Chapter 15
Ian
Conall told everyone I found my mate, of course, the little shit. My phone is blowing up with congratulations and offers of help from my brothers and extended family. They’re assuming a regular mating and eager to plan a handfasting feast that’s not going to happen.
I’ll break all their hearts later. For now, I put them to work cleaning up my property, clearing brush, washing windows, and finishing the nursery under the guise that I’m going to stage a human proposal.
But I can’t lie to Pa and Mam. Them, I tell the truth when everyone else has gone home for the day and the place smells like lemon floor wax and fresh paint.
Pa leans on his cane and eyes me from under the brim of his worn tweed cap. “That’s wanluckit. But who knows, she might come ‘round yet.”
“Conall said you’d say that.”
“He claims she’s a beauty,” my mam says encouragingly, nodding her sleek, silvered head.
I sigh, thinking of the curve of Julia’s cheek, and the dark warmth of her eyes. How I’d like to take her glasses off so I can kiss her more thoroughly. “The most beautiful. And she knows how to clean a fish,” I add, for my pa’s benefit. He nods approvingly.
“How could she not fall in love with you, my sweetest son?” Mam grabs both sides of my mane and tugs like I’m still ten years old.
“Because she’s in love with someone else?” Despair creeps in as I glance around my immaculate cabin. No amount of dusted windowsills or cobweb-free corners will entice Julia to file for divorce if she really loves her shitty husband. Love makes everyone ignore reality. I’m the living proof.
“Fate is not so cruel. Whit’s fur ye’ll no go by ye,” Pa drawls, his eyes shiny as he raps his cane on the floor.
“What does that mean?” I ask, too frazzled to interpret his brogue. He goes full Scottish when he’s emotional.
“It means your fate is your fate. You’ve got to embrace it.
” Mam licks the side of Pa’s face affectionately.
“I agree. Give it your whole heart, Ian. Then you’ll know you did what you could to satisfy your fate.
If she walks away after having your pups in her arms, we’ll be here to dry your tears, mon poussin. ”
I don’t even balk at the childhood endearment. I let them both wrap me up in a warm hug. “I’m glad you don’t think I’m moon-mad for doing this.”
“Not at all. Or if you are…I think she’s as moon-mad as you for signing that contract. So you’re a pair. Everything will work out.” My mam’s eyes are shiny now, too.
“Get some rest tonight, lad, because you won’t be getting any tomorrow!” Pa claps me on the shoulder with a bark of laughter as Mam nudges him with her elbow.
“Don’t be crass, Stephen. We can’t wait to meet her when she’s willing,” she adds to me. “Invite her to Conall and Meg’s howl next week. It’s the perfect event to ease into the clan. Everyone will be focused on the pups, so they won’t sniff around her too much.”
I shake my head, chuckling. I know my family better than that. They’ll be campaigning on my behalf the whole time. “We’ll see.”
Just in the hope he’s right, I take Pa’s advice and go to bed early, even though I’m not particularly tired.
I thumb through all the bedtime stories I bought at the bookstore, since the nursery bookshelves still have wet paint and I can’t put them away yet.
The books make me smile because I imagine every one in Julia’s voice.
But when I’ve read them all, and I’m alone with my thoughts, I can’t sleep.
Tomorrow night, Julia will be here in my bed, if everything goes right.
Is she thinking of me right now, too? Or is she thinking of him? My phone lights up with an eerie glow when I grab it from the nightstand. The frog sticker sparkles at me encouragingly.
Do you love him? I type out in the message window, and then I delete it without sending. It doesn’t matter if she does. It only matters if she enjoys the time she spends with me. I don’t want to waste a minute reminding her of our complications.
How are you doing? I send instead. Her typing bubbles instantly appear.
“Can’t sleep. You?”
“Same. I wish you were here now.”
Her bubbles appear and disappear a few times. Damn. Did I rattle her with that one? Finally a message zips through.
“Is there a reason to wait until tomorrow?”
I sit up straight in bed. That was not the answer I expected. “No,” I shoot back, already fumbling my pants on with my free hand. “I’ll pick you up at Heidi & Nicole’s in twenty minutes.”
“I’ll come to you if you give me your address.”
Of course. She’d rather drive so she’s not trapped here. I should have thought of that. I send her my address with shaking thumbs. Why am I suddenly so nervous?
“Wow, you’re way out in the woods. Anything I should bring?”
“Just yourself, pretty girl.”
“See you soon.”
Shit, I have nothing for her that I had planned. No flowers, no dinner cooked. I crack a window and light a candle to get rid of some of the paint smell. Should I open a bottle of wine or is that too presumptuous?
No wine, I decide. We should be sober when we make our pups.
Fully consenting and sober. This is, after all, a business arrangement.
