Page 70 of Buckle Up, Buttercup

“Look at me,” Hadrian commands.

I snap my eyes to his at the demand in his tone.

He pulls me against his far larger body, lifting my hand up to his chest. One of his hands rests on top of mine, and the other comes to my waist, sliding partially up my back. “I need that focus on only me,” he croons. “Let me lead, Bluebell.”

Everything around us fades as bright purple eyes stare into mine. He never looks away as he spins us around the dance floor, swaying to the rhythm of the music. One song becomes two, then three, then five until we’re laughing and flirting, and what anyone else thinks is the farthest concern from my mind.

The music picks up pace, moving from a slow song to something jazzier. Pulling me to the edge of the dance floor, Hadrian leans back against a wooden column, slotting me between his big thighs. He tangles a hand in my hair and brings his forehead to mine. “I wanna kiss you, little witch.”

My lips part at the possession in his tone. I want that kiss. No matter the cost.

Popping onto my tiptoes, I slant my mouth over his. He sighs against my lips, rumbling as his mouth opens. A soft, cool tongue slips along my lower lip as he tastes me gently, tenderly.

Both hands come to my arms and hold me tightly against him as his kiss grows harder and more heated.

“I knew you loved him,” Petra says from somewhere by our side.

Shocked, I leap backward as Hadrian chuckles, the sexy moment broken.

“I guess it’s not that big of a secret anymore, huh?” she continues on, tail swinging from side to side as she grins at us. “I can’t wait to tell absolutely everyone!”

She pushes off the ground and takes off toward the ceiling beams as I hiss her name and grab at her feet, barely missing her.

“Don’t worry,” Hadrian says. “She’ll keep the secret until we’re ready, baby.”

But the thing is, I am ready. I don’t think I can hide Hadrian much longer. It’s not fair.

Hadrian

I can’t keep her a secret. I don’t want to, and, just, I can’t. At the team breakfast this morning, all I wanted to do was call her my mate in front of everyone. That kiss? I’d have deepened it, taken it so much further if Petra hadn’t shown up. Being with the girls and my team felt right in a way that’s been missing from my life. If I’m honest, I’ve never had family like what I’m building now. Petra even made a few friends and we organized a couple of playdates.

These roots I’m putting down in Pine Gulch don’t look quite like I imagined, but I don’t care because it’s even better.

“No, dude, you don’t put the cinnamon coating on the apple pie beforehand. That’s so weird!” Jack slaps Jasper on the back of the head, cinnamon crumbles falling from his hands all over the pie.

I’m dating your sister. I love her.

I’m barely withholding the words as the twins bicker back and forth about cinnamon and sugar.

Tucker family dinner has always been my favorite night of the week, but right now it feels like we’re here too much. What I want is to be at home with Bluebell, hiding away from the world and lavishing my love on her. The typical gargoyle mating traditions are hard to do when one can’t publicly express his love.

Not that that stopped me earlier.

Bluebell shoots me a warning look, a desperate plea not to announce our secret just now.

“We’re doing it my way, dude,” Jasper barks, grabbing the cinnamon and covering the pie with it. He sticks it in the oven with a victorious smirk.

Jack tosses a dinner roll at Jasper’s head. I catch it before it hits him, smirking at him as I throw it back at Jack. It bounces off his head, and Jasper and Petra burst into peals of laughter.

Next to me in the kitchen, Bluebell’s tense and quiet. That’s not necessarily anything new for her at family dinner. She’s usually thinking about her insane to-do list. But I suspect this has more to do with us trying to hide our romance from the five other people in the room with us.

She needs something to relax.

I pull out her chair and wave her into it. Her brothers follow, taking their seats. It takes a few minutes for everyone to find their chairs and start passing the food around.

Unfurling my tail from my thigh, I slip it over the top of Bluebell’s thigh and nestle it in the seam of her pussy. She jolts and masks a clearing of her throat as a cough. The Jays keep poking fun at Jack for his crush on someone, so nobody’s paying attention to us. I use my spade to nudge Bluebell’s jeans button open then slide her zipper quietly down.

She reaches down and grabs my spade, shoving me away, but I grin and move it back up. Across the table, Petra grabs two bread rolls and tosses them at Jasper. Both hit him in the head, and chaos breaks out around the table.