Page 79 of Entering a New World

I didn’t get an answer, or maybe I did, but couldn’t hear it. It wasn’t that urgent, anyway, just a thought that’d sprung to my mind.

I heard footsteps coming closer and a couple of seconds later Rhett’s strong arms wrapped around my waist, and he placed his chin on my shoulder, following my gaze.

“I could shift on the beach,” he whispered in my ear. Heat pooled low in my gut as his hot breath fanned over the side of my neck, my mate mark tingling. “But I like not getting hit by the sea spray full force. No one wants to feel as if their dick is attacked by a myriad of tiny needles. If you want to, I can start shifting for you on the beach in the summer.”

Tilting my head back, I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply while trying to absorb as much of Rhett’s warmth as possible.

“You know, I’d much prefer for you to shift in the middle of the woods for me during summer. On a clearing, far, far away from prying eyes and ears. Somewhere where it’s just us. And maybe a blanket—I don’t want pine needles to poke me in the butt.”

“Why would… ohh.” Rhett laughed, but I felt arousal pulsing through our bond. “You want to fuck outside?”

“Not now,” I clarified. “In summer. When it’s warm. Me warm, not you warm.”

My mate’s cock pressed against my back, and I had to hold back a giggle as heat pooled in my gut. “Quit it,” I said, lightly slapping his arm. “I’m not going to get naked with you now, or I’ll turn into an icicle on the spot.”

Rhett pulled me even closer to him. “I know,” he whispered. “You’re always cold. That’s why I joined the knitting circle—I have to make sure I can keep you warm. And if I can’t do so by sharing my body heat, I’ll equip you with knitted hats, scarves, and maybe even sweaters. Oh… and I talked to Gray about possibly getting a couple of sheep.”

“Sheep?”

“For wool.” Rhett sounded excited.

My heart somersaulted in my chest. “You want to buy sheep so you can harvest their wool to make sweaters for me?” Not gonna lie, at the end of the sentence, my voice went up at least an octave.

But holy shit—who did that?

My mate. That’s who.

Tears were welling up in my eyes, but I swallowed them down and just reveled in the warm, tingling feeling that spread through my whole body. Rhett was so thoughtful. So incredibly thoughtful.

“Not just for wool. It started out that way, yes, but when I started reading up on it, I actually discovered that keeping sheep might be really beneficial for the pack. For one, we wouldn’t just get wool, but milk and possibly even meat, too, even though I’m not so sure about eating the sheep we keep.”

I smiled. If Rhett was the one responsible for keeping the sheep, there would be no slaughtering them. I’d seen him tend to his bees and plants. He was so gentle with both, taking care of every single plant with incredible care and patience. There was no chance in hell he’d ever slaughter a sheep after he’d been emotionally invested in caring for it.

“That sounds like a good idea. Hey, I know of a guy who makes amazing soaps. He has this one soap with honey and sheep’s milk that does wonders for my skin. So… if we start keeping sheep around, maybe we could look into making sheep’s milk soap to sell at the farmer’s market or online? It could be another stream of income for the pack?”

One moment, I had my head resting against Rhett’s, the next he was carefully turning my head and kissing me, his lips searingly hot against mine.

“I love you, Levi,” he whispered against my lips, his hot breath fanning over my face. “I love you so much. I’ve loved you since the first time we met, but my love for you keeps growing with every second that passes. I can’t believe I lucked out like this, finding someone who always supports my ideas, no matter how ludicrous they sound.”

Smiling, I pressed my lips back to his, enjoying the tingling that spread through my body, and the way of our bond pulsing in my chest.

“I love you, too. And I’ll always support you. But if you think about it, your idea really isn’t that ludicrous at all. The pack already keeps chickens and bees, after all. What’s a couple of sheep more?”

Rhett laughed. “I guess you’re right.”

He faced the ocean again and stared out at the open sea for a while, keeping quiet, seemingly deep in thought. I wasn’t worried. I could feel him practically brimming with excitement.

“Have I mentioned that keeping sheep is amazing for biodiversity? I’ve read all about it. It’s truly fascinating. For example, they eliminate up to six thousand seeds with their feces a day, which, obviously, is amazing to distribute locally growing plants naturally. Also, they keep the grass short and…”

Laughing quietly, I squeezed the arm he’d still wrapped around my middle. “You really thought this through, huh?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Perfect. So, what do you think? Shall we head back home and start putting together a presentation for Grey?”

Because I would do everything for this man—even creating PowerPoints on why keeping sheep for their shit was a good idea.

Rhett made a step back, so I jumped down from the tree trunk and slid my hand into his bigger—and much warmer—one, lacing our fingers. Lightly squeezing, we turned our back to the ocean and started walking back towards the forest.

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