“No killing, Granddaddies!” Arkham yelled out a moment before she reached out and turned off the lamp and went back to sleep like he wasn’t about to get the beating of his life.
His mate was so hard core. He’d see to Arkham after what was obviously going to be a sound thrashing. Don’t act so casual when your family drags your mate from bed to beat his ass, he’d tell her while he loved her to sleep.
MountDenali knew he had some explaining to do. A simple “She’s my mate, end of story” scenario wasn’t going to cut it with Arkham’s secretive, wily, kill-you-because-I’m-bored family.
As Arkham’s granddaddies summarily dragged him into his living room, he caught sight of Predator, who was still perched on his favorite chair. The dog covered his eyes as if he couldn’t stand to see MountDenali in all his glory.
Jealous? he growled.
I’m not the one about to get my ass whipped. Predator actually smiled before trotting off toward the bedroom.
The Granddaddies paused as they discussed whether or not they should allow him any clothing.
“You need to let him put on pants, otherwise his dick’s going to be flapping about while we beat his ass.”
“One pair of jeans, boy, and don’t dally.”
MountDenali found Predator right where he guessed—stretched out in front of his fireplace guarding his master. There was no way he could miss the smirk the canine threw his way. About to wipe that smirk right off the dog’s mug, he was stopped by a bellow.
“Hurry up and die.”
“It’s supposed to be ‘hurry up or die.’”
“What’s the difference?”
“The use of ‘and’ rather than ‘or’ means that even if this boy complies with our wishes, he will still die.”
“Yeah, and?”
“You’re an idiot. Boy, hurry up.”
Pulling on his jeans, he quickly dropped a kiss on Arkham’s cheek and managed to avoid getting tangled in her arms as they reached for him—although he did end up kissing her again, just because. With Arkham’s taste in his mouth and her scent in his nostrils, he was about to deepen the kiss when he was dragged from the bedroom by his hair.
It was definitely his own bedroom he was dragged from, and his own house, but where it was sitting was most definitely not Alaska. Though they were in the middle of a forest, not a hint of snow covered the ground. For that matter, there wasn’t even a hint of frost.
“Where?” he began and was silenced with a double glare that shut him right up.
“Georgia. Do you think we’d leave our Belva here alone just to go whip your ass when we can bring you here and whip your ass?”
“I’m guessing ‘no.’”
“You guess right, boy.”
**
As far as beatings went, it fucking sucked. If he never again got a “talking to” by a shifter and a vampire, it’d be too soon. He was sure they could’ve explained the rules about how to treat their grandbaby without fucking his shit up.
He was still breathing…just…as Arkham’s vampire grandfather was currently cutting off his air supply as he held him by the throat whilst arguing with Arkham’s shifter grandfather.
“You’re a bleeding-heart liberal in your old age.”
“Why? Because I want my grandbaby to be happy?” Shifter Grandfather asked.
“Do you really think our little Arkham would mind being with an amputee?”
“Yes, considering her crazy-ass vampire grandfather was the one who ripped the limbs off her mate.”
“How do we know he’s her mate? Arkham just hasn’t had enough time to consider which convent she would prefer to live in,” Vampire Grandfather argued.
“You’re an idiot, and he’s going blue,” Shifter Grandfather said.
“What are you talking about?”
“The boy, he’s going blue.”
“Oh, that,” Vampire Grandfather said as he unceremoniously tossed him to the ground.
He missed the rest of the argument between the vampire and the shifter in his bid to take a breath. The roaring in his ears was fading when one of the grandfathers got his attention by standing on his windpipe.
“So, I hope you’ve gleaned a lot from this little talk,” the vampire said.
There was a talk? All he remembered was the beating.
“Um, yes sirs,” he said. “Do I have your blessings?”
“You still have all your faculties,” was the cryptic answer.
MountDenali scowled at the two males.
“That’s crazy granddaddy speak for ‘yes,’ Young Man.”
MountDenali would’ve turned toward the sultry voice, but suddenly he had a vampire and shifter all up in his grill.
“Don’t even think about looking at our Belva until you’re cleaned up. Same thing about putting your grubby paws on our grandbaby.”
“Okay, I’m just going to lie right here for a moment and heal enough to be able to walk in.”
“Well, heal fast, because we don’t have all day.”
**
MountDenali had just climbed out of the shower when Yukon’s voice ripped through his head.
You sound like you just had your ass whipped.
And what would make you suspect that?
Because we directed Arkham’s granddaddies to your cabin.
Hate you.
If you don’t survive the beating, I’m dating Arkham.
Going to kill you when I see you.
That should be soon, being we’re here getting spoiled by their mates. Ha ha, asshole.
