by Laina Kenney
“And all hours of the night,” Maressa added.
“I’ll be taking care of people who really need it.”
“And coming home exhausted and covered in blood and lord-knows-what half the time.”
Bliss gave her sister a sideways glare.
“Don’t listen to her. She’s just trying to make it sound worse than it is.”
Maressa rolled her eyes. “It couldn’t possibly sound worse than it actually is. You couldn’t pay me enough to do what you do.” She hugged her squirming sister to her side. “I’m so proud of you, you know that, but I do see both sides of the job. We ask a lot from our health care people and I don’t want you to burn yourself out like so many nurses do.”
“It’s not like that. Or, not always like that.”
“It’s exactly like that, but I know that it’s in your blood. More, I know that you love it, and that’s what will make the difference.”
Mollified, Bliss stopped wiggling and hugged Maressa back.
“This tea is so lovely, but we women need something a little more substantial,” Aunt Belle said. “Bliss, be a dear, and run downstairs for the cookie jar.”
Laughing, Bliss dashed down the stairs to grab the cookie jar from the main kitchen. The old century home had been converted into two separate two-bedroom units, but both girls were back and forth all the time helping Aunt Belle, and had the run of the house. They had even helped Aunt Belle to update the kitchens the year before, and the new tile and softer paint colors had really brightened up the old place.
Aunt Belle had made her famous triple-chocolate-chip cookies, and they would be perfect for an evening of making new friends.
Bliss snagged the cookie jar and thought of her personal stash of dark chocolate. Hand on the light switch, Bliss halted when her eyes registered movement.
The creeping form of a man was silhouetted for a moment in the doorway between Aunt Belle’s part of the house and the downstairs kitchen. Something stirred in the shadows.
Bliss cradled the cookie jar and left the light off. Heart pounding, she stole back up the stairs.
When she stopped to look back, something long and metallic glinted in the meager light. Bliss cleared the top step and closed the door behind her. She turned the lock as quietly as she could and set the cookie jar down.
“Man with a gun!” she whispered urgently, waving her arms. “Get Ellie down the fire escape.”
Maressa grabbed Ellie’s and Aunt Belle’s arms and ushered them toward the back corner of the house.
“Don’t panic,” Ellie said, “but I don’t think I can get down the fire escape.”
Bliss and Maressa shared a look. Each knew exactly what the other would do. They had lived the moment before, but their beloved father had been dead and they had been alone and facing the world with only each other.
Her hands shook with fear, remembered and new, but Bliss didn’t feel like there was no one to turn to. She knew who to call.
Bliss took out her phone and sent a text.
Bad guys here—Gun—Hurry
She knew Egan was outside somewhere with Ives and Ellie’s husband, the Alpha of the three Russian Clans. She knew he was more than capable of dealing with a couple or a dozen bad guys on his own, but her lover’s heart was glad that he would have some help tonight.
She had another thought and started typing furiously.
Ellie with me—M & Aunt B down fire escape.
Her phone bleeped and she jumped.
Ladies safe with Ives—you come down, too.
She quickly turned off her sound notification and typed.
Ellie can’t—won’t leave her—you come up.
The phone screen flashed at the same moment she hit send.
In kitchen now.
Bliss relaxed and headed for the upstairs kitchenette. She hadn’t made it two steps when the door burst open at the top of the stairs.
Ellie screamed and there was a roar from outside.
Chapter 14
As Bliss faced the man at the door, she felt the heat rising in her hands and she knew. She grabbed Ellie’s hot hand in one of hers and slammed her other hand on the forehead of the man who ran in.
There was a loud snapping shock that flashed behind her retina and the man screamed. She could feel the heat bursting through her bones and burning into his skin. He screamed again, the high pitch ringing through the room, and staggered away from the women just as Egan and Rylek blasted through the door behind him.
Egan snatched the man and Bliss saw his claw tips protruding through the front of the man’s shoulder. The man groaned hoarsely and slid to the floor where Egan propped one booted foot on his chest.
Rylek grabbed the second man and threw him straight down the stairs with a series of loud thumps and bangs.
Bliss turned to Ellie.
“Wow, you’ve got some juice! I had no idea!”
Ellie, face pale as salt, said quietly, “It was the baby.”
Rylek stopped dead and Egan’s twin skidded on his way in the door and barely missed bumping into him.
“Our baby?” Rylek’s voice was hoarse. He was by his mate’s side in an instant.
“He didn’t like it when that man got too close to me.” Ellie gave a watery laugh. “He’s very much like his father already.”
* * * *
Egan felt a surge of pride in his Alpha and his people, which was overwhelmed by the wave of loving energy coming from Rylek out into the night. With the gifts of his grandmother’s blood, he swore that for a moment he could feel the tiny flickering warmth of an unborn alpha.
Bliss’s hand stole into his and though she was smiling, there were tears standing in her eyes.
“Although there is danger, there is also much to celebrate in our world,” he said. “There are moments of beauty under the moon. That is the world I want to share with you. Not this garbage.”
Bliss reached up and laid her soft hand on his cheek.
