Chapter Three
“Auntie June invited me to dinner.” Hone ended his call. “I told her I was with you, and she said to pass the invitation to you and Emma.”
“I heard. What about Cassie?” Jack paused ripping up carpet to study him. “You gonna ask her? Could open a can of matchmaking worms.”
“Too late now. Cassie is invited.”
“Your auntie still trying to marry you and your cousins off?”
“Didn’t you hear her sly tone? She’ll have better luck with one of her sons ’cause I am wise to her ways. Or I could take Cassie myself,” he mused, his dragon making a purring sound of approval.
“Don’t hurt that woman, Hone. I won’t tell you again. The next time I’ll lead with my fists. Don’t hurt Cassie. Emma will get upset, which in turn will make me unhappy. You hear me?”
“Yes,” Hone snapped. “I’m not a damn monster.”
“Not true,” Jack contradicted, and this time his voice held sympathy. “We’re both monsters and right now, yours is showing more than mine. Your irises are glowing red and your claws are visible beneath your fingernails.”
Crap. Jack was right. He worked at mentally caging his taniwha. “I’ll check with Cassie and ring Auntie June back outside. Fresh air always helps me with control.”
He left Jack tearing up carpet and scowled at the red paint on the wall as he strode from the room.Bikies rule. Little pricks. Cassie seemed like a nice lady. He might put out a few feelers when he saw his cousins. They had their ear to the ground and would have a good idea of who was responsible for the vandalism. If it was a local gang.
He ducked into the room where Cassie and Emma labored over carpet rolls and prayed his control would hold long enough to issue the invitation.
“Are you sure it’s all right?” Cassie asked.
“It’s fine.” Emma aimed a furtive scowl at him. Her tone remained light for her friend. “You’ll like June and Samuel.”
“Okay. Thanks,” Cassie said.
“I’ll tell Auntie June.” Pressure built in Hone’s chest—his taniwha pushing for release. Hone slapped him back with a testy growl. At this rate, he’d need to find a willing woman for sex. Again. Either that or go for a clandestine flight, which was more problematic in these days of modern technology. Lucky they had a few inventors and gadgets of their own to confuse satellite imagining and navigational equipment, or at least they would once his cousin, Manu, perfected his latest invention. He strode outside.
Once his claws bled back into his skin, he rang his auntie to confirm they would all be there for dinner.
“Hone! Should I invite Irene Wharerau? She said she hadn’t seen you for a while.”
“I’m dating, Auntie,” he said in a stern voice. “I’m not interested in anything other than friendship with Irene.”
“I see,” his Auntie said, her tone designed to raise his guilt.
He could picture her face, her unusual light green eyes that came from the mixed European and Maori blood in her ancestry, her furrowed brow and the determined jut of her jaw. Auntie June considered herself a matchmaker with an excellent result rate, and as matriarch and leader of the tribe, she didn’t accept gainsaying.
“I haven’t known her for long so don’t make any smart comments about marriage. I don’t want you to scare her off.” Hone heard himself say the words, his mind screaming at him to stop before the hole he dug engulfed him. Meanwhile, his inner dragon purred again, the contented sound making his human side itch with discomfort. What the hell?
“Depends,” Auntie June said. “Who is she? Why haven’t I heard? Bring her with you.”
“Auntie,” he growled. “Please. You want babies to cuddle, you work on Jack or one of your sons. I’m not ready to settle with one woman. I’ll come alone.” He refused to take a date to his aunt’s home.
“Humph.”
Not impressed. Too bad. He enjoyed his single lifestyle. “What time should we arrive?”
“Whenever you’re ready. Tane and Kahurangi will be here around six. You’d better be careful one of my boys doesn’t steal your new girl from under your nose. At least they have open minds about settling with one woman.”
Hone held back a snort. His auntie wouldn’t appreciate his feedback on this particular point. His cousins told June what she wanted to hear and went their own sweet way. They weren’t stupid, but it took skill to keep ahead of their mother.
“Thanks, Auntie. We’ll see you later. Anything you want? We’re in Clevedon and stopping by the oyster place.”
“Get me two dozen of oysters in the shell,” she said, her voice less strident now. “You’re a good boy. If only you’d take advice in the spirit it was offered.”
