“Oh, well…” Yasmin wrung her hands until Javier took them in his and caressed her knuckles.
“Not dating, Mr. Silva,” he replied. Zacarias raised a brow, and so did Yasmin. Hadn’t they been on a first-name basis since Javier’s arrival because her wonderful, fun-loving father insisted for everyone to call him Zac? “Yasmin is my bonded mate.”
For a long moment, her parents said nothing. Even her mother’s smug smile melted into stunned disbelief. They blinked, but her father was the first to spin and face her mother.
“I told you he smelled like her now! You owe me fifty bucks.”
River scowled up at him. “I don’t have your shifter sense of smell.”
“That’s not all,” Yasmin said, ripping the proverbial Band-Aid off and deciding to spill all the news at once while her parents were receptive and in good moods. “I wanted to share something else with you, too.”
“Does it involve me shelling out for a big expensive wedding?” Zac asked. His eyes lit up and a big grin spread over his face. How could she have ever doubted they’d be happy for her? “Because I’m all for it if that’s what you want. The bride’s family pays for the wedding, right?”
“Um, no,” Yasmin said. “I mean, yes, the bride’s family traditionally pays, but you don’t have to shell out for a big wedding. Unless…” Her heart thumped in her chest, a spike of nervous adrenaline sending her pulse into a panicked gallop. They hadn’t even discussed it. There’d been little discussion about anything unrelated to their baby, in fact.
“Unless what?” Javier asked. He raised one of her hands to his lips and kissed her fingers.
“Unless you want a big wedding?”
“I’ll be content with any wedding that makes you happy.”
“We have to start planning,” her mom gushed. “Zac, baby, go bust out that champagne we’ve been saving since our wedding.”
“Mom, you don’t—”
“Nonsense! This is exactly the reason to celebrate.”
“I can’t have champagne.”
“Yeah, the bubbles go straight to her head, remember? I’ll get the rum,” her father said. “It’s time for mojitos.”
Her father hurried away and phased through the wall before she could stop him. The remnants of his silhouette shimmered green against the wall and vanished. Then he called from the kitchen, “Or do you want a mai tai?”
“This is so exciting. I didn’t expect everything to move so fast. I just thought, if I introduced you two again, fate would find a way and you’d be so happy to reconnect,” her mother gushed before throwing her arms around Javier.
Yasmin groaned. “No drinks.”
“No drinks?” River peered at her over Javier’s shoulder. “Oh! You’re right. Not until after dinner at least if we don’t want Javier to have to carry you home. I swear, you didn’t get your drinking constitution from me. Or your dad for that matter. If you didn’t look so much like us, I’d wonder if you were a changeling.”
Her father reappeared with a bottle of booze in each hand, as eager as a child on Christmas. “About time I get to open these. So, what am I making?”
Her mother shook her head. “She doesn’t want drinks until after dinner.”
“You’re gonna be grandparents!” she blurted over them.
First, absolute silence reigned. Then River squealed and dragged Yasmin close, the tide of her emotions washing over her with motherly warmth and affection.
All Yasmin could do was soak it in and revel in it. She hadn’t realized how much she’d wanted to feel her mother’s arms around her until she’d been folded in the woman’s embrace.
Then her father’s exuberant clap shattered the moment. “Sweet. Now we don’t have to have another baby, and we still get a child to spoil. Do I get to brag yet, or are you two keeping it hush-hush for now?”
As Yasmin glanced at her father, an indignant shade of red spread across her mother’s face. “You changed your mind?”
“Uh.” Her daddy wilted beneath the dirty look from his wife. “I mean… I’m not opposed to it… you were just really terrifying while carrying Yasmin.”
“Zacarias,” River bit out stiffly.
“Where is the lie? You know it’s true.”
The short-lived glower ended when her mother hugged her again. The remainder of the evening with them passed without alcohol, her empathetic father stowing away his beloved bottles of rum in lieu of making coconut-lime slushes instead to accompany the steak and shrimp dinner he had grilled.
Her family’s willingness to accept Javier into their lives put her on cloud nine. All her life, she’d been exposed to the happiest couple in the supernatural world, her soul-mated parents, two halves of a whole.
Now she had the same sort of love in her life.
