“I appreciate that, Riley. Thank you.”
“Before anyone gets busy doing anything,” Leni interjected, “I’m going to make some breakfast. Razor, do you think Willow will want some?”
He nodded. “That’d be great. Thanks, Leni. She’s taking a shower now and should be down shortly. Thanks for the fresh clothes and toiletries.”
She smiled. “My pleasure.”
“I thought that shirt looked familiar,” Knox said, frowning at Razor. He glanced archly at his mate. “You gave him my favorite shirt?”
Laughing, she walked up to him and brought her arms around his torso. “We owe Razor more than just a shirt for how he helped us when we needed it most. Wouldn’t you agree?”
He growled low under his breath. “I love that shirt.”
“And I love you,” she murmured, rising up onto her toes to kiss his bearded chin.
Riley let out an exaggerated groan. “All you two do is kiss and hug all the time.”
Everyone laughed at the boy’s outburst.
“Just wait,” Knox advised his nephew. “The day will come when you meet a special girl and that’s all you’re going to want to do too.”
Riley made an appalled face. “Yuck, no way!”
They talked for a few more minutes while Leni and Shannon went about starting breakfast for themselves, Riley, and Willow. Razor and Knox took a seat at the small dining table in the kitchen, catching up on things at the old Darkhaven back in Florida and Knox’s new life in the North Maine Woods.
The more they talked, the more Razor wondered about where he truly belonged. Having been born into Dragos’s Hunter program, pondering a future had been a concept he’d never considered. He lived for the moment, trained simply to fight one battle and to survive to fight the next.
Once he’d settled in the Everglades Darkhaven with his other escaped brothers, he’d thrived on challenging his mind as much as his body and his physical skills. Pleasure was as basic as feeding, a necessary task to keep his mind and body sharp and functioning at optimum capacity. Love had never factored into anything he did. The future was something others planned for and pined for.
But now?
He watched Knox with Leni and he couldn’t help imagining how it might be for Willow and him. A happy life together. A future somewhere safe and quiet. A blood bond and a family of their own.
When he thought about Willow, he wanted it all.
Holy hell.
Was he falling in love with her?
A soft creak on the attic stairwell brought his head around just in time to see her step down into the kitchen. Her freckled cheeks were pink from her shower, her glossy hair hanging in damp waves around her shoulders. She wore a chunky sweater and a flowered skirt that fell almost to her ankles. She looked refreshed and lovely, and the private smile she gave him twisted his insides into a pleasant knot.
“Sorry I slept so late.” She glanced at the breakfast feast being prepared on the stove. “Leni, that smells delicious.”
“Just bacon, omelets, and biscuits. I hope you’re hungry.”
“Starving,” Willow admitted. She turned her smile on Leni’s sister. “Hi, I’m Willow.”
“Shannon,” the other woman said. “Pleased to meet you.”
“Can I help with anything?”
“Sure,” Leni said. “You wanna chop some peppers for the omelets?”
Willow nodded. “Sounds great.”
She got right to work, joining in as if she’d known Leni and her sister all her life. Razor watched her with silent intensity, unable to tear his eyes away from her as she chatted easily with the other women and Riley, the most relaxed he’d ever seen her.
She looked at peace.
