To the Edge and Back [The Royal Wolves] (Siren Publishing Allure) (11 page)

“Your choice,” he told her, “just like every other woman out there. But until we’re fully mated and have been for at least a month, there’s no chance of you becoming pregnant. It’s some weird biological thing that keeps us from having half a dozen kids should we have relationships before finding a mate.”

“I think I really like that weird biological thing, Janos. I know it’s selfish of me, but I want to be the only one to ever give you children.” She shrugged and shifted slightly so she was facing him more, eyes once more growing heavy but watching him carefully. “I want to mate with you, Janos. I want a forever kind of life with you.”

“And we will, Mina,” he promised with a smile. Taking her hand in his, he gave it a gentle squeeze. “We’re almost to the house,” he told her as he pulled into his drive and hit the remote for the large gates set back over fifty feet from the house. 

He’d never wanted anyone seeing his home or land. It was private to him and just his. Pulling through, he went around the drive and pointed ahead. “There’s the house, love,” he said, looking to her with a smile, glad they’d come at night. The outside lights were highlighting the stonework of the front and the large porch area with the bench swing.

“Oh my god,” she whispered in complete and total awe. It settled in on her then just who and what he was and just how powerful and rich he was.

Licking her lips, she asked, “You think I’m silly for all this talk of getting a job, don’t you? You likely have more money in your safe than I ever would have made in a lifetime.” It was humbling, and frightening. “I love your home, Janos, just as I love you.” She did. She loved him completely, but she didn’t know what she could bring to their relationship.

“It’s not silly, honey. I work for a living, too, if you’ve forgotten,” he told her as he pulled into the garage at the side of the house. Once the doors were shut, he moved around to her side and helped her out but didn’t let her move away immediately.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her, staring at her intently. He’d caught the change in her scent, slight though it was it had been there, and she was worrying. That much he knew.

“I love you, Janos,” she admitted as he held her close. “I have grown to love you in our shared dreams, but what can I bring into our relationship? You are offering me everything. You are a prince and I am not even a pauper.” She was penniless, unemployed, and all she had was what she would give him regardless of anything.

“You are giving me so much more than you can ever believe,” he said softly. “You’re giving me your love, you’re giving me you, all of you, and you’re bringing to me the other half of who I am. I’m a prince only by accident of birth to the right family. All the wealth I have now is because my brother was smart and invested what little money we had with us to ensure we’d never want. He worked long hours as we all grew, pouring every cent into making us more. He basically killed himself for the first forty years we were here so that we could enjoy our childhood and grow up slowly. Without his sacrifices I honestly don’t know if any of us would be half the upstanding citizens we are now.”

“Then I will remember to thank him, Janos.” She just hoped that he didn’t terrify her too much. “I hope he doesn’t scare me.” If so, she would simply deal. “Now, can we go inside? Go into our home, Janos? I want to look around and get to know it before we go to bed for the night, if that’s all right with you?”

“He’ll scare your pants off.” Janos grinned. “Just make sure you’re wearing underwear at the time,” he teased. “He’s a big, grumpy, snarly, growling Wolf that needs a serious social life. But every time I suggest he gets laid I end up needing stitches so I’ve just learned to e-mail him the suggestion instead.”

Grabbing her bag, he stepped back. “We’ll get the boxes later,” he said, putting a hand to her lower back and encouraging her toward the door. Unlocking it, he disarmed the system and then hit a few of the lights. “Take a look around, honey. Get to know the place,” he suggested. “I’m going to grab a cup of tea. Do you want something?” he asked as he wandered toward the large and modern kitchen.

She turned around in the foyer, taking everything in at once. “Water please.” She didn’t do tea. She didn’t like the bitter taste of it. She followed him, her hands touching this and that, but she stopped before a fireplace mantel in a sitting room. She was drawn to the pictures there and smiled. “Are these your brothers?” She touched the face of Janos, his easy smile and laughter clear.

Glancing through the opening to the sitting room as he put the water on to heat, he nodded. “Yeah, that’s them. Laszlo is the grumpy-looking, stern oldest brother. Benedek is the one that looks as though he’s lost in thought,” he told her as he grabbed her a chilled bottle of water and moved to her side. Pointing, he continued, “That’s Miklos, and this other space cadet is Kristof, which just leaves the most handsome and dashing of the bunch”—he pointed at his chest—“me.”

