“You need someone to look after you.”
Her heart warmed at his words, and she felt a buzz along her skin as her magick tried to pulse in her veins. No one had ever made a sacrifice for her before, of any kind. And yet, the wolf who hadn’t trusted her at first had taken time from his job to take care of her. It was sweet and made her like him even more. Perhaps a little too much. She knew she needed to be careful and not fall in love with the wolf. He would never settle down until he found his mate.
Tulip stretched out on the couch as he walked out of the room and she stared up at the ceiling. The fan overhead made lazy circles and she watched the blades spin. She closed her eyes and felt the hum of the electronics, and something else. Her brow furrowed. There was the energy from Vaughn, but there was another trace in the air. One she wasn’t familiar with.
“Vaughn?” she called out, suddenly worried for him. It didn’t feel like dark fae, but the vibrations didn’t feel entirely good either. Treachery. Deceit.
He appeared in the doorway. “Did you need something?”
“There’s someone in the house.”
His eyes turned the yellow of his wolf and he lifted his nose to scent the air. A growl rumbled in his chest as he stomped off through the house. She heard a door slam into a wall and then a very female shriek. Did he have a girlfriend? Perhaps he’d already found his mate. The thought bothered her for some reason.
Vaughn burst into the front entry, a kicking, writhing female in his grip, as he opened the front door and tossed her out onto the porch.
“I told you no, now stay the fuck out of my house.” He slammed the door shut and reset the alarm. Then he stared at it and pushed more buttons.
“Was that your girlfriend?” Tulip asked.
“No. And now that I’ve changed my passcode on the alarm, her ass better not break in here again, or I’m letting the cops haul her away. Gabriel can be pissed all he wants. I’m tired of her shit.”
“Someone you dated?”
Those wolf-like eyes narrowed on her. “No.”
Okay. Obviously, it was a touchy subject, one best left alone. Vaughn crossed the room and lifted her into his arms again, carrying into the kitchen. He set her down on one of the wooden kitchen chairs and opened the box thing that cooled their food. A fridge? He rummaged around inside before turning to look at her again.
“You aren’t a vegetarian, are you?”
“I’ve never tried meat before. In my realm, animals live in harmony with us, but I know things are different here. If you cook meat, I promise to try it.”
He scratched his neck. “I think after this meal I’ll need to go the store. I’m more of a steak and potato kind of guy, and I’m guessing you like green stuff. Breakfast food okay? I can scramble some eggs, maybe throw a little shredded cheese in them, and make biscuits and bacon.”
“Other than eggs, I have no idea what any of that stuff is. I’ll try anything though. I’m not a very picky eater, so I’m sure whatever you make will be fine. Please don’t feel like you have to buy special stuff for me. I don’t want to be any trouble.”
He pulled out several items. “So, you haven’t been to the human realm much, have you?”
“Not for the last hundred years, and that was a brief visit.”
He froze. “Hundred years? How old are you?”
“Three hundred and twelve.”
He mumbled something under his breath that sounded oddly likeand I was feeling like a perv. “You don’t look a day over twenty.”
“We age differently from humans, and wolves, I’m assuming. How old are you?”
“Thirty-five. Guess that makes me a baby compared to you.”
“Fae are considered full grown at sixteen, but not an adult until they are fifty.”
“Wolves go through a hormone cycle when they are fifteen that lasts about two years. When we’re finished, we’re considered adults at seventeen. For humans, it’s eighteen.”
“Why don’t you have any plants in your home?” Tulip asked as she looked around. “You should grow fresh herbs for your kitchen.”
“I don’t have much luck with growing stuff. I hired someone to take care of the outside of the house. I cut the grass and had a sprinkler system installed to water the plants, but if I’d planted any of that stuff, it would have been dead within a week.”
“I love to work with plants.”
