CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Shadow
I kiss Kayla. Long, slow kisses that don’t need to lead to anything more. Kissing her for the joy of kissing, lost in the feel of her delicious curves pressed against me, our legs tangling.
Our mate bond thrums in my chest, as strong and true as my witchy beauty, full of her love and happiness.
My mate, my glorious mate. I hoped Kayla and I were fated, but such joy fills me upon discovering it’s true.
I can’t wait to tell Mother and the other cat sith. Venturing out of Alarria will allow my people to find their fated mates, as it used to be in times past. As it was always meant to be.
My keen hearing picks up the softest of growls. I press one last kiss to her lips and murmur, “What was that?”
The silver moonlight washes away most colors, but I still see her cheeks darken as she bites her kiss-swollen lip. “I think it was my stomach. We missed dinner.”
“That we did.” I roll up to sitting and pull her along with me. “Let’s fix that.”
“It’s the middle of the night.”
“So?”
“So that means snacks. No proper food.” She wags a finger and offers me a mischievous smile, and my heart leaps to see her play. “It’s a rule.”
“You know me.” I grin. “Always happy to play by the rules.”
“You? Rules?” A bark of laughter explodes from her. “You wouldn’t know a rule if it bit you on the butt.”
“I follow rules. Rules I agree with, that is,” I clarify. “But if you want to bite my butt…” I wink and turn to present her with my ass, which is, of course, magnificent.
And my mate—my playful, joyful mate—accepts my dare and bites it.
I’m ready to pounce on her when her stomach rumbles again, and mine makes a louder growl of its own.
Right. Food.
I yank on my jeans and toss her my T-shirt.
She stands holding it instead of putting it on. “Shouldn’t we take a shower first?”
“No. You smell like me, like mine.” I pull her to me, burying my nose in her neck. “I need you to smell like this for a bit longer after our mating. It’s a shifter thing.” Or perhaps it’s a me thing. I don’t care. I can’t bear the thought of her skin without my scent mark.
“Okay,” it comes out a little breathless, and happiness hums along our mate bond.
My shirt hits her mid-thigh, barely covering her. It’s perfect. I vow then and there to buy her several more of those short, short dresses like she wore to the waterfall.
When I scoop her into my arms in a bridal carry, she says, “I can walk, you know.”
“Humor me.”
She settles against me, her head on my shoulder as I carry her downstairs to the kitchen.
Victoria turns on the light for us, and the green dress shirt scoots across the floor, headed for the hallway.
“What do you think it was doing in here?” Kayla’s head turns to keep it in sight.
“It could be lonely. Maybe it was trying to talk to the dishtowel.” I smirk as I set her on her feet, my hand dropping to the waist of my jeans. “Maybe you should use your magic to undress me again. Make it a friend.”
“There you go.” She bats me with the back of her hand. “Only in clothes for two seconds and already trying to get naked again.”
Victoria opens the cabinets as Kayla gets close, and my mate pulls out every snack we have in the house.
I open a bag of cheese puffs and feed her several before taking one for myself.
Dewdrop flies into the room, chirping a hello as he lands on Kayla’s shoulder.
“Oh, no!” Kayla says. “Are you hungry? You missed dinner, too.”
“No, I didn’t! I ate bananas.” He holds up his little hands and mimes peeling.
“Oh, good.” She scratches his forehead. “Would you like something else? I think there’s half a watermelon in the fridge.”
“Yes, please!” He bobs his head in excitement.
“I’ll get it,” I say.
Soon we’re all gathered at the island, eating in companionable silence. Or not precisely silence, since Dewdrop dives into his melon with chomping abandon, and human snack foods tend to be crunchy.
And delicious. Mustn’t forget delicious.
As Kayla reaches for another cookie, I catch her hand and hold it up, admiring her engagement ring. “Do you truly like it?”
“It’s perfect. It’s exactly what I like, purple and pretty but without a bunch of other diamonds and stuff.” She gives a one-shouldered shrug. “You know me, not the fancy type.”
“You’re beautiful exactly as you are. I wouldn’t change a single thing about you.” I kiss her knuckles. “Now, about the wedding—”
A cupboard door shuts with a definitive click. It’s not a slam, but it works well enough to get our attention. Victoria writes, “How soon can we have it?”
“How about a week?” I say.
Kayla’s eyes go wide. “A week? You can’t be serious.”
“Why not? We’ve put together three weddings with far less lead time.”
“Those weren’t real weddings.” She throws out a hand. “A real wedding takes a lot more prep.”
This time, the cupboard door slams. “They were good weddings!”
Kayla mutters “Weddingpocalypse” under her breath, then says, “All I’m saying is this wedding is going to be our real one, so we should do it right.”
“Okay, then,” I say. “Two weeks.”
She gapes at me.
“It’s plenty of time. I’ll handle everything.”
“What’s the rush?”
She’s right. Now that we’re mate-bonded, these other ceremonies are extraneous. Yet weddings are important for humans, so I want to give her that. Plus, it’ll make Victoria happy, and a happy house is a happy life.
