I couldn’t agree more.
“Thank the moon,” I said, wrapping my arms around my mate’s waist from behind after she walked in the house, dropping her bag on the counter. “I finally have you all to myself again.”
“Barrett,” Eryne laughed. “I’ve only been gone for a few hours.” She had her weekly coven meeting with the girls today, and I’d pouted all morning when she had told meno boys allowed.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “It was a long few hours.” I’d never really appreciated the passage of time before, or how fast it seemed to move when all I wanted was to slow down and savor every moment.
It had been a week since we’d restored the town wards. A week since we’d officially been mated. A week since everything had settled for the better.
A week of officially beingtogether.I was happy and content here, living with her, but I knew I had to have some serious conversations about the future before I could put down actualroots. Plus, I needed to go home—to stop living out of my car and feeling like I was just living off of my mate. Not that I minded her home, the bed that had becomeours.
The promise of a lifetime together should have been enough, but I wanted more. Wanted a ring on her finger. Wantedeverything.
Eryne hummed as I slowly swayed us back and forth in the kitchen, leaning her head back on my shoulder. She let her eyes drift shut.
“Come home with me,” I whispered against her ear, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. “I want you to meet my family.”
She looked up at me, a soft smile on her lips. “Are you sure?”
“That I want them to meet my mate?” I said. “Absolutely positive. I want them to know the woman I’ve fallen in love with.” I kissed under her ear.
My mate blushed. “When?”
“Sometime next month, maybe?” It was only a week until Halloween, and I knew how excited she was for it. Plus, as much as I knew she would love fall in Walnut Ridge, winter was even more beautiful. Maybe I could take her to my family’s cabin up in the mountains when we visited.
I knew she’d like it up there, and I couldn’t wait to show her the place I’d grown up, just like she’d shown me around Pleasant Grove.
Her eyes fluttered. “Okay.” The word was a whisper.
“Okay?”
Eryne nodded. “Okay. I’d love to come home with you.”
“Good. Because I don’t want to be apart from you.” I nuzzled my face against her neck.
She giggled. “No one told me that becoming mated would make you a stage five clinger.”
I playfully rolled my eyes, though she wasn’t wrong. After almost losing her, it was hard to let her out of my sights. Partof me still couldn’t believe I’d almost lost her before I’d had a chance to tell her how I felt.
Eryne wiggled out of my arms, going to check on Nutmeg. The hedgehog was just happy to be around our witch, and I knew it comforted her to have her familiar even just sitting on her shoulder.
“What do you want to do for dinner?” She asked, setting Nutmeg back in her enclosure.
I licked my lips. “I have some ideas.”
“Oh?”
Nodding, I scooped her up into my arms and carried her into the bedroom. Our bedroom. “I want to eatyou.”
“Oh, the big bad wolf has me in his clutches, hm?” Eryne said, running her nails along my scalp.
I grinned. “That’s right. And I’m never going to let you go.” I set her down on the floor, slowly stripping every piece of clothing from her body before she did the same to me. Pressing a kiss to her mating bite, I let my hands wander down her body.
My mate climbed on the bed, scooting until her back rested against the pillows as she parted her thighs for me.
“Mmm.” I licked my lips. “Look at that perfect pussy, all spread out for me.”
She ran her fingers up her thighs, circling her clit. “Are you going to come have a taste, or just leave me to take care of myself?”
