My eyes widened. “You mean it?”
An earnest expression crossed his face. “Yeah, Bas, I mean it. As long as you’re still okay with it.”
A laugh bubbled out of me. “Are you kidding me? This is the best news ever.”
I launched myself at him, and he chuckled as our mouths met, but rather than let me roll him onto his back, he pulled me half under him and deepened our kiss, but he pulled back far too soon. He ran his thumb along my bottom lip as he stared into my eyes, those pretty blues sparkling in the early morning light coming from the window. “I love you, my witch.”
I sucked in a surprised gasp.
“I never thought I’d find another partner in this lifetime, and I definitely never thought I’d find a witch I could trust. But I’ve found both, and thank fuckin’ god I have. I love you.”
I swallowed thickly as my eyes prickled with the need to shed tears. I gasped in a few breaths before I managed to whisper, “I love you, too, hunter.”
He grinned widely, then covered my mouth with his.
Reaching down, I grabbed his ass and hauled him farther on top of me, making him chuckle against my lips, and my smile grew. I had plans to examine every inch of his skin. I hadn’t had enough time with his many, many sexy tattoos yet. Before I could even get comfortable, there was a knock at the door.
I huffed out an annoyed breath, and Hiro slid off me and covered my naked body with the blanket before I yelled, “What?”
The door cracked open, but no one came in. Nik called through the crack, “We’re getting ready to go home in an hour. Is that good with you two?”
I exchanged a look with Hiro, then said, “Yeah, that’s fine.”
“Good. Delaro already helped Rasha pack. She ate breakfast and is with your brothers, so you guys don’t have to worry about her until you’re ready to come out.”
“Thank you, Nikolai,” Hiro said.
“No problem. She’s adorable, and such a sweet kid.” He shut the door without waiting for a response.
Hiro stuffed his face into my neck, blew out a breath, and muttered, “I guess we have to get up and check on her. It’s only been a half-hour since I did, but I don’t want to take advantage of your brothers.”
How’s Rasha? I asked Jorah and Thayer.
Thay answered, She’s building tree sprite houses with us. We’re planning on hanging them before we leave so we can see if anything moves in the next time we visit.
My heart warmed at the fact that my brothers were being so sweet with her and making long-term plans. Thank you.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I could tell that they’d already blown me off and were concentrating on Rasha.
I smiled and said to Hiro, “She’s building tree sprite houses with my brothers. Like birdhouses, but for tree sprites.”
“Yeah?” He hadn’t moved his face away from my neck.
“Yep. She’s fine. Wanna take a shower with me?”
He leaned up with a grin. “Hell yes, I do.”
I pulled him in for a deep kiss before pushing him away, making him laugh. In retaliation, he grabbed me, threw me over his shoulder, slapped my naked ass, and carried me into the bathroom where I got to take my time, exploring every inch of his skin while he did the same to me.
After we came back home to Brinnswick, Hiro and I decided to head to his house to start packing it up and so he could get whatever paperwork he needed to break his lease. Since we were stopping by, Hiro had called Ulma to see if she wanted him to grab her mail and take it inside her house. She’d already moved up with her son and grandkid, but it was more expensive to break her lease than to just let it run out since she only had a few months left.
Rasha thought she’d left a stuffed animal at Ulma’s house, so we headed there first, and luckily, Rasha found her toy right away.
As we walked out of the house, Hiro’s laugh carried through the air, and all I could do was stare at him. He had a beautiful laugh. So full and joyous and loud, his whole face lit up, even his eyes sparkled. It was as if he transformed from the tough, stoic guy, to a gorgeous, happy man right before my eyes. And I loved how freely and how often he was laughing around me now.
His daughter was giggling with him, and I realized she had his smile, bright and wonderful. But her eyes were gray rather than blue. My gaze snapped up to Hiro’s, and I grinned as I said, “That’s why your favorite color’s gray.”
He smirked and nodded. “She has Millie’s eyes.”
I bumped him with my shoulder, and he poked my side, but I squirmed away with a laugh, glad I hadn’t ruined the light mood.
Rasha grabbed my hand since we had to cross the street, and my heart did a flip, too excited for words that she’d so easily reached for me. She began swinging our hands between us, and I laughed. “Look both ways.”
She did as I asked, but I got distracted by Hiro looking all… Hiro-like and hot as hell. He had that soft expression on his face as he watched us, and I found myself drawn into his orbit.
When Hiro noticed me ogling, he aimed his smile at me and asked, “What?”
I shook my head because I didn’t want to blurt out how beautiful I found him.
He turned to face me, his eyes scrutinizing my entire body as he tilted his head to the side. “What is it, Bas?”
The corner of my lips twitched. “Nothing, dimples.”
His smile perked up as he tried to scowl at me and failed, and something in my chest fluttered at the sight. Hiro stepped closer to me, he brushed the loose hair from my forehead, and whispered, “You know I owe ya for this, right?” He nodded down at Rasha.
Rasha started bouncing her stuffed puppy over my legs and stomach since we still hadn’t crossed the street—her dad was too distracting—but she didn’t let go of my hand. I shook my head at Hiro and finally found my voice. “No, Hiro, you don’t.”
“I do. You—”
“No. That isn’t why I took you and Rasha there.”
“I know, baby.” He brushed his thumb over my cheek, then bopped my nose. “You’re a really good person. You amaze me, Basil Ellwood.”
My eyebrows shot up. That was a compliment. Had Hell frozen over?
I glanced up to the sky, and Hiro followed my line of sight, asking, “What do you see?”
“I was checking for pigs flying since Hiro Grimsby just gave me a fucking compliment.”
He barked out a laugh, punched my shoulder, and said, “Dumbass.”
I shot him a grin.
“Daddy! You said a bad word!” Rasha yelled.
Hiro cringed. “Sorry, peanut… you know Basil said one, too, right?”
Rasha waved him off. “He’s allowed.”
Hiro’s eyebrows rose, and I bit back a laugh as he asked, “Why is he allowed, and I’m not?”
“He’s a witch, duh, and you’re my Daddy,” she replied as if that answered the question. Which to be fair, it kinda did. She’d been around enough cursing witches for that to make sense.
Hiro’s eyes met mine again, and I couldn’t help but chuckle. Luckily, his eyes were filled with amusement.
We finally headed across the street and as soon as we hit the sidewalk, Rasha let go of my hand, and asked Hiro, “Can I play outside?”