Chapter 38 - Home Sweet Coven
Goldie woke from what had to be the most restorative nap of her life, nestled in Flint’s arms, and could tell it was evening by the way the deep yellow sunlight filled the room from the side. She tracked one long beam into the open closet, where Goldie was startled, but not really, to see Flint’s shirts hanging neatly next to hers where before there had been empty space.
Her gaze shifted to the bedside table and Goldie’s eye caught on a yellow-and-white enameled flower pin she had never seen before. A daisy. For his sister. It has to be. Goldie didn’t even try to slow the uncontrollable rush of tenderness that flooded her heart. The things her man had come through and still been so easy to love, so good at giving love back…
She grinned and buried her face in Flint’s solid chest, remembering how it had felt when he Claimed her. A split second of piercing vulnerability followed by a rush of the most intense belonging, and a feeling of safety she’d never experienced before, not even when Tallulah was alive. Everything Goldie had been feeling since coming to Resperanza, but multiplied by one thousand. An assurance that forever after, and without question, this man and his bear would give everything to keep her whole and thriving. She giggled against Flint’s skin and breathed in his masculine scent, more in love than she could have ever imagined.
From above came Flint’s sleep-rumpled voice, sweetened with a smile. “You slept hard. Ready for some dinner?”
They got dressed and walked out hand-hewn dark wood French doors to a courtyard so fantastic Goldie couldn’t bring her mouth to close. Flint wouldn’t be distracted, though, dragging her on to the kitchen, where he made her a sandwich fit for a queen and himself one as well. They wandered Resperanza as they ate, Goldie exploring the courtyard further, with its herb and vegetable gardens, grill and smoker, and a cluster of chairs and hammocks ringed around an oversized fire pit.
The back wall was chest high, and Goldie could see why when she stepped closer and looked out over a sheer cliffside, the wind coming up from the valley below and whipping her hair forward as if it wanted to pull her in. Flint told her the cliff's name was Tsigule, and that the word meant “evil wind”. What ground there was beyond the wall sloped steeply down to her right, towards the garage, where it met the meadow of tiny white flowers.
Back through the kitchen and into the main part of the hacienda, along a wall between the front door and the dining room, just in the heart of the house, Goldie found another, smaller bedroom. It had simple but well-made furnishings, with a full-sized bed and small dresser. Almost like a guest room. Goldie raised her eyebrows at Flint and he smiled. “It’s for Auntie. She’s this old lady, a friend of Jameson’s-”
Goldie interrupted. “The one Cora said is a switch?”
Flint nodded. “He’s trying to get power of attorney or whatever, get her moved here from the nursing home she’s in. One of the nurses is giving him shit, though, gumming up the works.”
Goldie nodded and exited the room, turning the light off. She had nursed Tallulah at home with the help of a small roster of exceptional caregivers, so she understood the desire to keep an eye on a loved one’s well being. Interesting that a nurse at Auntie’s facility cared enough to protest. Goldie was about to ask what the nurse’s reason was but the heated look on Flint’s face cut her train of thought off at the station. She smiled back impishly. “What?”
Flint’s eyes seemed to darken from cocoa to coffee as his mouth curved in a sexy smile. “There’s another meeting for The Cause tomorrow to introduce you. I'll be there, by your side, but ask me how much I care about The Cause right now.”
Goldie’s jaw dropped. So soon? She didn't even get time to settle in?
Her man’s scruffy, sturdy face leaned in close to hers as he used one big hand to grab her close to him, the other to touch her nose playfully. “We got this. You and me together. No one is going to let you fall. Not me, not Cora, not Jameson, not my brother or anyone else. We're all part of this, and that’s bigger than either of us can imagine right now. So shake it off.” He kissed the tip of her nose, and then her lips, softly. "And ask me how much I care."
Goldie laughed softly. “How much do you care?” she said, tilting her face up to his. Thinking she knew the answer.
Flint gripped her ass, pressing her against the hard length she could feel growing harder. “Not nearly as much as I care about what happens in that big bed tonight.”
Goldie challenged him with one raised eyebrow. Like him, she could not stop thinking about the next time they could steal a few moments alone, the next time she could ply her mate for shared pleasures. But who could forget the reason they were together in the first place? And all that yummy Prowl sex. “Think we should find a vampire to kill first?”
Flint shook his head slowly, grinning a cocky, self-assured, content grin that Goldie had not seen on his face before. When he spoke, he purred the words at her, sex in every syllable. “Vampire? Pumpkin, we don’t need no stinking vampire. I can make you scream like that every vlessed night of your life.”
Flint planted one hot, lingering kiss on Goldie's lips before grabbing her hand and leading the way to the only home they’d ever need. Each other.
<<<<<<< End >>>>>>>