Page 37 of His Retribution

"He could though." Grace smirks. "Frankly, all five of them should do some sort of act. We'd make a killing in terms of profit and..."

Henrich turns to his mate with a frown.

"I was including you!"

I hold up my hands, but not without making sure to flex my forearms and biceps. "I hate to disappoint you lovely ladies, but this beefcake is already taken. She may not know it yet but all of this"—I motion head to toe—"belongs to my beautiful blue light."

In unison, theyawbut then it occurs to me Posey may have some knowledge of what transpired between my light and the male bartender I may murder.

"My queen, do you—" My phone buzzes and since Andrej is at the bar, I check it immediately.

Then smile even quicker.

It's a photo. A candid photo from Andrej.

My light is standing at the end of the bar, a very distracted look on her face but one that makes my heart flutter like an idiot adolescent. She is looking up at the clock on the wall, half of her face cloaked by her hair. Her thumb of one hand is firmly between her teeth, a nervous tick my angel has had for as long as I've known her. And behind her thumb is the most gorgeous smile, the brightest twinkle in her eyes as they look toward the clock like she did every night while she waited for me.

My light is shining like the sun as she waits, waits for the time we shall meet.

I fucking love technology.

I save the photo, turn it into my home screen like a total creep, then notice I've somehow managed to waste most of the time I needed to before moving forward with my night. And since it now seems a little irrelevant and time is of the essence, I won’t pester Posey about the potential ill-intent belonging to the male bartender. My angel is waiting formeand that is enough to keep that Travis alive for now, especially since I will have to head to the bar soon in order to secretly escort my light home.

Which is exactly what I do.

I walk alongside her from afar.

Watch the moonlight play across her features, illuminate the smile that never leaves her face.

My light hums to herself periodically and smiles wider as she fingers the charm on the end of the chain around her neck.

Occasionally she scolds herself. I can see her nose scrunch, her brow furrow. She always did that, had mental conversations usually to work through a problem in her head. The frown is quickly replaced by her breathtaking smile though, and for some reason it puts me at ease.

Her smile always did but knowing she's having some sort of inner dialogue, most likely about me, that ends with that gorgeous smile, helps me stay steadfast in my plan to court my mate, to win her love all over again until she remembers everything about our life together.

Once we reach her cabin, I take up my post in the forest, resting against the tree that is hidden enough that she cannot see me but allows for a clear view of her home.

My light lets Samson out, the dog taking off in my direction immediately.

I don't shift my gaze until she goes inside to most likely change and find something to eat, but as soon as she does I greet my four legged friend.

"Hello, Sammy." I smile, giving him a good rub. "Were you a good boy for your mama? Protect your home while she was gone?"

He gives me a proudahroofand I snort.

I swear he is the smartest dog on the planet and it does not shock me one bit that he has found a way to be reincarnated right along with my light. Samson has always been so loyal to her, it should come as no surprise that he remained that way through multiple lifetimes.

After about twenty minutes my angel emerges from her home dressed in another oversized white t-shirt and tiny little black shorts, not another stitch of clothing on her body.

I won't lie, if I hadn't been so gobsmacked by seeing her in the flesh the other night I would have had a raging hard-on. That thin white material clung to her body beautifully after it had been soaked in the rain, accentuated every curve and showed off her perfectly bite-sized nipples. I may or may not have replayed that vision over and over in my mind since. Especially when I was in the shower.

She searches the tree line briefly, my pulse kicking up at the thought of her looking for me, but then she sets down what appears to be aluminum foil before she goes back inside.

I start toward her, worried that I missed my window, missed my chance to spend time in her warmth, but just as I enter the clearing my light reappears with two bottles of orange soda.

Her gaze finds me immediately and the smile I'm gifted with, the look of exuberance is nothing short of life altering. And just as quickly, my light tries to school her expression, tries to hide her obvious joy, but I see it still.

"Hi." She is adorable in her attempt to appear unfazed by my presence. "I wasn't sure when you'd be coming or if you were still coming..." She clears her throat, drops her gaze briefly. "I mean, I was hoping you would, I still wanted you to come, I was actually looking forward to it but..." Her eyes widen and I'm not sure if it's because of how drastically different I look or her words that are revealing some serious truth.