by Mari Freeman
“Too close. Can’t.” He pushed one last time and growled. The veins in his neck pulsed with his orgasm. He slid in and out another time or two, his eyes closed.
Nell put her palms on his cheeks and pulled him into a kiss.
A kiss that said she trusted him, and understood everything.
* * * * *
Trent held up the box as she finished in the bathroom. They had two hours until they left New Orleans to meet with a Council member back in the mountains. “It doesn’t feel so evil anymore.”
Nell pulled her shirt over her head. “That’s because it’s empty.” She opened a door and punched in a code on the safe in the closet. When it popped open, she lifted the talisman out. “Barri cleansed it to keep it from attracting every evil thing in the city. But I was afraid to take it out to the swamp. That’s why I got the hotel room in the first place.” She set the necklace on the desk.
“You bartered for my life with an empty box?” He looked a little surprised.
“Well…” Nell put her hands on her hips. “Would you rather I took it out there and let Crey get it?”
He looked from her to the balcony and back. “I guess not.”
He went out onto the balcony and sat in one of the big iron chairs. Nell followed and curled up in his lap, her head on his shoulder, loving the solid feel of his body holding hers.
“Crey was talking to someone on the phone back in that hut,” she said.
“The Council will figure out who helped Crey. We won’t need to worry once they have the talisman.” He pushed an arrant curl from her face. “They’ll want to start with why your father had such a strong talisman in his belongings.”
Nell shrugged against his shoulder. “He was a collector. Goddess knows what might be in all those boxes in the basement.” She thought on it for a moment. She really didn’t want the Council members poking their noses into her life. “You’re the Prime. Won’t you be the one investigating?”
He shook his head. “After we turn that thing in…” Trent gently kissed her on the forehead and then looked down the street. “How about we do some of that traveling you like so much?”
Nell leaned away from his chest so she could look in his eyes. “What? You’re not going after these guys yourself?” Part of her still feared he might use that chase as an excuse to turn tail and run away from her.
“Nah. Crey hired local goons to do his work here. I figure he was stealing or begging spells and power amulets from a master. Someone else can handle that. I have my own objective now.” His hand rubbed a loose circle on her back. “To stay with you. You need protecting. Just in case.”
“Right.” She crinkled up her nose.
“I think it’s time for a big change.” Trent smiled at her. “After we deliver this thing, I’m taking some time off. I want to make up for what we’ve missed. What I made us miss.”
Nell leaned back against his chest. “I like the sound of change.”
Epilogue
“So it wasn’t a diamond?” Sonja asked.
“Nope.” Nell looked at the box sitting on her old, nicked-up kitchen table. At the moment it seemed impossible that so much trouble had come from one simple wooden box. The calming mojo Barri had put on it still seemed to be in effect. The dark chunk of wood didn’t feel oppressive. “Barri found out it was some kind of rare African crystal. It holds the magic of the box. No giant diamond for us.” It was a shame too. That would have been a great boon for the family coffers.
“Why do you think that Crey guy went to all the trouble to get it?” Sonja chose the chair farthest from the box and sat leaning as far back as possible, even though no blood magic emanated from it at the moment.
Trent came in and slid his arms around Nell’s waist, pulling her back against his chest. He kissed the top of her head. Sonja gave Nell a raised eyebrow and a knowing smile. Nell couldn’t stop her own happy grin. The trip home had been wonderful. He was attentive, light and, well—not Trent Nicholas the Prime at all. Nell liked it.
“I think it was the power boost.” Trent picked the box up and moved it over to a small antique desk beside the back door, as if to get it away from them all. It looked like a simple curio, sitting between a potted ivy and a ceramic purple owl. He pulled a chair out for Nell and headed for the counter to get a pitcher of tea.
“Jeez-Louise, you should have heard the lovely, flirty things he whispered to me on the way out of that swamp.” She winked at Sonja. “Promised me we’d have five kids and get one of those big summer houses over on Lake Johnson.”
“What?” He poured her tea. “I said no such thing.”
Nell nodded to Sonja, ignoring Trent’s denial. “Promised me he’d paint my toe nails a different shade of pink every week and give me foot massages to make up for being such an ass.”
Sonja giggled. Trent scowled.
Nell propped her elbow on the table and put her chin on her fist. “Even said he’d do all the house work when he moved in here.”
“Nell.”
“Ooh. He’s using the Alpha voice.” Sonja wiggled her fingers.
He handed Sonja a glass. “We have not decided which house we’re moving into.”
Yeah. Nell knew the pack had to be considered. Still. It was so easy to rattle him over his lack of memory. And fun. She wasn’t going to let him off the hook too soon. After all, he’d tormented her for years. Kind of.
Nell consoled him with a light pat on the forearm. “Yes we have, baby. We decided in the swamp.” He rolled his eyes. She turned back to Sonja, dismissing his reaction to the conversation. “Crey could have admitted to the Kennedy assassination that night and Trent wouldn’t remember. He has to take my word on everything.”
He ran his fingers through that thick hair of his and shook his head. “I never want to be that out of control again. My guess is that Crey was trying to increase his own power for something. That’s what the necklace is for, after all. But if he shared any details…who knows? I can’t remember. And the local Prime cleaned the scene right away. There’s no trace of him in the swamp and no clue to where he lived. Whatever he wanted, he’s no longer a threat, thanks to Captain Allen and his mean machete.”
Nell nodded. She would be grateful for that man for the rest of her life.
Sonja looked back at the box. “So when is Councilman Sanderson showing up for it?”
“Tomorrow.” Nell put a hand on Trent’s leg. Now that she had her wolf and her life was no longer in danger, she wasn’t as hesitant to give the ugly thing up. She smiled at him before gazing back at Sonja. “Maybe you and Trina and I should go through all those boxes in the basement and make sure Dad didn’t leave us any other big surprises.” There would surely be a treasure trove of trinkets and amulets down there. Even though she knew most were just antiquities, collectables from preternatural history, there could be something else dangerous. If so, she wanted it out. “Mi-ma and Trent can help.”
Trent shook his head. “I’ll be in Dallas.”
“What?” Nell drew her brows in. “That’s outside your jurisdiction.”
“Maybe Tokyo. The farther the better. If you three Halfling are playing with unknown magic, I want to get as far away as possible.”
Trent winked and Nell chuckled. This was the way life should be. She finally had everything she wanted. Home, family—and her wolf.
About the Author
Mari Freeman lives, disguised as a normal suburbanite, in central North Carolina. When not penning romantic erotica, she enjoys horses, hiking, traveling, good food and friends. An outdoors girl at heart, you can often find her at the lake with laptop fired up, fishing line in the water and her imagination running wild.
In her previous lives, she’s held an interesting array of occupations. She’s been a project manager, a software-testing manager, sold used cars, pumped gas at a truck stop and worked in a morgue.
Mari’s favorite stories include Alpha females in love with even more Alpha males. She finds the clash of passionate,
strong-willed personalities fascinating. She writes contemporary, paranormal and a little science fiction/fantasy.
Mari welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email address on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com .
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Also by Mari Freeman
Beware of the Cowboy
Birthright
Cougar Challenge: Sin on Skin
Love Doctor
Print books by Mari Freeman
Birthright
Cougar Challenge: Tease the Cougar
Plan for Pleasure anthology
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