“Was she breeding before her behavior changed?”
“Yes.”
“Congratulations, you’re going to be a father. Your mate won’t let you back into the bed until your child is securely planted. She’s nesting, per se. She doesn’t want to lose your child. You don’t need carnelian. You need some massive patience. Give her a week and try again.”
“How the hell would you know that?” he asked, dumbfounded.
“Because my sister, Luna, is pregnant, and she’s a massive bitch right now. She bares her teeth if we even get close to her door. She’s part witch and part alpha wolf. The guy she rutted with isn’t interested in the babes, so it falls on us to help her through the pregnancy.”
“Wolves don’t nest.”
“Same shit, different breed. You get my point. Your mate is pregnant and defending the unborn babe she grows within her. My guess is that it’s her first, and she’s afraid you will unseat it within her womb. Give her a week and then see what happens.”
“You are no fucking help, witch,” he snorted and exited the store.
Turning toward the counter, I placed the carnelian back beneath the cupboard while pulling out mixed tumblers to make into an assorted arrangement of rainbow colors on the counter. I leaned over further, grabbing the citrine and a few others before backing out and turning around. My gaze slid up the fancy suit to the delicious ocean-blue eyes of Knox, and I growled.
“Get out, we don’t serve dicks.”
“Your aunt sent me here for some things I needed,” he announced, picking up a set of rainbow aura points. “You’ve been hiding from me.” He stared at me as his finger slowly trailed over the sharp tip of the crystal.
“No, it’s called avoiding you like the plague. Remember, you threw me out after assuring me I’d become a whore, or is your memory as fucked up as you are?” I set the rocks out on the counter and pushed them into order before a customer stepped up.
“I need an amethyst sphere, highest quality you have.”
“They’re on the back wall, top shelf. They’re untainted, so if you touch it, you buy it,” I said, spinning around to move through the store to the herbs.
“You don’t leave the house, woman.” Knox watched me, following as I moved through the store. He chose to ignore my words and I rolled my eyes, laughing soundlessly.
“Nope, rarely these days, and when I do, I sneak out to avoid certain pricks I don’t wish to encounter ever again in this lifetime, and by pricks, I mean you.”
Dismissing him outright, I moved to the herbs, pulling the older bags from behind the new ones, placing them in the front so they would sell before their potency expired. Knox stood mere feet away from me, and I watched from the corner of my eye as he picked up random items, studying them before setting them back onto the shelves.
“Do you have any potions to increase libido?” an imp asked.
I guessed her species based on the way her nose stuck out further than the rest of her. “Do you have a willing partner?” I asked curtly.
“Does it matter if they’re willing?”
“People don’t enjoy waking up naked with someone they didn’t want to end up in bed with in the first place, so yes, it actually does matter.”
“Uh,” the imp stammered.
“People begged to be fucked, and got pissy when they got what they asked for,” Knox pointed out.
The imp’s head moved between us and then snapped back to Knox, letting her gaze linger over his crotch. I glared at him as he smiled at the imp, giving her a wiggle of his brow that made my blood boil. I dismissed them both and retrieved the potion.
“Here, if I find out you use it on an unwilling partner, I will personally make it my mission in life to fucking destroy you—but have a nice day and shit. Get the fuck out of my store.”
I dismissed them both as my sister, Valeria, hooted from the register. She was pushing popcorn into her mouth, watching me as I methodically moved through the store, cleaning it, and stacking everything where it needed to go. I bent over a shelf, and he crowded behind me. Sweat beaded on my brow, and I turned, glaring at him.
“Stay away from me.”
“You’re not in heat.”
“No, I’m not. When it happens, I’ll find someone to assist me who actually likes me. I have no intention of ever slipping up and landing on that dick again.”
“You should be in heat by now,” he muttered.
“Nope, didn’t happen once in the last three months, but thanks for coming in to sniff my pussy. You can go now,” I stated, folding my arms over my chest.
He stared at me, dropping his gaze to my breasts, and then sniffed the air. I snorted, turning back to polish off the crystals from people coming in all day and touching them, smudging them with their fingers. I pulled the cloth from my pocket and cleaned one gently, placing it back down before I lowered my head to check the glow. Perfect.
I spun around, and Knox was flush against me. My nostrils flared with his scent, and a deep purr erupted from my chest as I took him in. His smile turned cocky, his eyes narrowing to slits. I stepped back, watching him as he stepped forward, placing his hands on the glass shelf behind me, locking me into place.
“You’re not pregnant.”
“Thank fuck for that. Wouldn’t want a reminder for eternity that I’d been stupid enough to be with you, now would I?” I snapped icily, ducking under his arm.
He turned cold, and I paused, watching the brief flash of pain that entered his eyes, dismissing it as an optical illusion, since everyone knew that asshole didn’t have any emotion. I stopped in front of the spheres and made sure each was placed to lure the eye. Once I’d ensured each was perfect, I turned, finding him leaning against the glass counter, watching me silently.
“You’re still here?” I let my gaze drink in the sight of him quickly before exhaling. It would be a lot easier to ignore the prick if he didn’t look like sex incarnate and smell like it too.
“Indeed, I am,” he answered, bringing his finger up to run over his lip. “You purred.”
“So do you,” I smirked saucily, licking my lips slowly, so he didn’t miss the action. I watched as his eyes mirrored mine, turning to slits. His lips turned up in the corners as he continued studying me.
“What else do you remember?”
“That you fit down my throat, and that you tasted magically fucking delicious when you came. The noises you made, they soothed me and made me feel exhilarated, protected., and that I’d have done anything you wanted me to just so you would make them. Obviously, whatever is within me is bipolar and has horrible taste in men.”
“You chose me too,” he pointed out.
“Hey.” I held my hands up in mock surrender. “I didn’t say I was any smarter. I just pointed out the obvious. Do you intend to buy anything? We’re closing.”
“Twenty more minutes, Aria.” Valeria smiled as I turned to glare at her.
“We’re closing early, there’s a gathering with the alphas Aurora agreed to be at tonight.”
“The gathering? You’re going alone?” he asked.
“No, I have men lined up to mount my cunt,” I lied crudely, turning to close the counters with the rare crystals inside.