“What! You were supposed to call me!”
He chuckled. “I only found out when we were driving home. We’ll be moving in next weekend.”
“Wow, that’s fast.”
“The Conclave helps speed things along for us.”
“So you’ll be here next weekend.”
It wasn’t a question, but he still answered. “Yes, baby.”
A huge smile spread over my face. “That’s awesome, Raph. I can’t wait to see you.”
“Me either. Will you help with the move? Then I can take you out Saturday night.”
“Yeah, I’d like that.”
The click of a door sounded through the phone a second before Raph growled, “I want to devour every inch of you.”
My body shivered, and my dick twitched in my pants. God, all he had to do was use that deep, sexy voice of his, and I was ready to throw myself at him. “I’m gonna lick every inch of your skin, charmer, and then you’re going to give me a go at your ass.”
He groaned, the sound sending a thrill through me. “Is that right?”
“Hell yes.”
He chuckled, but his voice sounded strained. “I get a go at yours first.”
Holding back a whimper, I pressed the heel of my hand to my dick, willing it to stay down. “As long as you’re naked, I don’t care what we do.”
“You say the sweetest things.”
A laugh escaped before I could stop it.
Before I could say anything else, Raph groaned in frustration. “Fuck.”
“What?”
“Iz is yelling that the food’s done.”
I sighed. “You better go eat before he searches for you and finds you in a compromising position.”
Raph snorted. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. Go eat, charmer.”
“Can I call you before bed?”
“Always.”
He paused for a moment, then whispered, “Always.” He took a breath. “I’ll talk to you soon, baby.” I had a feeling he meant something else, but I wasn’t sure what.
“Talk to you soon, Raph.”
We hung up, and if I pumped my fist in excitement that they were moving so soon, no one would ever know.
Chapter 13
Raphael
“Ready?” I asked Isiah.
He shot me a grin. “Ready.”
We hopped out of the car with our familiars and walked up the driveway to the front door of our new house, and a little thrill ran through me. It had been a long time since we’d bought a house, and I’d forgotten how exciting it was. This time was even better, too, because Alaric was only one street away, which meant Laz was right around the corner as well. Being close to our family was going to be amazing. We hadn’t had family to be with other than each other in a very long time.
Plus, Laz was… well, he was sexy and intelligent and funny and hot as hell. And I couldn’t wait to see him.
Thinking about Lazarus made me grin like a fool. I’d forgotten how much fun it was to date someone. It had been a long list of one-night stands for such a long time that I’d forgotten what it was like to flirt with someone you knew, how exciting it was getting to know them, how much I looked forward to seeing him again.
Izzy distracted me from my thoughts by unlocking the front door and shooting me a small smile before turning the knob. Our familiars took off the second the door was open, and we left them to their exploring. Izzy and I walked inside, and when I saw the open floor plan with the kitchen and dining room on the right and a fireplace on the left where the living room section would be, I could see why Izzy had fallen in love with the place.
He shot a look over his shoulder, asking, “What do you think?”
“It’s perfect.” I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around him from the back, resting my chin on his shoulder so we could take it all in together. My magic hummed in my veins, and I sighed in contentment. “Perfect,” I said again, though I didn’t mean only the house.
Izzy leaned back into my embrace, hugging my arms to his chest, and we stayed that way for a long time, letting our magic dance together.
After a few minutes, Izzy said, “I’m glad we’re making this our home base.”
“Me too.” I kissed his hair. “Do you have a vision for all the furniture you bought?”
“Psh. Of course, I do.”
I smiled as he began pointing out where he wanted to place everything without pulling away from me. He’d been allowing my affections more often lately, which I loved. But it worried me a little. He tended to get more clingy when we had big changes going on in our lives. Yes, we’d always traveled and lived all around the world for weeks at a time, but we had a system, and most of our homes we’d had for decades.
Buying a new house might have made him cling to me, but I knew that wasn’t the real reason. Bringing Laz into our lives in a new way was making him feel insecure, so I’d been trying to show him that he would always be my soul-pledged.
“What do you think?”
His question snapped me out of my reverie, and I realized that I hadn’t paid one ounce of attention to his plans for the furniture, so all I said was, “You know I’m good with however you want to decorate.”
He sighed and shook his head. “I knew you weren’t paying attention. I just asked if we should put a hot tub in the dining room instead of the table I bought.”
I chuckled. “I’m sorry, I was daydreaming. But a hot tub sounds fun.”
He snorted. “Yeah, I don’t think so. We want to be able to have everyone over for dinner and stuff, so that wouldn’t work, even if I was serious.”
With a sigh, I buried my face in the side of his neck, still reveling in the way our magics hummed together. He shivered when I accidentally tickled him, but he didn’t pull away.
“Raph, I—”
The front door had been left open, and since I’d been distracted by Izzy, I hadn’t heard the car pull up. It seemed Iz hadn’t either because the gasp that reached my ears had me freezing in place. Turning to the door, I found Laz standing there, staring at us with wide and hurt-filled eyes. He looked like he was about to bolt.
Cringing inside, I gave Izzy a squeeze before releasing him and walking up to Laz. The sexy human didn’t take his eyes off me. When I was right in front of him, I grabbed his waist, yanked him to me, then dipped him backward. He yelped in surprise and grabbed my shoulders so he wouldn’t fall as I pressed my lips to his.
His breath hitched for a moment before he laughed lightly against my lips and leaned up to capture my mouth. He was not a small man, so I could only hold him like that for a few seconds before I had to haul him up, both of us chuckling.
Once he was standing, instead of stepping away and letting him go, I pulled him closer and deepened our kiss for a few moments. When he was breathless and panting, I leaned back to speak against his lips. “Hey, baby. I missed you.”
All the tension in his shoulders released in a whoosh of air, and he whispered, “I missed you, too.”
I pulled him into an embrace, and as I breathed him in, I realized that the same contentment I usually only felt with Isiah filled my veins, filled my soul, with Laz in my arms. I didn’t understand how that was possible, but knowing Izzy was close and Laz was in my arms made my magic feel like it could take on the world. Gods, what is this?