Beth pushed through the Emergency Exit door and found herself in the alley again. The tap tap tap of high heels drew her gaze to the weeping woman just as she suddenly stopped and dropped to a crouch before the garbage bins. Beth peered at her and then shifted her gaze to the figure standing, hidden in the shadows cast by the bins. Squinting her eyes, she tried to pierce the darkness and get a better look at the person waiting to attack her, but all she could make out was the shape of someone tall in a suit.

“Chestnuts! All ’ot, a penny a score!”

Startled, Beth turned at that cry and peered down the alley in the other direction. Her eyes widened, and for a moment she thought the alley was on fire on the far end. Even as she had the thought, though, she was suddenly standing in the midst of all that light and heat, and she saw that what she had thought was a fire was actually hundreds of lights coming from the stalls lining both sides of the way. Each stall held at least one and sometimes two lights to illuminate the wares. Some had candles, while others had the smoky flame of old-fashioned grease lamps. Together, though, they all worked to light the whole area so that she was nearly dazzled by the colors around her. Here a splash of red apples, there purple pickling cabbage next to a stall of yellow onions, and then a butcher’s stall with slabs of meat piled high behind a butcher who paced back and forth, sharpening his knife on a steel that hung from his waist.

It was Saturday night at the market in Tottenham Court, when it was so crowded you could barely move. The smells were overwhelming, and the noises . . .

“Now’s your time! A half quire of paper for a penny!”

“A pound of grapes two pence!”

“Pick ’em up cheap here! Three Yarmouth bloaters for a penny!”

“Fine russets, penny a lot!”

The din was incredible and something Beth had forgotten.

She felt a tug on the long blue Victorian gown she was now wearing, and glanced down at a girl of perhaps five or six with a heavy basket in hand.

“Walnuts, miss? Sixteen a penny,” the girl said, lifting her basket for Beth to better see.

Noting her hopeful smile and her fingers stained brown from the walnuts, Beth felt around on her person, hoping she had a pocket or purse with coins. The child reminded her of her little sister, and she’d buy every last walnut if she could.

“Here, lass.”

Beth glanced around, her eyes widening when she saw Scotty beside her, dressed in a traditional plaid. As she watched, he handed several coins to the girl, but waved away the basket she then happily held up to him.

Scotty shook his head and said kindly, “The coins are fer you, lass. Keep yer walnuts.”

“Thank ye, m’laird. Thank ye.” The girl rushed off as if afraid he’d change his mind.

“That was kind,” Beth said softly, not at all surprised to find him here. Her dreams always included Scotty, and had since she’d met him a hundred and twenty-five years ago.

Turning, she let her gaze sweep around the stalls and milling people. This was where she’d been happiest in her life, at market with her mother and sisters.

“Saturday night market at Tottenham Court,” Scotty murmured, glancing around.

“You know it?” she asked with surprise.

“O’ course. I’ve had a home in London since the seventeenth century,” he murmured.

Beth frowned, unsure if that was true, or just something she’d dreamt up. She supposed it didn’t matter. Whether it was true or not, she liked that he knew this part of her life, if only in her dream.

“I loved the market,” Beth murmured, starting to walk along the stalls. “It was always noisy and exciting and colorful. It seemed to always have a fair-like feel to it.”

“Aye,” Scotty agreed, and then he caught her arm and drew her close as a sharp snap cut the air. But he relaxed when he realized it was just the percussion cap from some boys shooting at targets for nuts.

“Be in time! Be in time! Mr. Fredericks is about to sing the Knife Grinder!” a tall thin man boomed out beside her as she passed.

“I’d forgotten how noisy the market always was,” Scotty said with a wry smile, and Beth was again surprised he was speaking her own thoughts aloud. But then, what else would he say? This was her dream, after all.

“Mmm, strawberries,” Beth murmured suddenly as she spotted them in the next stall. Smiling at Scotty, she admitted, “I always loved strawberries. They were my favorite as a child.”

