Chapter 3 #3
With the purchase out of the way, they decided to head home and renew their packing.
Mostly, it would be stuff inside of things.
Like books and clothing. But none of the furniture.
They were planning to start fresh, and this would be the only way that he wanted to do this.
As they were sitting down to dinner, his brother Yuri came to visit.
He had some investments that he wanted him to look into, and wanted to see about getting together for some investment information.
“We’ll be halfway through the year soon, and I want to go over some of the investments that I think we should drop.
There are only two, but they’re not performing well, and there doesn’t seem to be anything more we can do for them.
” He told him that he trusted him to do the right thing.
“All right. I have two other investments that only you and I share, and I think we should double our money on. I can see a huge return in about ten years, and that’s what we need to be looking at.
You have a lot of other items in your portfolio that look good, too.
We could sit down and go over them together, so you know where your money is going.
I don’t want you to think that I’ve ever cheated you. ”
“Christ, I know you won’t do that.” He hugged his brother.
“I have all the faith in the world in you doing me right. But I’d love to get together and see what sort of investments you think we should work on together.
I know that Conri has a couple that he takes care of on his own.
I like doing that. It’s like my own little nest egg. ”
“You’ve built up a nice nest egg for the two of you, too.
Sharon needs to understand what she has in being mated to you.
” She said she’d like that as well. “Good. We’ll have dinner one night and then go over money.
Also, the property that you own has been transferred to Sharon’s name, and in a few years, I’ll make sure to switch it back.
Some companies aren’t so open-minded when the same person’s name has been on the dotted line for centuries.
There is a lot of property that I’ve fixed that way for you. ”
“So I’m a wealthy woman.” Yuri, not one for understanding jokes, said that she was anyway with her being on Kendrick’s books. “But I own all the property now. What if I were to leave Kendrick and take it all?” She was joking, but Yuri didn’t get it.
“I’d hunt you down and make sure you understood that without my brother, you’d be nothing.
I take care of what is mine.” She told him that she had only been kidding around and would never leave Kendrick.
That she’d fallen in love with him. “I’m sorry.
I don’t understand people. I hope I didn’t offend you. ”
“No. I’m glad to know that Kendrick has someone in his corner. That’s good to know, too, that you take money very seriously.” He said it was the only thing that he took more seriously than life. “I love that about you.”
“Did you just say that you love me?” Kendrick pulled Sharon into his arms for an embrace. “Say it again. Say that you love me. I want to relish in the fact that you’ve finally said the words I’ve been waiting to hear for a long time.”
“I’ve fallen in love with you. It just happened.
” She reached up and kissed him on the chin, a place that he was beginning to find sexy.
“I think it’s when you turned to look at me when the realtor asked about carpet.
It made me feel a part of the process that we’re going through.
Then it hit me. I’m your wife, and you love me.
I should love you back, and I realized then that I did. I really did.”
“Then I’m going to claim you. Right here and right now, so that nothing happens to you while we’re still in the beginning stages of our life together.
” She asked him what that meant. “That you belong to me and that I belong to you. It’ll make you immortal as well.
We can live a long and happy life together. ”
“Then by all means do it.” She sat down when he stood up. “Do I need to say it back to you to make the promise true? I don’t want to mess this up with us when we’re just beginning in our lives together.”
“Yes, you do say it back to me. Sharon Taylor Valley, I pronounce on this day that you are my mate, and I give you all that I have from this day forward. Standing here in front of a witness, I proclaim you as my mate.” She asked what she said to him in return.
“The same. My middle name isn’t important, but you have to mean it, or it won’t give you any magic that I can share with you.
And any magic that you have, and you do have a bit, you’ll share with me. ”
“Good. Kendrick Charles Valley, I pronounce on this day that you are my mate, and I give you all that I have from this day forward. That would include my love for you. Standing here in front of a witness, I proclaim you as my mate.” She looked up at him and smiled.
“If you don’t kiss me right now, I’m going to be very upset with you.
” How could he not kiss her when she really wanted it?
Pulling her into his arms, he lifted her chin up.
She wasn’t as tall as most of the women he knew, but he loved that her head fit under his chin.
Brushing his lips over hers, he did that twice before her tongue came out between her lips and moistened them.
He wanted that taste and took her mouth with his own.
It was more than he could have hoped for this time as well.
He could taste the honey that she’d had in her tea at dinnertime. The taste of the chocolate scone that she’d eaten too. Pulling her in closer to deepen the kiss, her body molded to his like they were meant to be. Then he remembered his brother was there and pulled back slowly.
“I wondered if you’d remember me or not.
” He said it was difficult, but if he wanted to leave, that would be just fine with them.
“I’m not leaving just yet. You’ll just have to cool your jets, as they say.
I really do want to get this cleaned up with you so I can get my end-of-year report to all of you on time. You know how I am about deadlines.”
“I do know.” Reluctantly, he pulled away from Sharon—who seemed to be just as shaken up as he was, but not before having to adjust himself. Sharon’s face was as red as his when his brother laughed. “So what do you need from me about these investments that I have that you can’t wait?”
There turned out to be several, and even though Yuri had them all lined up in order of need, it still took them nearly three hours to get them taken care of.
He’d not realized how complicated his brother’s job was in keeping them all in money for the rest of their lives.
The next time he had an investment that he wanted Yuri to look at, he was going to have a bit more information for him, rather than just the name and address of a place.
He was going to do his own research from now on, too.
It wasn’t a burden he was putting on his brother, he told him, but it might save him time in the long run.
By the time they were finished with the files, he was ready for bed.
Kendrick had never been one for a lot of numbers.
He could add and subtract well, but looking at future percentages that he might make on something wasn’t what he did for a living.
He was going to pay more attention to that as well.