excellent, but the company made them taste better. "Yeah. Company's great too," his cheeks pinkened slightly. "And we're definitely having dessert tonight." Only maybe they'd have to take Armand's infamous chocolate cake home and eat it while they lazed in bed.
Especially with the placement of Stiles' hand. His nostrils flared out for a second and he could smell Stiles around the plug, that little extra slick that was leaking out around it, back straightening as he did his best to hold off the arousal flooding his system. "We'll get dessert to go."
Derek didn't even try pulling off innocent as he shook his head no. "Hot date tonight," he teased. "I'm going to take him home and feed him dessert." In bed went unsaid, but heavily implied. If they got the chocolate cherry cake -- there was no way Stiles wouldn't be moaning from it, and he had no desire to share that with anyone else.