Page 99 of By the Horns
“You have to ask?”
“Well, yes. You’re twice the bloody size of me. I can’t just reach over and put my mouth on yours.”
Raptor throws his head back and laughs. Immediately, he puts both hands on my waist and lifts me up into the air so our faces are even. My feet dangle several handspans away from the ground. “This better?” he asks.
“It’ll do.” I lean in and gently press a kiss to his nose. We’ll have to figure out how to do the mouth-to-mouth part, but that’s for a more private moment when we have all the time in the world. I just rub my nose against his much bigger one instead. “Thank you for always helping me.”
“Of course.”
“Did you mean what you said? About me being your mate? Even after everything that’s happened?”
His expression gets a little cagey as he sets me down. “Hmm?”
“You called me your mate.” I flick a finger in the direction Naiah left. “In front of her.”
“I wanted her to help you and to not ask questions.”
“So I’mnotyour mate.”
“Do you want to be?”
“I want to know howyoufeel.”
We eye each other.
“I mean…I don’t hate the idea,” he muses.
“You’re killing me with flattery here,” I say dryly. “Please, stop. A woman can only take so many compliments at once.”
Raptor chuckles and drags me in close again, swallowing me into his embrace once more. “Fine, you want the truth? I’m obsessed with you, Gwenna. I want to attack anyone who even thinks of looking at you twice. I want to hug the shit out of you every time I see you. I want to flip your skirts up and lick your cunt until you squeal my name in that perfect way you do. I want to smile at you first thing every morning and be wrapped in your arms every night. I want you to be the most amazing artificer ever because I want your success. I don’t care if you’re a mancer or a maid or an artificer. I just want to be near you, breathing in the same air and hoping for a smile. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is. So aye, you’re my mate…but you don’t have to be. If it’s not what you want, I’ll back off.”
I stare up at him.
His ears twitch, his expression uncomfortable. “What?”
“I’m just wondering how long it’s going to take you to pick me up again so I can kiss you for saying that, or if I’m going to have to stay down here by your kneecaps.”
Raptor laughs, lifting me up and settling my backside in the crook ofhis arm. I hold on to his closer horn and then lean in to kiss the side of his muzzle. “You sweet, ridiculous male. Of course I want to be your mate. I just didn’t know how you felt after everything. The last time you called me your mate, I blurted out Hemmen’s name.”
“Hearing that was not my favorite, aye.” His ears twitch again, and I realize he’s embarrassed. “But nothing’s changed. Not for me. Not ever. I just didn’t want you to feel pressured—”
I put a hand over his mouth to stop his words and kiss his cheek again. “Let’s go home so I can show you just how I feel about the situation.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“You can set me down now.”
“Nah, I like carrying you. You’re practically pocket-sized.” He starts heading down the street, me still in his arms.
I snort, because we both know I am not even close to pocket-sized. More like barrel-sized, but I’ll take the flattery. “What happens to us now?”
“We wait for Rooster to decide how he wants to proceed. Or we wait for Naiah to produce a potion. Or we wait for the killer to show themselves. Or for Master Jay to file that we’re disqualified. Basically…we wait.”
I don’t know if I like that. We wait for someone else to make a move? “I feel like we should do something more.”
“Aye, we probably should. But unfortunately, we’re not the ones in charge.”
Forty-Four
