Off the Beaten Path
Page 21
“Nope.”
I frowned—it wasn’t a pout, no matter what Henry said. “Why not?”
“Because we’re about to have company.”
“Oh my God.” This would be the third time this week Ava had barged into our room. Right after her first shift, when I was still hurt, she’d insisted on sleeping in here—in a separate bed, at least—but we’d worked with her enough that she was okay with staying in her own room at night now. Mornings were a whole other story. The psychiatrist we’d consulted with had said she had abandonment fears, and that time and patience were the best cures.
That was undoubtedly true, but I still wished my kid was old enough to handle a locked door, because dammit.
“Here she comes.” I heard the doorknob turn and the sound of little feet padding almost soundlessly into the room. Henry tucked the blanket a little closer around me, then sat up and literally snatched Ava out of the air as she leaped for the bed. He snarled mock-ferociously, and she giggled until I thought her lungs were going to give out.
“You weren’t supposed to catch me!”
“And you’re not supposed to jump on your daddy, so it’s a good thing I did catch you.”
“It’s more fun when you don’t, though.”
“Bruising my kidneys isn’t fun, baby.” I sat up and brushed my hair out of my face—I’d need a trim soon, it was getting too long.
“Daddy!” Ava’s face brightened when she saw me, and Henry passed her over. She snuggled in for a hug, and it felt like my heart was lighting up from the inside. I kissed the top of her head and sighed with contentment.
“I want pancakes.”
Aaand there it was. “It’s not time for breakfast yet, Ava.”
“But I’m hungry!”
“Then you can go downstairs and get yourself an apple or pear.” Those were the easiest fresh fruits to ship in this early in the season. Eventually we’d get Western Slope peaches and apricots, which according to Henry were amazing, but we weren’t there yet.
She put her hands on either side of my face. “But Daddy, I’m only hungry for pancakes. With chips.” Chocolate chips, naturally—Ava had some curious favorites, but we weren’t at the point yet where she wanted actual potato chips mixed into her pancake batter.
“I think we’re out of chips, baby.”
She frowned. “No.”
“Yeah, I’m afraid so.”
“But Daddy!” She managed to pack an incredible amount of indignation into her protest.
“We’ll get another shipment in a week.”
Ava moaned and flopped back on the bed. “I can’t wait a week for pancakes. My tummy will starve!”
“Well, we can’t have that.” Henry leaned over next to her. “What about regular pancakes—” He paused for a brief moan of discontent from my little drama llama. “—wrapped around sausages?”
Ava opened her eyes. “Aunt Sam’s sausages?”
“Yep.”
“Will she make them for us?”
“She’s still sleeping, but if you go down and have a piece of fruit as a snack, soon your daddy and I will be ready to join you and make breakfast. Sound good?”
“Yes please!” She leaned in and kissed first his cheek, then mine, then rolled right off the back of the bed. I reached for her even though I knew she was going to land on her feet—the kid always did. If I didn’t know she was a werewolf, I would swear she was part-cat. “Be fast, Daddy!” She ran out the door, not remembering to close it, and now it was my turn to fall back on the bed with a sigh.
“So much for a lazy Saturday.”
Henry stroked a line down the middle of my chest, fingers lingering against my rib cage. “You wouldn’t have had a lazy day anyway. You’ve got to tell Gerald how you want things constructed for your pulley presentation on Monday.”
I grinned smugly. “Making him my science-demo bitch was the best move ever.” It put me on more solid footing in the pack hierarchy and gave Gerald one more small way to make up for the fact that he’d lost a challenge, lost status, and almost lost his family all at once.
Things weren’t perfect. The pack was still figuring out how to handle their more-involved alpha, and our relationship had gotten a few headshakes from some of the “traditional” pack members, but no one had asked to leave. It had been six months, and Henry had only been sent out on a single two-week mission in familiar terrain. Davis, now stationed permanently in Colorado Springs, stopped in frequently, sometimes to chat with me but more often to spend time with Tennyson, which—I didn’t know what was going on there, but I liked it.
It was challenging, but it was my life. I had my daughter, I had a partner, and I had a pack to look after. I taught, I learned to cook huge amounts of food, and I had more friends now than ever before. I was content. I was happy.
I was also still horny, and now that Ava was downstairs having a snack… I placed my hand on Henry’s and pushed it a little farther down my stomach. “You want to share a shower? It’ll save time.”
“Yeah, sure it will.” He leaned over and kissed me, and I wrapped my arms around his neck and held him close. “And of course I do.”