“But not anymore?” he asked.

Beth made a face. “Nowadays they pick them green and ship them to stores and they aren’t as sweet and juicy when you buy them. Unless you find them at a roadside stand or grow your own,” she said with a grimace. “Back then they were always red, ripe, sweet, and juicy.” She chuckled and added, “Of course they came when in season and were too expensive, so we never had them anyway.”

“Then how do ye ken ye loved them?” he asked with amusement.

“I used to follow Mr. Badham when he was carrying his strawberries to the stall in hopes one or two might tumble to the ground,” she explained.

“And did they?” he asked with a smile.

“Oh yes, once or twice,” Beth said with a nod. “And I’d snatch them up and pop them in my mouth quick as you please. They were delicious, even with the bits of dirt that sometimes got on them in the fall.”

Something flickered on his face, she wasn’t sure what, but then Scotty suddenly ushered her up to the strawberry stall and tossed a coin at Mr. Badham before taking a wicker quart of the ripe red berries. Turning to Beth, he plucked one out, examined it briefly and then nodded his satisfaction and held it up.

“Dirt-free,” he assured her solemnly. “Open yer mouth.”

Beth smiled uncertainly, not sure why she was blushing, but she could feel the heat in her cheeks. Flustered, she tried to take the small fruit from him rather than open her mouth, but he immediately moved the strawberry out of her range.

“Tuh uh uh,” he said, shaking his head. “Open.”

Beth bit her lip briefly, but then dutifully opened her mouth and watched him move the offering closer until she could bite into it. The berry was as plump and sweet and juicy as she recalled from those days, and Beth closed her eyes on a moan as she chewed and swallowed what she’d bitten off. But then her eyes popped open with surprise when Scotty suddenly licked her lower lip, taking away the bit of juice there.

“Delicious,” he agreed huskily, and then tossed the quart of berries aside, drew her into his arms and kissed her.

Startled, Beth didn’t move at first. This just wasn’t like her. Even in a dream she would never start anything in the middle of the market. Despite her history, she had a certain sense of propriety that her mother had drummed into her. Public displays of lust in the middle of the market did not seem proper, and there was no doubting the lust in that moment. While she might be still and docile under his attention, the kiss was ravaging, Scotty’s mouth working over hers, his tongue slipping out to thrust between her lips and stir her desires.

When his hands began to roam, Beth tried to protest, but it was difficult with his mouth covering hers. One of his hands held her head in place as he kissed her, while the other dropped to cup her behind through her gown and lift her a bit, even as it urged her forward until their bodies rubbed against each other.

Gasping, Beth managed to break their kiss and glance self-consciously around, only to blink in surprise when she saw that the market was gone. They were now in a large bedroom lit only by the flames that crackled in a fireplace in the wall next to them, and they stood beside a bed with drapes and silk sheets in forest green. They were alone.

That was all Beth really noticed. The moment she broke their kiss, Scotty had begun to nibble on her ear and neck, and her body responded by beginning to tremble.

Beth knew at once that this was going to be one of the knee-knockers. That was what she liked to call the dreams that felt so real she could actually taste the salt on his skin, and feel the heat of his body. Those were the rarer of the dreams she had about Scotty, but they were also the most powerful so that she woke afterward with her body sweaty, sated and still trembling from the pleasure her dream lover had given her.

She was aware that Scotty had begun working on the fastenings of her gown. Beth didn’t try to stop his eager hands, but when he nipped at her earlobe, she turned her head so that he could kiss her again. This time, she kissed him back with all the passion that had been missing from her in the market. She also let her own hands roam now, sliding them over his hard, wide chest, and then plucking at the pin that fastened the plaid in place. It undid as if by magic, and the material immediately slithered away to the floor, leaving him standing in a white linen shirt that barely covered his family jewels.

