Page 87 of Wedding the Werepanther

“Oh, there’s no doubt about it. Hedefinitelysnuck them extra pineapple chunks.”

She huffs a soft laugh. “Thank god we didn’t break out the ice cream.”

Mist emerges from the house. “I’m going to put the younglings to bed.” I help her get a firm hold on all three, and she flashes me a knowing grin and whispers, “I’ll make sure they stay out of your rooms tonight.”

Once I’m alone with Kayla, I shift into a man and pull off my shirt.

“There you go, getting naked again.”

“All the different foods the werekittens left on me are getting to be a little too much for my shifter sense of smell.” I hold it up to show off the tiny handprints, then toss it to the other end of the table.

“Excuses, excuses,” she says, a playful look in her eyes.

I love that look and like to think I played a big part in putting it there.

“Did you have a good time?” I want her to like the handfasting, since I hope for us to repeat the ceremony for real someday soon.

“I did. I kinda liked that there wasn’t an officiant, just two people making promises to each other.”

“I suppose you could say magic is the officiant. The orcs even have a magical crystal that will detect if the vows are true, but for most other fae, the enchanted ribbons are enough.” I pull the ribbon we used out of my pocket and wrap it around her neck before tying the ends together. “There, a symbol of our union.”

“You mean a fake ribbon for a fake union.”

“It doesn’t have to be fake.” I pick up her hand. “We could go upstairs right now and consummate, and none of this would be fake.”

“I can’t.” Old pain flashes through her beautiful brown eyes. “All that stuff I told you about my father and how he controlled me?”

I nod. “I remember.”

“Right now, the problem isn’t about marrying you or not marrying you. It’s that Victoria took away my choice.”

“That’swhy the marriage contract is so hard for you to accept.” As the realization hits, pain pinches my heart. I hate what her parents did to her, the way they tried to squash her strong spirit. Lifting her hand, I place a kiss on her palm. “I understand. After everything your parents put you through, you deserve to feel in control of your life.”

Kayla sighs with relief, her shoulders relaxing, then whispers, “I’m not saying I don’t want us to be together. But if we’re going to do this, I need it to be because we both freely choose it.”

“It’s only a week. I can wait.” I’ve played the game of courtship this long. I can wait a little longer, because I’m playing for the most important thing of all, and I refuse to lose.

Her love. Our future.

“You’ll do that for me?” she asks.

“I’ll do anything for you.” She wants to wait another week to make sure what we have is real? I’ll simply show her I love her in other ways. I cup her face and kiss her, soft and slow and teasing, until we’re both gasping with need.

Then I take her inside and worship her like the goddess she is.

When Kayla’s alarm goes off for the fourth time the following morning, I greet her with a mocha.

She reaches for the coffee with both hands, fingers wiggling, and takes a big sip. “You are a god among men,” she husks, voice sleep rough.

“I thought you upgraded me to god,” I tease, smirking and curling the tip of my tongue around a fang. “You certainly screamed it enough last night.”

“I’ll write you into a game as the Cunning God.” She offers me one of her new, playful smiles, more precious than any gold. “It’ll work on both levels. You’ll be a clever trickster god,andyou’ll be the god of cunnilingus.”

“Perfect,” I purr. “Have the character look like me, and make T-shirts so I can wear one.”

My witchy beauty laughs. “You got it. I’ll make you so popular you’ll have merch.”

“Of course I will.” I gesture up and down my body. “I’m magnificent.”