“Yeah, I know.”
I almost kept complaining, but they were both right. Gears being a bitch was basically her love language, and she was one of the best friends I had outside of my pack.
I waved back at them instead, Gears already re-racking the balls to kick Hawk’s ass at pool again.
Talia clasped her hand in mine, leading me down a path away from the giant mansion. It was cold, but not debilitatingly so, and the fog had cleared up since the early morning hours. The Alfieris basically lived in a giant park, complete with both manicured gardens and lightly landscaped forest areas.
There were so many ways for me to get lost here. Asking her for a tour was mostly to give myself time to mentally prepare for Pack Alfieri, but partially so I’d be able to navigate around this damn place if push came to shove.
We saw guard patrols as we wandered hand in hand, all of them giving quick nods to Talia before continuing on their way. She told me what could be found in each direction whenever we reached a crossroad, and I tried to create a mental map of the place.
Mercer was way better at that shit, though. Wasn’t my strong suit.
“Think you’re ready to head back yet?” Talia asked, leaning against the short brick fence that lined this part of the trail.
I grabbed her hips and lifted her to sit on its flat top, bringing us almost to the same height. Her breath caught as I stepped in between her legs, her perfume getting stronger.
“Can I have a kiss first?”
“Just a kiss?” she asked, wrapping her legs around my waist.
“I mean, I couldn’t possibly ask for more than that with all those roaming guards.” I grinned.
She leaned in, her lips brushing mine. “You couldn’t, huh?”
“No way.”
I claimed her with a kiss, one arm wrapped around her to keep her close. She tasted like coffee, delicious and sweet, her cheeks and nose chilled from the biting air.
We could heat each other up easily, if we ignored the risk of being caught.
Unfortunately for both of us, I wasn’t about to test my luck after it had been so iffy lately. All I could have was a kiss while we were out in the open like this.
She whined when I broke the kiss, both hands clutching my shirt and trying to pull me back. I resisted, but she kept trying.
I was close to giving in when a loud buzzing sound broke the calm atmosphere.
“What is that?” I asked.
Talia reached down to pat at a side pocket of her leggings. “My phone. Shit. Someone is calling me.”
She fished it out from the pocket. Her eyebrows wrinkled in confusion when she looked at the display, but she answered it before I could see what the problem was.
“Hello?”
“Heard you made it back home safe and sound,mate.”
I heard the words on the phone loud and clear, and they made a feral growl rumble up in my chest.
That had to be Benjamin.
Chapter
Thirty-Four
TALIA
My fingers went limp, and I almost dropped the phone.
