Oh. “Right.”
His lips twitched. “I know deep down you aren’t going anywhere, that you are mine, but between the kidnapping, near death experience, danger, threats, and the damn vampire, my beast is pushing me to make things more solid.”
When he put it like that, I could understand on some level. “Okay.”
“Okay, what?”
“Okay, we shall set a date this week. Let me?—”
He dropped the dress, wrapped his arms under my thighs, and lifted me up against the wall before pushing his lips against mine. I squirmed as need blasted through my body—again. This feeling had to reduce sometime, right? How did people get anything done if this was what it was like to be in love?
I pulled away, panting. “Decide. Meal, or me. I can’t do both.” Because where this was heading, it wouldn’t be over in five minutes.
He growled deep and low before rolling his forehead against my shoulder. “For the record, I am not picking them over you.”
I sagged a little in disappointment, even though I knew the answer. “I know.”
“If we declare the ceremony tonight, hopefully this will be the fastest pack meal on record. Then I’m going to spend the night showing you how a cat does it.”
I blinked. He didn’t mean furry, right?
He chuckled as his teeth grazed my collarbone. “No, Cora, nothing quite as weird as that.”
“But then?—”
He stamped another kiss on my lips, shutting down my questions. “Not now.” His gaze softened. “You feel it too, right? Even though you aren’t a shifter? You feel the heat, the mating call, the need?”
I nodded. “Does it ever end?”
“Eventually.” He dropped my feet to the floor with a sigh. “After the first decade or so.”
Oh boy.
My hair had surviveda tumble with The Principal, so I was looking very well put together when I waltzed from the kitchen into the formal dining room full of Chatty Cathys who were waiting to see what I, their leader’s mate, had cooked for them. The answer, of course, was nothing. I did not, and could not, cook. I reserved my knife skills for autopsies. However, I had a gourmet chef aunt in my pocket who had been cooking up a feast for this meeting.
Aunt Liz winked at me as I left with the roast chicken. Well, the first roast chicken. She cooked four of them. Shifters had enormous appetites.
Despite Dave inviting her to take a seat at the dining table, she had refused, both last week and today. It seemed he was ready to announce another one of the pack had fallen for a Roberts woman, but she was not. I didn’t blame her; the politics were a nightmare I wanted to avoid, but couldn’t.
I left her finishing the chocolate torte and honeycomb ice cream and delivered the final chicken to the table before sliding into my chair next to Hudson on the left. Opposite me sat Norbert, who made it a point to get here before Mercy.
The leggy blonde bombshell still held futile hope that Hudson would come to his senses, kick me out, and welcome her into his bed. She was an alpha, albeit not the alpha of one of the pack groups. She held her own mini pack of fourteen lions. But in the grand scheme of things, she was a small fry.
Her bosses were Benedict and Keira, a mated pair who ruled over the cat packs as a whole. Not Hudson, but everyone else. Keira didn’t like me. She was another female who held the elitist view shifters should only mate with shifters, and Hudson was committing a great crime with me. They believed if they waved Mercy in front of him long enough, he would tire of me and fall between her legs.
I disliked the pair of them for this, but I felt sorry for Mercy, as I didn’t doubt she had feelings for Hudson, and there was nothing worse than unrequited love.
Mercy’s tactics, however, were so desperate and obvious that the others around the table started ignoring her. Each week, she tested my knowledge of shifter etiquette by trying to commit some kind of pass at Hudson, which, if I allowed, would declare me at best, clueless, and at worst, weak. It wasn’t like Hudson could step in for me; I had to stand on my own two feet, or Iwould spend every day battling pack females for the right to be with the man I love.
Norbert grinned at me. “This looks marvelous, Cora. Bravo.”
“Thanks. I had help.”
Dave snorted from his position next to me. They’d taken to sandwiching me between the more sympathetic members of the pack. Not that I expected anyone to stab me, but the meal was tense enough, and at least this way, I could monitor Mercy and her disappearing clothing. It was a miracle she didn’t show up naked. Maybe next week. I’d make sure to serve piping hot soup.I’m such a klutz. It really was just a slip, Your Honor.
Everyone was busy filling their plates with meat, potatoes, and vegetables when Hudson stood and raised his wineglass. Everyone paused. Oh wow, he was going for it already. I thought for sure we would get to dessert before announcing the nuptials, but I guess he really wanted me naked in his bed. I should wear sexy lingerie every day.
“Cora and I have an announcement,” he started.
