Page 23 of China

“It’s perfectly natural, and when you find your mate, you’ll not want to leave the house either. You know, your father and I—”

“No!” Angel dropped his fork and put his fingers in his ears. “For the love of everything holy, don’t finish that sentence or any other sentence where you get naked. Nuh uh.”

China giggled and tried to cover it with a cough, but it was easy to see the merriment in her eyes.

“You didn’t used to be such a prude,” Teresa said. She winked at Oz, which told him she was teasing Angel. It was a pastime they both enjoyed.

“Yeah, when did that happen?” Oz asked.

Angel pulled his fingers from his ears. “The sad thing is that even with my ears plugged, I could still hear everything. Having sensitive hearing is hard as hell on the brain when a relative talks about sex.” He shuddered exaggeratedly.

“Fine, fine. No more sex talk.” Teresa nodded like she was punctuating the sentence. “The good news is that Oz and China are mated, and after the alpha battle, you two can get your life started.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” Oz said.

“Me too,” China said.

They ate and talked about the differences between the two prides, and Teresa agreed that Kedrick sounded like an excellent place to live and raise cubs.

“You’re planning for cubs, right?” Teresa asked.

China paused with her last forkful of roast halfway to her mouth. She glanced at Oz and he smiled at her in encouragement.

“Definitely,” China said. “We’re both only children, so we’d like to have a big family. I’m on the birth control shot right now, so we’ve decided to wait a year before we try. If it happens to happen earlier, then we’ll be happy for that too.”

“Birth control can be tricky with shifters,” Teresa said. “Sounds like you’re planning to move to Kedrick, so expect lots of visits from me and Angel.”

“Me?” Angel asked.

“I’m not making that drive alone,” Teresa said.

“You were going to visit anyway since you love me,” Oz said.

“That’s a lie from the devil.”

China laugh-snorted and coughed, covering her mouth with her napkin.

“I love how you two are with each other. It’s like siblings,” China said.

“Pretty much,” Oz said. “Love to hate the guy.”

“Speak for yourself. I’m awesome.”

Teresa rolled her eyes and rose to her feet. “You two, I swear. Now, I think it’s time for dessert.”

After they’d eaten their fill of fudgy brownies and cheesecake covered with chocolate and caramel, they said goodbye and headed for the truck. Teresa and Angel walked them outside, with Teresa asking China to come over for tea the next day so she could get updated on all the pride gossip.

“I’ll let you know if Craig has anything to offer,” Angel said.

“Appreciate it, man, thanks.” The two hugged in that manly way males did, clapping each other on the back. “See you tomorrow.”

“At the office, bright and early,” Angel said, giving him a salute.

“You know it,” Oz said.

Once they were home, he and China tumbled into bed and chased the night from the sky, their echoes of happiness and cries of pleasure filling the house.

Chapter Nine

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