Total pages in book: 134
Estimated words: 127527 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 638(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127527 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 638(@200wpm)___ 510(@250wpm)___ 425(@300wpm)
Just to be a tease, she gave his cock a quick squeeze before pulling back her hand. Which was exactly when Beck turned his attention to her.
“So, how long have you and Teague been dating?” the burly male asked.
“Several months,” Larkin vaguely replied, hoping she didn’t look as flustered as she felt.
Martina hummed. “Let me guess. You kept it to yourselves so you could date in peace. I understand. I had to do the same for years, because Richie was always interfering.”
Beck sighed. “He only did it to rile you up.”
Martina let out a little sniff. “Well, he stopped after I set too many of his things on fire.”
Feeling his lips twitch, Teague lifted his glass and took a swig of his drink. Dinner with the Wallis family never failed to make him smile.
Larkin’s psyche stroked along his, and then her voice glided into his mind. What is it with imps and fire?
He set down his glass. I don’t actually know. Meeting her gaze, he inhaled deeply, dragging more of her scent into his lungs—the spice of arousal there taunted him. There’s quite a few serial arsonists among them. But they only target those who wrong them. And they generally don’t let people burn to death. They usually just get them crispy.
I suppose that makes it okay, then, she said as she faced forward, her tone sardonic.
He snickered and nipped her earlobe just because. Don’t act like you haven’t done worse. I’ve heard plenty of rumors about you and your demon. Very intriguing rumors.
“Want to share with the class whatever it is you two are telepathically talking about?” Keenan snarked, glancing from her to Teague.
His demon narrowed its eyes at the incubus, not liking his tone. “You really want to hear what I’m planning to do to her when we’re alone and naked?”
Keenan’s face went a dark red.
Khloë elbowed her mate. “Cheer up, will you?”
His brow furrowed. “I don’t need to cheer up. I’m fine.”
“You’re brooding,” Khloë corrected. “Something I’d ordinarily find amusing. Delightful, even. But you keep snarling at my anchor, and I don’t like it. Leave him alone.”
Keenan spluttered. “He’s all over her. At a dinner table.”
“All over her?” Khloë echoed. “Not even close. God, you can be so dramatic when you’re in a mood.”
“You’re really okay with the idea of them together?”
“Unlike you, I don’t feel a need to come between people and the source of their happiness. All right, that was pure bull. Messing with people’s level of contentment feeds my soul. Let me put this another way. I want Larkin to be happy. I want Teague to be happy. Together, they are happy. So yeah, I’m okay with them being together.”
The girl was so convincing that Teague almost believed her.
Once dinner was over and everyone had said their goodbyes, they exited the house to find two of Jolene’s lair digging a seriously deep hole in the front lawn. No one batted an eyelid about it—they were too used to imps doing weird stuff. Jolene, however, was not happy.
It was as he and Larkin clicked on their seatbelts in the truck that the Prime shoved one of the diggers into the hole.
Starting the engine, Teague chuckled. “You gotta love Wallis imps.”
“You fit in well with them,” Larkin noted.
“They’re my kind of people.” He pulled away from the curb and onto the road. “Say what you want about imps, but they have each other’s back. There’s loyalty there. A real sense of family. Their personal ‘code’ might differ from that of most, but when it comes to what’s important, they don’t let others down.”
“True,” she agreed. “I didn’t really see that until Harper came into our lives and we got to know her family and old lair members. Still, I’m not sure I’d want to live among them like Keenan—he’s always full of stories about how he gets home to find that Khloë’s been up to all kinds of stuff, and suddenly there are boxes of goods that ‘fell out of a van’ stacked in a cupboard. Goods her relatives later sell. Speaking of Keenan, I don’t think he has as many doubts about us as he did before.”
Teague dipped his chin. “Knox still isn’t convinced.”
“I noticed that. But since he failed to comment on the matter at any point today, I’m thinking he decided to stay out of it.”
“That’s the feeling I got.” Teague paused as he made a right turn. “You know, on a whole other note, you surprised me tonight.”
Her brow pinched. “In what sense?”
“You gave as good as you got. I didn’t think you would. I thought you’d blush like crazy and maybe try slamming my face on the table.”
“I presume you’re referring to how you did your best to get me all hot and bothered.”
He smiled at the withering look she fired his way. He loved getting under her skin and watching her facial muscles twitch as she fought to hide just how annoyed she was. He decided there and then that he’d work toward giving her a permanent eyelid twitch—it would suit her. “I did get you all hot and bothered.”