When I went to unbutton my mate’s shirt, she huffed. “I can undress myself, you know.”
My fingers paused as a huff of frustration escaped. “I know, but please…let me do this.”
Her eyes softened as she lowered her chin. Submissiveness didn’t come naturally to her, but seeing her so pliant, willing to do whatever I asked, made me hard as fuck.
“Good girl.” The delicious scent of her arousal filled the steamy room, and I groaned.
My fingers fumbled as I slid the last button free and removed her shirt. By the time she stood before me naked, her cheeks almost as pink as her lips, I could barely contain my need to sheath my aching cock inside her.
But first, I had to take care of my mate. Check every inch of her for signs of injury. I lifted her into the tub, and she sank down into the hot water with a happy sigh, her eyes closed. After checking to make sure I’d locked the door to stop the damned incubus from bursting in, I shoved my pants and boxers off, climbed into the tub, and pulled her into my lap.
“I’m glad you’re home,” she said. “I’ve missed you so much.” Her voice hitched, and when I reached up and pushed her hair back, I realized she’d become tearful.
“Little mate, don’t cry!” My bear roared inside me, devastated to have upset our mate.
“I’m sorry,” she sobbed. “Hormones!” Her lie tasted like ash, but I didn’t comment. My mate was upset I’d left her, even though she understood why.
“I won’t leave you again,” I vowed. “If I have to go back to the mountain, I’ll take you with me.” She sniffed.
“Really?”
“Yes, I’d love to show you where I grew up.” I knew she’d love the hot spring and the scenic trails as much as I did.
She lay back, resting her head on my chest as the water sloshed around us. I picked up a washcloth and lathered it up with soap, taking care to scrub every inch of her exposed skin.
“I’d like to show you where I spent my childhood too,” she said as I rinsed the soap from her breasts while trying to ignore my cock. “The farm’s huge. We have horses, a few goats, and chickens.” She chuckled. “The chickens were my favorites. I collected the eggs and cleaned the coop out every day.” The bitter scent of sadness seeped into the humid air. “A coyote came one night and killed a bunch of them. I cried for days.” My poor, soft-hearted mate.
“We can raise chickens when you graduate,” I told her. “I’ll build you the best damn chicken coop in the realm. And if a coyote comes sniffing around, my bear will scare it away.”
Her delighted giggle warmed my heart, healing a few of the cracks left by my mother’s death.
“Can we have pigs too? Fig needs friends.”
I couldn’t help but wonder where the incubus had found the pig. The fucker better not have stolen the creature from some irate farmer. I made a mental note to ask him later.
“We’ll have pigs, goats, horses, and chickens.” I drew the line at sheep.Stupid creatures.
“I can’t wait. That sounds perfect.” Then she sighed. “I’m not sure if Kai would want to live on a farm. He needs the sea. Or Zane. Farm life would be too mundane for him. And Rasmus would probably hate it as well.”
“We will figure it out, little mate. Perhaps we can have a few different houses and move between them.”
“That sounds expensive, but I suppose Alaric is filthy rich.” She laughed under her breath.
“That reminds me, I’d like to know what happened between you and Alaric.”
46
Raven
Icouldn’t see Maverick’s expression, but from his tone, he was more curious than angry about Alaric. And also confused, which was unsurprising given my complicated history with the mage.
“After he killed Demelza, he said he’d kept his distance to protect me from his father.”
Maverick made a rumbling sound. Did that mean he believed Alaric?
“He said he wants to make me his,” I continued. “But Zane came looking for me and brought me back here, to you, so we didn’t finish…” I coughed awkwardly. “Ourconversation.”
I pulled his arms closer around my waist as the hot water lapped over my breasts. The bubbles had disappeared, but the scents of lavender and vanilla still filled the room. It reminded me of the lavender cookies Nova used to make when I was small. My belly growled in response.