And then there’s my biggest reason. “I’ve waited over a year for you, my witchy beauty. I don’t want to wait a single second longer to start our new lives.”
“Oh, Shadow,” she whispers as I lean in to steal a kiss.
When we break apart, Dewdrop leaves the empty bowl of the melon rind behind and hops over to us. “Can I be in the wedding?”
“Of course you can!” Kayla kisses his forehead. “Will you be our ring bearer?”
“And ribbon bearer?” I add. “I’d like to have a handfasting as part of the ceremony.”
“I’d like that, too.” She smiles, wide and beautiful and happy, making my heart leap with joy. I want to see her like this always. She deserves so much happiness in her life.
“Yes!” Dewdrop rises on his hind legs and headbutts first Kayla, then me, purring as loudly as any kit. “I will be the ring bearer and the ribbon bearer and carry all of the things!”
“See, Victoria? When you allow us to make our own choices, you get something even better,” Kayla says. “You’re going to get a real wedding, and it’ll even have a double ceremony.”
The kitchen cupboards open and close in soft applause. Then she writes, “It’s still only one wedding. What am I going to do after?”
“I’ve been thinking about that.” Kayla spins to face me.
“I was trying to think of ways to make Victoria happy without being a wedding chapel again. And I wanted to do something for you, too. So I thought maybe we could have people from your pack come and visit regularly, rotate through them or something? You’d get to see friends and family, they’d get the chance to practice living in their fae forms, and Victoria and Dewdrop would have visitors to enjoy. ”
Joy fills my heart at the thought, but I also want to ensure she’s all right. “What about you? Would you be okay having new people here regularly? What about your social anxiety?”
“We could figure out a schedule that gives us plenty of alone time between visits, and maybe only have two new adults each time?”
“Whatever you want,” I say. “This needs to work for you, too.”
“I think it’ll be good for me. I can use it as cognitive behavioral therapy. And you’ll be here to support me.”
“I’ll support you, too!” Dewdrop headbutts her upper arm.
“That will be wonderful.” She twists to press a kiss to his forehead. “Thank you, sweetie.”
Kayla looks at me again. “And they could also tell me stories of Faerie. It’s a win-win all around.” She pauses. “So that’s my idea.”
“You don’t know how happy this makes me, my witchy beauty.” My happiness crests, and I crush her to me. “I’ve been trying to think of a way to help my people, and this is perfect.” I kiss her, pouring all my love into the kiss.
She looks a little dazed when we pull apart, and I smirk. Then she gives her head a quick shake and glances at the magical parchment. “What do you think, Victoria? Happy to have more visitors?”
“Yes!” A feeling of excitement fills the room. “It’s been way too long since I last had regular guests.”
“Will the werekittens come, too?” Dewdrop hops over and looks up at me with large, beseeching eyes, clearly having learned a few things from the kits. “They could live here always!”
“They can live here some of the time.” I laugh and rub the dragonet’s head. “They still have plenty of cat sith skills to learn in Faerie.”
“I can’t wait!” He leaps into the air and flies toward the living room.
Kayla looks at me. “Do you think Moonlight will agree?”
“Of course she will. It’s a wonderful idea.
” It’s exactly what my pack needs. Panthers have their pride and an instinctive need to never show weakness.
Victoria will provide a safe place to learn how to live in their fae forms without other fae seeing any mishaps.
My people will finally be able to resume their position as a vital part of Faerie.
I kiss her hand. “Thank you again for thinking of this. It really means a lot to me.”
“I know your family is important to you, and I thought this would help.”
“They’re going to be your family in two weeks.”
“Two weeks.” She puffs out a breath, blowing a lock of hair out of her face.
“Let me handle it.” I squeeze her fingers and grin. “I’ve gotten rather good at weddings.”
She has one last cookie, and I crunch my way through several more of the cheese puffs. When she’s done, I lick the orange powder from my fingers, enjoying the way her eyes follow the motion.
“Food isn’t the only thing new and fascinating about being a man,” I say, my tone seductive. “Do you know what else is?”
Kayla bites her lip and shakes her head.
“Skin.” I glide my hand up her forearm, enjoying the way my touch makes her shiver. I drop my voice to a low purr, each word said with languid precision. “Skin is so very, very sensitive.”
My witchy beauty’s lips curl in a small smile, and she strokes my thigh. Magic pulses from her fingers, and a quiver runs through my jeans. The button pops open, the zipper sliding down by itself.
When I stand, the denim writhes around me, inching its way down, down, down, until I lift each foot to allow the jeans to wiggle free. They head off in the same direction the dress shirt took earlier.
I smirk at my mate, lifting an eyebrow.
“As you said, the shirt must be lonely.” She grins, the expression a playful echo of mine. “Looks like you’re naked again.”
She slips from her stool and races for the hall, knowing exactly what running from me will do.
Raw primal instinct flares in my chest. I roar and chase after her, loving her delighted squeak of surprise when she glances back to find me behind her on the stairs.
I catch her right as she reaches the bed, tackling her onto its soft surface. The shirt rips under my eager hands, leaving her naked to me.
Mine.
My mate. My wife. My love.
Mine to claim again and again.