Page 38 of Bewitchingly Hers (Witches of Pleasant Grove #3)

BARRETT

SIX MONTHS LATER…

E ryne was snoring softly, her ginger hair spreading out around her. I ran my hands up her sides, savoring the feeling of her soft, bare skin. She made a little sighing sound in her sleep, and I nuzzled my head against her neck, kissing her mating mark.

My cock was hard, pressed against her back, desperate to bury itself in her. I let my fingers creep lower, between her thighs, and pressed one inside of her. She let out a small mewl, and it was all the encouragement I needed.

“Barrett,” she whined in her sleep, and fuck, it was so sweet. This was how I wanted to wake up every morning, with my mate—my wife—in my arms, showing her how much I loved her.

I pressed another finger inside of her, crooking them to make sure she was wet enough to take me.

Eryne let out a moan, her head dipping back to press against my shoulder, and her scent wafted up to me, the overwhelming sweetness hitting me in the face.

It had changed. It was even sweeter now, if that was possible. And maybe if I’d been paying attention, I would have realized what that meant sooner.

“Sugar,” I murmured against her ear, feeling her pushing her ass against my cock.

“ Mmmm .”

I wrapped one hand around her throat, the other over her flat stomach. For now.

It was summer, and we’d gotten married in early spring, just like we’d discussed when I’d first brought her home to Walnut Ridge.

She’d gone off birth control after our ceremony, neither of us wanting to wait to start our family.

It had been a few months since we started trying, and I knew there was a flicker of disappointment every month when she realized she wasn’t pregnant yet.

We were still young—only twenty-six and twenty-eight—but we both wanted it.

Wanted this little life I knew I cradled in my hand, growing inside of my wife.

It was early. Earlier than doctors would be able to detect it. I didn’t think she’d even missed her period yet. And yet, I knew that she carried our pup inside of her.

“Barrett,” she moaned, rubbing against my cock. “I need you.” I couldn’t deny her, especially not as she blinked up at me, her eyes drowsy with sleep yet so soft and full of love.

Leaning down, I kissed her softly before lifting her leg, sliding into her from behind.

The first rays of dawn shined into our window, illuminating the room in a golden glow as I made love to her.

It wasn’t rough or frenzied, but slow and gentle.

I cradled her to my body as I brought her to orgasm, making her fall over the edge before I came, careful not to knot her even when she whined and begged for it.

Soon enough, she’d know why.

But I wanted my mate to figure it out for herself. Wanted to see her face light up when she came to the realization that we’d succeed. The joy on her face would be worth it.

“Good morning,” she murmured, a blissful smile curling over her face. “What a way to wake up.” She let out a happy sound as she stretched.

“It is,” I agreed. “Now, we should get up so I can feed you before you have to go to work.”

Eryne pouted. “What if we just stay in bed all day? It’s too nice to want to spend all day in the coffee shop.”

I laughed. “You love your job, Sugar.”

My girl huffed out a breath, blowing her bangs off her forehead. “I do,” she finally agreed.

I scooped her into my arms, carrying her into the bathroom as I turned on the shower, waiting until it got to her ideal temperature before we both stepped inside.

It was amazing how much hotter she liked it—but I’d mostly gotten used to it.

Of course, sometimes I still thought it would scald my scalp, but I’d learned how to avoid that.

“What’s on the agenda for you today?” Eryne asked as we sat at the island less than an hour later, eating the breakfast I’d made her as she pulled on her outfit and got ready for her day.

“Thought I’d go for a run,” I said.

Her head perked up. “Oh?” Even after all these months together, she still loved watching me shift. Though part of me thought it was just so she could ogle my naked body.

Sometimes I mourned the fact that my mate wasn’t a wolf—that we couldn’t run together in the woods, but then I thought about all the other things I’d never have experienced if she wasn’t a witch. I was grateful that I had her. That she could heal me with hardly more than the blink of an eye.

“That way I can check the wards and everything.” It was almost time for the monthly spell to power the town barrier, and I liked to check on it to make sure nothing else had decided to snack on their magic.

So far, so good. There were jobs I could take, hunting monsters, but I’d happily stay here, close to my mate, using my skills to keep the town she loved safe.

She nodded. “Full moon is in a few days.”

