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Havana’s lips parted. “I had no idea he’d found his mate. It explains why I’ve never seen him with a woman.”
“For obvious reasons, he hasn’t yet claimed Blair. He visits her, calls her, has people watch over her. But it’s not easy for him to not have her close.” Personally, Tate would find it a sort of hell. “He intended to claim her on her eighteenth birthday, but her parents nagged him to wait until she’s twenty-one. He refused, but he has agreed to hold back until she turns nineteen, which is ten months from now. His cat has been riding him hard ever since her eighteenth birthday—the feline feels that, as an adult female, Blair’s ready to be claimed.”
“Poor Luke,” said Havana, her voice soft. “It can’t be easy for Blair either.”
“I suspect not. The only saving grace is that bush dogs are one of the few shifter breeds that don’t experience the mating urge. Since she isn’t able to experience it, Luke hasn’t been struck by it either. That’s good, or they’d otherwise be a sexual mess.”
“Have you met her?”
“Yeah, plenty of times. I like her a lot. So will you. She’s pretty mature for her age. Knows how to handle herself—and how to handle Luke, for that matter. She has a steely stare that freaks people out, watches everyone like they’re prey. My cat likes it.”
“A bush dog will fit well here. They’re insane on their best day.”
“That they are. Back to the subject of your girls becoming enforcers … I’m aware there’s no guarantee that they’d follow my every directive. But I don’t want blind obedience. I want people who can think for themselves.” Tate kissed her temple. “Besides, I’m confident that you can keep them out of trouble. For the most part.”
“You’re obviously forgetting that Bailey likes trouble.”
“I haven’t forgotten. I’m just positive that you’ll handle her.”
Havana almost snickered. Leading her friend was one thing. Handling Bailey was a whole other ball game, and Havana doubted that anyone would win the mamba at that. “I suppose I should be flattered by your faith in me.” She frowned as a porcelain ornament on the window shelf caught her eye. “That’s my buddha.”
“Is it?”
Her lips thinned at his airy tone. “Yes.” It used to sit quite comfortably on her bathroom window shelf. She hadn’t noticed it was missing, which bugged her.
“Maybe it’s just similar to yours.”
She snorted. “Like I’m not fully aware that you’ve been moving my stuff here little by little.” She felt him smile against her neck.
“Busted. I just want you to feel at home here. The best way to achieve that is to bring a little of your home here.”
“Ooh, nice save.”
“Think of it this way. You’ll have less things to transport here when you do finally move in with me.” He lightly nipped the bite mark on her shoulder. “You practically live here now, so it wouldn’t be such a huge thing to just make it official,” he added, his voice far too casual.
Shaking her head, she sighed, tired of going over old ground. But of course he hadn’t dropped it—typical Alpha male, really. “You just can’t help yourself, can you?”
“You know you want to move in with me. Why not just do it?”
“God, you are so damn spoiled.”
“I’m not going to feel bad for wanting my mate living with me.” He curled his arms around her. “It’s where you belong.”
“We’ve already had the conversation of why I’m not going to do it yet.” She slashed her hand through the air. “I refuse to have it all over again.”
“You know, I shouldn’t like it when you use that school-teacher tone and take me to task for pushing so hard, but I do.”
“I guess that’s a good thing, because I’m sensing I’ll be doing it a lot.”
“Probably.”
“Kudos to your dad for raising two alphas. Especially when said alphas repeatedly tried to kill each other as kids.”
“Yeah, we were a trial.” He idly danced his fingertips over her stomach. “How many kids do you want?”
As his lips began to trail suckling little kisses down her neck, Havana tilted her head to give him better access. “I’d be good with two. Hopefully one of each gender, but I’m not fussy. I just want them to be happy and healthy.”
“Two works for me. But we have to have the boy first, so that he can look out for his sister.”
Like Rolando had for her, Havana thought. “It sucks that our kids will never know their maternal relatives, especially my parents and brother. But they’ll have your siblings, plus two honorary aunts who’ll no doubt spoil them rotten and teach them things they shouldn’t.”
He kissed her shoulder. “I hate that my mother will never get to hold our kids; that they’ll only know of her through whatever stories I tell them.” He tucked his face into the crook of Havana’s neck. “Gaia would have liked you. No, she’d have fucking loved you.”
