Page 51 of Falling for Ash
“I am so sorry, my love. This should never have happened. I think some of these rogues must have followed us the other day when you ran to the borders of Purgatory,” he explained, but she was shaking her head.
“Really? Wow! Well, I have never had so much fun.”
“What?”
Ash stilled.
Was this real?
Was his mate really not upset or threatening to run back to her human life?
He’d been so terrified she’d been hurt, or worse, by the soulless bastards who’d tracked her back to her human home. Second to those fears was the distinct worry that she would realize the danger he put her in, and she would leave him.
Selfish?
Maybe.
But he could not help it. Ash had only just found her. He could not lose her so quickly.
“Hey, look at me,” she commanded. “I am not going anywhere. I mean, did you see me? I was like half-woman, half-Wolf, and I totally kicked butt!”
“Yes, you did.” Ash grinned back.
She was really something else, his wonderful mate! Gorgeous and sexy, even if she didn’t curse and read the Bible for fun. She was still the most badass female he’d ever seen. And she was all his.
How’d a Demon get so lucky?
“Hey! What’s all the noise?” Gabriella’s stepmother came running into the room.
The older she-Wolf’s hair was in a towel, and she was wearing a gaudy red satin robe. But that was nothing compared to her open-mouthed stare at the mess that was once Gabriella’s room. She turned, gaping at the pair of them and the piles of dust that sat on the otherwise polished floor.
“Mim! You met Ash, right? But I don’t think I introduced you to him yet as my mate.” Gabriella smiled, seeming to notice his reticence.
She tugged him forward. She was oblivious of her own torn clothes where her Wolfish form had ripped through, or the remnants of blood, hers and the soulless, that stained them. Pride welled inside of him as she stood tall and confident and introduced him to her stepmother.
The older woman took in the mess casually. She narrowed her eyes at Ash, measuring him from head to foot, ignoring his wings, tail, and horns, much to his shock. With her hands on her hips, Mim frowned at him and raised one perfectly plucked eyebrow.
“So, you’re the man my daughter has taken as a mate,” she said, crossing her arms.
“Yes, ma’am. I am Ashmedai, but you can call me Ash. Gabriella and I have sealed our matebond, fated as it were,” he stated with quiet pride.
“I see,” Mim replied.
“Mim! Be nice!” Gabriella hissed.
“I’ll be nice in a minute, dear,” Mim said to his mate before turning back to him. “But first, I have a question for him.”
“Ask me anything, but know this, I love Gabriella and I will do everything I can in my power to ensure she is safe and happy for the rest of our lives,” Ash said, hoping to stem some of the third degree he was expecting from the woman who was essentially his mother-in-law.
Gabby squeezed his hand and smiled, her blue eyes shining like two cornflowers in full bloom under a July sun. She was so beautiful. Ash’s chest swelled with joy, and he realized he loved her more than he could have ever imagined.
“Eyes up here, mister,” Mim said, snapping her fingers to regain his attention.
He kissed Gabby’s hand and turned back to the older Wolf, waiting for her to get on with it. Ash had a powerful urge to get his mate back home so he could strip off the rest of her clothing to ensure she was whole after her ordeal. Okay, so maybe he wanted to do more than that. Maybe he wanted to claim her all over again.
Yes.
Yes, that.
