She nodded. “I don’t think we should have any more children. He’s so easy, the next one is bound to be a hellion.”
Fane didn’t bother to respond. She knew that if it was up to him they’d have a whole litter of pups. “Why did you block your thoughts?” he asked as he folded his arms across his chest.
“Do you remember when I told you about my mom having that weird ability to sense things?” she asked him.
Fane shook his head. “Don’t try to change the subject, Luna.”
She rolled her eyes at him and sighed. “I’m not changing the subject. This has to do with what I blocked you from hearing. Do you remember me telling you about her ability?” she asked again.
He nodded. “She can do more than sense things these days,” he pointed out.
“Exactly,” Jacquelyn said. “Turns out it isn’t just some weird fluke. She’s been doing research in the warlock archives, and she came across something about the sprites.” She paused and watched him.
Fane nearly grinned. Jacque watched him closely, trying to gauge his reaction when he heard the wordsprite.
“And?” Fane prompted, knowing it would get her tail in a twist.
“Fane Lupei.” She practically growled at him.
Fane chuckled and held his hands up. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry, love, but you’re hot when you get irritated.”
“Keep it up, wolf-man and you’ll see just how hot I can get.”
Fane’s brow dropped. “Is that supposed to be a threat? It feels more like a promise to me, and I’m really interested in you delivering on that promise.”
She threw her hands up in the air with an exaggerated sigh and plopped down on the sofa. “You’re impossible. Did you or did you not know about sprites?”
“I feel like this would be the perfect opportunity for me to shout, ‘You can’t handle the truth!’ But Jen isn’t hear to appreciate my genius movie quote choice.”
Her lips turned up slightly but dropped back down. She was fighting the grin he knew she felt inside. It really was the perfect opportunity to use that quote. Since he and Jacquelyn had been together, he’d picked up on some of her and her friends’ idiosyncrasies. He was glad it was their penchant for hollering out movie quotes and not one of their more ridiculous ones, and yes, there were some that were more ridiculous.
His mate stared up at him. She wasn’t going to budge until he satisfied her curiosity. Fane walked over and sat on the sofa next to her. He took one of her hands and laced their fingers together. “Yes, I knew of the sprites, but”—he held up his finger when she opened her mouth—“no one has heard from the sprites in so long, and I’ve never seen them. I’ve only read about them during my studies.”
She narrowed her eyes on him. “I’ll let it go simply because what I have to tell you is important, and I’m tired. So, my mom found some stuff about the sprites.”
Once she’d finished telling Fane about her mom and Sally’s parents, Fane decided there was nothing else that could surprise him. Something always topped the last thing, so Fane decided to accept that anything was possible.
“So, you’re a sprite as well as a Canis lupus,” he said slowly, considering the implications of the new information.
“Guess so.”
“And will you be able to do the things your mom can do?”
“Don’t know. Mom said we’d just have to wait and see.”
Fane stared at her a few minutes in silence. She simply stared back. After a couple of minutes, he asked, “Why did you block me? That’s not bad news.”
“Because I know you,” she said with a small smile. “You would have left your meeting to come make sure I was okay.”
Okay, she had him there. He would have left to check on her. “Fair enough. Next time could you just give me some sort of heads up?”
She tapped her chin as she thought about it and then nodded. “Okay, if it happens again, I will say, ‘Fane, I’m going to kick you out for a few minutes to get some secret info, and if I feel it’s something you need to know, I will share.’”
He narrowed his eyes on her, though he couldn’t hide his smile. “Cheeky minx.” He reached out and ran the back of his fingers gently across her cheeks. Her face warmed up in a soft blush. Fane liked that he still had that effect on her. He hoped that never changed.
“Ready for bed?” Jacquelyn asked him.
He stood, holding his hand out to her, and then pulled her up from the sofa. Fane captured her face in both of his hands. Her skin was like silk against the roughness of his own. She was warm and growing warmer as he stepped closer to her. Slowly, he leaned down, watching the reaction of her eyes, her pupils dilating and her eyelids getting heavier as her desire for him rose. His own mouth watered at the memory of all their past kisses and, as usual, Fane found himself wanting to make this kiss better than all the others. He moved slowly, wanting to draw the moment out and build the anticipation, but he also liked to see her get flustered when he didn’t give her what she wanted immediately.