Just happens to be one where I get to feel her peachy pussy stretch around my knot.
I know it’s going to be so good. I’m going to be wrecked for the rest of my life after tonight.
Who am I kidding? I’m already wrecked. Done for. A disaster.
Julia’s coming here. Now. Because she wants to. Because she can’t wait.
My breath comes fast at the thought of her eagerness, and my cock is already leaking down my thigh. I’m going to embarrass myself tonight, aren’t I?
I have to get myself together. I duck into the bathroom for quick cold shower, leaning my head out of the enclosure to keep my mane from getting wet.
The chilly water cools my blood a little, and by the time I hear Julia’s tires on the gravel driveway, I’ve redressed in clean clothes and have my head on straight.
Mostly. My tail didn’t seem to get the memo, wagging so furiously when I answer the door that it knocks the mail off the entry table.
Julia giggles when the envelopes hit the floor behind me. “Hi. Happy to see me?”
“You have no idea,” I growl, opening the door wider so she can come in. I scoop up the mail and toss it to the side so she doesn’t have to step over it. Not a terrible icebreaker. She’s smiling at least.
“You look nice,” she says, eyeing the rolled-up sleeves on the clean plaid I chose after my shower.
I’m extra glad I changed. I think she dressed up a little for this, too.
She has lip gloss on that matches her dusty-pink, floral dress and striped cardigan.
The dress’s neckline dips low enough that I get a glimpse of the rounded swell of her breasts.
“You look stunning. Did you wear that for me?” I tease, my chest growing tight when she blushes and nods, clutching her purse close to her body. I hold out my hand. “My pretty mate. Let me show you around.”
It feels like we’re teetering on the precipice of something, stuck in a long moment where I’m offering, but she hasn’t accepted yet. This is when she decides whether we’re going to acknowledge our businesslike reality or allow ourselves one night of fantasy, and damn, I am hoping for the latter.
To my relief, she takes my hand and lets me draw her into the main room of the cabin.
The huge stone fireplace marks the center of the space, with the living room on one side and the kitchen on the other.
“Bathroom is there.” I point to the doorway that leads to the cabin’s sole bathroom, with its rock-tiled shower and huge copper soaking tub.
I point to the short hallway nearby. “Bedrooms over there. That’s it. The whole tour. This is our house.”
“Our house,” she says, a funny hitch in her voice.
“Yep.” My jaw sets stubbornly. I’m not going to back down on this one. “I built it for you.”
“Your pups,” she amends, adjusting her glasses as she looks around the room.
“My family. That includes you, Julia. You don’t have to live here, but you’re always welcome here. I added you to the deed when I drew up our contract with the lawyer. The key is already on your keyring.”
She gapes at me. “What?”
I nod at her purse. “Don’t believe me? Check your keys. One of them fits the front door.”
Shaking her head, she digs through her purse, withdrawing her keyring and sorting through the half-dozen keys on it. When she finds the brass one that I added to it when I was returning her car to her, she looks up at me in amazement. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice.”
“You’ve had a lot of other things to think about.”
She nods slowly. “Do we have to talk about that stuff tonight?” From her pleading expression, she doesn’t want to. She needs this night as much as I do.
“Absolutely not. We have better things to do. Like eat ice cream.” I scoop her off her feet, enjoying her breathless squeak, and carry her to the kitchen, where I set her down on the island counter.
“Stay right there,” I warn, turning away to grab bowls and spoons and a carton of lactose-free Neapolitan ice cream from the freezer.
I scoop out a portion, careful to get all three flavors in equal amounts.
Before handing her a bowl, I add Cool Whip and a few cherries from a jar in the fridge.
“I’d ask how you know about my love of cherries, but I think I gave myself away at the bar,” she says, grinning as she takes her first bite. Her eyes roll back in her head at the taste, and she makes a filthy-sounding moan.
My cock instantly stiffens, and I have to adjust myself. “Have mercy on me, Julia.”
She giggles, pinkening. “I can’t help it. When something’s good, I’m pretty vocal.”
“Is that so?” Emboldened by her flirting, I step forward until I’m standing between her knees, so close to her that she has to put down her ice cream because the bowl won’t fit between us. I pick it up again and load the spoon with the creamy combination. “Open for me.”
Her tiny human tongue swipes her lower lip before she obeys, opening her mouth just far enough for me to deliver another bite. Her lids fall shut. “Mmm,” she breathes, before her eyes pop open again. “See?!” she demands. “I was trying not to.”
“I like it, pretty girl,” I murmur, unable to resist leaning forward to lick a small puff of whipped cream from the corner of her mouth. She whimpers at the touch of my tongue. “I want to hear all about it when you’re enjoying yourself.”