Page 188 of Claimed

“I fuckin’ hope so, sweetheart. I saw the future, saw a future with her was gonna make life very fuckin’ complicated. This happened now or it happened later with a bunch of bullshit in between.”

“You did the right thing. That’s who you are,” I tell him.

He sighs and focuses on the road ahead.

“Aphra… she’s coming with us,” I keep talking. “Jase opened the truck door and Halla just climbed in the back seat. Aphra looked sort of lost for a second, eyes bouncing to me. I think she did some bad including helping Soleil with potions but I think Soleil tricked her into it. She had to do what she had to do to get her daughter back. I don’t think she knew it would come at that cost.”

“I suspect she’s hiding from her coven for a reason. We’ll get to the bottom of all of it. Later.”

“Yeah,” I say, squeezing his leg.

“Three or four hours to get back?” I ask based on a guess of how long Wyatt drove last night and how long we drove today.

“About an hour and a half. We aren’t goin’ back to Silver Hills. We’re going home. The Silver Hills people are probably already there by this point.”

“There?” I ask.

“Safer, cleaner. Smells a fuckuva lot better, too.”

I breathe out an exhale of relief. “I can’t wait to get into a hot shower and into our bed.”

“Just sayin’… though I haven’t slept in two days, when I get you into that bed? Be ready.”

“Ready?”

He flashes me a look of promise. “Been too long. Also might need to punish you for heading out into the dark by yourself last night.”

“Punish me?” I frown. He’s joking, right? He has to be joking.

“Can’t decide if I’m gonna deny you and make you beg to come or if I’m gonna make you come so many times you beg me to stop.”

Oh, my stars…

“Gotta say this, Blossom… Jase said Linc told him you went off in the dark on your own while they were dealing with the sewage problem. Linc is ticked. I’m a little ticked too. He’s carrying guilt. He left you safe in the mess hall while he was digging trenches and building outhouses. Someone told him you were sleeping on Cat’s airbed. That wasn’t you. Boyd’s feeling guilt too because he passed you outside on your way to get your bag. You should not have left that mess hall. All that matters is that you’re okay, clearly all this was meant to go the way it went, but Stace…” He lets that hang.

“I know. Believe me, I’ve thought about it. I’m sorry.”

“It’s over,” he says simply.

I eyeball his phone in the cup holder. “I’ll call to tell them we’re okay?”

He places his hand on mine on top of his thigh and blows out another breath. “Send a text, yeah? Not ready to talk to anybody.”

“Okay,” I say, reaching for his phone and tapping out a text to Linc.

It’s Stacy. On our way back. I’m very very sorry for worrying you last night. Jase can give you a more detailed update unless you can wait until we get back but I really did think it would take me just 1 minute to get my bag and had no idea it would go so wrong. Hope you can forgive me.

I see he’s instantly typing a reply. While I watch the bouncing dots, I think about being in bed with Grey, wondering what would be better – if Grey teased me until I begged or gave me too many orgasms to count.

And I know it’s wonky to be thinking about sex right now after what we’ve just gone through, but I can’t help it. I want to connect with my mate, celebrate getting through all that as well as celebrate our future, our growing family.

“Is that a smirk on your face?” my mate asks.

I can’t hide it. I let it come out completely. “I’m not making light of any of this, honey. I just… I’m ready to be naked with you. It’s been too long.”

It’s only been a couple days, but it’s still been way too long.

He gives me a loaded look and is about to respond verbally when the phone dings with Linc’s reply.

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