Page 41 of Kidnapped Rejected Mate
“Will do,” I say, accepting the clothes and taking them to Aurela, who is just stepping out of the shower and smelling intoxicatingly like my soap. Gramps is in his room, likely getting ready, and I’m trying to mentally calculate how much time I might need to make her come before we go.
I can’t—my knot would take far too long to go away. But I could pull off her towel, set her on the counter, slide my hand between her legs—
“Whatever you’re thinking, stop,” she laughs, playfully snapping her towel at me. “I’m already cleaned up and not letting you make me a mess.”
“But you don’t realize just how much I want to,” I tease, stepping in closer to her and watching her cheeks go pink.
“Trust me,” she says, her voice catching, eyes skittering away from mine. “I do.”
I have to leave the bathroom before I do something I regret, which deposits me in the living room with Gramps.
“Iknewyou were hiding a girl from me,” he says, a smile slipping to the corner of his mouth as he stands by the table with his cane, flapping a hand at me. “But next time, you could give me some warning before you just up and go off on your honeymoon.”
“No honeymoon, Gramps,” I say. “We’re not married. And I’m sorry for leaving like that. It wasn’t intentional.”
“I know. Xeran said he had you out on a special mission, or something like that.”
He catches my eye, and I realize Xeran probably told him that so he wouldn’t worry, at least, not until they found more information. I know it’s going to take a while until I can repay Xeran for everything he’s done—covering for me, letting me explain myself, showing considerable mercy to Aurela.
“Alright,” Aurela says as she walks into the living room, as though me thinking of her is enough to summon her to me. “Are we ready to go?”
I swallow my throat when I turn around to look at her. She’s radiant, in a bold blue dress and a pair of strappy sandals. A matching bag hangs at her side. Her golden hair is braided simply, and her eyes shimmer with makeup. Either she used some magic to get ready, or Maeve thought of everything.
“Boy, am I,” Gramps says. “I’ve been starving for breakfast forhours.”
He heads for the door, but I turn, taking three steps to Aurela and gathering her up for a searing kiss. We’ll get breakfast now, but—
“Later,” she whispers to me, a promise.
“Later,” I agree roughly, before Gramps calls for us to hurry up from the front porch, breaking us out of our embrace and forcing us back to the moment at hand.
“Don’t dawdle,” he grouses as I help him into the car. “You have plenty of time for kissingafterwe eat.”
***
“I think this might have been one of the best days of my life,” Aurela says, her head on my shoulder as we walk, arm-in-arm, down Main Street together.
When we got to the breakfast place and realized Xeran, Phina, and their kids were all there, too, Phina insisted that we join them, which led to Gramps asking more about the mission, and Xeran and me having to lie together to cover both our asses.
“Mission, huh?” Phina mused, laughter shining in her eyes as she popped a piece of pancake into her mouth.
Aurela and Gramps got along instantly, and she makes him laugh with a surprising frequency, especially considering that he never thinksmyjokes are that funny. He’s even mostly annoyed by Felix, who most people think is charming, hilarious, or both.
Breakfast was stellar, a little café downtown not too far from Felix and Maeve’s place. In fact, we ran into them while leaving, and they convinced us to come with them to a lavender festival just on the outskirts of town. The farm was lovely, rows and rows of the vibrant purple flowers set against the backdrop of the mountains and the rising pines and firs of the forest.
Gramps said the stuff stank to “the highest heavens,” but I know he had a good time, especially when it came time to try the lavender cupcakes and lemonade.
We came back into Silverville with Felix and Maeve, and now, after they dropped us off at my car, we spot Lachlan, Valerie, and Levi at the park. Valerie goes to the bathroom to change Levi while Lachlan sits at one of the chess tables with Gramps, taunting him playfully while Aurela and I take a loop around the place.
“I just didn’t…” she says, clearing her throat and looking up at me. “I didn’t know this place could be like this.”
“What? The park?”
“Silverville,” she admits, and when she meets mine, I can see it all written there in her eyes. The way this place has treated her has made her feel over the years.
And if I’m being honest, it’s not like I’ve exactly had a wonderful time, either, watching all my best friends pair off while I knew I would never get to be with my mate. Waking up every morning with firefighting as the only purpose I had, caring for my Gramps, but still feeling incredibly lonely at the end of the night.
“Let’s make a deal,” I whisper as we turn and start heading back toward Lachlan and Gramps, who have been rejoined by Valerie.
