Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 630(@200wpm)___ 504(@250wpm)___ 420(@300wpm)
“It’ll be grand,” Niamh said. “I’ll probably have a wee bite downtown and see yis for dinner.”
In other words, she’d gather more intel and meet everyone later to tell them what she learned.
9
Nessa
“Don’t put yourself out too much,” Austin said as Nessa grabbed a smaller bag from the back of the Jeep and headed toward the house.
She grinned, then started chuckling. When the scary alpha let himself relax, he was a funny and great pal. She’d told him that Jessie was lucky to have found him, and that was incredibly true, but he was just as lucky to have found her. They brought out the best in each other, and their crew polished it to a high shine.
“Yeah, you know, hard day ’n all,” she shot back over her shoulder. “Sitting on the sidelines with a beer while you fought nearly to the death was taxing. I need a break.”
She heard him laughing as she climbed the three steps onto the porch and grasped the doorknob. The door opened quietly, and she stepped inside. She’d barely crossed the threshold when a large shape rushed toward her.
She squeaked in alarm and jumped, flinging up her hands to ward off an attack.
“Whoops.” Tristan bent and grabbed the shopping bag before it could hit the floor. “Did I scare you, little monster?” He straightened with a smug grin. “I thought we were beyond that?”
She let out a slow, shaky breath. Glaring at him, she snatched the bag back and stalked into the house with her nose in the air. Tristan’s dark chuckle followed her into the kitchen.
“Hey.” Jessie looked up from the high table, a make-shift island. “Any news?”
Nessa set the bag down on the counter before opening the little broom closet near the hall and pulling out a fold-up wagon. She’d found it earlier when she’d cased the place. “No—“
“Let me.” Sebastian hurried to help her with the wagon. “What are we doing with this?”
“We have a lot of groceries.”
“Oh.” He hefted it and headed toward the front door. Austin stepped inside, carrying three bags in his huge arms.
“Hey!” Fred came from down the hall, the sound of a toilet flushing behind her. Her green and pink hair was spiked with gel, standing up at all angles. She wore a green and pink pant suit, the fashion choices somewhat matching Ulric’s usual blue and pink. She flashed a toothy grin. “Good to see you! I have—“
She stopped at the door and turned, standing in the way of Tristan coming in with three bags of groceries.
“Oh. Hello. What’ve you got there?” She stood on her tiptoes to peer into the bags. “Chores? I’ll help!”
She shouldered past him and hurried down the steps.
Tristan’s brow furrowed in confused humor. “That woman couldn’t fit in better if she tried,” he said, pausing inside. “And I really hope she doesn’t try.”
Nessa laughed as she passed him, reaching out to run her fingers along the underside of his suede-soft wings. He tensed before shivering, his eyes sparking lust.
“Are those wings sensitive, Mr. Monster?” she taunted.
Most gargoyles didn’t feel anything particularly exciting when their wings were touched, whether in human form or gargoyle. The wings were somewhat smooth to the feel, like leather, but apparently affected them no differently than if someone ran fingertips over their ankle.
Not so with Tristan. His mysterious heritage had affected his wings differently. Touching them gave him an almost arousing sensation, a pleasure not as strong as his genitals, but certainly lust inducing.
He turned to watch her, his eyes bright with desire. She was playing with fire, she knew that, but sometimes it was fun to dance in the flames.
“There are steps here,” Sebastian said as he and Fred finished loading grocery bags into the wagon. “And we have a lot more people than just the two of us. It probably would’ve been easier to let everyone help.”
“We are letting everyone help.” Nessa grabbed the wagon’s handle, and Fred grabbed two more bags from the back of the Jeep. “Austin can grab the last three bags, and you can help me lift the wagon onto the porch.”
“Here, I can take that,” Austin said, pulling the wagon toward the porch.
Tristan met him there, lifting the wagon by himself. He carried the whole thing into the house, turning sideways to get it through the door.
Austin met her at the back of the Jeep and grabbed the three remaining bags.
“In the end,” he said, “you ended up doing almost nothing. Great work.”
“I supervised.” She brushed her hands as though to rid them of loose dirt. “Work smarter, not harder.”
He chuckled and she checked the Jeep to make sure they’d gotten everything.
“Many hands make light work,” Fred said with one bag, now heading towards the house.
Sebastian took Nessa’s hand as they followed the others.
“I’m happy here,” he said. “We might be besieged with mages tomorrow after word gets out that I am here, but I still wouldn’t regret being here with them. I won’t leave them again, despite what might come.”