Page 30 of A Bloom in Winter

Mahrci didn’t mean to laugh, and it was like the food. She couldn’t recall the last time she’d gotten her giggle on.

But it had been a long, long time since she’d had anything to even smile about.

It felt . . . magical to laugh. Especially with the bright-eyed, blond-mulleted male who was staring over at her as if he really, trulysawher.

CHAPTER TEN

The Black Dagger Brotherhood Underground Housing Complex

a.k.a. The Wheel

Caldwell, New York

Tohr arrived back at the Brotherhood’s cul-de-sac about ten minutes before it was BBQ time. And not as in Last Meal, and short ribs were on the menu.

Dawn was coming like something from Scuderia Ferrari.

As he re-formed by one of the five houses that had been built aboveground to keep the suburban, nothing-special ruse up for the humans, he could feel every inch of his skin prickle, even the stuff that was under his clothes. Likewise, his eyes started tearing up even though he’d deliberately become corporeal with his back to the east.

There were a lot of things in life that you could fudge. The great, glowing death ball in the sky was not one of them—

“Sire! You must come in!”

At the sound of the voice, he pulled a pivot-and- hustle, zeroing in on the command. And as he shot through the side door of the Colonial and into a homey kitchen, Fritz, butler extraordinaire, started fanning him with a dishtowel like he was already on fire.

“That was a little close,” Tohr said, as the breeze did feel good on his flaming cheeks.

And thanks to the special reflective coating on all the window glass, the harmful rays were mostly blocked. The relief was instantaneous.

“Mistress Autumn has been—”

“You’re here! Oh, thank Lassiter.”

Hisshellanbolted out of the basement door, and his arms opened without him even thinking about it: Those lovely gray eyes that were usually full of calm warmth were frantic, and her blond hair, which she usually knotted high on her head, was streaming behind her like a halo of anxiety.

“I’m sorry,” he said as he pulled her in close. “It’s been crazy tonight.”

After they reconnected for a minute, his mate pulled back, and touched his face as if reassuring herself he was really alive.

“Too close,” she whispered.

“I’m sorry.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead and felt like an absolute asshole. “I won’t do that again.”

It was a lie, and they both knew this, but he didn’t know what else to say. His job was dangerous, unpredictable, and almost always in the way. There was no getting out for him, though. He was Wrath’s second-in-command, and the Elmer’s glue of the Brotherhood, as Rhage always said.

“Okay,” she murmured with resolve.

“Okay,” he echoed with love.

And that was why he could only ever be mated to her. Of all the people he had met, his Autumn was most like water. She flowed over difficulty, and not weakly. No, never weakly. There was great strength in her calmness and the way she accepted that which could not be changed.

Like his past, and the loss of his firstshellan. Like his present, and his job.

She inspired him every night, lifted him every day, loved him like they had an eternity in front of them and only one more second at the same time.

Another hug, he thought as he pulled her in again. She was smiling when they eased apart.

“Butch and V are waiting for you downstairs in our family room.” She glanced pointedly at Fritz, who was worrying at the apron that was tied around his waist. “Where we are all going to enjoy everything that has been so thoughtfully prepared.”

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