Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
“Guilty,” one female said.
“Yeah, I have. I’ve eaten a whole damn bag before,” another said.
More laughter erupted.
The conversation shifted, albeit awkwardly, to whose child was being the pickiest eater lately, who actually cooked homemade meals for their mates, and how many girls’ trips they should start planning after things settled down.
But after the latter was spoken, the silence was heavy again. We all knew we had no clue when any of this would die down.
Mikalina offered a tip about helping fevers by using a vinegar and water compress. Darragh joked about bribing her children with a handful of chips if they ate their broccoli. Everyone laughed, and the kids were oblivious as they kept playing.
In this moment, I could envision nothing bad had or would touch us, that I was a newly mated female who had just found my other half and we were starting our life together.
And we were. I was. But there were shadows of the unseen still in the background.
Beneath every word, every smile, was the same unspoken truth—we were waiting for something we couldn’t see to attack. It could be tomorrow, next week, a month from now, or maybe it would be a hundred years into the future.
But until then, I planned on enjoying every happy moment life gave me with Lennox.
34
LENNOX
By the end of the first week, the forced normalcy had become a routine in itself.
And in that short time all this shit had happened, we’d fought, bled, and stared into the eyes of things no Otherworld being had ever seen. The breach, the Leandrean, the witches, and the evil, dark magic that was coming to light—it all lingered around us, a shadow hanging on to each of our backs waiting to creep forward.
But for tonight, Aisling wanted to be in her own space. And I wanted my mate all to myself.
We’d come to her cabin an hour ago, and she’d insisted on preparing me a home-cooked meal. I sat at her little dining room table just watching my female in her element. She was so fucking gorgeous, so cute that I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her.
Her cabin smelled like her. Not just the soft floral scent Aisling carried but hints of leather from her books, old smoke from her fireplace, and fresh herbs she had hanging and drying along the little window over her kitchen sink.
I could live like this, away from the world, tucked in the forest, in my little world with the female who meant everything to me.
She glanced at me over her shoulder, a small smile on her face. She’d put the long fall of blonde hair in a messy bun, and my mouth watered at the sight of her slender neck and the twin marks I’d left. My mating mark. “Want tae open a bottle of wine for us?”
The corner of my mouth lifted. “Aye, lass. I’ll manage the wine.”
She didn’t have an enormous kitchen—just a small wood stove, a small kitchen counter, a butcher block island, and a set of shelves lined with jars of spices and dried herbs. And it was fucking perfect.
I grabbed the wine and opened it. The cork gave way with a soft pop, the deep, rich scent already curling up from the bottle. After grabbing two glasses, I poured us each one and brought one over to Aisling. She glanced up at me then, a small smile tilting her lips.
“Thanks,” she murmured and took a slow sip, her eyes slightly closing as a soft hum left her lips.
“Gods,” I murmured. “Ye are so fooking beautiful.”
Her cheeks turned pink, and she blinked up at me. Her movements were effortless as she prepared dinner. Chopping vegetables, cubing and then searing meat, sprinkling on spices, and placing everything to a stockpot to make a stew. The scent filled the cottage as I leaned against the counter and took a long pull from my glass.
I was focused on her, unable to look away. I wanted to stand up behind her and slide my hands around her waist to pull her against me. I wanted her to feel the raging hard-on I already sported.
But I held back. I’d been out patrolling and guarding every fucking night since we officially mated. Tonight, she deserved a rest from her insatiable mate.
Still, my focus never left her.
“Ye keep looking at me like ye’re memorizing something,” she teased without glancing over.
“I am,” I admitted, voice low. “I’m memorizing every single inch of ye, lass. Every time I look at ye, it’s another thing I canna forget.”
That earned me a soft laugh, but she kept cooking, and soon, the kitchen smelled of bread. It was freshly baked from the estate, and we’d brought it with us and heated it up in the oven so it was nice and toasted.
When we finally sat, bowls full of hearty stew, toasted and buttered bread set on the table, and our wine glasses refilled, she lit a single candle in the center of the table. The glow painted her face in gold, and for a moment, I forgot about everything else.