“You are my everything, Bee,” was his reply. And that was as far as things went as a throat cleared.
Daddy glowered. “Bedtime.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
“I’m getting my evening tea.” Which was code for Get upstairs before I come back.
The moment Daddy disappeared, she was back in Ulric’s arms, giving him a kiss. And another. She heard a distant thud.
Time was up.
She cast Ulric an apologetic glance. He grinned and mouthed, Unlock your window.
Her mouth rounded as she skipped up the stairs. Would Ulric really take that chance?
Probably.
And she loved him for it because she didn’t want to sleep alone. She’d gotten used to using him as a body pillow made of rock.
Teeth brushed, first pee of the night accomplished, she climbed into her childhood bed. Her room had remained the same once she moved out. Mommy’s way of showing she always had a place to come home.
Her gable room was tucked over the front door with its porch. The window unlatched and opened easily. The screen was something Ulric popped when he appeared a half-hour later.
She whispered, “You’re so bad. What if my dad checks on you?”
“I lumped the blankets to look like a body.”
“You’re a pro at sneaking around, are you?”
“Only with you, Bee.”
They made love in her bed, the narrow mattress requiring her to be on top, which she didn’t mind. The carpet at least kept the bed from squeaking on the floor. His mouth caught her sounds of pleasure as she rocked and rolled atop him, her hips undulating to drive him deeper. The pressure just right. When her orgasm hit, she flopped on him and bit his shoulder rather than yell.
By the time he left her bed, she drowsed, only to wake suddenly starved and parched.
She snuck downstairs and peeked into the living room and noted the big lump on the couch. Ulric slept. She’d have to chew softly so as to not wake him.
In the kitchen, she struggled with what she wanted to eat. Her gaze strayed to the window overlooking Mom’s garden. It probably still had some rhubarb. Mmm. Rhubarb smeared in peanut butter dipped in sugar.
Before heading outside, she glanced to the living room where Ulric slept. He’d be mad if she went out without waking him. At the same time, she just wanted a snack. In and out.
She disarmed the house alarm, wincing at each beep, and yet a glance at the couch showed his lumpy shape unmoving. She headed out the front and then to the side of the house where the big rhubarb plant had been widening since she was a child. She crouched to peruse the rhubarb stalks and had reached for one when she heard it. The rustle of fabric as if someone snuck up behind.
By the time she thought it, a gloved hand had been shoved over her mouth.
23
Ulric knew better than to get caught in Honey’s bed. Her father—who didn’t appear keen to have Ulric address him as anything other than sir—would most likely shoot him and bury him somewhere in his backyard if he thought for one moment Ulric disrespected his daughter.
The lure of his mate proved stronger than his fear of death, hence why he lingered close to her until the wee hours of two. She slept, her breathing soft and even, relaxed, and so beautiful it almost hurt.
He wanted nothing more than to stay close. To wake by her side. To see that little smile she always had when she first opened her eyes and saw him.
It was just for one night.
He’d live.
Right?
Departing by the window meant he could only pull down the pane, not lock it. Surely she’d be fine. No one knew they were here, and in a few hours, dawn would arrive, and the street would be too busy for anyone to think of using it to climb in.
The bathroom window also remained unlocked, a fact that led to him doing a quick circuit of the main floor, padding barefoot and silent. He didn’t see any signs anyone had entered. Smelled nothing untoward, only lingering tobacco smoke.
Had her father come down to check on him? The lump he’d left on the couch appeared undisturbed.
Until he pulled back the blanket.
The scowl that met Ulric just about ruined his masculinity. A good thing he’d peed not long ago.
“Uh.” Ulric’s brilliant defense at finding Honey’s father on the couch.
“You’ve got a lot of nerve,” the other man said, sitting up.
Ulric had no defense. A father had every right to be pissed. Ulric would deserve whatever punishment he meted. Knowing all this, he still had to apologize for disrespecting Honey’s father. “Sorry isn’t enough sir. I’ll go sleep in my car.”
“I’m not talking about that. I expected you to sneak off. It was my wife’s idea. Said it was romantic.” Mr. Iris snorted. “I am more pissed that you think you can just ask my daughter to marry her without speaking to me first.”
“I was planning to. It’s why I’d brought the ring in the first place.” He’d figured if he was going to meet his father’s mate, he should do things right. “But at the time, the situation seemed to call for a grand gesture.”
The other man nodded. “Yeah, Honey’s mom kind of trapped you there.”
“Let’s pretend we had this conversation earlier. Sir”—Ulric stood straight and serious—“I really love your daughter. I would do anything for her. With your permission, I’d like her to be my wife.”
Honey’s dad snorted. “As if she cares what I think. My Honey has always been headstrong.”
“I noticed.”
The older man snorted. “Marry her. But hurt her and know that I will shoot you.”
“Noted and not a concern, as I plan to spoil Honey.” Once she survived the pregnancy. It was hard not to be nervous. Silver might be confident, but at the same time, it had been too easy thus far. The next full moon, only a day away, could be the trigger. He could feel his pulse pounding to a wilder beat. The tension coiling within.
The change was coming. Would Honey feel it too?
A pair of headlights momentarily lit the filmy curtains that hung over the bay window.
“Late for anyone to be out,” Mr. Iris noted, moving closer to the window to look.
Ulric didn’t think he was being too paranoid. “Did they keep going?”
“Yeah.”
No one parked, and yet unease settled.
“I need a smoke.” Honey’s dad headed for the rear sliding door to the yard.
“Mind if I join you, sir?”
“Might as well call me Jacob seeing as how we’ll be family soon.”
The large yard held a stone patio, empty as the furniture had been covered and stowed for winter.
Jacob lit up, and Ulric joined him. He wasn’t about to become a regular smoker, but there was something calming about the habit as they stood there, first in silence.
Jacob broke it first. “Working where you do, you’ll have seen some of the seamier sides of business, correct?”
A creased marred Ulric’s brow. “Lanark Leaf might sell pot products, but it is one hundred percent legal.”
“Yes, of course.” Jacob waved his cigarette before taking a draw. “But even legal companies sometimes deal with shady people.”
“I’m assuming there’s a point to this.” Ulric remained cautious.