Page 30 of Kidnapping Their Third

“You’re an electrician?” Pike asked, easily picturing Cora wearing a tool belt and focused on running wires through homes and installing outlets.

Cora’s eyes narrowed, and she stopped petting Kimble. “Is that surprising to you?”

“No! The opposite. You’re so brave, it makes sense that you’d deal with something as scary as electricity.”

“I think that’s one of the sweetest things anyone has ever said to me,” Cora said. Kimble made a soft protesting sound until she went back to stroking his head. “It’s a good thing you’re cute because you’re the neediest guy I’ve ever dated.”

Pike didn’t comment on her use of the word dating but a little thrill went through him. He couldn’t wait to meet her family and introduce himself to all of them as the boyfriend.

“How did you decide on being an electrician?” Pike asked.

“Family business,” she explained. “Dad’s an electrician too. He half-owns a business, Best Value Electrics. Three of my brothers are electricians too and work for him: Tim, Cooper, and Carson.”

Although he had an idea what the answer would be, he asked anyway. “But not you?”

Cora snorted. “Work for my father? Never!”

Pike could understand Cora wanting to strike off on her own if the rest of her family was even remotely as irritating as Tim. “So you started your own business, that’s amazing. I bet the reason women like to hire you is because they feel like they can trust you.”

“That, and I don’t talk down to them,” Cora added. “About ten percent of my jobs are from women who’ve gotten multiple quotes, but the electricians wouldn’t explain anything to them. By the time I show up, they’re frustrated and full of questions.”

“And you answer them all,” Pike said with approval. “Was your dad upset that you didn’t join his company like your brothers?” If his parents had a family business, he’d love to work for them, but his dad was an English professor, and his mom was a CPA who did forensic accounting. Pike had thought working side by side with his mom would be fun. After only one year of college, he realized he didn’t have the patience for higher education. His parents were kind, but he knew they worried about his lack of career options.

Maybe he could be an electrician. He could learn anything under her guidance! Accompanying Cora on jobs was a perfect place to start.

Standing up, Pike gathered the empty plates and headed to the sink. “Then it’s settled, I’ll spend the day with you, and we’ll come back and spend our evenings and nights together here.”

“I don’t remember agreeing to that,” Cora muttered behind him. “Have you ever worked with electricity before?”

“Nope, but I can carry stuff for you better than anyone,” he assured her as he returned to the table with the apple strudel he’dkept warming in the oven. Cora licked her lips as he set the pan on the table.

“I baked enough to take some with us to work tomorrow,” Pike offered.

Cora looked up at him, her lips pursed. “Well played, Pike. I guess you get to be an electrician’s assistant for the day.”

Pike felt himself grinning like a fool at the same time Kimble made a disgruntled sound.

Suck it up, vampire,Pike thought.Our human needs me more than you right now.

***

After helping him clean up the kitchen, Cora demanded they all cuddle on the couch. Once she was situated between the two of them, she took control of the remote and flipped through a few streaming services.

“Do you guys mind watching this?” she asked. It was a mini-series drama about international politics. Pike normally liked romantic comedies or action movies, but he didn’t care what was playing as long as he got to be close to Cora.

“That’s fine,” he agreed, snuggling down into the couch a little more. Kimble made a dismissive sound, probably indicating he didn’t care what she chose. The moment the first episode started to play, Kimble leaned in close and began kissing Cora’s neck.

“Stop that,” Cora said with a laugh and pushed his face away without taking her eyes off the TV.

Kimble let her move him a few inches but once she let go, he went right back to kissing her. Pike was surprised at how forward the vampire was being with his advances. He’d never wanted more than cuddling from Pike.

Turning her head to face him, Cora tried to admonish him. “Kimble, you need to—”

Kimble ducked his head down and captured her lips in a kiss. That’s when Pike realized what was going on. Kimble hadn’t felt any physical desire during their relationship because he lacked enough blood to feed that part of his body and magic. Now that he’d had multiple days full of meals, he was ready to play.

Cora wasn’t trying to pull away from Kimble or break the kiss. Her eyes were closed, and her hands were held out to her sides, curled into loose fists. Leaning close, Pike pulled her hair offto one side and kissed the back of her neck. He felt her tense before she moaned, the sound muffled by Kimble’s mouth.

“We want you,” Pike whispered before running his teeth over the delicate skin at the back of her neck. “But no matter how badly we desire you, we’d never force you, my mate. A single word from you, and we stop.”

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