Her parents didn’t fuss when she finally begged off for the night, but her mom did promise to send over leftovers to the girls. Javier received hugs and kisses, accepted as part of the family.
“I guess we can expect the same when we tell my folks, since our moms were—what’s the word?”
“In cahoots?” Yasmin offered.
“Heh. Yeah.”
Hand in hand, they crossed the yard from her parents’ house. Telling them everything had lifted a tremendous weight from her shoulders, and in the end, she’d been foolish to ever doubt they could be anything but supportive.
“So, since we’ve come out to your parents and we’re bonded, how do you feel about sharing my side of the duplex and leaving the other half to Amaya and Gillian?”
“Are you sure you want to share your space with me already?”
He chuckled and squeezed her hand again. His thumb circled over the back of her knuckles. “Why not? I mean… we are bonded,” Javier murmured. “And I can’t think of anyone I’d rather wake up beside every morning.”
“And leave sleeping in bed, I hope. Your schedule sucks.” She smiled up at him despite the stinging tears in her eyes.
“Does that mean you’ll move in with me?”
“Yes.”
“Good, then you won’t mind if I do this.” He swept her up into his arms, a big grin on his absurdly handsome face. Each time he kissed her reminded Yasmin of the first time. And with their whole immortal lives ahead of them, she hoped that never changed.
Loved this story? Stay tuned as Javier’s tale continues in Bound to Magic, coming out this fall. Does he have what it takes to make it through a federal agent school run by our favorite eagle shifter?
Is this a cliffhanger? By Odin’s beard, I swear it isn’t. I’d call this a Happy For Now. But I will be continuing their tale and carrying the Agents of Saint series onward with other shifter heroes from different walks of life.
What to read until the next novel in this series? Love Yasmin’s family? Check out Impractical Magic for witchy hijinks. Want more dragons? Read Dawn of the Dragons to enjoy a time before supernaturals came into the open. Curious about Ian? Dive into the Wild Operatives series.
Other Books by Vivienne
Fairy Tale Retellings
Beauty and the Beast
Red and the Wolf
Goldilocks and the Bear
Belle and the Pirate
Zarina and the Djinn
Rapunzel and the Griffin Prince
Sci-Fi Romance
Super Sexy Aliens, Cyborgs, Psychics.
Reverse Harem Romance
Three Greek gods, one reincarnated modern goddess
Divine Ambrosia
Paranormal University
College has never been this exciting. Or hot.
The Hidden Court
* * *
Dragons
Loved by the Dragon
Smitten: Dawn of the Dragons #2
Crush on a Dragon: Dawn of the Dragons #3
God of Mischief: Dawn of the Dragons #4
Military Shifters
Hot and Wild military alphas
The Right to Bear Arms (Book #1)
Let Us Pr
ey (Book #2)
The Purr-fect Soldier (Book #3)
Old Dog New Tricks (Book #4)
Texas Pride (Book #5)
Impractical Magic
Impractical Magic
Better Than Hex (Impractical Magic #2)
* * *
Blood Heiress
Blood Kissed
* * *
Werewolves of San Antonio
* * *
Training the Alpha
Mythological Creatures
Making Waves
Epic Fantasy by Dominique Kristine
Shadows for a Princess
* * *
A princess who would rather die than wed. A warrior priest who would rather kill than see her harmed. A kingdom of shadows and treachery that threatens them both...
At the age of twenty-eight, Princess Ysolde Westbrook is a spinster duchess, the adopted daughter of Hindera's eccentric monarch. Commoners love their benevolent leader, but the kingdom's gentry take offense to the outsider among them. Amid noble plots and demands for her to marry a local aristocrat, an assassination attempt places her life in peril--if she will not have one of them for a husband, they would sooner see her dead.
Finding allies in strangers with powerful gifts and even darker secrets, Ysolde must learn what it means to lead and find her own inner strengths. Whether or not she survives the tangled web of treason will determine the fate of her duchy, the royal family, and the kingdom she loves.
About the Author
Vivienne Savage is the pen name of two best friends who write everything together. One works as a nurse in a rural healthcare home in Texas and the other is a U.S. Navy veteran. Both are mothers to two darling boys and two amazing girls.
All of their work varies in steam level, so pop by the VS website for details on which series is right for you!
For more information
www.viviennesavage.com
[email protected]
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