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Neri walked close when he turned back to her and stood on her tip-toes and kissed the corner of his mouth.

“I realized at this moment I love you. I fell in love with you.”

Hunter stood there, stunned. His arms dropped to his side and both his mouth and eyes were wide.

Neri wondered if she might have broken him by admitting her feelings so soon after they met. But before she backtracked and retracted her declaration, he cupped her face and kissed her. She sighed into the kiss and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, moving close to the heat of his body.

Kissing Hunter drew a variety of responses from her. First was total sexual awareness. Then knowing he would protect her, no matter the circumstance. And when he held her like this, she believed he loved her. But this time, she forgot to think, she could only feel. The moment she moaned into his mouth, he broke the kiss and glanced at the bed.

At least one of us still has our wits.

His soft laugh made her smile.

“I love you, too, angel. From the moment I saw you.”

Neri beamed at him. As she leaned toward him for another kiss, Silas’s soft snore brought them both back to reality. Hunter’s arms tightened around her waist and Neri squeezed his shoulders, but the moment they glanced down at baby Silas, they knew they needed to get him home.

“We ran for how long?”

Hunter glanced at the clock. “About three hours. Let’s get this little one home and see what Liv found. Then, it’ll be you and me.”

Neri nodded and smiled as Hunter stole another kiss. She lifted Silas and cuddled him close to her chest as Hunter wrapped her in his arms and pressed his face against her neck.

“Okay, ready.”

This time, she didn’t have to picture where she was going. Kai’s house was almost as familiar as her own. As they popped in, the loud voices quieted as they turned toward the newcomers. Before the noise level rose again, Neri pressed a finger to her mouth before she glanced down at Silas, who was still sleeping.

Frost walked forward and smiled as she took Silas in her arms.

“I should have invited Silas to go running with us and asked your first. Please don’t be too hard on him,” Neri begged.

Instead of being angry, Frost chuckled. “He’s not in trouble. Xander sometimes forgets that we can sense him, no matter how far away he is, and panics. I don’t blame him, I do the same thing from time to time. Besides, he told me where he was going before he left. Although it was a fleeting thought about you, I realized where he’d be.”

Neri nodded and bent down to kiss Silas on his forehead. And without thinking too much about it, she hugged Frost.

“Thank you for trusting me with your son.”

Frost hugged her back. “I’m glad you two found each other. Now, off to bed with this little one. I’m sure he’ll be ready to go again tomorrow.”

“I look forward to it.”

Hunter came up to her from behind and hugged her close, setting his chin on the top of her head. They watched their progress until Frost disappeared through the door of their bedroom before they turned back to the rest of the room.

“So… how did it go?” Axel asked.

Neri blushed. She didn’t mean to, but her cheeks heated just the same.

“I might have tripped over my own feet and became so mesmerized with my tail my face almost struck the ground.”

The room erupted in laughter and surprising herself; she growled. The laughter increased, and she sat on the couch, huffing and crossing her arms. She fought a smile that wanted to break through, but it wasn’t until Gunnar rolled close to her on the floor, clutching his stomach, that she kicked out and laughed.

“I’ll remember this,” she warned.

Her mom dropped next to her on the couch and Neri laid her head on her shoulder. She smiled when Thalia kissed her on the head.

“Sorry for leaving you for so long. Once I started running, I didn’t want to stop. We came home when Silas fell asleep in my arms.”

Thalia chuckled. “You had fun, I’m glad. I was teaching Jade and Noah how to make pastitso and then we made a cheesecake.”