Page 5 of Hers to Claim

The designer had rushed to get the dining room redone quickly at Rio’s insistence. The color scheme was burgundy and white, with elegantly patterned tiles along the floor and magic-infused flowers creeping up one wall. Giselle and Sam served themeal of enchiladas and an array of sides and then sat with them to eat, their good humor positively infectious.

As the meal wrapped up, Willow cleared their throat. “In case anyone here hasn’t heard, we’re going to be starting up the parties again. If anyone has any suggestions about that, my door and my email are always open.”

Karma glanced up, her nervousness coming through as her eyes lightened to gold. Her pin-straight black hair was pulled back in a messy bun and made her look even more harried.

Both of her hellhound mates, who were sitting to either side of her, began to glare around the room when they felt her distress. They were mirrors of each other, a pair of blond giants with glowing red eyes.

Mari rushed to reassure Karma before the mood in the room turned anymore. “The parties won’t be anything like they were before. We’re going to reimagine the entire affair, but I do think having them is a good idea.”

Karma swallowed and nodded, but didn’t seem quite convinced, and she didn’t respond. Dasher, who was sitting to her right, reached out to take her hand.

Mari leaned back. She understood the trust she had with the guards was precarious. They had been treated very badly by her father and most of them had little reason to trust her beyond Cisco’s word. “Do you want to be part of the planning? I could use the help. I’ve never done anything like this before and I’d love to hear your ideas.”

Karma blinked at her a few times, and then Dancer, sitting to her left, leaned in and whispered something to her. The wolf shifter seemed to consider what her mate said, and then nodded slowly. Her voice was a little raspy when she finally responded, “Sure, I’ll help.”

Tilly piped up once the tension in the room eased, “We should definitely have live music. Bren and his band are super good.”

Bren smiled at her and blushed prettily. “That’s very sweet.”

The conversation about party plans continued on without Mari, which was exactly what she had intended. When she glanced Cisco’s way, he was leaned back in his chair, his hands folded over his stomach with a pleased expression softening his features. After a few seconds, he caught her gaze and sent her a heart-stopping smile.

Chapter 2

Once the last ofthe stragglers had left the dinner table, Rio and Willow gently urged Giselle and Sam to leave for the evening without clearing the dishes, and took the job for themselves, carrying everything through the service door and into the kitchen.

Mari walked toward where Cisco still sat at the other head of the table. He radiated calm satisfaction as he watched her move closer.

“What do you look so pleased about?” Mari asked, a smile tugging at her lips.

“You mean aside from the fact that I’m anticipating how wonderful you’ll feel in my lap?” He took her in with a predatory glance. “I realized during dinner that it feels right. You know? Everyone around the dinner table, talking about whatever, enjoying each other’s company.”

When she arrived, he leaned back and spread his knees, making room for her. She lowered herself to sit on his thigh. He eased one hand between her knees and leaned in to kiss her bare shoulder.

“I know what you mean,” she said as she ran her fingers through his black hair, enjoying the feeling of his curls. “It really felt like a family.”

“It was exactly how I always wanted it to be. But no matter how hard I tried, I could never get it to work because his needs were the only ones that mattered.” He rubbed his face on her shoulder, his whiskers tickling her skin. “Thank you for helping me accomplish this. Tonight proved to me that no matter what happens going forward, it was worth the cost.”

Mari leaned her head on his shoulder. She was so fortunate to have this passionate, wonderful gargoyle in her life. “I love how much you care about the people around you. And even if we somehow fail, the improvement in their lives, however brief, is worth the risk.”

He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her against his chest, the warmth of his body relaxing her. “We won’t fail.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’ve never been more sure of that than I am tonight.”

A few days later, Rio led Mari by the hand to the solarium. She hadn’t been in there since the piercing just days after her father had died and even though that experience should have made the vaulted glass room feel more like hers than it had previously, it still seemed like a place she shouldn’t be.

“I saw the way you looked around the place when we were here the last time,” Rio said.

Mari nodded. “When I’m here, the past couple of weeks don’t seem real. It’s like he’s going to come in any minute and catch us, like he did when we were kids.” Her father had found the two of them playing in among the expensive plants when theywere small—maybe ten or so—and he had hit them until they screamed their promises never to go inside without permission again.

“It never scared me as much as it did you, even after that. I think because this was the only place where it felt like he might actually care about me.”

Mari met his eyes. “For whatever it might be worth, I think he did care about you in his way, especially in the beginning. Before my mother left, and the ritual…” Before he got really bad, she didn’t say. She didn’t have to.

Rio took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “He brought me here to teach me how to read, you know. After he found out that I couldn’t.”

She couldn’t decide if that would have been a good experience or not. The father she’d known would never have taken a young man under his wing that way. “How was that?”

“Shockingly nice.” He chuckled. “He was very patient. I know it’s hard to believe.”

Mari smiled and wrapped an arm around him. “It’s not. Having the people around him well-educated was important to him. I remember how angry Cisco was that he was forced to go take college classes.”

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