The plea cracked through his commander voice. Her throat moved, eyes darting to where Addison hovered behind the kitchendoor. Her shoulders folded inward, that damnable self-sacrifice reflex smothering the rebellion.
“In addition to the obvious physical dangers, we have no idea how he’s going to react once we start scrubbing, Seri.” Cas softened just a little. “If he hurt you, none of us,including Brumous, would forgive ourselves.”
“But he’smywolf.” She frowned, her brows knitting together. “I should be the one—”
“No,” Cas repeated, his tone leaving no room for argument.
I leaned against the pergola, arms crossed. Part of me wanted to laugh. Casimir was so damnseriousabout everything all the time! But another part of me got it. Seri was still recovering and had no magic. The thought of Brummy accidentally hurting her made my stomach twist.
“He’s right, Seri,” Ko chimed in, his deep voice calm. He was crouched next to Brummy, running a hand over the wolf pup’s back to keep him calm. “Let us handle this, beloved.”
“Fine, but if he gets scared, I’m stepping in.”
“C’mon, trouble.” I circled around behind her and breathed against the shell of her ear, catching the full-body shiver that had nothing to do with the April chill. “You really wanna get up close with,” I trailed a fingertip down the side of her neck, grinning when goosebumps erupted, “all that wet fur?”
She elbowed my ribs. Weakly. I nipped her earlobe, smelling her shampoo and the lingering sleepiness she was trying to hide. Our bed smelled like that now. Like dragon fruit dew and sex andher.
It was heaven.
“Or you just wanna get up close with me shirtless?”
Bleeding night, her pout was ridiculous! Absolutely, unfairly ridiculous! Lower lip trembling, stormcloud eyes gone liquid silver. My jeans tightened as memories ambushed me: Seri arching into Koa’s touch, Cas’ hand fisting in her hair, a broken sob doubling as my name when I—
“But, Zoodle, if I promise to stay behind—”
My mouth crashed onto hers, swallowing the argument. She tasted like pancakes and tea. Her surprised hum tickled my tongue, her fingers digging into my biceps. When I raised my head, her lips glistened cherry-red.
“Pout’s gone!” I announced. “Mission accomplished!”
“You’re a meanie,” she muttered as I leaned in, my lips brushing hers much more lightly.
“C’mere, sweetheart. Lemme apologize.”
She huffed, but her lips twitched, fighting a smile. I didn’t give her the chance to win that battle. Swirling her around, I dipped her low and kissed her again, slow and deliberate, savoring the way her hands clutched my shirt. For a second, I forgot where we were, forgot about Brumous, forgot about the bath, forgot about everything excepther. Her silky thighs, her perfect tits, her soft ass…
I was so fucking obsessed with our wife.
When her teeth nipped my lower lip, heat roared through me like a brushfire. I wondered if my brothers were thinking about how she’d chanted our names last night—
“Focus, Zane!” Cas barked from somewhere nearby.
I broke the kiss, thumb swiping saliva from Seri’s chin.
“That’ll have to be sorry enough for now, baby doll. Now be good and document our impending humiliation.”
“Why must everything be memorialized?” Cas sighed. “Father doesn’t need photographic evidence that we’ve domesticated a hellhound.”
“Domesticated?” I snorted. “He chewed off all the garden gnomes’ heads yesterday. Pretty sure the gardener’s gonna be finding ceramic ears in the hydrangeas until October.”
“What does document mean in that context, Koko?” Seri ignored us to ask.
“Take photos, beloved. This is one of the first milestones in our married lives, after all. Our fur baby’s first bath. Where’s your phone?”
“Hmm.” Her face scrunched up. “Maybe on my dresser? Not sure.”
“Here.” He handed her his. “Use mine.”
Her face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. She was practically bouncing on her toes as she took the phone.
