Page 73 of Misbehaving With Minotaurs
My nephew turns to go and I note the slump of his shoulders and the near droop of his horns.
“Everything’s gonna be fine, son,” I say to his retreating back.
He pauses and turns to look at me over his shoulder. “Thanks Uncle Nor. I’ll meet you at the diner in the morning, if that’s alright?”
“Comm me any time, even if it’s just to talk.” Stridingforward, I clap him on the shoulder, then grip the muscle hard as I stare into pale blue eyes. “Love you, kid. I mean it when I say this town is a good place for a fresh start.”
He huffs quietly, the gold ring in his nose shimmying. “That what you’re doin’ here?”
His question pulls a smile to my face.
“Yeah.” The smile grows into a broad grin when I think about Annabelle and my Sunshine. “That’s exactly what I’m doin’ and I’m glad you’re here to bear witness to it. Maybe we’ll even get your ornery father out this way sometime soon.”
Alarion chuckles and shakes his head. “Don’t think you’ll ever get Dad outta the Gulch, but I guess we’ll see.” His expression goes thoughtful. “Maybe he’ll visit.”
We fall quiet as Jezbelah pokes his head around the corner, waving to Alarion.
“Arrrrreee you commmingggg?”
Alarion hikes his bag high on his shoulder and disappears into the darkness of the wraith motel’s opulent first floor hall. I watch him go, sending up a quick prayer to the minotaur gods and goddesses for peace and happiness to come to my nephew.
Then I head for the Annabelle. I’ve barely talked to my Sunshine in the last two days, and I’m anxious to get to her. I walk Main Street, considering the formal offers of employment in my inbox from both Pine Gulch and the town of Ever. Despite dealing with Alarion, I thought about the offers situation a lot while I was home.
In a way, going home was a good thing, because everywhere I turned, I saw PG in a new light—little views I wanted to show Cath, things like that—and not experiencing it with her made it all a little bittersweet. Home wasn’t home for the first time.
There was never any doubt for me that I’d pick her, but going back reminded me that it neverwasthe same after she and I split. Home always held a little bit of heartbreak becauseshe never saw it with me. Never saw the land I bought us or the statues I erected to honor longhorn ancestors.
Which, I think, is why I didn’t get back home that much to begin with. I love Pine Gulch. But Catherine has my heart and soul.
Friendly Evertons wave at me as I walk up the street. The sun’ll be setting soon, and all I want is to hold her in my arms in her room.
When the Annabelle comes into view and I moo to greet her, all the shutters wave in frantic excitement. Her pretty pink siding ripples in great waves as all the windows on the front of the house open and shut in a rapid melody. She reminds me of a dog spinning in circles when its owner returns home.
“Darling,” I murmur, stroking the front doors as she opens them for me. “Where’s my Sunshine?”
Catherine emerges from behind the check-in counter, wearing a simple shirt dress that hits mid-thigh. I sigh and lean against the door frame as she walks toward me, nails painted a viciously bright red.
“Damn, Sunshine. You keep wearing outfits like this, and you might give me a heart attack.” I eat up her long legs, staring at thick thighs and a soft belly I love to kiss. The dress’s fabric clings to her heavy breasts, highlighting every luscious, oversized curve.
“I have something for you. Come upstairs with me?” She waves a hand toward the stairs as Annabelle ripples the carpet runner to direct us.
I take her hand and spin her around, running an appreciative palm over the soft globes of her ass, then up her belly and over a breast. Trailing my knuckles along her nipple, I grin when it peaks and hardens beneath the velvety fabric. She drenches the air in pheromones, her body calling mine in the most primal of ways.
“Two days is two more than I ever want to be parted from you,” I manage as she tugs me toward the stairs.
She smiles, the expression genuine and welcoming and so tender.
I shoo her toward the stairs but pause at the bottom. “Go on up, Sunshine. I’ll be behind you. Just wanna enjoy the view a bit.”
She winks over her shoulder and sashays up the steps, every footfall giving me a better view up her skirt. By the time she reaches the top, I’m adjusting my aching cock and staring at the bottommost swell of her luscious ass.
“I missed you like crazy, woman.” I grip the banister and the railing and lean forward, staring at her like a male starved. I suppose Ihavebeen starved all these years, trying to find someone that feels as right as Catherine.
“I missed you more,” she says in a playfully challenging tone, her eyes swirling with gold. “I said I have a present for you, and I’m absolutely desperate to deliver it. So please come to my room, Mister Longhorn.”
“Better be you sitting on my face,” I growl as I stalk up after her.
She tosses her gray waves over her shoulder and winks back at me. “Oh, it’ll end there, Manorin. I’ve no doubt about that.”
