Page 37 of Guarded By a Monster

twenty-five

If it weren’t forhis ears, I might never know how Thurl was feeling. Very expressive, those pointed ears of his. When I mentioned talking about being his mate, they drooped like a two-week-old flower arrangement. They sprang back to attention when I said we could talk later.

He obviously thought I was going to reject him.

I wasn’t sure. I needed more information, thus the talk. I certainly wasn’t ready to give him up, but did I want to be permanently tied to him?

After my last boyfriend bust, I figured I’d be the single old cat lady of the neighborhood. I was fine with that. Mostly. The sex toys available these days were incredible, but Thurl was packing something even the most creative company hadn’t thought up.

And he was so warm. And cozy. And I’m not ashamed to admit it was nice knowing he could keep me safe. Especially since being a witness and being attacked were probably connected.Oh, you’re a drug lord? How cute. Meet my monstrous boyfriend, who has teeth, claws, and horns and was bred to be a weapon.

The only problem being that I couldn’t stay here forever. I would need to go back to work, and I couldn’t rely on Emma to take care of my clowder. Thurl seemed fine with the cats, but I guessed having a dozen instead of just two in his house would be a bit much.

If I had all the money in the world, I could quit teaching and work with Emma at the rescue. That was a pipe dream I liked to bring out and dust off on the weekends. I’d miss my kids, but the cats were my first love.

The smell of breakfast filled the kitchen. Nanna had covered every inch of counter space with bacon, sausage, eggs, pancakes, toast, and fruit. She hadn’t been there long enough to make all of it, and I didn’t think there was a crumb left in Thurl’s pantry after the night before, so I must owe Roul a trip to the grocery store.

Metaphorically speaking, of course. I giggled at the thought of the massive, red-eyed beast choosing a cantaloupe in the produce section.

Said beast came through the front door, loaded down with even more platters of food.

“Just set those anywhere, dear, and bring in the rest.”

My mouth fell open. “The rest? There’s more?”

“Of course there is. None of the ‘fangs know how to cook, and Kendal admitted she could burn water. With as huge as they are, they need a lot of calories.”

She gave me an exaggerated wink and I braced myself.

“Besides, if you two got up to what I would’ve gotten up to last night, you need the nourishment.”

I groaned and rolled my eyes.

Thurl leaned down and whispered in my ear, “She’s not wrong.”

I sent my elbow backwards into his belly. “Don’t encourage her.”

Nanna sighed and threw the back of her hand up to her forehead. “Alas, I couldn’t tempt any of the unattached, even after I gave them a rundown on my affair with Killian. Young people these days just don’t appreciate the experience that comes with age.”

Roul reappeared carrying what I hoped was the last of the trays. I reached out and grabbed his forearm.

“Did she assault you?”

He grunted.

“I’m sorry, I don’t speak grunts. I can go grab a doll and you can point to where the bad touches happened.”

His lips twitched up in the weakest excuse for a smile I’d ever seen. It was glorious. I decided in that second that cheering him up was my new mission in life. I added a mental note to talk to Thurl about finding his mate while we talked tonight.

I was sure she had no idea how it was affecting him for her to be gone. If only she knew, she would come back.

Unless she planned to reject him.

I frowned. That was no good. No, I couldn’t think that way. She just didn’t know, and I was determined for her to find out.

Thurl waited until Roul unburdened himself before asking, “The others?”

“On their way.”

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