“I’m sorry if this complicates things, but I just realized that I never told you about that part of it.” Kaden was tired, I could feel it in the weight of his arm around my shoulders. “So, Perseguir next?”
He nodded. “Then home.”
“Home.” I sighed and cuddled closer. “When do we have to go someplace again?”
“I’m in Washington for a week, then I thought we’d try Rathburn and White River. Did you want to come to Washington with me?”
“What would I do there?”
He shrugged, coincidentally pulling me farther on top of him. “I don’t know. Shop. Sightsee. Pretend you’re actually a Salma omega and get your hair done and a facial.”
“Really?” I pushed myself up again and laughed. “Is that what I’m missing out on?”
“What, do you want to change your mind now? Too late, I’m already Mercy Hills.” He pulled me down for a kiss. “I’ll have to find some other way to make it up to you.”
“Quietly,” I warned him. “Our hosts are just down the hall.”
“I’m not the noisy one,” he began, until I poked him firmly in the belly.
“No wonder Hunter can be a brat. He takes after you.”
“Who does he spend most of his time with?” Kaden quipped back, then rolled us over so that he was on top of me—my favorite place for him. “Never mind Hunter, we’ll see him soon enough. I’ve hardly had any non-work time at all with my mate in the past week. Think we need to do something about that.”
He rocked against me and I sucked in a breath as my body responded to his gentle demand.
“Love you. Don’t deserve you, but I’ll spend my life trying to be worth it,” he whispered against my lips.
“Just shut up, alpha, and make love to me,” I whispered back, right before I kissed him with all an omega’s passion.
C H A P T E R 8 0
P erseguir went well—we both tentatively marked them as a top contender for the next trust to be handed out. I dropped off some small gifts from Ori to his parents and met Pat’s family. It was nice; I would like to see them get the help that the trusts offered.
We were home for four days before Kaden had to go to Washington. I’d waffled on whether to go or not, but we couldn’t find a hotel that would let us bring Hunter and would satisfy the Segregation Laws, so in the end, I stayed home. We’d been away too much and Hunter was starting to show it. Cas had been much more noncommittal, but Raleigh had sat me down and kindly but firmly let me know that if Hunter nipped any of his pups again he would go lunar on him without a second thought.
So I missed my introduction to Washington.
Kaden promised me after Christmas. He’d find a place we could stay together, the three of us.
That was assuming that today didn’t put an end to our little family.
I woke up to Kaden’s alarm. On the other side of my mate from me, Hunter grumbled and dug down farther under the covers.
Kaden sighed and stroked my back. “I have to get up.”
“I know.” But I was too relaxed to move.
“Fine. Hunter, move. Dad’s gotta get up.”
Hunter grumbled, but I didn’t feel any shift in the mattress. Meaning our adopted pup wasn’t any more interested in getting up than I was.
“Felix,” Kaden complained sleepily. “If I’m going to have to sleep in the middle between the two of you, one of you has to move in the morning to let me get up.”
“All right. Hold on,” I muttered through a yawn, and pried my eyes open.
We were all tired this morning. Saffron and her grandmother were moving into the enclave today. Hunter had picked up on my anxiety last night and had spent the entire evening glued to my side, to the point where he’d even growled at Kaden once. That hadn’t lasted long—my mate didn’t stand for bad manners in pups—but we’d felt guilty after and made the scolding up to him with an evening of cuddling on the couch watching his favorite movies and eating too many things that we shouldn’t have had.
It was selfish of me to hope she didn’t want him. I knew that.