Page 64 of My Pleasure

“What?”

“Pretend we’ve been mated for like a century. Hug my arm, drape your leg over mine, roll on to your side, whatever feels right.”

“How do you sleep?” she asked.

“On my back.”

“You snore, don’t you?”

“Probably.”

“I’m a side sleeper.” She rolled on to her right side, and taking him at his word, snuggled closer to hold his arm. She didn’t drape her leg over his, but she did bring her knee up slightly. She sighed as she got comfortable. Yawning, she rubbed her face against his upper arm. “You’re warm.”

“Another reason I like it cooler in here.”

She yawned again. “You’re like a polar bear.”

“Slander!” Hunter gasped in mock indignation.

She laughed, then felt her day catching up to her. Fighting her drowsiness, she squeezed his arm in a hug. “Goodnight, my mate.”

He was quiet for a second. “Goodnight, my mate,” he replied softly.

With the fan blowing and her mate keeping her warm, she immediately fell asleep.

*****

In the morning she got dressed in yesterday’s clothes and headed downstairs with Hunter. Peeking up at him, she noticed that the man had not stopped smiling all morning.

She poked his side. “Did you have a nice dream?”

He shook his head. “I woke up with my mate in my arms, how could it be a bad morning?”

Blushing, she smiled at his words.

Surprisingly, the dining area wasn’t nearly as full as it had been the previous evening for dinner.

Meryn sat listlessly in her chair, holding a cup of coffee to her chest. Pip was next to her arranging a plate of breakfast food, which is slid over to Meryn.

Kiera sat down across from them. “Where is everyone?”

Pip smiled. “Nigel and Neil went with Genevieve to the orphanage. Caiden, Konstantine, Aedan, Zev and Aiden are doing drills out back.” Pip tapped his cheek. “Uncle Marshall went with Eoin to the council house to submit your custody paperwork, the other three Armstrong cousins should be arriving for breakfast soon and Kendrick said he wanted to look at a few books before he started your testing so he took Anne with him back to his house.”

Ryuu walked in balancing multiple platters. He set down, bacon, scrambled eggs, fruit, and toast onto the table. “Plates and silverware are on the sideboard. Do either of you require a dose of caffeine?”

“Dose?” Kiera asked.

Ryuu smiled, his eyes going to Meryn. “We treat coffee as medicinal.”

“Knock, knock.”

Kiera and Hunter turned to see Hunter’s parents, cousins, and her brother and sister arrive. “Keran! Nicol! Good morning!” She stood and scooped them both up to kiss their faces repeatedly, causing both of them to giggle.

“Kiera, you just saw us last night,” Keran protested, but was smiling the whole time.

“Does that mean I can’t hug and kiss you this morning?” she asked, setting them down next to the chairs by her.

“No,” Nicol answered immediately.