Turner blinked.
“Wait, did you get the ingredients the same time that you got the groceries for me?”
“Yes?”
Turner glanced into the corral where the unicorn looked at least a little calmer. She was still pacing, but she didn’t have the anxious edge she had had for days now. It looked like shewas finally at her ease thanks to the woman that had crashed into both their lives, and he couldn’t say he blamed her.
Turner forcibly dragged himself back to the matter at hand, because if his mate was going to make the sacrifice of staying, he was damned well going to do whatever he could to make it easier on her.
“Okay, I need you to hold off on that call for until I can show you something.”
CHAPTER FOUR
∞∞∞
Mystified, Ilona followed Turner into the farmhouse. She felt a bit as if she were floating just a few inches shy of the ceiling. Everything was happening so fast, and she still wasn’t quite sure that she believed it. She had shown up at some random farmhouse in the Illinois cornfields; she’d been menaced by a unicorn; and now she had found her fated mate.
She would have been lying if she said she’d never thought about it. When Macy introduced her to Luca, their bond had been immediately visible. They were so well-suited to each other that it was hard to imagine a world where they weren’t together. Sure, she’d been envious, especially because it was clear that things with Ruth weren’t going to get much better, but it wasn’t like she would have ever expected something like that for herself. Fated mates were shifter territory.
Except now ithadhappened to her, and she knew, like she knew that her hair was dark and that over-mixing the batter would make your muffins turn out as tough as old shoes, that her life was about to change. Weirdly enough, that wasn’t thesource of her surprise. No, it was the fact that something in her was just fine with all this, that she was eager and excited to see where It went.
Ilona realized with some chagrin that it had been so long since she had gotten excited over something that it felt strange.
Her thoughts were spiraling into a dark place by the time Turner led her into the kitchen and stepped aside to let her see.
In the dim afternoon light, she blinked around at the bold mint of the painted cupboards and the sweet pink detailing. The tile backslash was the same sweet pink, and, together with the white quartz counter-tops, the effect was a pastel dream with gingerbread men come to life or little unicorns made out of fondant.
“I’m borrowing this place from a cousin,” Turner said. “I admit that I’m going to have some questions for them when they come back around.”
“This is very pretty,“ she started to say, but then she blinked, looking closer. “Is that a convection oven?”
“I give up, is it?”
In another man, it’d be a joke. With Turner, it was a genuine inquiry. She circled the kitchen island and then squatted down in front of the oven, stroking the knobs with one finger. Whoever owned this oven had taken incredible care of it. She could see the wear in a few places—it wasn’t unused or pristine. Instead they had simply given it the love and care it needed after all the food it had made, and Ilona bounced to her feet, a rush of fierce joy coursing through her.
“Yes! Yes, it is! That is a convection oven, and, unless I miss my guess, it’s one of the best models to come out in thelast ten years. Your cousin sure knows how nice this oven is. I can’t find any damage at all—they must have treated it like a princess.”
“Okay, I’ve been using the microwave and the electric kettle. What does the convection part mean?”
“It blows hot hair through the entire chamber in addition to roasting or broiling what’s inside. You can use it to ensure that your Thanksgiving turkey cooks all the way through or to make sure that your souffle doesn’t fall over because it’s having bad day.”
“So this is a good thing?” There was a tiny smile on Turner’s face, and she laughed out loud.
Before she knew what she was doing, she leaned over and grabbed Turner into an enormous hug. It was the only response that made sense. Suddenly she was aware of how hard his body was, how good he smelled when she pressed her nose to his shoulder, how incredible it was when his arms came up to circle around her.
I’m safe. I’m home,she thought, and she didn’t realize she had said it it out loud until Turner caught his breath. For a second his arms tightened around her as if he couldn’t ever bear to let her go, and then he loosened them reluctantly.
“You are always safe with me, and I will always be a home you can come to, no matter what,” he said.
She wasn’t sure which one of them moved first. She wasn’t thinking about it, but the truth was that she had perhaps been thinking about it ever since she laid eyes on him. He was handsome, maybe even beautiful, but that wouldn’t have been enough to get her to kiss him out of the blue.
Maybe he was the one who kissed her, then, and, God, but she would give him all the money she had and probably some that she didn’t if only he didn’t stop.
His mouth came down over hers, and, at the first touch of their lips, a shock traveled from her heart to every other part of her. She felt as if, for the first time in her life, she was all the way awake, and she had never imagined awakening could be so wonderful.
Ilona was the one who recklessly deepened the kiss. All she knew was that she needed more of this man, that she might actually wail if he stopped. When he pulled his mouth back from hers, she actually did whimper, but he didn’t go far. Instead, he paused with his lips just a few inches from hers, and he had to try twice before he could speak.
“Thank you.”