More from Cari Z.
Jonathan Hatcher has led an interesting life. Once the psychic protégé of Dr. Nelson Cagney of the Bureau of Psychological Corrections, he escaped and went on the run through post-World War Three Europe, scraping a living out of the ruins of civilization and avoiding the mindless vics: humans turned berserker by exposure to biological and chemical weapons.
Once again at Cagney’s mercy, Jonathan is stuck in PsyCo’s high-security wing with no idea whether Sam, the man he thinks he may love, is alive or dead by his hand. Though at first he only plays along for news of Sam, soon Jonathan sees the conditions in the warring European Coalition are desperate. Sam and Jonathan must make a choice: make for France and a life together… or team up with their captors against a devastating new threat.
Their love will either inspire change in the world or tear it apart.
Former starship captain Jason Kim and his lover, Ferran, are starting a life together on Ferran’s native planet. The Perel matriarchs reluctantly allowed their marriage in the hopes of securing better diplomatic relations with humanity, even though the decision ignites anger from traditionalists. Ferran’s family accepts Jason and the love the two men have found, but other influential families are less accommodating and much less willing to welcome an outsider to their isolated, subterranean world. Some of their enemies are willing to go as far as eliminating Jason permanently. Tensions are quickly building toward a breaking point that might push Perelan into a bloody civil war.
If Jason and Ferran have any hope of surviving the coming conflict, they’ll have to rely on their devotion to each other more than ever before. But that won’t be easy when a figure from Jason’s past reappears to make them question everything.
Lee Summers is past expecting to find love. He has a fulfilling career and a few human connections, and he’s determined to be happy with those. When he meets Felix Clymenos during a vacation in Colorado, he doesn’t expect to feel so passionate about him. Felix is intriguing, but when he starts to feature in Lee’s dreams—and his slowly strengthening nightmares—Lee wonders if it wouldn’t be a better idea to walk away. There’s a mystery behind Felix’s affections and somehow Lee feels like he’s known Felix his whole life. Before they can be happy together, Lee has to know why that is… and what that means for their future.
Readers love Changing Worlds by Cari Z.
“Changing Worlds has every chance of appealing to both science fiction fans AND romance fans.”
—Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words
“…Cari Z. has written a lovely sci-fi romance that is fresh and enjoyable, while avoiding the tropes prevalent in this sub-genre.”
—The Novel Approach
“Changing Worlds left me seeing stars with a happy heart…”
—Book UNfunk
“This was a brilliant
read and I will definitely recommend it to others.”
—Gay Book Reviews
CARI Z was a bookworm as a child and remains one to this day. In an effort to combat her antisocial reading behavior, she did all sorts of crazy things, from competitive gymnastics to alligator wresting (who even knew that was legal!) to finally joining the Peace Corps, which promptly sent her and her husband to the wilds of West Africa, stuck them in a hut, and said, “See ya!” She also started writing then because what else are you going to do for entertainment with no electricity? She writes award-winning LGBTQ fiction featuring aliens, supervillains, soothsayers, and even normal people sometimes.
You can contact Cari at carizabeth@hotmail.com. In fact, please do. She’d love to hear from you.
Website: cari-z.net
Blog: carizerotica.blogspot.com
Twitter: @author_cariz
By Cari Z.
A Blinded Mind
Changing Worlds
Different Spheres
In Memoriam
Off the Beaten Path
Worth the Wait
Published by DREAMSPINNER PRESS
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Published by
DREAMSPINNER PRESS
5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886 USA
www.dreamspinnerpress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of author imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Off the Beaten Path
© 2017 Cari Z.
Cover Art
© 2017 Brooke Albrecht.
http://brookealbrechtstudio.com
Cover content is for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted on the cover is a model.
All rights reserved. This book is licensed to the original purchaser only. Duplication or distribution via any means is illegal and a violation of international copyright law, subject to criminal prosecution and upon conviction, fines, and/or imprisonment. Any eBook format cannot be legally loaned or given to others. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the Publisher, except where permitted by law. To request permission and all other inquiries, contact Dreamspinner Press, 5032 Capital Circle SW, Suite 2, PMB# 279, Tallahassee, FL 32305-7886, USA, or www.dreamspinnerpress.com.
ISBN: 978-1-63533-897-3
Digital ISBN: 978-1-63533-898-0
Library of Congress Control Number: 2017941786
Published September 2017
v. 1.0
Printed in the United States of America