“Honey, I’m home!”

The cabin door slammed, jerking me out of the world of my book. I heard Caleb’s boots clatter against the floor as he kicked them off. I couldn’t wait to tell Caleb that I’d just heard back from an agent about my mystery manuscript. She wanted to represent it and try to sell it to a major publisher. I’d been staring at the email for the last half hour, unable to believe it.

“Caleb, come here, you won’t believe what’s happened. I’m—”

“Meow!”

What was that? That didn’t sound like the door creaking—

“Meeeeeow?”

I whirled around. Caleb was standing behind my chair, the widest, cheekiest grin on his face. In his arms, a tiny black-and-white kitten clung to his sleeve like its life depended on it.

“You didn’t.” The little cat stared at me with wide eyes, its little nose sniffing the air. I reached out to pat it gingerly. It started purring instantly, and my heart melted into a puddle.

“I did.” Caleb placed the kitten in my arms. It curled up into a ball in the crook of my arm, purring like an engine. “I walked past that Witch’s Familiar pet store on the high street, and this little dude looked up at me from the window and made a face and I just couldn’t leave him there. Don’t worry, I got all the food and trays and stuff we need.” He pointed to a stack of bags beside the door. “Plus some insect screens to put over the windows and a harness so we can take him outside without him killing all the local birdlife.”

“Hey, little guy.” The kitten clambered up my arm and stretched across my shoulder, batting at my hair. His little pink nose nuzzled against my cheek.

He is perfect.

Caleb tilted his head to the side. “Do you like him?”

One of the kitten’s little paws got stuck in the curls, and I had to extract a strand of my thick, frizzy hair from around his little toe beans. “I love him. Caleb, thank you so much.”

“Anything for my girl.” He wrapped his arms around me, so the kitten sat in the V of our two bodies. Caleb kissed my cheek.

I stroked the kitten’s silky fur until he was vibrating, his little eyes closed in ecstasy. He reminded me of the first time I met my beautiful Lennox. We should call him Lewis. “Does he have a name already? I want to call him Lewis.”

“Check out his collar.”

Disappointed, I ran my finger along the edge of the kitten’s collar, until it snagged on a metal ring. I pulled the ring out to see what was written on the tag, only to discover there was no tag at all.

On the end of the ring was a glimmering black stone. A black diamond.

My heart stopped. I couldn’t breathe. I stared up at Caleb, unable to believe this was real.

Caleb’s eyes glinted at me, sparkling even more than the diamond. “I take it you’re suitably surprised.”

It’s a diamond ring. He’s giving you a diamond ring. “Um … Caleb … uh …”

“Rosa Parker, you make me the happiest guy in the world. You are brilliant, and funny, and you keep me on my toes. I would be honoured if you would take me as your husband.” He wiggled his eyebrows, and pointed at the kitten clinging to his chest. “I would get down on one knee, but I don’t want to disturb our new friend.”

Tears streamed down my face. My finger caressed the beautiful black diamond, but my eyes remained glued to Caleb. He may be a white guy and a crazy werewolf, but all I wanted was to wake up next to him for the rest of my life.

“Yes.” My heart soared as the word flew from my lips. I knew it was the right answer. Happy tears poured from my eyes. “Yes. A hundred times, yes.”

Caleb’s lips met mine, his kiss passionate. Between us, the kitten purred with frantic vigour, and he tried to climb up the side of my face.

“Ow, you.” I laughed as my tears slid over the kitten’s fur. I reached up and peeled the creature off my face. I held little Lewis while Caleb undid the collar, and slid off the ring.

“You’re going to have to put down the kitten to give me your finger.” Caleb grinned.

“Not a chance.” I switched Lewis to the other hand, and presented my finger to Caleb. He slid the ring on – it fit perfectly, the beautiful diamond sparkling against my dark skin. A black diamond for a black princess, because that’s what I felt like.

“It’s perfect.” I kissed him again. “What should be do to celebrate?”

“We can think about that later,” Caleb said. “Right now, you should probably rescue your manuscript from your new friend.”

“What? Oh, no. Kitty, get down!” I tore myself from Caleb’s arms and leapt across the room, scooping up the kitten just as he started to dance across my open keyboard. If he accidentally sent an email of gibberish to my new agent …

Caleb laughed. “I think we’re going to have a great time, the three of us. Maybe …” He lifted an eyebrow to me. “Maybe one day, the four of us?”

“Maybe.” I raised my eyebrow at him, the ache inside me swelling up again.

“On the bed, Mrs. Lowe,” he growled, just the sound he knew that made my knees weak.

“Hey, I’m not Mrs. Lowe yet. I might even keep my own name, if it’s going to be on the cover of my book. And besides, if we’re going to try for a cub now, what will we do with our new friend?” I gestured to the kitten. “It would be rude to do that in front of him. We might warp his fragile little mind.”

“He’s gotta get used to it sooner or later,” Caleb growled. “I don’t intend to let you out of that bed for days.”

I knitted my fingers in his, enjoying the heaviness of the ring against my skin. “That’s an awfully bold statement, Mr. Parker. Perhaps we should see how much stamina you really have.”

He flipped me on the bed, his hands snaking under my shirt as he smothered my lips in kisses. “Yes,” he whispered against my lips. “Perhaps we shall.”

* * *