Once other covens in town had found out what happened, they’d suggested a rotating schedule to power them, instead of just the girls coven. It took a lot out of them every time they did the spell, so I appreciated that they weren’t always in charge of it.

It had been months since the incident, and it seemed like the whole town had changed for the better.

Sure, I couldn’t seem to convince Ezra and Cassius that I had it under control and they could go, but as a whole, people were happier.

There were new friends, new faces, and new relationships developing almost every day.

“Oh, Willow’s supposed to bring the baby in to visit today,” Eryne said, looking down at her phone.

Willow and Damien’s daughter, Opal, was six months old and absolutely adorable, with a thick head of curly black hair like her dad and her mom’s bright green eyes. And to think… next year, that would be us. A warm, fuzzy feeling unraveled in my chest.

I kissed the top of her head as I grabbed our now empty plates off the counter, carrying them to the sink. “That’ll be fun,” I offered, as I started washing the dishes.

Eryne hummed. “She really is so cute.” Her eyes connected with mine, and I knew exactly what she was thinking.

But I wasn’t giving our little secret away yet.

“Willow and I are discussing numbers for the fall.” It was their busiest time at the coffee shop, and even though the Clarke sisters had more of a hands off approach now, they still owned the business.

Turning off the sink, I stood behind her, rubbing her shoulders. “Yeah?”

She let out a yawn, covering her mouth with her hand. “I feel like I’ve been more exhausted than usual lately. Maybe I’ll come home early and we can watch that new show we’ve been talking about.”

“Sounds good, Sugar.” I’d gladly take more of her time. As much as she’d give me.

Some of the girls in Eryne’s coven liked to make fun of me for being a house husband—whatever that meant—but I didn’t care. This is where I belonged. This is where I wanted to be.

Because if I had her, everything else was just a happy bonus.

ERYNE

A little awareness flickered inside of me, waking me from my peaceful sleep.

I turned to look at Barrett, sleeping next to me in his wolf form. He shifted sometimes while he was asleep, and I had to admit I liked cuddling with his furry self.

It had been almost a year since we’d met.

Almost a year since I’d found him, fur shredded and bleeding, and nursed him back to health, not knowing he was a man.

That he was my mate, all along. These last few months since we’d officially tied the knot had been incredible.

If it was possible, I knew, deep in my heart, that I loved him even more now. My mate .

My caring, compassionate mate, who had been so careful with me the last few days, like he’d known something I hadn’t.

The other witches had told me there was a knowing, even though it should have been too soon.

Willow had sensed she was pregnant with Opal before a human pregnancy test would have even detected it.

It had been a few days since she’d brought her baby girl to visit the cafe.

I’d told her about how I was more tired than normal lately, how after a long day all I wanted was to go home to Barrett and curl up in his arms, and she’d just given me a knowing smile.

But I hadn’t put two and two together until now.

There was, undoubtedly, a life growing inside of me.

My little witchling, or maybe a shifter pup.

We didn’t know what would come of a child who was half wolf, half witch.

It was something Barrett and I had spent many nights discussing as I was curled into his body, waiting for his knot to deflate.

Those soft, whispered conversations while we were connected somehow felt even more intimate than when he made love to me—or when he fucked me hard rough like I begged for.

I slid my hand over my abdomen, splaying my fingers over my flat stomach, though it wouldn’t stay that way for long. Though I didn’t know the specifics of shifter pregnancy, Willow and Luna were with demons, and their pregnancies hadn’t been much different from a regular witch one.

Which meant in less than nine months, we’d have a baby of our own.

Barrett’s wolf raised his head, a question in his eyes, and then he sniffed the air. Like he was scenting what I’d just discovered. I nodded. He shifted before I could open my mouth, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling my body against his naked one.

“Barrett,” I murmured, my eyes filling with tears.

Happy tears. Ones I couldn’t hold back—not for the life of me.

Because this was something I’d wanted for so long, and I’d worried it wouldn’t happen.

Barrett had told me how for wolves, it was harder to get pregnant if you weren’t in a heat cycle, but since I didn’t actually have one, we didn’t know how long it would take.

“You’re carrying our pup,” he said, voice hoarse with emotion. It wasn’t a question, but somehow, I knew he’d just been waiting for me to figure it out myself.

I bit my lip, looking down between us. “I am.”