“I’m glad you didn’t flinch, just then,” she said, and he didn’t understand at first what she meant. And then he knew.
“You mean because you burned the photographer?” Egan saw her startled look and realized that she hadn’t recognized the man. He smiled and kissed her. “I am not afraid of your fire. You can burn me anytime, my mate.”
She blushed and smacked his arm.
“Keep your head in the game, buddy,” she retorted and jerked a thumb toward the window where the sirens and circling lights signaled a cop car approaching.
Egan groaned.
“It’s John.”
“You mean, oh thank goodness it’s that wonderful Officer John,” Balke said from behind him.
Egan grimaced.
“I would never say that, even if I did mean it.”
“I’ll say it,” Bliss said. “I could kiss him.”
Egan’s fangs flashed at the thought, but Bliss just laughed.
“Take it easy,” she said. “But I do intend to thank him very much, and if I kiss his cheek, you’ll stand there and let me because you trust me.”
Egan struggled with his wolf and won.
“Yes, I trust you.”
Bliss kissed his cheek and her lips lingered in an intimate caress. Egan stayed very still and let her.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “I’m so glad I chose you.”
The photographer groaned and attracted Egan’s attention again. The scent of the women’s fear was still clear in the room and his wolf lunged against his control, wanting blood. His fangs descended sharply.
“Balke,” he called, and his brother was beside him in a moment.
Officer John Commander walked in with his partner and the Chicago detective Egan had met.
“I’ll take him,” Detective Rolland said and hauled the man to his feet, where he swayed and moaned. “I know this one. He’s from Chicago, and the boys at the jail have been missing him.”
Detective Rolland perp-walked the man out the door and down the stairs to t
he waiting cop car.
John and his partner came over to stand by Egan and Balke.
“See how civilized I am? I didn’t eat him.” Egan’s fangs, still at full extension, made the words indistinct.
“Don’t bother,” John said with a faint sneer. “I know you wanted to. For the love of god, your fangs are still hanging out.”
Egan shrugged.
“Maybe I wanted to. But I didn’t.”
“Your claws pierced right through his shoulder, tore it all to shit. Did you think I wouldn’t notice? How are we going to explain that at the station, you dumbass wolf?” He kept the words low and glanced toward the women, sitting on the couch now. Ellie was scarfing down cookies like there was no tomorrow with Bliss and Rylek on either side of her.
Egan growled and Harden snickered.
“Lots of garden tools in the back entryway,” Harden said. “And there’s a serious garden, too. A pitchfork, a rake, lots of choices. I wouldn’t worry too much about that one, John.”
John shrugged. “Just giving him hell.”
Harden nodded to Egan. “Better you than me, man. ‘Cause it’s usually me. It used to be Gracie, more often, but with that new husband of hers watching all the time, John doesn’t gripe as much to her. So, it’s me.”
“You signed on to be his partner,” Egan said without sympathy.
Harden sighed. “Yeah. It wouldn’t be worth it, but his Grandma makes the best damn cookies in the state and she loves me.”
“Harden gets more of Grandma’s cookies than I do. He should weigh four hundred pounds.”
Harden patted his flat belly and grinned. “I’ve got a great metabolism.”
Egan tested his scent subtly and wondered once again exactly what combination of species Harden was. It was for damn sure that human was the smallest part of his genetic makeup.
Detective Rolland walked back to them after stowing both men in the cop car. He rolled his shoulders and cracked his knuckles. “This isn’t my jurisdiction, but I’d really like a crack at these guys. I know one of them, and I suspect that he spends a lot of his time doing small-time jobs for the girls’ aunt’s ex-husband. I’ve never been able to pin much on the ex-husband, but I have a good feeling about today. Those boys in the car are not at their best right now and I’ve been waiting a hell of a long time for this.”
“Be my guest.” John held out his hand and they shook on it. “You’ve more than put in the hours on this one. I’ll radio ahead for a holding room. You can take as long as you like. In fact, maybe we should draw things out and let their pain talk to them for a while first.”
“I like the way you think,” the Chicago detective said. “That’s better than I had any right to expect. Much appreciated. I’ve thought a lot about how those girls must have suffered seeing their daddy killed. It’s kept me up more than a few nights. I’ve been waiting years to sink my teeth into these bastards.”
He rubbed his hands together with vigor while John shared a pointed look with Egan.
Perhaps it wasn’t only the vulfen males whose first instinct was to eliminate the threat by bloodshed. The older detective seemed like he was quite happy to let the perps suffer a little, and though Egan would have liked to simply kill them, he held off.
He wouldn’t shed a single tear over the death of a common thug or two, but he knew that if Bliss wanted to reclaim her name and her heritage, things had to be done in the right way. And his mate deserved to live a life in the light.
A feral smile touched his lips.
Plenty of time to kill them later if they were stupid enough to come after his mate again, his wolf insisted, testing his fangs with a careful tongue. And with Ives and Balke to aid him, the human criminals wouldn’t get within a mile of the women.
He looked over at his beautiful mate.