Beth had just taken note of that when her gown too dropped away to pool on the floor. Scotty stepped back to survey her, and she glanced down to see that she was wearing a white bustier and knickers as well as hose and garters. She wondered briefly where those had come from and then Scotty growled, “Beautiful.”

Beth shifted her gaze to him. He was smiling warmly.

“I decorated me room with ye in mind. I kenned this color would suit yer alabaster skin and red hair. Ye’re like fire and ice in a forest.”

Beth’s eyes widened in amazement. She’d never been the flowery sort, so had no idea where those words had come from. But she liked them, she decided, and reached down to find him and show him just how much. Only the minute her fingers found the hardness she’d known would be waiting under the linen shirt, Scotty caught her hand and removed it at once.

“Nay,” he growled, catching both of her hands in one of his and raising them over her head as he urged her back against one of the columns of the bed. Holding her there with his body, he met her gaze and said firmly, “I’m no’ a client to be pleasured. I’ll pleasure you.”

Confusion clouded her mind again at once at the words, because Beth was quite sure they hadn’t come from her. In fact, they were kind of hurtful, perhaps because of the anger that flashed in his eyes that could almost have been disgust. Aside from that, Scotty had never before spoken in her dreams. He had always been more of a doer than a talker. But then usually his mouth was pretty busy with other things, Beth thought, and shifted her attention abruptly back to him as he kissed her again.

Still a little wounded by his words, Beth was at first slow to kiss him back. But when his tongue thrust into her mouth and his free hand glided up her side and then around to knead one breast through her bustier, her body responded like Pavlov’s dogs, and she was soon sighing and gasping by turn as he lashed her with his tongue. She felt his hand shift to find the top of her bustier, but was still startled when he tugged at it, forcing it down to free one breast. When he broke off the kiss to lower his mouth to claim the nipple he’d freed, she slid her hands into his hair and cupped his head as he suckled, her focus completely on the sensations he was stirring in her. Sensations that were only magnified when he slid one leg between both of hers and moved it up until his thigh rubbed her where her excitement was building.

Closing her eyes, Beth bit her lip and gave herself over to the need rising in her. Without even realizing it, she began to shift her hips, riding his thigh. But then his free hand slipped under the waistline of her knickers and slid down to delve between her thighs, and Beth cried out, her body bucking.

Letting her nipple slip from his mouth, Scotty straightened and kissed her neck, murmuring, “Do ye like that?” He ran his fingers lightly across her damp skin before pausing to circle the nub of her excitement. “Do ye like it?”

“Yes,” Beth gasped, riding his hand now.

“I want to taste ye. Would ye like that?” he growled, nipping at her ear.

“Oh, God,” Beth groaned both at the words and at the feel of his finger pressing into her even as his thumb continued to caress her. She pushed down into the intrusion and then gasped with disappointment when he withdrew his skilled fingers. Only to gasp again when he suddenly dropped to kneel before her.

Realizing her garters would prevent him removing her knickers, Beth started to lower her now free hands to help take them off, but then stiffened when Scotty grasped her knickers at the waist. As she watched in amazement, he ripped them wide open rather than bother to remove her garters and hose to get them off. It was a quick and violent action, and one easily performed, although some part of her brain was arguing that it shouldn’t have been managed so easily. Beth actually had to remind herself that it was a dream. It just all felt so damned real.

“Oh!” she gasped when Scotty suddenly caught her at the waist and turned to toss her on the bed. She’d barely bounced once on the feather mattress before he caught her under the knees and drew her down on the silk sheets until her bottom was at the edge of the bed. When he then dropped to kneel on the floor and buried his face between her open legs, Beth gasped and half sat up in shock, only to buck and cry out as his tongue rasped across the tender flesh there.

While she was still half-raised, Scotty reached one hand up to squeeze the breast he’d freed earlier, then toyed with the nipple as he lapped at her.