“I have to agree.” She smiled but she heard the pleasure in his voice, she heard the love in his voice, and grinned. “You are all so handsome, such an amazing family, and you see a gruff older brother and I see one protecting his family.” She touched the image of Laszlo’s face with a gentle finger.

“You see one lost in thought and I see a dreamer ready to change the world.” The same motion, a gentle brush in turn over Benedek’s image. “You see space cadets and I see men that would die for their brothers. I see a family of love, created and honed in the fires of loss.” She turned to him. “And before me I see you. I see a man I fell in love with in dreams and one who is offering me a lifetime of dreams, offering to give me my heart’s desire in a kiss, in a touch.”

“Always,” he promised her softly as he handed her the bottle of water. “You’ll like them, I think. Laz owns majorities in a shipping company and plays the stock market like a maestro conducting an orchestra. Ben owns a small chain of bookstores and is an author in his own right, but don’t let him know I told you that,” he murmured. “Apparently it’s supposed to be a secret or some nonsense.” Shaking his head, he shrugged.

“Mik is a Detective with the NYPD, has one of the best solve rates around apparently, or he could be blowing smoke, not really sure. And Kris is a medical researcher with more doctorates and degrees than even he can remember but plaster a full wall in his office. He definitely got all the brains in the family, kind of a geek, soft spoken, but he’s great. They’re my brothers, my blood, my family, and my best friends,” Janos murmured, looking at the picture.

“I’d kill without a thought for all of them and lay down my life to save any and all of them.” Looking down at her, he smiled. “That goes double for you, Mina.”

Mina blushed and nodded. “And I would do anything for you as well, Janos.” Taking the water from him, she opened it and took a drink. Finally she licked her lips and sighed. She was getting hungry, but the water would fill the void. She was a pro at that one.

“Come on into the kitchen with me for a second,” he said, tugging her hand. His water was boiling as they walked in. Pulling the kettle off the heat, he poured it into the tea pot and dropped in a couple of bags of tea before covering the whole thing. “I was thinking of doing a pizza for dinner if you’re interested,” he said, opening a drawer that was in actuality his freezer.

“I have meaty, cheesy, meatier, something green…” He frowned and grabbed that one. “Bloody hell,” he muttered, “Mik must have left this here.” He showed her the spinach and Asiago cheese one. “What’s the lady’s choice for food?” he asked her, looking up from where he was crouched.

She snickered. “Is he the only herbivore?” She looked at the pizza’s though and said, “Meaty please.” She had only ever had the Tombstone pizzas that tasted like cardboard, and these looked much different from that. “Which kind is your favorite?” She grinned and then said, “I can’t think of the last time I had pizza.”

“No, he’s not an herbivore, but when he’s on the job he only eats vegetarian. Says it keeps his senses sharp. But on the weekends you’d better count the cows ’cause he’s likely to eat through a herd,” he said, grabbing a meaty and a cheesy.

“I’ll do up these two and we can work our way through them,” he said as he cracked open the packages and started the oven to heating. Sliding the pizzas onto the pans, he set them aside before grabbing a cup and pouring a cup of tea. Dumping in a spoon of sugar, he looked to her. “Are you going to look at the rest of the place?” he asked her, taking a slow sip.

“I want you to be with me when I do, Janos. I want to experience each moment of firsts with you, and learning our new home would be one of the firsts that I would love to have with you. I want a lifetime of firsts with you, Janos, if you don’t mind?”

Shaking his head, he smiled. “I don’t mind. Once the oven heats I’ll toss in the pizzas and then we’ll have twenty minutes to do a quick tour.” Finishing his first cup, he pulled out the tea bags and tossed them before covering it back up. “You think it’s weird I drink tea, don’t you?” he asked with a grin at her confused look. “I work in a bar all day and more often than not smell like alcohol each night. Tea is refreshing and cleansing,” he revealed. “It actually, depending on the leaf blend, clears out my poor nose so I can breathe freely again.”