But if they did get close, he acknowledged, Bliss could take care of herself. Instead of making him feel useless as a protector, it settled some part of him that he hadn’t known existed, some vague worry that he couldn’t name.
He raised his eyes to the ceiling and offered thanks. When she could have escaped with her family, she had stayed to protect his Queen. His mate was human, but she was strong.
Chapter 15
The following day, Bliss rose early for her morning walk.
When she got to the park with her camera, Egan was waiting on the bench.
She snapped a series of shots as the smile of welcome dawned on his face.
“Good morning.” His deep voice made her insides wake up and start begging, but she shushed her unruly body. She had something important in mind first.
“It’s my last day off before I start back to class.”
“Spend it with me,” he said.
“We’re mates, aren’t we? Like Ives and Maressa, and Rylek and Ellie.”
“We are mates.”
She waited, but he didn’t say anything else.
“So, that’s forever, right?”
“It is.” He seemed to struggle for a moment. “But, Bliss, if you decide against me, I will find a way to respect that. I will walk away. I will not steal your choices from you. You may have your freedom.”
She didn’t know what to think. Was he offering to leave her? Did he want to?
But, no. His hands were clenched at his sides, his big body almost vibrating with tension. Most likely he was just being noble.
The little secret part of her that had been afraid relaxed.
“Forever, then.” She said it firmly. “But we have to get married like Ives and Maressa, because Aunt Belle is Catholic. Really, really Catholic. She won’t let us live in sin.”
Egan’s eyes began to glow.
“We are already married in the way of my people.”
Bliss touched the invisible bite mark that still burned under her skin.
“That isn’t going to be enough for Aunt Belle, I can tell you right now.”
She took a deep breath and lowered her camera.
“When Maressa moves out to go live with Ives, I would like it if you would move in. And for that to happen, you would have to be my husband. Aunt Belle is still spry enough to beat you with the broom if she finds you in my bed. She likes you now, but you wouldn’t get away with that. And I’ll need someone to come with me to Chicago. I want to see my aunt again, reconnect with my family now that Detective Rolland has a warrant out for my aunt’s ex. I need you with me.
Egan ran his tongue over his fang tips.
“You are proposing to me?”
Bliss swallowed hard. If he wanted to look at it that way, she couldn’t argue.
“Yes.”
“And you would like to marry me in the human way, not just because of your aunt?” he asked.
Bliss nodded. She wasn’t exactly sure what he would think of that, but she was human. And though Aunt Belle was a handy excuse, it was what she wanted. She wanted to have Egan as her husband, and if he turned furry sometimes, well, she had lived with secrets, too.
“Yes,” she said.
“I do,” he said with a nod and she laughed, breaking the fine tension.
“You don’t say that yet.” She giggled. “You don’t seem to get how this human thing works.”
“I do.”
Suddenly he was in front of her. He took her camera off over her head and set it on the corner of the bench.
He knelt and Bliss caught her breath.
He brought her hand to his mouth and brushed a kiss over her fingers. The heat from his mouth burned her. Her heart tripped and then doubled its speed.
“Beatrice Bliss Colletti, will you marry me?”
Incredibly, tears sprang to her eyes.
She tried to answer, but when she opened her mouth, the sound that came out was, “Oh!”
“Bliss?”
She threw herself into his arms and they tumbled to the ground with Egan on the bottom just like the first time.
“Yes,” she said and kissed his cheek and his mouth. “Yes, yes, yes.”
She pressed little kisses all over his beloved face, enjoying the masculine laughter that bubbled up to shake her body.
“Good.”
There was a wealth of satisfaction in that one word.
Bliss smiled. “I wanted to do that the first time I saw you. The very first thing I thought when I landed on you was that I should kiss you,” she said.
Egan grinned.
“I believe you did kiss me. You branded me and I have never been the same since.”
“Good,” she said.
He stroked her hair back from her face.
“Will your people be upset that you are mating and marrying a human?” She had worried about that.
Egan shrugged and the movement lifted her body.
“You have met my Alpha and Queen, Rylek and Ellie. They accepted you easily enough. And I believe there is talk of asking you to become an honorary member of the Queen’s Guard, since you risked your life to protect her. Rylek was most grateful, and it is no small thing to have the gratitude and support of the most powerful vulfen Alpha on this half of the globe.”
Bliss smiled at the thought of Ellie.
“The Queen is amazing. She’s just like a friend already.”
“There is your answer.”
“Okay.”
“Now, spend the day with me?” His mouth brushed a gentle kiss on her mouth. “I have such plans for you, my Bliss.”
The carnal intent in his voice sent quivering warmth through her female parts.
“Yes,” she said. For him, the answer would always be yes.
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Laina Kenney is a classically trained singer/instructor with a regular job and a deep love of the written word. Her family is supportive of (or perhaps just resigned to) a house full of books in every genre, with ancient history and romance taking up the majority of the space. She cheerfully admits to having a bizarre sense of humor and enough shiny accessories for any ten women. One of the greatest joys in her life is exploring the wonder of testosterone, both in prose and in person.
For all titles by Laina Kenney, please visit