Groaning, Beth covered his hand with one of her own, but placed the other on the bed to help keep herself upright as she trembled and squirmed under his ministration. When he added his fingers to the mix and began to thrust one in and out of her as he licked and nipped at the center of her enjoyment, Beth cried out and fell back to lie flat. Her body was writhing, her legs locking and unlocking around his head and her hands now tangling in the sheets as she fought to reach that pinnacle he was urging her toward. She was also aware that she was making the most godawful sounds—deep moans and heavy groans interspersed with her crying his name in a pleading voice . . . and she didn’t care.

And then her body went taut and stiff for a moment before everything exploded, and Beth began to shudder and almost convulse as she found her pleasure.

Scotty eased from between her legs then and joined her on the bed. He drew her into his arms and shifted them both further up the bed, and then simply held her until her breathing and heart rate calmed.

“Thank you,” Beth whispered, caressing his chest. “Can I—”

Her question died when Scotty caught her under the chin and lifted her face for a kiss. It started out sweet and soothing, but soon became more demanding, and his hands began to move over her once more. She was moaning again by the time Scotty rolled her onto her back and covered her. Supporting his own weight with his arms, he ground himself against her as he thrust his tongue into her mouth.

Moaning in response, Beth spread her legs for him and raised her knees so that she could brace her feet flat on the surface of the bed. Scotty answered the invitation and surged into her, and Beth’s whole body responded, the full force of her hunger rushing back as if it had never been sated.

Crying his name, she clutched at his shoulders and raised her hips to meet him, urging him on until he stiffened and cried out as he found his own pleasure. Beth knew that wouldn’t be the end—it never was in these more intense dreams—so she wasn’t surprised when he pushed up and off her to kneel between her legs and urged her to turn over. She sat up at once, but then shifted to her knees in front of him and reached back, managing to catch his hip and urge him closer. Growling, Scotty moved forward on his own knees, his legs framing hers as his chest met her back. He then slid his hands around her waist and up across her stomach to cup her breasts.

Beth groaned and arched against him as he weighed and squeezed her breasts, her hips shifting and rubbing her bottom against the hardness between them. Scotty nipped at her ear and kissed her neck, but when he began to toy with her nipples, she twisted her head around in search of his mouth. He kissed her roughly, and then let one hand drop from her breast to glide down between her legs.

Beth cried out into his mouth, her hips moving into his touch, and then she couldn’t stand it anymore, and she broke their kiss and dropped forward to her hands and knees. Clasping her by the hips, Scotty immediately began to . . . lick her face?

Gasping in shock, Beth opened her eyes and gaped at the big black beast standing over her on the bed, panting happily.

“What the—?”

“Chico! Down!”

Beth glanced to the door as Matias pushed it further open and rushed in to hurry around the bed.

“Sorry! I am sorry. I was checking on you and he slipped past me. Chico, come here,” he hissed, grabbing for the Doberman’s collar and falling on the bed when a second dog rushed in to join the fun and tripped him up, then proceeded to climb on top of him and lick his upper back. Matias’s voice was exasperated as he buried his face in the bed and muttered, “No, Piper. Bad.”

Chuckling softly as Chico shifted to drop on her legs so that he too could get to his master, Beth sat up to move her legs out of the way of being trampled by the excited dog. She then leaned back against the headboard and simply watched as both dogs descended on her cousin, licking his arms, his legs, his hair . . .

“I love my dogs,” Matias said dryly, his voice muffled by the blankets. Both Dobermans immediately shifted their excited attention to his face, trying to get to the parts he’d buried in the blankets.

“They are sweet,” Beth said with amusement.

“Hmm.” He didn’t sound convinced. Pushing first one away and then the other, he struggled to get upright. The minute he was standing again and they were unable to reach his face, Chico and Piper turned to her. Squealing, Beth immediately pulled the blanket defensively over her head to avoid the wet kisses. That just seemed to excite the dogs even more, and they began to try to nose their way under the blanket with her.

Giving up, Beth tossed the blanket aside, grabbed the first dog by the ears and began to rub them while kissing the top of his head and murmuring, “Now I’ve got you. You’re all mine. I’ve got you now.”