“The only tea I have ever had is bitter, so I tend to stick with water and once a week I will have a Pepsi.” She grinned. “I have milk a couple times a week, too. I love milk. Just how cold it is and how good it tastes.” She shrugged. “I like it a lot, but I really like water, too. Just the clean and refreshing taste is so very nice.”

Lifting a brow, he poured another cup of tea and stirred in the required amount of sugar before sipping. Nodding, he offered it to her. “Take a taste and let me know what you think,” he said. Once she had the cup, he turned and slid the pizzas into the oven before turning back to see her sniffing it. “It won’t bite.” He chuckled, moving closer. “Just take a little sip and see if you like this better.”

She sniffed the hot tea and brought it slowly up to her lips. She took a small sip and closed her eyes, licking her lips and letting her eyes blink open quickly. “Really? This is tea?”

Chuckling, he nodded. “Of course it’s tea. There are hundreds of different kinds. This is orange white tea. It’s new and one I really like since the white teas aren’t as bitter as the greens or blacks. I do have some loose black tea, but I usually use that for when I want a drink after a particularly hard day and put in a little dollop of joy.” Moving, he pulled out a second cup and poured himself a new one, adding the sugar before waving his arm before him. “Come on, sweetheart, let the tour continue,” he said, picking up his cup and following after her as she began to walk through his house.

She held the cup cradled in her hands as she started through the house. “You live here alone?” Well not anymore, now he had her to share the space with, and later, later she would tell him that she was staying, forever. “So far I really like everything. I love the woods used, the dark reds of the–what kind?” She couldn’t figure out the difference in woods, but she liked it whatever it was.

“Mahogany and cherry,” he told her, pointing to each as he added, “The one that has more pink tones is the cherry, and the more chocolate in color is the mahogany.” Putting his hand at her back, he indicated the next room. “This is my office away from work. Next to it are two guest rooms and then the master suite. Across the hall is a half bath for company since there’s a full bath between the two guest rooms.”

“And the master suite has its own bathroom, too?” she intoned as she looked into the office and then walked in, grinning. “I can tell that Max comes in here sometimes.” Well, she hoped so, because if not, his OCD would seriously drive her to distraction.

Shooting her a look, he frowned. “Why do you say that?” he asked, looking around at everything and trying to figure out what she was seeing that he wasn’t.

When he asked why she thought Max came in, she pointed to the bookshelf. “Not in alphabetical order but in size order, largest and heaviest at the top and working their way down to the shortest and lightest at the bottom.” Max was a great guy, but he had a serious issue with size and ensuring that everything was all properly aligned.

Focusing on the bookshelves, he groaned. “I swear, I turn my back on him for two minutes and he has the whole place reorganized, bugger.” Shaking his head, he moved over to them and muttered, “I may have to nail his feet in place when he’s here next.”

Stifling the giggle, she shook her head. “What, you don’t like it?” Personally she liked alphabetical, liked to be able to go right to a book, but that was just her.

Turning, he looked at her. “I prefer being able to find stuff personally. Whenever he does this it takes me a month to get them back into alphabetical order by author. Or I hire some kid from the area and pay him to do it for me.” Leaning back against a chair, he sighed. “I love Max, but this could make me kill him one day soon.”

She laughed and shook her head. “I will fix it, Janos, no need to hire anyone.” Her arm around his waist, she hugged him tightly. “Don’t worry about it. I will fix it and if he decides to try to do it again I will smack his hands with a rubber band, deal?”

“You don’t have to, Mina. Personally I’d make him do it, but I can’t stand his whining. Besides, some of those books outweigh you, I’m sure.” He pointed to the big ones at the top. “Why he insists on putting the heaviest at the top is beyond me. Every time I have to rearrange it I end up hitting myself with one, at the very least one.” He shook his head.

“It’s a visual thing. When you look at it, your eye is drawn to the largest thing first, in this case to the top of the bookcase.” She shrugged. “You can send Maxi over to fix it and I will make sure that he does.” She wanted to be a part of his home, his life. She wanted to help him where and if she could at any given time.

“That may be harder than you realize, but I’ll let you take on that challenge.” He grinned at her. “Now, let’s get moving. You still need to see the rest of the house before we have dinner.” Indicating the door, he followed after her. “You can worry about the horror that is my office later.”