Total pages in book: 173
Estimated words: 168701 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 844(@200wpm)___ 675(@250wpm)___ 562(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 168701 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 844(@200wpm)___ 675(@250wpm)___ 562(@300wpm)
She smirks, then slips by me to go to the counter and starts working on another pot of coffee.
“You don’t like cats?” she asks, looking concerned.
“Not particularly. And obviously the feeling is mutual,” I say lifting my hand to show her the bloody scratch.
She grabs my bleeding hand and pushes it under the kitchen tap.
Three cats. Fuck. I scratch my jaw thoughtfully. “I’m a wolf shifter, mate.”
She smiles, looking me up and down before patting my hand dry with a paper towel and looking it over. The bleeding has stopped.
“Yeah, Scoob. I think I noticed. And…” She lets that hang, smiling with her eyes and her mouth.
“Chances are, all three of them are gonna have the same reaction the one outside did.”
Her expression drops. “Do you want me to ask my sisters to take them back with them?”
Shit.
I run a hand up and down her arm. “Nah, baby. They’re your pets. I’ll handle it. Any other pets I need to know about?”
“I have fish. And the three birds. They’re kinda loud. A couple guinea pigs plus the two pet rats. Oh, and two bearded dragons and an iguana.”
I choke on spit or something.
Her eyes light up. “Just kidding. I only brought the three kitties. Dani has all the reptiles. Ronnie’s into rodents. Jessie has finches, but she frequently fosters pets from the animal shelter in the same strip mall as Mimi’s shop, so we often have a menagerie of animals in Marblehead. Vivi has a rottweiler with three legs. Vivi’s beau is looking after all their pets while they’re here.”
“You might need a spanking, little mate.” I grab her ass with one hand.
Immediately, I smell arousal. Fuck, my girl wants a spanking.
I let out a little growl against her claiming mark. And she shivers. “Riley,” she whines, gripping my biceps.
“Your family’s here, baby. You’re gonna have to wait until later for my cock.”
She whimpers and kisses my neck. “Bummer.”
“Bummer,” I return, laughing.
“They’re really happy for me, Riley. Like… really happy.”
“That’s good, darlin’. Love seeing all this light coming from you. Your smile. Your eyes. It’s like joy is oozing outta your skin. And that scent coming from you?” I suck her claiming mark. “You smell both like you’re dying for my cock and like it was inside you a few hours ago. Just as it should be.”
She smiles even brighter, then her expression goes serious. “Aunt Mimi wants to be there for that meeting tomorrow for sure. So do my sisters.”
Ah. Time to get serious.
I stroke her throat with my thumb. “They should be. And it’s good they’re all here. My recent understanding is that we should be working closer with the coven than we have been. Even if we don’t need to interact day to day, we should have a relationship. Greyson’s gonna oversee it since he’s related to all of you, but I’m seein’ myself just as involved since you’re mine. Since everyone’s here, I should call Grey. Get him over here. Maybe the others, too. Have a pow wow before tomorrow’s meeting.”
“We should have them all over for dinner. Can we?”
“You cook?” I ask.
“Mm, not much. My repertoire is pretty limited. Ronnie’s the chef in the family. She’s more of a cottage witch where I’m more of a green witch, so I didn’t get near the kitchen much other than when I was twenty and lived on my own for a few months.”
“We’ll barbeque. I’m good on the grill. Can you whip up a few salads?”
“Um… I can go shopping for meat for you to grill and then I can purchase ready-made salads. How’s that?”
I chuckle. “Works for me.”
“Excellent. I love parties.” She smiles wide, radiating happiness that I feel in my chest as well as see plainly on her pretty face. “But, also, about you being involved with our coven for the pack? You should be. They’re now your family, too,” she says.
“You’ve got over six hundred new family members here in the pack, Rik. Hope you’re ready for all that.”
“I’m so ready,” she whispers, leaning into me.
“You want a church wedding?” I ask. “I’m cordial with the preacher in town. Did some work restoring that pretty old church there.”
She ponders this. “No. From the minute I saw you, I wanted you. And I knew you guys didn’t do traditional church weddings, so I’ve never imagined one, not since then. I don’t need anything more than what we have now. Except maybe some babies when the time comes. And it wouldn’t hurt to have a pretty ring on my finger so people know I’m taken. Something really unique and audacious, though. Nothing traditional.”
“I’m down for babies the minute we can have ‘em, little witch. I’m sure you know that already. And when this SCC meeting is behind us, we’ve got some shit to deal with to figure out the rest of that nonsense with the Silver Hills pack. Everyone around here knows you’re taken. You smell like me.”