“He likes you,” Matias said with amusement as Chico calmed down and enjoyed the ear massage. “They both do,” he added as Piper settled next to her on the bed and laid her head in her lap.

Smiling, Beth released one of Chico’s ears and reached out to scratch behind one of Piper’s. When Chico lay down next to her too, she continued to pet them, but glanced to Matias and asked, “Why were you checking on me? You knew my arm would heal well enough.”

“Hmm.” Matias grinned and settled on the bed next to her. Absently petting Piper, he said, “Well, I feared you were being attacked again.”

“Attacked?” she asked with surprise.

“Hmm.” Grinning, he explained, “You were moaning, groaning, grunting, and crying out. It was most alarming. I was sure you were either being tortured to death, or you were making the mad, passionate love to someone. But since Donny is up and about, Scotty was in his own bed making the same sounds, and I can now see there was no one in your room let alone your bed with you, I can only assume it was a dream . . . a shared sex dream,” Matias added with a wicked grin.

“What?” Beth squawked, sitting up straight.

“Sí. I knew there was something between you and Scotty—” he added with satisfaction and then asked, “How was it? Is it as hot as they say? It sounded hot.”

“There’s nothing between Scotty and me,” Beth protested, ignoring his other questions.

“Oh, chica, how stupid do you think I am?” he asked with disbelief.

“Apparently really stupid since there’s nothing between Scotty and me,” she insisted.

“Really?” Matias raised his eyebrows superciliously. “And yet he was worried sick about you last night after you were injured.”

Beth snorted at the claim. “He probably worries about everyone that way. The man runs the Rogue Hunters in the UK. It’s his job to worry about the hunters.”

“Beth, seriously,” Matias said with a frown. “I beseech you. You must know he is your life mate? He is showing all the signs,” he told her and then counted off, “One, I can read his mind. He’s much older than me and I shouldn’t be able to, but I can. Two, he is eating. He ate an entire pizza last night by himself. And he is drinking too. I gave him a soda to have with his pizza and he drank the whole thing.”

“Yes, he’s eating and drinking and he probably can be easily read,” she allowed. “And yes, he’s met his life mate. But it isn’t me, cousin.”

“Why are you bothering to lie to me?” Matias asked with exasperation. “You were in here having the shared dream with him. You were moaning and groaning and crying out, ‘Scotty, oh, Scotty.’” He mimicked what she guessed was supposed to be her voice with a ridiculous falsetto. “And Scotty was down the hall doing the same thing, but shouting, ‘Beth! Oh my God, Beth!’”

“He was?” she asked with surprise.

“Sí,” Matias said firmly.

Beth frowned over that, but shook her head. “He can’t have been. He has a life mate already. He just hasn’t claimed her.”

“Sí . . . you,” Matias said with satisfaction.

“No. Scotty told Donny—”

“And I am telling you I can read his mind. Did I not mention that?” he asked with irritation, and then continued, “And last night when you were in pain, his thoughts were in an uproar. He was in a panic to ease it for you. He was also most concerned that we must guard you well because he would not lose his life mate. Those were his thoughts. ‘I will not lose my life mate,’” Matias said with emphasis and then smiled smugly. “You. You are this life mate.”

“But how can that be?” she asked with confusion. “I mean, I met the man over a hundred years ago. How could he not be my life mate back then and then suddenly be my life mate now? Wouldn’t he have had to be my life mate all along?”

Matias pursed his lips and considered the question. “Perhaps he was.”

“What?” Beth glanced at him with surprise.

“Well, he has expended a lot of energy over the years trying to keep you from being a hunter and then trying to keep you off dangerous hunts,” he pointed out. “And I read in his mind last night that he’s had someone watching over you since shortly after he saved you from Jamieson.”

“What?” she repeated, outraged.

