Page 97 of Fangs for the Memories
A shop which has attracted plenty of attention from the monster community, and one which allowed me to poach Katya from her job as senior manager to being my shop manager.
Partly, because I’ve long realized doing everything myself is a false economy and having her here means I can spend more timetraveling to all sorts of amazing places in both Hungary and the rest of Europe to source my vintage clothing.
And, of course, because I’m going to give birth very soon. Probably in another four weeks, although I wish it were sooner, given I’m the size of a house. Plus, today I had to give Ferenc the slip because he wants me to stay home.
But I know I’ll be as bored as hell, so I got Viktor to bring me into town so I could potter around for a while. I just got a shipment from my Paris trip, so I have it to sort out.
With Katya occupied, I make my way into the back. The boutique is situated in a small, intimate arcade which dates from the Art Nouveau era, and I make my way through the small store room, into the pretty atrium and climb the winding staircase to the first floor where I have an airy set of rooms which I use to decant everything, check for damage, wash if necessary, and put to the side if anything needs mending.
I absolutely love it because it looks out onto the busy shopping street below and I can people watch.
Baby gives me a hearty kick as I enter. Enough to have me sitting down to catch my breath. I rub a hand over my stomach in the hope we can avoid a further interruption, but this little (or not so little) one is pretty busy.
A waft of coffee hits me, and baby does yet more somersaults, because I bloody love coffee, yet unless it’s decaf, I can’t stomach it at all.
“What did I say?” Ferenc steps out from behind a rack of clothes.
“You said I shouldn’t exert myself, and I’m not,” I say emphatically, walking over to a box of assorted dresses and rummaging through them.
“I said Katya can deal with the shop and I want you in my arms where I can pleasure and mate you.” He walks up behind me, wrapping arms around some of my body.
“I don’t recall.”
He shoves his face into the crook of my neck, lapping at the now faded claiming mark and sending shivers through me.
“If I didn’t, I should have because that’s what I want.”
“I thought you were busy.”
“You thought Viktor wouldn’t tell on you.”
“I will have to have words with that gargoyle.”
Ferenc’s lips hit mine. I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to how his passionate kisses turn my insides to liquid, and I’m absolutely sure I don’t want to.
“But not before I bring you all the pleasure you deserve, kedves.”
Bonus Epilogue
Lucy
Grace is one hundred percent right about Budapest. It has everything you could want in a city, and it’s even better at night.
Helpfully, her new werewolf husband has put us all up in his hotel, usefully located just across the river from the Pest side of the city. It’s an old hotel with many entrances and exits, plus nearly all of the rooms have access to a little balcony.
I swept the snow off mine earlier, attempting to look nonchalant as I did so, having checked the forecast to make sure no more would fall before dawn.
It’s still dark as I climb down three floors using the ornate stonework as my ladder. It’s easier to exit this way rather than potentially alert anyone hanging around the lobby at five in the morning. Especially when I’m dressed in a figure hugging catsuit covered by kevlar body armor.
Could make for some awkward questions.
I make my way swiftly on foot over the bright green, ornate bridge opposite the hotel, hopping onto a tram which I know will take me to my destination.
It’s fortunately empty, save for one old man, asleep at the back. I tap my card, bought with cash, on the reader andtuck myself in a corner. The white and yellow carriages rattle onwards, flicking across lines through the city while every now and then a female voice announces the next stop in Hungarian.
I’ve memorized them all, getting up swiftly to exit at the correct stop.
The air is even colder than by the river, if that’s even possible. But the sky is starting to brighten, and I quicken my pace.
