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“I want nothing more than to claim you. But I will wait if that is what you need. I’m willing to pick you up for dates and spend time letting you get to know me.” Vaughn shook his head. “It doesn’t matter if I claim you now, next week, or next year. Although I do believe that both of us will be a bit difficult to deal with if we wait that long.”

I placed my hand on his and smiled. “No, I’m not going to ask you to wait. I will say that I’d love to go on a few of those dates though. I’ve never been on one, and I think it would be lovely.”

Vaughn reached up with his other hand and touched the tip of my nose with his finger. “I’ll take you on as many dates as you want. We’ll start tomorrow, although it is supposed to be a rather busy day of shopping down off the mountain, so we might need to plan for an earlier date rather than an evening one.”

I shook my head. “Why would we do that? Do you really wish to leave the house so soon after we claim each other?” I had zero seduction skills. I knew how sex worked, and I’d masturbated plenty, and I’d seen videos and also read a few books that had me running to the shower to find relief. But I had never enticed an alpha before. I was sure I’d figure it out, but I’d hoped to learn what my mate desired first.

Vaughn cleared his throat and suddenly stood up. “If you want to jump into things, then I’m not going to say no,” he said. He held out a hand, and I placed mine in his, letting him pull me to my feet. “There is another bedroom through the other door. This bathroom is between the two bedrooms on this side of the hallway.”

“Oh,” I said. I followed Vaughn to the other bedroom and found it to be a twin of the one I’d first entered. “These might be good for older kids?” I suggested. “I’ve obviously never been around a gargoyle child, but I know fae children can be a handful.”

Vaughn laughed. “The same can be said for gargoyle babies and children. They are curious about things, but at the same time are incredibly quiet, and you have to always be on top of things because you never know what they might be into.”

That was going to be fun. I hoped to give Vaughn a gargoyle child. I truly didn’t mind either way, but the thought of having a mini version of him made my heart happy.

“The only room left is the main bedroom. Do you want to check it out?”

I nodded. We left the smaller yet still-large bedroom and went back to the end of the hallway. The door was open, and I was immediately drawn to the far wall. There was another fireplace in here, and I didn’t know if we really needed it or if we’d ever use it, but it was lovely. On either side were two large windows, and from here, all I could see was snow and trees.

“This is…I think this room is probably as large as the bottom floor of my little cottage. It has a loft space for a bedroom, and I know you would hit your head on the ceiling if you were to ever try to stand upright up there.” I looked over at Vaughn with wide eyes. “What will we do with all of this space? Seriously.”

He grinned as he pulled me close. “We live in it.” Vaughn leaned down and kissed the top of my head again. “Are you ready to head back downstairs? We should let Master Edison know if we want to look at the other house or not.”

“I didn’t think you wanted to live there? Your aura seemed to change when he mentioned it.”

Vaughn nodded. “It probably did. I’m willing to look at many different houses if this one isn’t screaming at you right away.”

That was the thing: I think it was. It just seemed like it was so much space. Although the house that Beau had with his mate, Roman, was huge compared to even this one, it seemed. They had four or five bedrooms, depending on whether you counted the one downstairs. Roman was a college professor though, and he had turned that room into his home office.

I shrugged. “We can go talk to Master Edison,” I said. Vaughn seemed hesitant, but he took my hand and pulled me from the room anyway. I followed, wondering about future children as we walked past the bedrooms again. Would we stay here? Would Vaughn get tired of being an enforcer? Would he decide to move to a different position within the council? Apparently, I suddenly had a bunch of questions for my mate.

We found Master Edison sitting on one of the stools with a cup of tea in front of him. “How did you like the upstairs? Changes can be made if it’s not to your liking,” he said before lifting his cup and taking a sip.

Vaughn stared at me, and I suddenly felt like this was my choice and mine alone to make. “It’s nice,” I said. It was. It was lovely. It just felt…overly large. Maybe that was because it was empty. Could I see myself here with Vaughn? Absolutely. Was it really as easy as saying yes? Was any of this?

Chapter 7

Vaughn

“If this house isn’t to your liking, I was planning on putting in another row of houses in the back. The council is still growing, and we not only have mated enforcers joining, but it seems that our unmated enforcers are still being gifted with mates. The houses were already in the plans, and I can easily add them if that is what you would prefer,” Master Edison told us.

I looked over at Lewis in question. “It’s up to you. Whatever you would like, I am fine with.”

“You don’t have an opinion?”

I shrugged while shaking my head. “It’s your house.”

Lewis looked like he was going to cry. “You’re not going to live here with me?”

I pulled him close. “Of course I am. But the house is for you and our children. Yes, I will live here too, but the house is more for you, the mate. You will be here all the time. I will be going out on assignments, so you need to be most comfortable in the place.”

“Oh.” Lewis looked around the house. “I mean, I think this one is okay?” Lewis looked over at Master Edison. “I don’t want you to have to put in more work.”

“It’s truly not extra work. They’re already finished as of now if the two of you would like to live back there. The hellhounds are across the street from them, and it’s not at the entry to the neighborhood, so it would be quieter.”

Lewis shook his head. “I’m good with this one,” he said. “It’s just that it’s so much larger than my little cottage, but the kitchen is a dream.” Lewis ran his hands across the oversized central island again. There was a double oven as well. I glanced over at Master Edison, who winked at me. I knew he’d adjusted the kitchen before we arrived here. He’d made it something that Lewis would desire so that my little mate would feel like the place was truly his.

“This one will be perfect, Master Edison. Thank you,” I told him.