Total pages in book: 23
Estimated words: 20718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 104(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 20718 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 104(@200wpm)___ 83(@250wpm)___ 69(@300wpm)
We woke just as the sun was sinking below the horizon, and I rolled on top of my mate, hungry for a “morning” snack.
“Selene!”
The sudden and unexpected voice startled us, and I scrambled out of bed to face the intruder.
Thana was walking toward us from another part of the room, obviously having teleported to our home. “Kieran is going to be so mad at me for slipping out on him since he wanted me to wait until he’d talked with Athan, but I just had to see that you were okay.” She stopped and gasped when she realized I was standing naked by the bed and clapped her hands over her eyes. “Oh, crap! I’m sorry. I thought—”
Kieran popped into the room as the last words fell from her mouth and scowled at his woman. “Baby, you are hell-bent on a spanking today, aren’t you?”
I turned to toss a quilt over Selene even though the sheet fully covered her. If she hadn’t been, I would have blinded Kieran already. And I wasn’t thrilled with the thought of anyone, not even a woman, seeing what was for my eyes only.
Then I glared at him before turning my irritated eyes to Thana. “Leave,” I demanded through a clenched jaw.
“Watch your tone with my wife, brother,” Kieran snarled from beside me.
Knowing I would have the same reaction if he spoke to Selene in such a manner, I couldn’t fault him for his warning. “Sorry,” I mumbled. I sighed and softened my voice before making a request. “Would you two please wait downstairs while we get some clothes on?”
“Sure thing!” Thana squeaked, still covering her eyes. She turned and walked straight into the nearest wall, making Selene giggle, and Kieran rolled his eyes affectionately. He stalked over to her and pulled her into his arms before they disappeared from the room.
Shortly after that, we met them in the library, and Selene and Thana ran to hug each other. I couldn’t help smiling at the joy it brought to my consort’s face.
After a few minutes of chattering, they began to whisper.
Kieran and I stood a few feet away from them, and I filled him in on what had happened with Selene’s parents.
“Athan.” Selene’s sweet voice drew my attention, and I gazed down at her lovingly.
“Yes, my love?”
“I want to talk to Thana.”
I smiled and nodded, then started to turn back to my brother until she cleared her throat and pinched my forearm. “Alone,” she insisted. She clearly saw my intent to argue because she added, “About girl stuff and um...the…um, claiming.”
A light bulb went on then. Of course, Selene would want to talk to another woman who’d been through the ceremony. “Stay close, love,” I requested before kissing her temple.
She smiled and gestured to the door to the kitchen. “We’re just going to go wander in the gardens.” The kitchen had an exit that led to the back of our property where I’d built a botanical paradise years ago.
With one more chaste kiss on her lips, I let her walk past me, but not without a firm pat on her sweet ass. She threw me an admonishing look, and I just smiled wickedly, a wealth of promise in my expression.
Once the girls were gone, I led Kieran into the kitchen and poured us each a glass of blood. While our consort’s blood would always be the most delicious to us, we’d still need bagged blood so we didn’t drain each other. Not that it would kill either of us, but it would make us weak and vulnerable.
“Have you talked to Stephan lately?” Kieran asked.
I swallowed the liquid in my mouth before answering. “Not really, he’s been working a lot. He was at the party last night, but I took off with Selene.”
Kieran glared at me. “Yes, something that greatly distressed my wife, who’d missed her friend for a very long time. If I didn’t know what you were experiencing, you’d be groveling to her right now.”
I snorted. We were matched pretty evenly in size and had yet to end a tussle in anything other than a draw. Stephan was more toned and had several inches on us, and his strength wasn’t to be underestimated either.
“Thana says he’s been working so much because he’s struggling with how long it took us to find our consorts. It’s a good thing I have a female who sees that kind of shit because I missed it completely.”
Nodding, I drained the rest of my glass and rinsed it in the sink. “I can understand that. He’s young. It’ll probably be even harder now that I’ve found Selene. I wish there were a way we could help him find her.”
Kieran brought his empty cup to the sink, and I washed it out as well before putting both glasses in the dishwasher. “I know. But it’ll happen when the time is right. I think maybe we should try to take his mind off it a little more.”