“Red hair? And no, I don’t really understand what ‘red’ is. But I do understand that the Irish people boast a lot of redheads,apparently.”
That made him laugh again. He had a feeling she would be the cause of much laughter in his future, and he liked it, a lot. “Actually, I have dark hair, but I grow a redbeard.”
“Two-toned.” She grinned. “So, our children could be atoss-up?”
Kale’s heart stuttered in his chest, and his breathcaught.
“What? What’s wrong?” Heather asked, obviously picking up on the strong emotions runningthroughhim.
“Nothing is wrong. It’s just the thought of you carrying my pups brings me to my knees.” He pulled her closer to him and put her hand in the crook of his arm as they continued walking. He liked the feel of her bodyagainsthis.
“You want children then?” sheasked.
“Aye.” He wanted kids very much, but Kale decided there was no need to tell her how many he wanted. He’d kept that thought to himselffornow.
When they reached the small river that ended in a lagoon with a waterfall, Kale nearly groaned. He’d thought coming there would be good, not only because it was private, but because it was beautiful. He felt like an arse. She wouldn’t know that it wasbeautiful.
“Hey,” she said as she squeezed his arm. “Closeyoureyes.”
He did withoutquestion.
“I feel the wind as it gently caresses my skin, like millions of fingertips dancing across my face and arms. I hear birds as they announce their presence. I hear the grass blowing and the leaves in the trees rustling. I hear the water as is splashes, and it makes me think of summers I spent in the pond swimming. I smell fresh air, lilacs, and freesia. I smell the earth, the soil that nourishes the plants. And Ismellyou.”
Kale was breathless as he turned toward her and stepped even closer. “And what do I smelllike,lass?”
“Like the air just before a thunderstorm,” she said with a smile. “I may not be able to see beauty they way you do, Kale, but I stillunderstandit.”
He was speechless. In less than a half hour, his mate had rendered him speechless. He stared down at her and fought the urge to press his lips to hers. He longed for the day when he would have the right to kiss her whenever he pleased. But today was notthatday.
“Shall we sit?” He pulled her over to a spot beneath a large tree, helped her sit down next to him, and leaned back against the hugetrunk.
“I imagine this is just as nerve wracking for you as it is for me,” Heather began. “You weren’t expecting to have to explain to your soul mate exactly who and what she was. That’s got to be ashocker.”
“But in no way a disappointment,” he said fiercely. He wanted her to understand that it didn’t bother him the reality of his true mate was different from his expectations, or that she was human, which was not something he’d ever previously considered. All that mattered was that he’dfoundher.
“Tell me about yer self,” he said gently as he brushed her hair back so he could see her face. His fingers dusted her skin, and she shivered. He loved that she reacted to histouch.
“Well, you know from my grand one-sided conversations over the last two weeks that before I found out I was some cool, supernatural-bad-ass gyspy lady, I was a Seeing Eye dog trainer. Peri seemed to think it hilarious that my fate had led me to a werewolf for a mate, and I already trained dogs for aliving.”
Kale’s shoulders shook a bit as he held in thelaughter.
“Go on,” she huffed throwing her hands in the air. “Laugh it up,GardenMix.”
He coughed as his laughter came out. “GardenMix?”
“Yeah, you know, those bags of salad that have all sorts of lettuceinthem?”
He groaned. “Seriously? I’m going to be different kinds of lettuce for the rest of ourlives?”
“That’s nothing.” She waved him off. “Peri calls me the name of a deaf, blind chick. And sometimes a male, black, soul singer. And yes, she uses Stevie and Ray interchangeably. Bet you’re thinking being lettuce isn’t sobadnow.”
Kale was laughing. “I suppose it could worse. Where areyoufrom?”
“How did I miss telling you this when I had you completely silenced? I told you everything from my favorite color to my least favorite bug. Guess I got caught up in wanting you to know me. Well, I’m from Texas, a town called Shady Grove. Born and raised. My parents were what you would call late in life when they had me. Mamma was forty-five, and daddy was even older because he was ten years her senior. Daddy passed away when I was eighteen. Tore my mamma up. She died six months later. They told me it was congestive heart failure, but she’d never had heart problems before. I think she died of a brokenheart.”
“No siblings?” heasked.
She shook her head. “Justme.”
