Page 134 of Blue Moon Mistress

We both watch him turn and head back for his usual hiding spot.

“We’ll ask the guys if he pulls them over when they get to your place.” Thomas pulls out onto the all-but empty highway, and we make it all the way to my drive without incident.

It’s always weird coming back to the house after being away. There’s a strange hollowness in that moment before I step inside. As if my arrival displaces something in the ether.

But the wolf bounds through the car and into the house and that disappears before it has a chance to take hold this time.

Pulling out bags from the back seat, Thomas stops in the drive and looks the house over. “Have I mentioned that this place looks like you?”

“Is it the woodgrain in my skin?”

He smiles, but there’s a faint scolding in it. “No… It’s small and looks perfectly respectable… but you know it has secrets. And,” he adds, “I can’t wait to get inside it.”

Shaking my head at him, though I can’t hide my smile, I unlock the door and let him in, along with the cool breeze and smell of damp pine.

He sets the bags down and I walk straight through to the kitchen.

“How can I help?” He’s close on my heels.

“Do you want to get a fire going?”

He looks at the hearth and then toward the living room. “Which of the five fireplaces would you like me to light?”

“There are only four. But this one and the one in the living room are good for now. We can start the bedrooms later this evening, depending on the actual sleeping arrangements.”

He brushes his lips across my forehead. “It’s easier to be one of the ones sleeping alone when your bed isn’t in the equation.”

“That comfy?”

He shrugs and heads for the wood stacked by the hearth. “Something in the symbolism.”

I let him work as I clean up the remains of the last week. By the time I’m done with the kitchen, the fire is crackling, and Thomas is in the living room.

It doesn’t need more than a simple tidying to be ready for company, but I join him as he stands from the flames licking at the fresh log.

“Your furniture looks fragile.”

“I don’t think it was designed with werewolves in mind.” I look at the antique velvet sofa where his ethereal wolf lounges. “But as long as only one of us sits on any one piece of furniture, we should be okay.”

“Joshua said there’s a sturdier couch here somewhere.”

“In the conservatory,” I nod toward the doorway that leads into that oasis of greenery and glass.

“I think we should take a look at that sofa, don’t you?”

“I thought you came with me to help me prep?”

“I definitely came with you to get between these legs all on my own.” He tugs me into the conservatory, looking around only for a moment before he nudges me back to the couch. “I’m really glad you don’t like wearing pants.”

“It’s not because of the easy access, but I’ll admit, you guys have made me happy about that too.”

Slipping off my shoes and stockings, he sets them aside.

“Do you usually run around your house barefoot?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” He flips my skirt up and licks his lips. “I wonder…”

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