Total pages in book: 110
Estimated words: 104350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 522(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 348(@300wpm)
“Before you go,” began Taryn, “I wanted to ask about you and Riley―is it just a fling?” Taryn’s eyes held a plea that said she hoped to God his answer was no.
“It’s more,” he told her.
She beamed at him before barking a laugh at Dominic. “Told you he’d come through.”
Dominic frowned. “I told you.”
“Not as I recall it,” said Taryn.
Jaime smiled again, rubbing her hands together with glee. “I’m glad you two are finally together.”
Yeah, so was Tao.
If there was one thing that could always make Riley smile, it was the sound of a child’s laugh. Since she currently had four kids bouncing on her bed, giggling and squealing, she had a big smile on her face. Her raven, relaxed and happy to be home with them, wanted nothing more than to shift and play with them.
“You’re making a mess of my bed,” Riley playfully grumbled. They just giggled again.
When she’d walked into their bedroom, Savannah and Dexter had launched themselves at her and peppered her cheeks with kisses. Lilah had waved and given her a picture of squiggles, which she’d then taken back and stuffed in her little pocket.
Kye had scowled and said, “I don’t like you anymore; you didn’t come back when you said you would.” Then he’d wrapped himself around her leg and said, “Okay, I forgive you.” The kid didn’t hold a grudge long.
As they’d followed her to her bedroom, they’d been full of questions.
Why had she taken so long?
Did she enjoy the party?
Could they go with her next time?
And, in Savannah’s case, was she still not allowed to bite Greta?
Finished unpacking her stuff, Riley balled up her dirty clothes and put them all in the canvas laundry bag. Just as she turned, Savannah leaped at her. Used to it, Riley easily caught her.
“You smell like Tao,” Savannah told her, nose wrinkling.
Riley smiled. “I do?”
“Did you kiss him? I’m never going to kiss a boy. They’re silly.”
“Boys are not silly.” Riley chuckled. Not all of them, anyway. “Having said that, I’m glad you don’t intend to kiss any boys. You can do that when you’re twenty-one.” Her raven wholeheartedly agreed.
Savannah leaned in and whispered, “Lilah tries to kiss Dexter, but he runs away.”
Hearing a playful hiss, Riley looked to see that the cub in question had unsheathed his claws. “Dexter, do not rip my sheets.”
Dexter snatched Kye’s candy bar and raced out of the room fast as . . . well, a cheetah.
Laughing, Kye shouted, “Hey, that’s mine! Give it, give it, give it!” His shout faded as he disappeared down the tunnels with Savannah and Lilah.
Smiling to herself, Riley closed the door, intending to take a shower. She’d just taken off her T-shirt when there was a knock at the door. With a sigh, she slipped the tee back on and opened the door, expecting the kids. But it was Tao. And he was carrying several bulging duffels.
He barged inside and dumped his bags on the floor. “Don’t piss and moan. We agreed we were together, and I’m not interested in living in a separate room from my female.”
Tao held his breath, waiting for the argument that would no doubt come. No one appreciated their personal space being invaded, least of all a dominant female shifter. If she were anyone else, he might have consulted her about it. But Riley thought way too much sometimes, she stewed over things that were really very simple, and he wasn’t prepared to wait. As he told her, he refused to live apart from his female. He wouldn’t leave, no matter how much she—
“All right.”
Thrown, he had no words for a moment. “All right?”
She shrugged. “I figure if you’re prepared to permanently sleep in the same room as someone with insomnia, you must really want to be here.”
“I do.”
“All right.”
“You drive me insane, Porter,” he growled.
“Why? I’m giving you what you want.”
“Exactly.” She wasn’t acting as he’d expected, and he didn’t like that she could take him off guard.
She threw up her arms. “I really can’t win in this relationship.” She paused. “Why are you now smiling like a loon?”
“You used the word ‘relationship.’” He’d wondered if she’d play the whole thing down, given how hard she found it to accept people in her life. But what was it that her uncle had said? “Once she lets a person in, they’re in.” And that meant Tao was in.
Baffled, she asked, “Is that not what this is? A relationship?”
Tao caught her to him and kissed her. “That’s exactly what it is.”
Riley blinked rapidly. One minute he was yelling at her; the next he was kissing the breath out of her lungs. “If you’re trying to keep me off balance, it’s working.”
“Good.”
Blowing out a breath, she asked, “What does the pack make of the mysterious shooter situation?”
He ran his hand down her ponytail. “They don’t have any better theories than we do.”