Page 5 of Immortal by Morning (Argeneau #37)
black granite. The floor was some exotic hardwood he’d never seen before. It was gorgeous though, the strips of wood a variety
of reddish brown tones with distinctive black striping.
“It’s tigerwood.”
Crispin jerked his head up at that announcement from Abril, unsure what she was talking about until she added, “The floor.
It’s tigerwood.”
For one moment he was terrified that she too could read his mind and then Roberts said soothingly, “You were staring at the floor.”
“Oh. Yes,” Crispin said, relaxing a little. “I have never seen it before. I have never seen hardwood in a kitchen before either
though, so...” He shrugged.
“Yeah, that’s Gina,” Abril said with a faint smile as she turned to what appeared to be a coffee bar area. There was a tea
kettle, a Keurig with a milk frother, and a normal coffee machine all side by side. It was the coffee machine she was working
with, scooping grounds into the filter to make a pot of the dark brew. “She tends to do things a little different than everyone
else.”
Finished with the tin, she put it away and switched on the coffee machine. But as she turned to join them, she slipped on
something and started to fall back.
Panic punching at him hard, Crispin shot forward to catch her, one hand sliding under the back of her head to prevent it hitting
the countertop, the other catching her arm to stop her fall. In the next moment, she was on her feet again and he was peering
down at her with concern. “Are you all right?”
Abril peered up at him with obvious confusion for a moment, and then her gaze dropped to his lips and stayed there. Her expression
began to change. It softened, her mouth opening slightly, her tongue slipping out to run along her lips. But it was the increase
in her heart rate, and the scent of arousal suddenly coming off her that really caught his attention. It stirred a responding
arousal in himself and Crispin tightened his hold on her and started to draw her to him, intending to kiss her.
“Shall I give Lilith the promised treat?” Roberts asked, interrupting the moment. “Where do you keep them, Miss Newman?”
Confusion crossed Abril’s face and she gave her head a shake, then began to pull away from Crispin to turn to look at Roberts.
“The treats?”
“Yes. You promised Lilith one as soon as you made the coffee,” he reminded her, but Roberts’s gaze was on Crispin.
“Oh, yes,” she murmured, moving farther away from Crispin and leaving him feeling bereft. After centuries of having a complete
lack of interest in sex, he wanted to pull her back and claim her mouth, uncaring that Roberts was there. He wanted to pull
her against his body and—Christ! She was his life mate, he realized with dismay. The thought had occurred to him out on the
stoop, but he’d denied it to himself then, unwilling to even give thought to the possibility. But there was no denying it
now. Sex was something an immortal lost interest in after a century or so of life. Only finding a life mate could reawaken
such desires. For Crispin it had been more than two and a half millennia since he’d felt such urges, but they were definitely
awakening now. That could only mean that Abril was his life mate. Or a possible life mate, he supposed, since she could refuse
him if she chose.
“Finally sorted it out,” Roberts said with open amusement.
“I’m sorry?” Abril paused in the act of taking the lid off a white tin container with a dog bone painted on it, and glanced
toward his partner with confusion.
“Oh. I was talking to Delacort, not you.” Roberts gave her a smile, and then offered, “If you tell me where I can find a mop and bucket, I will clean up the floor for you so you do not slip again. Next time you might hurt yourself.”
Abril peered down at the floor. Seeing the frown that crossed her face, Crispin glanced down as well to see that there was
mud all over it. There were several tracks; paw prints from the pup, and footprints from him, Roberts, and Abril, as well
as chunks of dirt that had obviously dropped off Abril’s clothes or the dog’s fur. She wasn’t surprised, both she and Lilith
looked like they’d rolled in it.
“Maybe you should go change,” Crispin suggested solemnly.
“Yes. I should probably—Oh, Lilith no!” she cried suddenly, and rushed past him after the dog as she headed for the doorway
to the rest of the house. While the Lab didn’t stop, she did slow enough for Abril to get close enough to step on the leash
still attached and dragging behind the Lab. That did make the dog stop.
Bending, Abril snatched up the leash handle and straightened, then hesitated, her gaze going from the dog to the doorway and
then around the room almost helplessly.
Crispin had no idea what she was thinking or looking for; he couldn’t read her mind. He did try, but was unsurprised to come
up against a blank wall. This seemed like further verification that she was a possible life mate for him. While immortals
could read mortals and any immortal younger than themselves, they couldn’t read the mind of their life mate.
“I will hold on to Lilith while you go clean up and change,” Roberts offered, crossing the room to take the leash from her.
“Oh, no, I—” When her protest ended abruptly and she simply handed over the leash and turned to walk out of the kitchen, Crispin knew his partner had taken control of Abril and given her a mental push to do as he suggested. That irritated the hell out of him.
“It is rude to take control of the mind of someone else’s life mate,” he pointed out grimly.
“I think so too,” Roberts agreed. “But sometimes it just makes things easier.” Ignoring his scowl, he handed Crispin Lilith’s
leash and walked down to a door at the end of the kitchen. Opening it, he disappeared through it.
Crispin had started to follow him when Roberts reappeared with a mop, bucket, and two miscellaneous bottles of some kind of
liquid under his arm. The room was obviously some kind of broom closet.
“Pantry,” Roberts announced, correcting his guess. After setting the bucket in the sink, he removed the two bottles from under
his arm to examine the labels before holding one out toward him. “Go wash Lilith.”
“What?” Crispin asked with confusion, and then glanced at the label on the bottle when Roberts gave it a waggle. It was dog
shampoo.
“Go bathe Lilith.” Roberts spoke slowly, as if he thought Crispin didn’t understand the order.
“I understood your words, Alex,” he said irritably. “But why on earth would I do that?”
“Because if you do not, then I am going to wash the floor and Lilith is going to muddy it all over again, and Abril will have
to wash the floor when we leave, as well as give Lilith a bath.”
“Fine.” Crispin snatched the bottle from him and started to turn away, only to realize he had no idea where he was supposed to bathe the dog.
“There is a guest bathroom down that hall,” Roberts said, pointing to the hallway about fifteen feet from the sliding glass
door.
When Crispin showed surprise, Roberts shrugged. “Before she left the room, Miss Newman was thinking that she would have to
bathe the dog. She was thinking she would do it in the guest bathroom up the hall to avoid the dog going across the cream-colored
carpet in the rest of the house.”
“Oh.” Crispin started toward the hallway, tugging lightly on the chain so that Lilith would follow.