Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 116662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116662 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 583(@200wpm)___ 467(@250wpm)___ 389(@300wpm)
Isaiah kept his palm splayed on his mate’s back as she followed Virginia to a bedroom. The woman quietly opened the door. All the lights were off, the curtains were shut, and the scent of pain tanged the air.
Despite the dark, Isaiah could see just fine with his shifter-enhanced vision. He made out the juvenile lying in the bed and saw that her face was lined with agony. Her eyes opened to mere slits, darting from her mother to him and then to Quinley.
“Marnie,” Virginia whispered, “I have Quinley with me. She’s going to help you.”
Isaiah remained in the doorway as his mate padded into the room, keeping her tread light. Without a word, she crouched near the bed and rested a hand on Marnie’s head. He watched as the lines in the juvenile’s face gradually smoothed out one by one.
Pride washed through him and his cat as they observed their mate use her gift. She was powerful. Rare. A gem to the pride.
“There.” Quinley stood, smiling.
Marnie sat up in bed, her lips parted, gently probing her head. “It’s really gone. People said you numbed pain, but I wasn’t sure if they just meant minor hurts.”
“How often do you get migraines?” asked Quinley.
“Once a month, usually.”
“Whenever it happens, have your mother call me. I’ll come straight away.”
Marnie beamed. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“Not a problem.” Quinley reeled off her number to Virginia, who saved it in her list of phone contacts, and then returned to Isaiah. “Ready?”
“Ready,” he confirmed.
Following them to the front door, Virginia studied him. “Why are you looking so smug?”
Quinley stilled. “Don’t ask.”
Well, the woman already had, so … “Thanks to Quinley, my back looks like a grizzly went at it.”
A pretty blush stained his mate’s face. “Isaiah! Don’t be an ass!”
“But it’s okay,” he continued, still speaking to Virginia, who was stifling a smile. “It makes us even, because her body looks like she had a run-in with a nest of vampires.”
Quinley gawked at him. “For God’s sake, will you stop talking!” She stalked off.
He exchanged an amused look with Virginia and then trailed after his mate, following her to the elevator.
Her mouth tight, she cast him an indignant glance. “I can’t believe you just did that. Actually, no, I can believe it. But it was totally unnecessary.” She jabbed the button to call the elevator. Jabbed it a little too hard.
Amusement trickled through his cat. Like Isaiah, he wanted all to know about the brands. The feline was smug as a motherfucker right now, more content than he’d been in a while.
Isaiah took a lazy step toward Quinley, earning himself a narrow-eyed look. Deciding not to tell her she looked seriously fucking cute right then—he figured it wouldn’t go down well—he gave an innocent shrug and instead said, “I was just answering her questions. It’s rude to ignore people, you know.”
“Be rude. Be. Rude. Especially when it comes to my sisters.” She again jabbed the “down” button on the wall panel. “Do not say anything to them that’s even remotely similar to what you just said to Virginia.”
Humming, he let his face mold into a troubled expression. “It doesn’t seem right to lie to them, baby. I mean, they’re family. You don’t bullshit family. It’s wrong.”
Oh, her cheeks were now on fire. “That’s it,” she fumed. “That is it.”
“What’s it?”
“I’m not biting or clawing you ever again.”
He chuckled under his breath and advanced on her, swallowing up her personal space; watching her pupils dilate. “Oh, you will, Quin. You won’t be able to help it. Just like I can’t help but brand you.”
She spluttered. “Yeah, well.”
“Yeah, well, what?”
“I don’t know. That’s all I’ve got right now.”
Smiling, he planted a hard kiss on her mouth. “Good comeback,” he deadpanned.
He wasn’t in the least bit surprised when she splayed her palm over his face and shoved him back a step. In fact, he probably deserved it.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“At least let me carry a few.”
Isaiah slid her a frown and kept walking. “I’ve got it.”
Typical dominant male shifter, she thought, catching up to him. If you offered them a helping hand with anything, it seemed to offend them. “You don’t have to look at me like I’m attempting to unman you.”
“Quin, I’m fine. The bags aren’t that heavy.”
Her hormones went all gooey whenever he abbreviated her name that way. No one else called her that. She liked it. Liked that only he did it. “But there are plenty of them.”
“That there are,” he acknowledged, casting her a quick look. “I thought you only needed to buy ‘a few things.’ There’s more than a few here.”
She pulled a face at what she could admit was in fact an understatement. “I may have downplayed it a little. Or just gotten a bit carried away while shopping. Or both.” It wasn’t her fault the storefront windows had such amazing Christmassy displays that they sucked her right in. “At least we’re heading to the last shop now. Then we can go.”