Chapter Thirteen
It was just like every weekend at Kennesaw Territory. There were massive amounts of food, plenty of iced tea and lemonade and chaos for no damn reason. Eating at a Kennesaw gathering was like feeding time at a game park—and that was just the girls. There was stabbing of hands with various cutlery, pushing and shoving around the food table, text message battling, slap boxing, and warnings from Grandma.
And then there was the inevitable and subsequent epidemic of the Itis, which had many stretched out on the wraparound front porch.
Grandma Belva was seated across the Granddaddies, who weren’t even attempting to hide their love for her. Raider was draped across a chaise lounge and snoring her ass off. Being mean as hell obviously took up a lot of energy. Balere was draped across Jagen, though they both still pretended like they weren’t a couple, which was hard to do when Jagen kept a death grip on Balere after she’d showed up with Fletcher.
The fine Australian had shifted back to Komodo form, and was busy sunning himself.
The peace of the lazy afternoon was interrupted by Shazam!, Matrix and Halima who came running around the corner of the house.
“Did he come this way?”
“Who?” they all asked.
“The Zombie.”
“That thing better not be out again!” Grandma yelled from the porch.
“You’ve got a Zombie?” MountDenali asked, fascination all over his face.
“It’s a long story.” Arkham sighed as she leaned closer to her man.
As always, MountDenali held her tighter against his chest. Arkham tilted her neck, allowing him better access to his mark. He lazily licked it, causing her to shudder.
“Luckily, I’ll have plenty of time to hear it, since I’m never letting you go,” he rasped.
“Are you sure you want to be part of this family? We’re a little bit…crazy.”
“What part of ‘never letting you go’ did you miss, Mate?” he asked as he nipped her.
Whatever they were about to get into was rudely interrupted by her granddaddies.
“Hey, you two aren’t married yet.”
She heard MountDenali’s groan in her head. That deeply feminine part of her preened at the proof of how much he wanted her. It was in the hardness of his body, the increase in his heart rate, the way his eyes glowed.
“I don’t need a wedding, Granddaddies. White really isn’t my color anyway,” Arkham argued ju
st to see the look of horror on her granddaddies’ faces. It was no more than they deserved for calling a halt to her pleasure.
You are so wrong for that, Mate. And what’s to stop your grandfathers from treating me to another round of thrashing?
Grandma. In a few minutes, they’re going to take her upstairs. Nothing interferes with their giving her pleasure.
Vampire Granddaddy’s raised voice interrupted their telepathic conversation. “Is that what that boy said?”
“Granddaddy, my mate has a name. Please use it,” Arkham said in the best imitation of her grandmother.
“Is that what MountDenali said?” Vampire Granddaddy practically spat her mate’s name out between clenched teeth.
“No, it is not. It’s what I know considering there are these things called mirrors,” Arkham said, smiling at their horrified expressions.
Remind me never to get on your bad side, MountDenali said.
“Stop messing with your granddaddies. You know they’re crazy. And there is going to be a wedding,” her grandma said as she rose.
As always, the Granddaddies rose with her.
“You heard your beautiful and gorgeous grandmother, young lady!” Shifter Granddaddy said sternly.
“What if, for the sake of argument, neither me nor my mate wanted a wedding?” she asked.
“Honey Badger,” Shifter Granddaddy said.
“Cosign,” Vampire Granddaddy said as they swept Grandma up in their arms and headed for their room.
Arkham couldn’t help it. She burst into laughter.
“We need to hurry up and plan this wedding,” Arkham said as she turned in his arms.
“Already planned, Mate. My family is on their way,” MountDenali said as he took her mouth.
**THE JEANIE AND JAYHA**
Thank you for reading. We appreciate the investment of your time and trust and hope you enjoyed the tale as much as we enjoyed writing it. ~Jeanie and Jayha
To read more about the characters connected to this book, check out the following stories:
Killer Crossover: Hot up in the Capture by Jeanie Johnson and Jayha Leigh (Belva Kennesaw)
For more information on the Jeanie and Jayha universe, please visit our website:
www.jeanieandjayha.com
The Jeanie and Jayha
A kickass tag-team bound together by the pen, Jeanie (the shagalicious wordslinger) and Jayha (the ninja master of h*ll no’s) are forces of nature that will either leave you begging for mercy or begging for more.
We are women who have brains we aren't afraid to use; feelings we aren't afraid to express; and, middle fingers that we aren’t afraid to extend. We pen stories that push all kinds of boundaries and we don’t apologize for it. Our heroines are feisty; our heroes are hot, and our stories are one-of-a-kind adventures. Come visit us at www.jeanieandjayha.com.
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Table of Contents
Title page
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
In Search of the Fountain of Couth Page 7