Page 158 of Sigils & Spells

Jared lunged forward and lifted her into his arms, hugging her tight.

She wrapped her legs around his waist and buried her face in his neck.

“Pippa,” he grated, closing his eyes and breathing in the moment, soaking in the joy of holding his mate in his arms, her scent and body wrapped around him tight.

“Welcome to the family, Jared,” Natalie said, patting Pippa on her back, then squeezing Jared’s shoulder as she walked by.

The rest of Pippa’s coven followed, offering their congratulations, pats on the back and well wishes, on their way to the breakfast buffet the wolves had set up on the other side of the dining room.

“I’d say congratulations, Jared,” Corwin said, “but you just condemned me to spending more time in that woman’s presence, so I’ll just say good luck to us both.” With that, he headed toward the buffet as well.

Pippa pulled back and stared into Jared’s eyes. “Can we go somewhere quiet?”

“Absolutely.”

*.*.*.*.*

“Your pack’s home is gorgeous,”Pippa said an unknown amount of time later, gasping for breath as she stared up at Jared’s ceiling. “What I saw of it, anyway. And I like your bedroom. Hocus Purrcus likes it too.” She rolled her head to the side and watched as the kitten chased a toy mouse under Jared’s dresser.

Jared leaned up on one elbow to take a peek at the kitten, then dropped back onto the bed with a grin. “Chester’s around here somewhere. We’ll see how he feels about the place once he realizes there’s a mostly-feral cat on the loose.”

“Well, H.P. doesn’t seem too perturbed at the sheer number of wolves, so I’m hopeful one cranky cat won’t make much of a difference.”

“Fingers crossed.”

Silence fell for a few moments, then Jared asked, “So, what are you thinking? Do I need to start packing?”

“No, I’m happy to move in with you. Though there may be a few nights when I’ll need us to stay with the coven, especially on the nights of the solstice and the occasional moon ceremony.”

“Whatever you need, my love.” Jared lifted her hand to his mouth and kissed it. “I will always be grateful you were willing to take this risk with me and I promise never to take you for granted.”

Pippa rolled over so that she was draped across his naked body and grinned down at him. “Come now, don’t make promises you can’t keep. It’s inevitable that one of us will take the other for granted from time to time, but it’s enough that we’re both willing to try. We’re committed, we’re strong, and we’ll make this work.”

“Hell, yes, we will.”

Pippa smoothed his hair back from his face, then leaned down and kissed him.

A wave of heat poured through her, igniting sparks that flamed then burned out in a fraction of a second, one after the other, as they kissed and rolled across the bed, giving in to their passion once more.

The sun was sinking low in the sky when Pippa finally remembered to ask. “What woman was Corwin referring to earlier?”

“Huh?”

“You know, he said something about having to spend more time with her?”

“Oh. Natalie. Corwin’s not her biggest fan.”

Pippa giggled. “That makes total sense. Natalie specializes in aggravating people, especially men she’s attracted to.”

“Wait. You think she’s attracted to Corwin?”

“Hell, yes. She’s always staring at him whenever we’re together and didn’t you notice how much they enjoy needling each other?”

“Can’t say that I have. I actually thought Corwin found it annoying.”

“He probably does, but I’d be willing to bet that’s because he’s attracted to her.”

“Now that, I didn’t see coming.”

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