Page 16 of Hunter

“Kids can change a life,” Wolf commented, his face growing cold and distant. There was a lot of past to the man that nobody knew; a long history before he joined us Black Angels. But that wasn’t for me to pry into. A man’s story was his own.

“By the way,” I started as I looked over at him, “how did Anna paint your room without you noticing? Haven’t you been asleep in there all night?”

A low growl rumbled from Wolf’s chest as he flung himself from the couch. “I need a damn beer.”

With that, he stormed off, leaving me to sink into the leather couch and watch the end of the match that I couldn’t tell you the score to if you had asked.

Chapter Four

Mallory

Locked. Every single door and window was locked. Hunter sure as hell had better be psychic in the end and had predicted there wouldn’t be a fire or something, because if there was, there would be a roasted mommy and child.

How long did it take to buy locks, anyway? If that was what he was even doing.

That would be true if locks had big plastic boobies that were so perky they poked you in the eye. I hoped he got poked in the eye. Both eyes.

I walked around the downstairs, a pair of tiny feet pattering behind me as I looked for something to do.

I pressed my face against the glass back door, eyes bugging out as I spotted the backyard. I knew the window from my room faced it, but I hadn’t dared look for fear of the marvelous image I knew would be out there. Since I had nothing to do, however, I thought I might as well subject myself to looking.

The worst part about it was that I was right. It had a long open yard with flowers up and down the edges, a white picket fence, and a small shed at the end. Not to mention, it went on for miles, or seemed like it, before it hit the hedge lining the edge.

I pouted, my lips smudging the door. The longing in my chest to go out there was almost painful.

I turned my face downward to look at Adair, who sat between my legs, also staring out the door.

He turned his face up to mine, his blond hair flopping back from his face as he gave me a wide grin. “Can we go out, Mommy?”

“Sorry, baby,” I said, dropping to scoop him up into my arms and grunting as I lifted him. Yup, he was definitely getting too big for this. “We’ve been locked in, so we can’t go out.”

“Locked in?” Adair seemed to mull it over before his eyes went big and his face whipped toward mine. “Were we bad? Did we get locked up?”

I gasped at the sadness beginning to pool in those cute, little green eyes. “No, baby, no. We didn’t get locked up, and we’re certainly not bad guys.” Well, considering my past transgressions, perhaps, but not adorable, too-innocent-for-his-own-good Adair. “You’re a little angel.” I smiled, easing him back to calm. “And angels aren’t bad guys.” So long as they aren’t the black-winged kind that rode around on motorcycles.

“Oh,” Adair mumbled as I set him on the ground.

“How about a bath?” I asked, taking his hand and leading him back to the glass greenhouse.

“We already had a bath,” Adair countered, his green eyes growing puzzled.

“Yeah, I know. But we can have another one. I know how much you like baths.” Not to mention, they made him sleepy.

“Okay.” Adair nodded, satisfied.

Before we even made it from the top of the stairs to the bathroom door, he had his clothes stripped and slung across the floor. The kid really liked getting naked.

A small ping went off in my heart as I was reminded of the day I first met Noble. He had happened to be naked from head to toe in his doorway, looking mighty fine.

I had somehow ended up charging him less for his pizza. Who cared? I would have paid more than the twenty dollars to cover it, just to see him in all his glory again. In fact, I had tried, but he must have taken it as a hint to wear more clothes when answering the door after that.

Adair sneezed as I turned on the bath to fill at ninety-five degrees on the fancy control panel on the wall. Then I took a dry towel and wrapped it around his small shoulders to keep him warm while we waited.

“Bubbles, Mommy!” Adair said as I turned away to fiddle with a few of the control to turn the jets off. The setting was left from last night when all those little naughty sprays had made me feel so good. Was it possible to swap a man for the holy tub of all baths? I thought it should be allowed.

“Mommy! Bubbles!” Adair persisted.

“One minute, baby.” I pressed all sorts of buttons to try to turn the damn light off that meant the jets were still on.

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