Matias nodded. “Sí, he was thinking of that last night. It was someone named Magnus, and he recalled him back to England when he decided to fly out here to Canada, but he was thinking he should put him back on you after last night’s attack.”

“Son of a—I can’t believe he had someone watching me all this time,” Beth said grimly. “How did I not notice?”

“You are missing the point, chica,” Matias said with exasperation. “Why would he do that? Why did he have someone watching you even way back then?” he asked, and then answered, “He must have known all along that you were his life mate.”

Beth stared at her cousin blankly as everything he’d said circled slowly inside her head. Scotty had set a bodyguard on her. He’d been looking out for her. He was eating and easily read because he’d found his life mate. And the dreams . . . Beth frowned. Were they shared dreams? Life mates were said to have them when in the vicinity of each other . . . but Scotty had played in most of her wet dreams since she’d met him. Even the ones she had when they were on different continents.

Although, she thought suddenly, they had always been more powerful when he’d popped up in Spain, and now here. Beth had just assumed it was because he was on the scene and big as life. Now she realized he’d often stayed in either a house or hotel near wherever she lived. Then the dreams had been much more powerful, more real. She’d been able to smell him, and touching him in her dreams had felt like she was touching him in real life . . . like the dream tonight, she thought with a frown.

“Frankly, I am surprised that you did not realize it yourself,” Matias added.

Beth scowled at him. “How was I supposed to know? I was a new turn when I met him. It had only been two weeks since I was turned. I couldn’t read anyone, so not being able to read him meant nothing to me. And I was still eating back then. And . . . well, he’s a good-looking man. I just assumed I was dreaming about him because he was a hottie.”

“All true,” Matias decided after a moment’s consideration. “So I will accept that you did not know, but he definitely must have known.”

Beth bit her lip, unwilling to believe that Scotty had known all this time and not claimed her. How much did you have to hate someone that you would bypass claiming them as a possible life mate? The one thing all immortals yearned for and were seeking? And why would they even be life mates when he hated her?

“Maybe he wasn’t sure,” she suggested hopefully.

“Beth,” Matias said heavily. “Scotty is not an idiot. He knows the signs of meeting a life mate. His not being able to read you by itself would have told him that is what you are.”

“He can’t read me?” she asked curiously. “How do you know that?”

“Because he didn’t know that you knew about his interfering in your becoming a hunter and some of the jobs you’ve been on,” Matias explained. “If he could read you, he’d know that. But he didn’t and was surprised and even dismayed when I told him that you do know.”

Beth merely grunted at that. It still annoyed her to think of the way he’d interfered in her being an Enforcer over the years.

“So, he must know,” Matias decided, and then frowned and said, “But if so, why has he not yet claimed you? Most immortals would have claimed you right away, yet he has not.”

When he peered toward her in question, Beth lowered her head and concentrated on petting Chico as she finally gave in to the truth. Scotty had known they were life mates for over a century and done nothing about it. There was only one reason she could think of for that, and it was both simple and obvious.

“If I had to guess, I would say because he doesn’t like me,” she said softly.

“What?” Matias shook his head and blew a raspberry. “Impossible! You are beautiful, and charming and strong and smart! You are a goddess among women!”

“And yet he doesn’t want me,” Beth said wearily. “He hasn’t claimed me and usually, at least until this visit, he’s been cold as a witch’s tit to me.”

“I have not seen this cold tit,” Matias assured her solemnly. “In fact, I would say from the looks I have seen him give you that the witch’s tit is on fire.”

“Yes, well, that’s only this time,” she assured him. “In the past he treated me like I had the plague. He even wanted to have my mind wiped in a three-on-one.”

“What?” Matias’s eyes widened incredulously and she couldn’t blame him. A three-on-one was when three immortals worked together to invade and eradicate another immortal’s memories. They erased each memory over and over again to prevent the nanos repairing them, until the individual was as blank as a clean chalkboard. It was a drastic measure, used as a last resort.

