Page 16 of Valley of the Shadow
Carwyn groaned and pressed his face into her neck. “Please.” His fangs slid along the side of her throat, and his tongue flicked against her pulse. “Please demonstrate.”
“If you insist.”
Chapter Five
“Know what I’m really pissed about?” Natalie was sitting on the edge of the river, watching as the four California kids splashed on the edges.
Dema was holding Sadia’s hand while she waded, and Natalie was keeping a close eye on Sarah, who wasn’t allowed go past the big rocks.
Jake and Carina were both excellent swimmers and the water wasn’t moving fast, so Natalie and Dez were sitting in the sun, enjoying the afternoon warmth.
Dez said, “The obvious answer would be that you’re pissed about getting breast cancer, so I know it’s not that.”
Natalie put a hand on her startlingly pale white legs. “Cellulite for eternity. I know it’s superficial, but I’m going to have bumpy thighs and stretch marks for possibly hundreds of years.”
Dez started to laugh.
“I mean,” Natalie continued, “I thought I had more time. I was going to lose ten pounds or so. Trim up. Definitely get better arms, you know?”
“I remember your talking about Michelle arms.”
“Yes! Right? But nope. No time. I’m stuck for all eternity with preschool-mom bod.”
“What did you think you were going to do about the cellulite?” Dez stretched her own legs out. “I mean, everyone has some. Beatrice probably does, and she changed ten years ago.”
“I don’t know.” Natalie started to laugh. “Isn’t there laser surgery or something? Celebrity vampires probably don’t have cellulite.”
Dez dropped her voice. “Are there celebrity vampires? Is that a thing?”
“I don’t think so, but the point remains. There is probably some medical way of getting rid of all these bumps, but I’m never going to find it because I have breast cancer.” She shook her head. “Fucking breast cancer.”
“It really bites.”
They repeated the common refrain together. “And not in a sexy vampire way.”
“Exactly,” Natalie said. “Not at all in a sexy vampire way.” A wave of exhaustion started to creep up on her. “Dez, can you watch mine?”
“No problem.” Dez reached over and tilted Natalie’s hat over her eyes. “Lie down and nap if you want to. I’ll throw a towel over you if you start to burn.”
“Thanks.” The grass on the riverbank was soft and long, mingling with sand and small pebbles. They’d been at the ranch for three days, and every afternoon they’d spent with the kids outside. Natalie was determined to soak up as much sun as she could. Christmas was four days away, which meant she had less than a week left of being human.
She still hadn’t wrapped her mind around it. She wasn’t excited. She wasn’t dreading it. It was as if an appointment she’d made years before was finally rolling around. Or company showing up unexpectedly. It wasn’t bad, but you’d forgotten to make a big enough dinner and all the nice dishes were dirty.
There were so many things she’d been meaning to do, and she hadn’t because… she was busy!
She’d been busy teaching Jake how to ride a bike and making sure Sarah ate green things.
She’d been balancing work and the kids’ school stuff.
She’d been trying to figure out if Jake having a dog was feasible or would cause a whole new set of problems.
She’d been trying to find gymnastics lessons for Sarah that didn’t involve driving sixty miles both ways.
And she’d been trying to remember to kiss her husband more often because she’d realized a couple of months before that she’d gone three days without kissing Baojia, and that was simply unacceptable when you were married to a man that hot.
Nothing in her life was simple. Every problem solved seemed to create two new issues, and now…
And now.
