Page 14 of Unhallowed Murder (A Paranormal Halloween #2)

Chapter Twelve

Josef breathed easy when he was certain she was in a deep enough sleep he could stop. He wanted her to feel comfortable with him, and he’d succeeded. She needed to be in control, but she didn’t really want to be. He’d have to help her with that, but it wasn’t going to happen tonight.

He wiped his hands with a towel, took his shirt off, and settled in beside the sleeping Lieutenant. The long-lived are inherently patient, but he found himself looking forward to the day when he could hold her this relaxed while she was awake.

He telepathed for one of the wolves to come with a blanket, and he covered her while making sure the blanket stayed between them. As much as he wanted to hold her, it wouldn’t do for him to make her cold. The evening was chilly, but she was a tiger and would be fine with a blanket .

Josef let her sleep several hours in his arms, and he waited until he had no choice but to wake her.

He was content to merely hold her, but he had things to do before dawn, and she’d likely need to go home to get ready for her day.

He’d asked Cindy to stay on duty after closing, and he telepathed down to ask her to fry a pound of bacon and a dozen eggs.

His little tigress enjoyed her food, and he enjoyed feeding her.

And so, he woke her at five in the morning with an offering of eggs, bacon, coffee, and orange juice. She was confused, then embarrassed, and then ill-tempered, but the food mollified the temper.

“You should’ve awakened me.”

“You slept so well, my Bellula . How long has it been since you had someone watch over you and keep you safe while you slept?”

He heard her thoughts, clear as day. Since before my mother was slaughtered.

Ah, and it seemed he had some of the answer of why she felt so fiercely about the dead she was responsible for.

“I love hearing your thoughts, my fierce little tigress, and if that was intentional then thank you, but if it wasn’t, I don’t want to take advantage while you haven’t fully awakened.”

Alarm, dismay, and then distance between them once again, but that was okay. He was building trust .

“This will take some getting used to,” she said, anchoring her shields and settling into them. “I appreciate the reminder.”

“Thank you for not being upset with me.”

She shrugged. “The tiger hunts. So does the vampire. We work around our instincts.”

“You’ll let me know if I can help with your investigation again.”

“I will. Thank you for the offer.”

“I’m going home for my repose. I’ll awaken between four and five. Will you come to me when you can get away from work?”

“I don’t know where the case will take me, and I don’t know that I’ll be able to stay awake.”

She said it as a warning, but that was okay. “I’ll text you the address. Bring clothes so you can sleep until morning. I’ll assure you are well rested, Bellula .”

* * * *

Ronnie didn’t expect to find the Amakhosi’s car in her driveway when she arrived home well before six in the morning. Nor did she expect to find the King of the Lions asleep in her bed.

He didn’t sit up. Just watched her from under the covers, his head on her pillow, hair mussed, eyes sharp. Stalking her. Like prey.

“Your Majesty.” She didn’t often use terms of respect around him, but his power saturated the room .

“Josef? What are you thinking?” He breathed in, parsing her smells. “I find that I think of you as more pride than tiger. More mine .”

“You’re saying he should request your permission to see me, Your Highness?”

So far as she knew, Nathan had fucked every adult female cat in the county except her. He’d found other ways to exert his dominance over her — he’d known it would destroy her to be forced to submit to him sexually.

He had, however, slept in her bed on occasion — usually when her life had been falling apart and she’d needed help holding everything together. In recent years, he’d done so when she wasn’t home a few times, scent marking her place, probably. She hadn’t asked.

“I think so. Yes.” He sat, and the blanket fell to his waist. The Amakhosi was shirtless but in boxers.

Ronnie took a few steps to her left, sat on her bench, and began unlacing her boots. “He gave me a foot massage. I fell asleep.”

“And he held you while you slept?”

She nodded without looking up.

“Josef doesn’t date the short-lived, or even the long-lived until they’re at least five hundred years old.”

“He helped me with a case. He says there’s a spark, and it’s up to us what we do with it.”

“Do you feel the spark?” He asked so softly, she was almost afraid to answer, but she couldn’t lie to her liege.

“Yes, my King.”

“Josef isn’t going to submit to you, sweetheart. ”

“He kneeled before me, to wash my feet.”

“Do you want me to talk to him? Explain?”

“NO!”

Nathan lifted a brow, and she corrected herself. “Please don’t. I mean, do whatever you need to do so the supernatural ownership and permission thing is handled, but please don’t tell him I’m broken.”

“You aren’t broken, my dear Veronica. You’re one of the strongest cats I know, male or female. You just never got back on the horse. You were too young, at the time, and by the time you were old enough, it’d been too long.”

She grinned. “No, I’ve ridden the horse, I just don’t seem to be able to…” She rolled her eyes. “ Let the horse ride me doesn’t work.”

He chuckled. “No, the analogy falls apart, but I take your meaning, as I’m sure you understood mine.”

“I do. Thank you for watching out for me, but please let me share my secrets with him in my own time.”

“Come to bed. You have another two hours to sleep, yes?”

“I do.”

She relaxed in Nathan’s arms and remembered Joseph’s question about feeling safe while someone watched over her. Why hadn’t she thought of the times the Amakhosi had held her since that awful night she’d watched her mother’s body be torn apart.

Had some part of her brain been protecting her psyche from the vampire? Or did she merely view Nathan and Josef differently? Protective monarch versus potential lover? Could she ever have a true lover? She wasn’t sure, but she was beginning to think she had to try.

“ Sleep , Ronnie.”

Nathan’s voice was kind, but it was an order, and her mind obeyed.