Page 26 of Been There Dragon That
“It is a fair question,” Col answered, flashing a small smile at his mate.
Wrath growled but didn’t speak. Col was still standing in the doorway and wasn’t giving any indication that he was going to move any time soon.
“Col, let the man inside!” A bright female voice shouted from inside the enormous cabin. “Then go check on the babies upstairs. I think the battery died on the monitor.”
“Of course,shuarra.” He waved them in and then disappeared into the crowd of people standing around the massive living room and kitchen.
The woman in Wrath’s arms wriggled like crazy. “Put me down. Now. Get this thing off of me. I heard what he said. He called her that sameword. The one you’ve been calling me. I’m not your shooo-arr-rah. Whatever that is, you need to stop.”
Wrath pulled the blanket loose from her flailing arms, unable not to stare hungrily at her. Her purple hair was bunched up on one side. Her blue eyes were flashing with determination, but the second their gazes met, he could practically taste her desire in the air, and it made him hard.
His mate might be fighting their connection, but she was losing.
* * *
The voicesthat had been filling the room, died off. Silence enveloped Rylee. She’d shouted all of that at him in a room full of strangers.Dammit.
He made her so…
Admit it Ry, you’re horny. That man makes your inside go all gooey, and you’re dreaming of having his babies. Also, is every man in this group a giant?She took in the room full of people. All of them staring at her.
And then there was Wrath. He was staring at her too, but it was different. The way he looked at her was primal. Like she was a snack he wanted to gobble up. And it was difficult to remind herself she didn’t want him to be her next mistake.
“Hi, I’m Naomi. Welcome. So glad Wrath brought you for dinner with the family.”
This was the Naomi he’d mentioned.This was Wrath’s family.
All the tension in the room disappeared. This tiny woman with a mess of brown curls gathered up on top of her head approached her with the most welcoming smile. A smile that felt like morning sunshine on her skin. Rylee couldn’t help but smile back.
Everyone was quiet, reverent, acting like this small bubbly woman was in charge of everyone and everything.
“I’m so sorry for the interruption. I—just—it’s been a strange couple of hours. A tree broke my house. Wrath got me out and then told me I was his and took me to his house. And then he took me here. And he’s wearing a t-shirt in freezing weather, and…” Rylee paused and looked at the woman in front of her more carefully. “You’re barefoot and wearing a tank top.”
Naomi’s grin widened. “It’s a thing. I’m sure Wrath will explain later. We don’t really get cold.”
“Are you sick?”
Naomi’s eyes widened. “Oh, no. Nothing like that. I would call it a gift. Why don’t you come back to my room? We can find you some clothes. Make you more comfortable. Then I’ll introduce you to everyone.” She pointed toward a hallway near the front of the cabin. “Liam and Sean, would you two please get the rest of dinner served. I’ll be right back with…”
“Rylee.”
“Beautiful name.” Naomi started walking, and Rylee followed. Wrath followed them all the way to the bedroom door.
“She’s perfectly safe with me, Wrath.”
Rylee could’ve sworn the big man growled like an angry dog. And then it sounded like the little woman growled back. But not like a human pretends to growl. They both sounded likeactualanimals growling at each other.
“Mine.” That was the last word she heard before Naomi shut the door in Wrath’s face.
“Sorry, he’s got this weird thing. He keeps saying I’m his Fate or something. There’s a weird word he calls me too.”
“Shuarra?”
Rylee turned to face Naomi. “Yes. How did you know? Is that a local thing?”
The woman gave a light laugh and walked over to a large wardrobe. “More like a family thing.”
“You’re related to Wrath?” Maybe her husband was related to Wrath, not her.
