Lover Claimed
Page 14
Lajos rounded the corner just in time to catch it in the air. “Hey, I was looking for this.”
“Apparently not too hard. It was lying in the middle of the floor. I almost broke an ankle tripping over it.”
He pouted and turned his puppy eyes on her. “Aww, do you want me to kiss and massage you later?” He came at her with outstretched hands, reaching and grabbing hold of her waist.
She knew what he was up to. “You want to kiss and massage my ankle—only?”
He peered down at her breasts, giving them an appraising look. “Well, I could start there and make my way north.” His hands crept around her waist to land on her ass, where he gave her a hearty squeeze.
She couldn’t resist him. He was her everything. She leaned closer to him and nipped his chin. “Just try to keep your shoes away from the middle of the floor, ’kay?”
“You know this wouldn’t be a problem if we were at my place.”
“Because you’d magically start picking up after yourself if we moved to the expansive estate in Michigan? The one with twenty acres of land, five bedrooms, five baths, right?”
She said the last part sarcastically, because she’d only heard that line about a million times.
“Yep.” He massaged her ass and kissed her neck. “Because that’s where my maid is.”
“You know I can’t move there.”
“Why? Because you think the Yaruzi will come after you and you want to be able to pick up and leave as easily as possible?”
She pulled away from him. “We’ve already talked about this. If the Yaruzi come after me here, I can leave quicker. My rent is month-to-month, there’s nothing holding me here. We can pick up and leave—find somewhere else to go and blend in, inconspicuously. We won’t be able to do that at your place. You’re too attached to it.”
“What makes you think I would run and hide from the Yaruzi if they came after you?”
“Because that’s what we have to do. They’re too powerful to fight.”
“I’m not running from anyone, Meisha. If the Yaruzi come for you, they’ll have to get through me.”
She let out a large breath. “And that’s what I’m afraid of.”
“You don’t understand, darling. When I say me, I mean us.”
She shook her head. “You and I won’t be able to stop the Yaruzi when they come. That’s why we’ll have to leave quickly.”
He chuckled. “You still don’t get it. You’re part of a larger family now. You’re part of a pack. I don’t care how powerful the Yaruzi are in the human world, they’re ants in my world.”
He’d explained this to her more than once. It wasn’t just her parents and brother anymore. She had a family of wolf-shifters and their allies at her back. She shook her head. “I can’t bring them into this mess. This is something brought on by my dad. I can’t come into this relationship with this kind of baggage.”
He put his hands out to the sides. “What? Like I don’t have baggage? I’m not even human.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “I don’t know Lajos. I have to think about it. Even if I went I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving my parents and brother here. If the Yaruzi came after them and I was in Michigan, unable to help them…I just wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.”
“We’ll bring them with us. Your dad likes me, your mother adores me and Miko thinks I’m the coolest thing since sliced bread.”
She punched his arm playfully. “Hey, don’t overdo it.”
“It’s true. We can find them a place not too far from ours.”
“Let me think about it, okay?”
“Sure.”
He grabbed his shoes and slipped them on. “I’m ready.”
* * * * *
Meisha sat on the roof of the beat-up car Trudy had left behind for her. It wasn’t worth selling, and with her and Lajos living together now it seemed only right that they had a date car. Lajos had offered to buy her a newer car, but she’d declined. She lived in the hood, it would only get stripped for parts. No point in that.
She sighed and looked out into the woods of the Timucuan Ecological & Historic Preserve. She heard a howl off in the distance.
Lajos.
He sounded so free, happy. Soon the howls would get closer as he did. She looked at her watch. He wasn’t due back for another couple of hours.
It wasn’t fair.
Lajos and his wolf should be able to run free like this all the time, instead of just a couple of times a week while she stood watch, making sure he could come back and shift without someone seeing him.
He’d told her, even showed her some pictures of his estate. There were woods like this one, a swamp and even a lake. He used to change every night and run free all the time. Something he could never do if he stayed here with her. It was because of her that he kept his wolf pent up. He was happy with her, she could see it in his eyes, but there were other times when she saw something else…the need to be free.
Lajos and his wolf had made a choice. A choice to give up freedom for her.
She fished her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed her parents’ number. It was late, but her dad picked up on the fourth ring.
“How’s my little flower?” he asked.
She smiled. No matter how old she was he would forever refer to her as his little flower. “I’m fine, Daddy.”
“What’s the matter? You sound so sad.”
“Dad, how would you, mom and Miko like to move to Michigan to live near Lajos and I?”
“You’re moving?”
She smiled. “Yes.”
“What about the Yaruzi? What if they find you? Are you willing to involve Lajos in our family business?”
“I’m not afraid of them anymore and you shouldn’t be either.”
“Why? I don’t understand.”
“I’ll tell you all about it when we move.”
Thank you, Lajos pushed the thought into her mind.
I love you.
I love you too.
About A.M. Griffin
A. M. Griffin is a wife who rarely cooks, mother of three, dog owner (and sometimes dog owned), a daughter, sister, aunt and friend. She’s a hard worker whose two favorite outlets are reading and writing. She enjoys reading everything from mystery novels to historical romances and of course fantasy romance. She is a believer in the unbelievable, open to all possibilities from mermaids in our oceans and seas, angels in the skies and intelligent life forms in distant galaxies.
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If you like this book, you may also enjoy the first book in this series, Dark Wolf Enterprises, available now.
The big break Trudy Hollander’s small accounting firm needs has finally arrived, but unfortunately it comes with murder, mayhem and Kristof Farkas, a man she just can’t seem to resist. Even worse, Kristof is the CFO of Dark Wolf Enterprises—the one person who can pull the plug on the job that will take her company to the next level.
And then there are the assassins who can jump from three stories up and still be able to run away…
Kristof has no intention of giving in to his inner wolf and claiming Trudy. She’s human. Too fragile to withstand being a shifter’s mate. But the need to protect her is stronger than his resolve, and his desire is more powerful yet. He’ll fight with everything he has to keep her safe, both from those who would hurt her, and from himself.
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