“Mmm-hmm.” He ducked his head like he meant to nuzzle me then scooped me up and over his shoulder. “I could tell.”
“Hey.” I popped him on the butt. “What are you doing?”
“To the victor go the spoils.” He carried me into the bathroom, started the shower, and waited until the water got warm to set my feet on the tiles. “You can undress in there.”
The glass booth made escape difficult. Not impossible. But I would have to Hulk-smash my way out, and I didn’t want to break anything I would have to pay to get fixed later.
“Hmph.” I yanked the ties on my hospital gown, slid it off, and rolled it into a ball. I let it get nice and soggy, then I hurled it at his face. It made a satisfying smack on impact, and I grinned. “There you go.”
His growl shouldn’t have made chills dance over my skin, not with the water so hot, but he was very naked, and he wore it well.
A steady rumble poured out of him. “Can I still join you?”
“You’ll just stand out there and watch me bathe like a creeper if I say no, so why not?”
“How can I resist an invitation like that?” He followed me in and wrapped his strong arms around me. “How did I get so lucky?” He kissed my cheek. “How is it you’re mine?”
“You set your bar low, I tripped over it, and when it hit the ground, I started to look good by comparison.”
Laughter vibrated through his chest into my back, and he nipped my shoulder. “That implies I settled for you.”
“The sucker prize had to go to someone.”
The next bite was harder, and it made me shiver.
“Now you’ve done it,” he whispered in my ear as he slid a hand down my stomach. “Say it.”
Oh, I knew what he wanted, but only Addie could guilt me into voicing my mantra.
“Is that a roll of quarters in your…?” I frowned. “Dang it. You don’t have any pockets.”
The tips of his fingers continued their lazy downward path until he reached his destination, and I whimpered a sound that might have been his name.
“I love you.” He got creative with his thumb. “Even if you refuse to let a good joke die.”
“No man gets left behind. I’ve already priced custom quarter rolls as groomsman gifts.”
The pressure of his hand between my legs had me pushing my hips back, begging for more.
Delicious pleasure sparked through my lower stomach, and I clenched around his fingers.
His thigh parted mine as I sank boneless against him, and he thrust into me.
I tipped my head back onto his shoulder and let him take what he needed from me, because I needed it too. We had survived. We had squared our debt with Natisha and severed our ties to her. Ferro had been punished for his crimes. And the city was safe.
Reaching back to cup Midas’s nape, I turned my face into the damp skin of his neck and murmured, “I love you.”
The words pushed him over, and he groaned in that foreign tongue as he shuddered within me.
We sank to the bottom of the shower and let the hot water drench us while we caught our breaths.
All of it had been worth it to get here, to exist in this moment, with him. All of the pain, the sorrow, the grief. All the lies, blood, and tears.
I had a mate, my brothers and sister, and my friends. I had a life I loved and a job worth doing. I had purpose, a calling, a future.
“I am enough,” I whispered, a prayer that I would never let down those who loved me again.
Unsurprisingly, Midas had heard me over the pounding water. “You always have been.”
Tears sprung to my eyes, blending with the downpour, and a tangible weight lifted off my shoulders.
“We need to talk about the apartment.” He buried his nose in my neck. “Sooner rather than later.”
A vague memory of his mother saying the same thing surfaced, and I groaned. “I don’t want to move.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Your mom mentioned our living arrangements too. I figured she was asking us to move to the den.”
“No.” His soft laugh brushed my cheek. “She gave us our wedding present early.”
“I’m so confused,” I admitted. “I can’t brain yet.”
“The pack put an offer in on the Faraday. The previous owners were more than happy to be rid of it, after the attack on the city. I believe the board described it as a money pit, and one man called Atlanta a hellmouth.”
“Now that’s just plain rude. I love our home.” I burrowed closer. “So, what’s the gift? Free rent for a year?”
“Mom gave us the penthouse free and clear to do with as we please.”
“I’m sorry.” I cranked my head toward him. “What?”
For her to make that offer, she would have first had to buy out Linus, and that would have cost a small fortune on top of the price of the building. I tended to think of the Faraday as a regular apartment building, full of renters, but that wasn’t the case. A good third of the apartments were owned by the individuals who lived there. I wasn’t sure how a buyout worked, or if the deeds transferred or what.
“Linus sold it to her for a dollar, with the provision it was gifted to us.”
“A dollar,” I squeaked. “What was he thinking?”
“That you deserved a home no one could ever take away from you.”
Vision wobbly, I let my tears fall. “He really is the best boss.”
And, it blew my mind to admit, he was one of the people I was closest to these days.
Amelie might have been Grier’s bestie, but Hadley? Linus had been her very first and truest friend.
“He’s a good friend,” Midas corrected me, his thoughts in line with mine. “We’re lucky to have him.”
“I’m lucky period.” I relaxed against him. “How else did I end up here?”
After everything I had done in my past life, I was beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel of this one.
One day, I would forgive myself. One day, I would fully accept myself. One day, I would shuck my guilt.
Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day I would be square with the universe in my eyes.
That belief was enough to content me, and I hadn’t been that in a long time, if ever.
“I ask myself the same thing.” Midas kissed the side of my throat. “Call it luck or fate or serendipity. We’re here now, together, and that’s all that matters.” Noticing my shiver, Midas drew me tighter against him. “You’re pruning.” He reached over our heads and turned off the spray. “Are you ready?”
We clasped hands, his rough but gentle, and I let him pull me to my feet beside him.
“For chocolate croissants?” I teased, stealing another kiss. “Always.”
With Midas by my side, I was ready for anything.
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About the Author
USA Today best-selling author Hailey Edwards writes about questionable applications of otherwise perfectly good magic, the transformative power of love, the family you choose for yourself, and blowing stuff up. Not necessarily all at once. That could get messy.
www.HaileyEdwards.net
Also by Hailey Edwards
The Foundling
Bayou Born #1
Bone Driven #2
Death Knell #3
Rise Against #4
End Game #5
The Beginner’s Guide to Necromancy
How to Save an Undead Life #1
How to Claim an Undead Soul #2
How to Break an Undead Heart #3
How to Dance an Undead Waltz #4
How to Live an Undead Lie #5
How to Wake an Undead City #6
The Potentate of Atlanta
Shadow of Doubt #1
Pack of Lies #2
Change of Heart #3
Proof of Life #4
Moment of Truth #5
Black Dog Series
Dog with a Bone #1
Dog Days of Summer #1.5
Heir of the Dog #2
Lie Down with Dogs #3
Old Dog, New Tricks #4
Black Dog Series Novellas
Stone-Cold Fox
Gemini Series
Dead in the Water #1
Head Above Water #2
Hell or High Water #3
Gemini Series Novellas
Fish Out of Water
Lorimar Pack Series
Promise the Moon #1
Wolf at the Door #2
Over the Moon #3
Araneae Nation
A Heart of Ice #.5
A Hint of Frost #1
A Feast of Souls #2
A Cast of Shadows #2.5
A Time of Dying #3
A Kiss of Venom #3.5
A Breath of Winter #4
A Veil of Secrets #5
Daughters of Askara
Everlong #1
Evermine #2
Eversworn #3
Wicked Kin
Soul Weaver #1
Moment of Truth Page 26
