Total pages in book: 135
Estimated words: 128061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128061 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 640(@200wpm)___ 512(@250wpm)___ 427(@300wpm)
She tugged on Austin’s arm with her head tilted up. He bent to kiss her, his lips lingering. He simply couldn’t help himself.
“I’ll be up in a while,” he murmured, then grabbed another soft kiss before he let her go.
“Thanks for dinner. It was perfect.” She said goodnight to his grandma and sauntered out of the room.
The kitchen was silent as he watched her go. Then he topped up his grandma’s and his glasses before sitting down.
“Be kind,” he said as a warning. “The effects of mating haven’t worn off. I’m not rational where she is concerned.”
“Bah.” She waved that away. “That’s not because of the mating. It’s because you’re head over heels for her. I haven’t seen you smile this much since you were a child. I’ve heard about your territory. You are rising to your true potential, my boy, and it’s plain to see that she has been a direct influence on that.”
“It’s true. Part of my drive is that I want to be in a better position to protect her. But at this point…I also want to provide for her and make a home.”
He thought about holding back the next bit, and probably would’ve if it were anyone else save Kingsley, but he’d always been close with his grandmother. He wanted to rekindle that closeness now, and part of that was being honest.
“I want to impress her.”
“Of course you do,” she said as though he were an idiot for saying it. “You want her to be proud of you. That’s what it is to be a mate. A true mate, not something nature kicked up to try to create the best offspring. And I think you’ve found your true mate. I hope you enjoy how it feels, because the very few true pairs I’ve ever heard of say the effects don’t really go away. Maybe they dull a little with the mundanities of life, but…it doesn’t look like you’ll have that for a good long time.”
“No. All seems peaceful at the moment, but—”
“Austin, what do you take me for?” She pulled something out of her pocket, turned, and threw it at his face.
He ducked and turned at the right time—the object thudded off his shoulder instead of his cheek.
“Ow!” He peered around his shoulder, wondering if any more would come. When he saw she was back to sipping her wine, he glanced behind him to try to find the projectile. “Was that a rock?”
“Yes. And I have two more where that came from. When I was walking the mages out, I decided to look around the neighborhood a little more. That’s when I saw the surly Irishwoman—Niamh—sitting on her porch. She yelled at me to go home and then started throwing rocks. She only introduced herself and offered to answer questions when I caught one of the rocks and threw it back at her. The sting from catching it was worth it when my rock landed.”
“Why do you have them in your pocket?” he barked. “And why are you throwing them inside my house? That could’ve broken something.”
“I have them just in case. She hinted that she’d get me back for the rock that landed. I want to be prepared. And I threw one inside your house because you are speaking like a fool, and you should know better. Hopefully I do break something. The furnishings are lovely, but the accessories here… Austin, have I taught you nothing? They look cheap. I am all for saving money, but sparing this much expense on the accessories lessens the whole look. You can’t have pricy furniture and then throw out some cheap plastic merchandise you got on sale. It’s a shock to the system.”
He rubbed his face, and then the part of his shoulder that throbbed. It had been a hard throw at close range. “It’s not plastic, firstly, and I bought this place with the bar money. I didn’t use any of my inheritance on it. I wasn’t going to spare any expense on the stuff that’s hard to switch out, so I saved where I could. I just haven’t gotten around to changing out the accessories. It didn’t bother Kingsley.”
“Oh, what would Kingsley know? Earnessa handles all of that for him. Badly, I might add, but I don’t mention that anymore. I always have a book. When I am forced to spend time in their mutual company, I get a lot of reading in.”
“Fine. Please stop throwing rocks in my house.”
“Then stop talking like a fool. Peaceful? Not even Kingsley’s territory is so wound up, and they are under threat of invasion. Jessie’s crew is buzzing with wariness. I also met the phoenix and the thunderbird before I left. It felt as though they might sneeze and accidentally burn the whole house down.”
“That’s just their way. They’re always like that.”