Prymal Lust (27 page)
“Slow down, sweet girl.” Axe tugged her back down so they were face to face. “I’ll ask Lycus to be my best man. And you can do or have anything you want. I have one caveat—you are not to wear yourself out. Got that?”
“You know. I never thought I’d feel this way. I can’t wait to marry you.” She frowned and drew a figure eight on his chest. “Before I forget to tell you yet again, you should know that Mishe slipped me his cell phone in the Wal-Mart parking lot. He texted me this morning to make sure I was okay.”
He didn’t seem the least bit surprised. “I know.”
“And just how do you know that?” The man could be so damned irritating.
“Who do you think programmed the cell so you and your family communicating wouldn’t be detected?” He twirled a strand of her hair around his forefinger.
“Duh-uh. Of course, Jaz. I should’ve known that. Axe?” She stalled trying to find the right words.
“Tania,” he replied in a teasing tone.
“You know that I’ve come to really, really like all the Prymal alphas and Eve and Dax.”
“But?” he prompted
“I’m not asking because I don’t want them around, but is the pack going to live with us from now on?”
He shook his head. “No way. We’re making arrangements for Dax and Eva to buy the ring of land bordering Lycus’s and our properties at the bottom of the canyon. Right now, we’re discussing building log cabins around the periphery of the lake. Until each Prymal member mates, he or she can live in the cabin of their choice.”
A relieved sigh escaped Tania’s lips. “Thank gawd. You do realize that we have a tendency to be kind of, ah, loud, during?”
Axe’s belly shook with laughter. His guffaws echoed around the room. “You’re going to be the death of me in more ways than one. How is it that you can be blatant about a blow job, but blush and duck your chin when talking about you screaming my name when you come?”
She poked him. “It’s leftover Decorum, Discipline, and Deportment training. Don’t worry. I’m working hard to shed every rule drummed into me. Axe, we’re going to need a nursery room soon.”
His eyes narrowed. “It is a four bedroom house.”
“But all the bedrooms are on the other side of the house. I know we can use baby alarms and stuff like that, but I think I’d like our baby nearer.” Tania had a sickening feeling she was going to be an overprotective mother.
He grinned and flicked her nose. “Remember the shower in the penthouse suite?”
“The shower? What on earth does a shower have to do with a nursery?” The man had lost his marbles.
“I’d planned on duplicating it. We can enlarge the bathroom and add on another room on the other side. That work for you?”
“That shower must cost a ton.” She bit her lip. Was now the time to bring up finances? How on this planet had Axe been able not only to buy the ranch, which had a huge acreage, but also build the underground shelter on a military salary?
Axe smirked. “I wondered how long it’d take you to start worrying about money. My grandmother put together this old biddy investment club way back when. It was actually called The Old Biddy Gang. There were nine seniors and one of the first firms they invested in was Apple. When she died I inherited her stock.”
Tania flopped over to gape at him. “You’re rich?”
“We, as in you and I, are very comfortable.”
When Axe enumerated the size of their comfortableness, Tania fidgeted. Her near four grand in the bank paled in comparison. She examined her nails and picked at a flake of red polish playing for time.
He caught her wrist. “Stop. And don’t even think to suggest a prenup.”
“Why not? It makes sense. I want to pull my own weight, Axe. It’s important to me. Most of my life my choices have been limited because my father had control of my finances—”
Axe pressed two fingers to her lips. Their gazes collided. “No prenup. You keep what you earn from The Grape Escape. Bank it. Do whatever you want with it. Heck you and Eva can start your own investment firm. Allow me the privilege of supplying you with a home, clothing, food, and transportation.”
Mollified and not a little miffed by his pretense with his phrasing, she said, her tone cranky, “And what if I refused to allow you the privilege?”
“Really want to go there?”
He radiated alpha arrogance with a cocked brow and an impudent grin.
She chopped his bicep. “You know what gets to me? That I both hate and love it when you go all wolf dominant on me. Fine. I agree.”
“I’ll order the shower this week.”
The man knew when to stand down. Tania had a hunch the negotiations over their living arrangements would prove to be ongoing.
“What do you think of doing a retractable roof in the shower?”
Wow. All those jets and a full moon. A kaleidoscope of fantasies jumbled any semblance of cerebral rationality.
“That’s a fantastic idea. Hmm, I predict our water bill’s going to balloon.” She threw her arms around his neck. “I’m the luckiest woman on the planet. If only…”
“If only what?” He tipped her chin and their gazes met.
“If only things could stay exactly the way they are right now. It’s just that I can’t help but wonder—will this peace between us and the Wylfen hold? Can we, Prymal, change all the old enmities?”
“Thank you, sweet girl.” He stared into her eyes.
“For what?”
“You said, we Prymal. I love you, Tania. Mate. Mine own Prymal woman.”
Tears welled in her eyes and her voice trembled when she replied. “I love you, Axe. Mate. Mine own Prymal alpha.”
Award winning author, Jianne Carlo’s motto is simple: Alpha Me Please.
While strong heroines, exotic locations, and cultural differences are her forte, she goes weak in the knees for warriors and alphas. Send her a man with an attitude and she’ll find the right woman to tame him.
Jianne loves hot and spicy food, stomach-plunging park rides, and is kept on her toes by her Viking husband of thirty-five years, and three, handsome grown sons. There’s nothing she likes more than hearing from readers
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