Page 371 of Warlords, Witches & Wolves

“But—”

“No eating your chickens!”

Tabitha could have warned him that he wouldn’t win the argument. It didn’t matter that Luna liked a good roast chook for dinner. If you kept an animal, you named it, and it was a pet—therefore it was exempt from the oven.

Jarrad sighed. “Come on then. I won’t eat the chickens.”

Tabitha could almost sense thewhile you’re aroundbut didn’t call him on it.

“We have two spare rooms in the main house, and a granny flat above the garage for visitors who like their space.”

“That’ll be for me then,” Ryan said cheerfully, not waiting for Jarrad to confirm before moving off towards the stairs next to the garage.

Jarrad didn’t say anything, but the smirk on his face spoke volumes.

“It’s locked, isn’t it?” Tabitha asked, amused.

“Yep.”

Jarrad’s mouth moved with an exaggeratedpoparound the ‘p’. If anything, the grin got wider. And all she could focus on was the movement of those lips, the sinful purse of them, then the wide stretch. She wanted to taste them.

Shaking herself out of it, she strode towards the house, Jarrad falling into step beside her, his glee infectious.

Luna raced ahead, screeching, “I’m going to pick my room!”

Apparently, this was a holiday.

“Just not the big one with the white walls!” Jarrad called after her, still radiating satisfaction at sending Ryan on what he thought of as a wild goose chase.

“You do realise he’s not your regular government worker, right?”

That satisfaction didn’t dim as he grabbed her hand just before she opened the door, pulling her into him. The strands of spirit were back, sending their delightful shivers racing through her. She leaned in closer, breathing him in. What the hell was wrong with her?

“I’d guessed,” he replied. “But it’ll slow him down enough.”

“For what?” she asked breathlessly.

He leaned in closer, those sinfully full lips an inch from her own. Her whole being yearned towards him, desperate for the completion she knew would be theirs.

“For you to ask, Tabitha. Please ask. I don’t know how much longer I’ll last without a taste of you.”

She didn’t ask. She took. Plundered. Fisted his hair in her hand and drew his mouth to hers in a desperate hunger. Jarrad groaned and opened for her, let her take the lead, and damned if that didn’t make her even wilder. Tabitha ran her hands possessively across his shoulders, traced his torso before she hooked her hands into his belt to stop them travelling further.

All that mattered in this moment was the taste of him, the reckless heat between them she wanted to savour. She would never get enough of this… this wild magic.

Nothing had ever felt this good. Nothing.

Not even when Nathan—

“Mum! Come have a look at this!”

Luna’s voice was a bucket of cold water on her raging libido. What was she doing? She couldn’t bring herself to regret it, but it couldn’t happen like that again.

At least, not where Luna could see.

“Mum, hurry up!” Luna called again. Patience wasn’t her strength.

“I’d better go in,” Tabitha said, suddenly shy. “She won’t be happy if she has to leave whatever it is to fetch me, and frankly, I don’t want to deal with eight-year-old attitude today.”

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