Page 12 of Charmed and Dangerous

He nodded, pleased to provide for his mate. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. So your mother knew old Digby? Did you know that?”

She frowned, nibbling the corner of her thumb. “No, mom rarely saw anyone outside of the house, that I remember. My father never really liked anyone in the house, no visitors or anything to disturb his work. We spent most of our time in the gardens or greenhouse.”

His heart ached for the loneliness he heard in her voice. “Your dad didn’t spend a lot of time with you?”

A sad smile crossed her face, and she picked at threads in the blanket. “He was always busy with his studies. But it was fine. Mom spent a lot of time with me.”

He popped a grape to cover the growl he felt bubbling up inside of him. What kind of father ignored his mate and child? “What does your father study?”

“He’s an alchemist,” she stated matter-of-factly. “He is searching for an elixir to extend life and prevent disease and death.”

Saul felt a little guilty now. The man was grieving the loss of his mate. He understood that, though alchemy was considered a crackpot science by most in the magical community. “Ahhh, I understand. It’s hard to be trying to bring someone back.”

She shot him a quizzical look. “Not really. He married my mom, hoping her knowledge of herbs and plants could help him. It didn’t quite work out that way. And when I didn’t show the magical promise my mom had, well, he was disappointed, to say the least.”

Everything she said was so matter-of-fact, without emotion, like she accepted it. But he was angry on her behalf. What kind of male marries someone for their knowledge, has a child, ignores both because they’re no longer useful?

His anger must have showed on his face because she laid a hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay. Really. Great Aunt Geillis came to live with us a few months after mom died. She seems like a scary woman, but she has a heart of gold.”

“So that’s who the old lady was. She’s very protective of you.”

A fond smile crossed her face. “She’s fierce. She gave up her own life to take care of me. She said she had a bear lover once. I wonder who he was.”

Saul grinned. “No way she would have left him. We’re the best.”

Maeve grinned impishly. “Oh really? I haven’t seen much evidence of that yet.”

He rolled to all fours and quickly caged her on the blanket, settling over her gently. “Oh really? Then I’m not doing a good job letting you know my intentions, Maeve Whisper.”

She stared up at him, her eyes wide, her pupils blown so her blue eyes looked almost black. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips and his eyes fixed on it. “You didn’t call me mouse.”

“Because I’ve already caught you. You’re mine, Maeve Whisper.”

She sucked in a shuddering breath, her breasts brushing his chest. “Am I?”

He lowered his head and brushed her lips with his, tasting the sweet honey and unique flavor of Maeve. She opened under his kiss, her tongue tentatively sweeping out to meet his, tangling with him, teasing him. He shuddered, his bear roaring in triumph.Mate! He deepened the kiss, taking over, pouring all of his emotions into it, willing her to feel him.

Maeve moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck, tangling her fingers in his hair and tugging him closer. The bite of pain from her fingers electrified him, sending heat straight to his groin, and he growled into her mouth.

She pulled away. “I love how that feels. When you growl, it vibrates throughout your body and into mine.”

Challenge accepted. “I can do so much more than that.”

His eyes gleamed, and he lowered his head again, but his cell phone rang. He groaned, dropping his head against her forehead. “Hold that thought.”

He rolled off her and grabbed his phone. Sacha was wondering where he was. Crap. He was in charge of the family dinner that night. He looked at Maeve, who was packing up the remaining food from the picnic, and a brilliant idea occurred to him, though it could either chase her away for good or endearher further to him. Either way, he needed to know how she’d react.

“How would you like to join my family for dinner?”

Chapter

Six

There was something sexy about a man at a grill, especially when that man was a six-foot eight grizzly shifter who laughed and joked with his family. This was a totally new side to Saul, though the whole day had been a different perspective on him, one she found incredibly sexy and attractive. He was funny, attentive, and easy to talk to, even when he was calling her mouse, which now sounded like a term of endearment rather than an insult.

Maeve wasn’t sure how Saul convinced her to join him for his Sunday dinner with his family. She had often wondered what a family dinner would be like and, since she wasn’t quite ready to end the day and go home to a mostly empty house, this seemed like a good time to find out. Her father would be in his lab working, and her aunt would be out with her friends playing Dominion, some weird-ass board game where the bloodthirsty octogenarians of Grimm Mawr decided how to take over the world. Frankly, the one time they played at her house, it was terrifying, and Maeve vowed if her aunt ever got a hold of any kind of weapon, she would use a memory-wiping charm to make her aunt forget everything and save the world. No jury would convict her, right?

Though this was not the family dinner she’d expected. She had often pictured something along the lines of a Norman Rockwell painting, though, with bear shifters she should have known it would be different. No one had lives like that anymore, if they ever did. This gathering was pure chaos. His parents, his sister and her mate and their cub were just the beginning. Older women gathered in a cluster around several tables, heavily ladened with food that seemed like it would feed a small town, but this was a gathering of bear shifters so Maeve wondered if it would be enough. Men of all ages were in smaller groups throughout the yard, some tackling each other with sickening crunches. Others were climbing trees to see how high they could go. A group of small children ran by, some in cub form roaring, and others in human form tumbling into each other in some kind of hunting game. It was pure chaos.

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