Page 17 of Sasquatch's Claiming

“So, there’s a bathroom?”

“Just beyond the kitchen.”

“Wait!” she exclaimed.

“What?”

“You have electricity out here?” She flicked on a light and marvelled at the appliances.

“I scavenged a discarded solar panel from the nearby town of Schreiber.” Which was kind of a lie; he’d stolen it in the middle of the night, but he wasn’t bound by the rules of the mortal world. He didn’t make a habit of stealing, but he knew that he had to make this place as top-of-the-line as he could for his future bride.

“How can you generate enough solar power deep in the forest?” she asked, taking a step inside.

“I have my ways. And the ability to scale tall trees with ease.” He shut the door behind them, locking out the outside world. Now, it was just the two of them, and he caught another whiff of her arousal. The pheromones permeating the air and begging him to mate with her.

Patience.

And that’s what he had to keep telling himself.

As much as he wanted to continue on with what had been started between them, he had to take it slow and there were things they needed to talk about.

Bernadette was walking through the cozy living room he had set up, running her hand along the back of the couch, her fingers through the hides he’d worked.

“What is this?” she asked.

“Muskox.”

She quirked an eyebrow. “I didn’t think they were this far south.”

“They’re not. I went on a hunt several years ago. My family was starving and…I wasn’t supposed to go that far afield. I got in a wee bit of trouble.” And he still bore the scars from that.

“From who?”

“Like I said our realm…our people were controlled by a very bad king. He punished me by whipping me.”

“Whipping you?” she questioned gently.

He pulled off the shirt he’d been wearing and showed her his back where the fur grew thinner. The crisscross scars. “It was worth it. My brother Gideon would’ve died.”

She ran her fingers over his scars, her touch sending heat through his body. Her touch was so soft.

“Now that your realm is free, what’re you going to do?”

“Trying to decide whether we reveal ourselves to humans or…just carry on.”

She nodded. “That wraith?—”

“Cillian.”

“Right. All that is in my mind.” She tapped the side of her head. “You’re not supposed to have me as a mate.”

“No. I’m not.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “But we’ve bonded and now you’re attracting others to you.”

“I think I was before,” Bernadette admitted. “That squid guy…”

He laughed softly. “Cthulhu.”

Her eyes widened. “Right. He grabbed me before we met.”

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