“And I love you, dimpleboy.”
He chuckled at the nickname Jen had given him. Sally still liked to use it. He didn’t mind because, knowing Jen, it could have been muchworse.
He leaned his head back against the seat and ran his fingers through his mate’s hair. His eyes closed, but he didn’t stop petting, caressing, or touching her. Even in his sleep his hands found their way to her skin. Touch was so incredibly vital to his kind and even more so between mates. As long as Sally would keep letting him touch her, he could help her with the darkness that was attacking her mind. And she would help him without even knowing it. They’d made so much progress in a very short amount of time. He wanted to keep their momentum moving forward as she worked through the happenings of the past four months. He hoped going home to see her parents was the right move. The other females agreed that it was, and he was to the point that he would take her anywhere she wanted to go if it was going to help herheal.
“Can you say it?”Her voice in his mind startled him. He’d thought she was asleep. When he didn’t answer right away, she asked again,“Can you sayit?”
“I want you. I adore you. I love you. You’re mine, and I am yours,”he crooned through their bond just as he had earlier that day, and a week earlier, the night she’d been broughthome.
“Again,”shewhispered.
“You’re beautiful. I need you. I want you. You’remine.”
Chapter Five
“Hi, Mom and Dad. This is my hot, Romanian, werewolf, bartender, mate slash husband,” said no girl ever … except me. ~Sally
“If one more woman asks foryour autograph and to take a picture with you I’m going to call Jen so she can make fun of you.” Sally laughed as Costin turned away the fifth or six—she’d lost count at this point—woman who’d asked if he was a model on some paranormal romance cover and blah, blah, blah. They’d landed at Houston International Airport, which really just looked like a big freaking mall with a runway, and from the moment they’d stepped off the plane, eyes, mostly belonging to females, were fixed upon hermate.
“Hi, I’m sorry to bother you, but weren’t you that model on the bookMy Mate the Vampire?” a woman with a fake Southern accent gone wrong askedCostin.
Costin simply smiled and shook his head while saying something in Romanian, pretending he didn’t speak English. Sally growled under her breath, emitting a chuckle from Costin as the woman walkedaway.
“A vampire?” he asked as he placed his hand at the small of her back to guide her through thecrowd.
“You should have told her no, you were the model on the front of the cover of the bookMyMate the Werewolf.” Sally barked, pointing toherself.
Costin smacked her on the rear, and she had to laugh because of the envious looks she got from women who just couldn’t take their eyes off of him. They were envious because he spankedher?
“Seriously, I think you could spit in my hair right now, and they would be envious of me.” She scoffed as she pulled her phone from her backpocket.
“No, they’d be envious of your hair because it had the privilege of having my spit on it, which was previously on my tongue. It’s all about the tongue, Sally mine. That’s what they’re enviousof.”
She bit her lip trying really hard not to laugh. “I just need you to know that I recorded what you just said, and I will be sending it to Jen andJacque.”
As they stepped up to the baggage claim, Costin winked at her. “To see that smile on you and hear that laugh, I’ll go say it over the intercom foryou.”
Sally grabbed his arm when he turned and acted as though he was going to make good on his offer. “No, no, it’s fine. I’m smiling. See?” She pointed to herface.
Costin took her face in his hands and leaned in close so their foreheads were nearly touching. “I do see,” he whispered. “I see the most amazing woman I’ve ever met, and I get to call her mine.” He pressed his lips to hers, and Sally felt the airport and all the envious stares fade away. All she could feel was him. One of his hands slid into her hair while the other slid down her side and around her back, pressing her against his body. She felt his fingers dance on her spine as he traced the tattoo-like markings that matched his own, markings only he had the privilege of seeing. Sally ran her hands up his chest and around his neck as she rose up on her tiptoes to get closer to him. Someone clearing their throat and standing very close to them finally broke her from the Costin bubble she’d been suckedinto.
Sally pulled back and turned in the direction of the noise, and her eyes widened. “Hi, Mom and Dad. Jen said we were meeting you inColdspring.”
“Costin bubble? Sounds kinky,”her mate said through their bond just as he turned and held out his hand to her father. “Mr. Morgan, I’m Costin Miklos, Sally’s husband.” He turned to her mother and stepped forward, gently placing a kiss on her cheek. “Mrs. Morgan, it’s so nice to finally meetyou.”
Sally grinned when her mom blushed. She couldn’t blame her. The dimple, the accent, the freaking-model good looks. She’d have to be dead not to blush under Costin’sattention.
“You’re not blushing, and I just made love to your mouth,”he said, at the same time he was having a conversation with herparents.
“Do not say things likemade love to your mouthwhile you’re talking to myparents.”
“Why? Do you think they can sense I’m telling you I made love to your mouth, and I’m disappointed that you didn’tblush?”
“Husband?” Sally’s mom was no longer blushing. “So, Jen wasn’t kidding? You really aremarried?
Sally nodded as she chewed on her bottomlip.
“I knew when Costin called and asked me for something old and I sent him the locket you two would be getting married at some point, I guess the reality just never sank in. I assume he gave it to you as a weddinggift.”
