Page 26 of Little Bite of Bliss

“Hmm . . . A meal, a bath together, and then you peg me again?”

“Now, that’s a good offer.”

“And what do I get?” I asked.

She took the picnic basket away from me before I could protest. “You get to gaze upon my ass as it jiggles while I run.”

Before I could retort, she took off running toward the stone stairs.

“Hey!” I called, laughing as I ran after her.

She was right though. Watching her ass while she ran was a reward in itself.

We raced up the path that led back to the house, and she was going to beat me, but it was still fun to chase after her. She made it to the top, the door flying open as we rushed in.

“Told you,” she panted. “You’ll never beat me in a race.”

“I don’t know,” I said, my lungs squeezing. “You got a head start.”

She cackled as the two of us collapsed in the dining room chairs, and I put my head down on the cool wooden table top, grinning.

“I’m going to cook for us,” I promised. “Just give me a moment to recover.”

“Am I finally wearing you out?” Leni chuckled.

“Nope. I could go again.”

“Uh-huh. Sure.”

I looked up at her and winked, making my limbs move. “I’m going to make us so much food, we’re probably going to need to go shopping.”

“Good. We can make that happen.”

“Perfect. And then we’ll see where the evening takes us.”

My mate smiled at me, a low purring sound thundering in her chest. “Deal.”

8 / STIFF AS A BOARD

Leni

It’d been a couple days now since I’d taken Archer to my place, and we’d already settled into a rhythm.

We hadn’t completed our bond yet. But, the need to do so was building. The want was tangible between us, and I knew he felt it too. The pressure to make him mine.

I’d lost track of the number of times we’d had sex. I couldn’t keep my claws off him. We’d finally emerged for an early dinner, both starved for a hot meal. The food was perfect, and between the two of us, we ate a lot.

Of course, at some point Archer would probably want to go home and get more clothing . . . Maybe I’d go with him. Maybe we could go shopping together. Maybe I’d even stop by Creature Cafe and thank the Barista.

It was amusing now, given how disgruntled he’d been to see me. As if I were the only monster who’d ever shown up on his doorstep and demanded my mate.

It was interesting though, how suddenly I’d known. I’d woken up one morning a little over a week ago and every single part of me demanded I find the Barista to set me up with my mate.

The Barista had been around for thousands of years, matching generations of monsters and humans. I was old enough to remember that part of the reason he’d started doing it was because he wanted to spite his ex and use his powers for more than taking souls to other realms. Being a grim reaper sounded exhausting to me. I was happy fate had not given me that role in life.

“Here’s your water, Mistress,” Archer said, setting a full glass in front of me on the table. “Please drink all of it.”

Well, I couldn’t argue with that. After the amount of times I’d come in the last few hours, I needed to stay hydrated. Plus, we’d been on the beach for a few hours today, so that had drained us both.