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“Just a week?” she asked, brow arched.
“To start,” he said with a grin. “If you’ll forgive me and have me.”
She rose onto her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. “I forgive you. I was scared by the lionesses and I believed them even though a part of me trusted you.”
He let out his lion a little bit so she could see his eyes change. “I won’t leave you like that again, I promise.”
“I believe you.”
“Good. Now, first things first,” he said, picking her up and climbing onto the bed.
“I thought we were going to talk to your parents first?” she asked with a laugh as he laid her down.
“Nah,” he said, his voice tipping to a growl at the end. “This first. Then, maybe if you’re nottooexhausted from all my fabulous loving, we’ll see about getting over to my folks’ place.”
“Fabulous loving? You’resoconceited.” Her eyes glittered with amusement, and her smile – that took her from beautiful to stunning in two seconds – made everything inside him warm. That look, that smile was why he knew choosing her was the right thing.
Ree wasn’t just the right choice for his life, she was the only choice.
He kissed her nose. “It’s not conceited if it’s true.”
“Prove it.”
Chapter 7
Ree stifled a yawn as she sat in the passenger seat of Duke’s car. In the backseat, her sister and Barron were whispering, snuggled up like they’d been together for years.
Which was exactly how Ree felt about Duke.
In spite of the bumpy morning, courtesy of a couple of lionesses, Ree was confident of her place in Duke’s life. It didn’t matter to him that she was human, and it didn’t matter to her that he was a shifter. The only thing that really counted was that they cared for each other and wanted to be together. She wouldn’t have expected her life to change so drastically in the space of twenty-four hours, but she was glad to have found Duke.
“Sleepy, sweetheart?” Duke asked, lifting her hand and kissing the top.
“I think you know exactly why I’m tired.”
He chuckled in that manly way, assuring her without words that he would be happy for a repeat performance. He stopped the car in front of a large home, with a manicured lawn and flower beds full of colorful roses.
“My mom loves roses. My dad has bought her a rose bush for every year of their mating.”
“Lions don’t also get married, too?” Ree asked.
“Of course, sweetheart, but for my people, a mating is more permanent. You can get divorced, but matings are forever.”
She smiled. “I like that.”
“Me, too.”
Mercy and Barron exited the car and Duke turned to face Ree. “There are a lot of cars here, which tells me that my parents are still meeting with the elders to decide my fate in the pride. Whatever happens in there, just know that you’re worth it to me. I don’t take stepping down from the pride easily – it was the entire focus of my life for as long as I can remember – but you’ve changed my outlook entirely. Being alpha is like a blip on the radar for me compared to how I feel about you already.”
“I know, Duke.”
“Good. I might not be in the running for pride alpha, and I might not even be in the pride anymore, but you and I will be our own pride, with Barron and Mercy, too, if they’d like.”
“You’ll still get to be alpha.”
He smiled. “You’ll be my alpha female.”
“That means I get to boss Mercy around, right?”