“Yes,” Beth assured him firmly. “When he and his men saved us from Jamieson, he pulled Dree aside and said the Council would want me put down, but he thought I should be given the three-on-one and have my mind wiped,” she told him. “In fact, if not for Dree, I’m sure he would have done it. But she refused to allow it and got us on a boat headed for Spain that very night.”

“Thank God for Drina,” Matias said with a shake of the head. “I cannot imagine life without you in it as . . . well, as you.”

“Apparently, that’s what Scotty would have preferred, though,” Beth whispered miserably.

Matias’s mouth tightened. “Well, screw him and the cow he rode in on. He is out of luck. We will find you another life mate, and Scotty can go wipe someone else’s mind to have a pickle for a mate.”

Beth’s lips twitched at the words. “A pickle?”

“Well, what do you think is the result of a three-on-one?” he asked grimly.

She shook her head. “Marguerite Argeneau’s husband did a three-on-one on her, and I’m quite sure he didn’t wipe all her memories, leaving her a pickle.”

“Then she is lucky. From what I understand, that is very hard to do. It is easier to just wipe the memory completely, and when that happens, the person is no longer themselves. They are a tabula rasa. A blank slate. Their personality gone.” Matias snorted and added, “That is probably what he wanted, a blank slate to turn into whatever he wishes.”

“Or just a woman who wasn’t a prostitute as a mortal,” Beth said quietly.

Matias turned on her sharply. “That was not your choice. He cannot blame you for that,” he said with outrage. “Your father sold you to those disgusting purveyors of flesh! And they in turn sold you to Danny after your chastity was stolen.”

“But I stayed in the business after Dree killed Danny and I was free,” she pointed out solemnly. Matias had known her life history for years. He’d asked her and she’d told him. Beth didn’t hide it. Secrets were never a good thing. They tended to give others power over you if they learned of them. Besides, she wasn’t ashamed of her history. At least, she hadn’t thought she was. But now she wondered if she shouldn’t be.

Sighing, Beth leaned back against the headboard and closed her eyes. It was far too early in the day to have to deal with this. Or was it? Opening her eyes, she turned to her cousin and asked, “What time is it?”

“Nearly two o’clock,” Matias answered, and then raised his eyebrows. “Since you are awake, can I take you to breakfast?”

“Breakfast?” she asked with interest.

“It will get you away from the house and . . . him,” he said apologetically. “And it will give you a chance to clear your head.”

Beth smiled crookedly and shrugged. “That’s not necessary, Matias. I’ll be fine. I mean, I’m not the one who’s been running around aware that we’re life mates all this time. I thought I just had the lusties for him, so didn’t become emotionally involved. I’ll just continue to think of him that way.”

“Lusties?” Matias asked with amusement.

“That’s what Mary and I used to call it when we were attracted to a man,” she said with a small smile that faded as she recalled her friend Mary’s fate. These last ten years since the arrival of Ruff in her life, Beth had made a practice of finding the bright side of every event. For Mary, she’d told herself that at least her friend enjoyed a couple of years of her retirement before Jamieson had killed her, that at least her death had been quick. It might not seem like much, but Beth knew it was. She’d seen many mortals die slowly over the last century, fading away, suffering terribly over a long period of time as they struggled to live a life that no longer offered them anything but the pain of cancer or some other ailment. She was glad Mary hadn’t had to go through that.

“I will take the dogs and go so that you can dress,” Matias said and started to get off the bed, only to pause and turn to hug her tightly. “You are a good woman, Beth. If he cannot see that and accept you the way you are, it is his loss.”

“Thank you,” she murmured, hugging him back. “And you’re the best cousin a girl could ask for, Matias. The day Dree and her brother welcomed me into your family was the luckiest of my life.”

Matias squeezed her a little tighter, and then released her and got up.

“Chico, Piper, come,” he ordered, patting his hip as he headed for the door. The dogs immediately leapt off the bed and followed him out into the hall.