Chapter One-Hundred-And-Eleven

Chapter One-Hundred-And-Eleven
Ryder

I woke up tangled in long locks. My hand was wrapped in it, and my face was buried in it. One arm was thrown over a lush, lithe body curled against my front, the sheet tangled in and between our legs.

Kissing her shoulder, a soft moan escaped from between her parted lips. I’d made love to her until almost dawn. Her body bore evidence, and I was pleased to see it. Red marred her creamy flesh from me licking and sucking it.

She’d discovered a new love of honey. Suffice it to say I had to change the sheets before we had fallen exhausted into sleep. It was like she’d never had it before, but I shrugged that off. Impossible.

Her luminescent purple eyes opened sleepily, dark lashes coming down to conceal them again. Then she yawned delicately.

“Good morning,” she murmured, stretching to display her full breasts to perfection as they jutted towards the ceiling.

“It’s afternoon. Hungry?” I sat up and pulled her into my lap.

“No, surprisingly enough. You weren’t kidding; you never stop.” Her arms curled around my neck when I rose from the bed with her.

Soft robes encased our bodies, but I was so in tune with her that I wasn’t sure which of us had donned them.

I kissed her, easily maneuvering down the front staircase with my eyes closed and walking into the kitchen where Marcus, Gene, and Kev spoke together animatedly. It wasn’t difficult to figure out the topic.

I brushed my lips across Catalym’s temple and placed her on her feet.

The fuzzy material of her robe perfectly fit every lush curve. Seeing it blocked my rational train of thought, so I preferred to consider pulling her back into the hallway to strip her of the now-offending material.

“She lives!” Kev cried, hand going to his heart in a mock faint. I rolled my eyes at his usual antics. “Thought I was going to have to call Corrine to come rescue you or us.”

“I can assure you, I was perfectly safe.” She picked up the pot of coffee to pour two cups, fixing them both with expertise.

I hid a smile when she placed one in front of me. With a wave of her hand, the newspaper appeared, which I usually read for hints on local Rogues.

Had I even been thinking that?

“A woman after my own heart.” I caught her hand to suck one fingertip into my mouth, watching her eyes go a liquid amethyst.

“You’ve already conquered my libido; my heart is only a matter of time,” she joked with a grin. “Is coffee good?”

Hadn’t she tasted it before? Her thoughts remembered liking the smell of freshly ground Irish Cream coffee beans, but she’d never in her life had it.

“It can be an acquired taste,” I cautioned as she took her first sip and grimaced.

She looked at the container of sugar cubes with determination, and four appeared in her hand. In addition to the two she just put in, she dropped them individually. A whirlpool stirred the coffee.

She picked up the again and then smiled.

“Finally, something I don’t have to acquire.” She laughed delightedly, setting it beside mine and then returning from me. I looked at her coffee, debated the hazard, and sipped.

Our tastes certainly didn’t match everything, but I knew that already.

My hand itched to draw her back, an urge I’d never felt before, certainly not like this. I pondered my actions as she pulled out a few pans and flicked a hand at the fridge, summoning eggs, bacon, milk, and cheese to the counter.

Her thoughts were odder still. She knew what to do with these items but not what they tasted. She wondered about their texture and what made people like these raw ingredients.

She knew exactly where everything in this kitchen was, and it shouldn’t have surprised me. Anything Catalym didn’t know would be found in my too-vulnerable head. Yet I barely noticed her there. It was no more than a feather-light touch that I didn’t mind.

That and she was cooking for me. Other than Corrine and Kelly, no one cooked for me.

“How did you get to be so lucky?” Kev elbowed me in the ribs, grinning like an idiot. “Does Corrine have any more nieces I don’t know about?”

“Don’t know. I was counting my blessings with this one.” I flicked a bit of energy to her robe, shortening it to watch those smooth, long legs walk around me, “but I lost count.”

“I’m not the only niece, at least by my Mother,” Catalym said absently without turning back to us. “Though, I doubt you would want much to do with her.”

Kev shot me a meaningful look, but we both neglected to comment. Something about her concerned tone said much more than those two singular sentences.

“Any reports?” I asked Marcus instead of answering. He sat down at the table, immediately turning serious.

“We know the Californian Cornwall’s are in town now, and so is Judo,” he murmured. Catalym cringed at the sound of her ex-boyfriend’s name on Marcus’ lips, not that I could blame her.

“Of course, they’re demanding the return of their daughter. Cor and Max claim they take better care of her and refuse to budge. Corrine is going to drag the Council into this if they insist on anything more extensive, mostly to play it safe,” Kev remarked, taking a sideways glance at Cat, assessing how she was affected by this. “Corrine would rather just behead them all and play croquet with solid baseball bats.”

Catalym snorted, “I could believe that of my Aunt.”

“I wonder if she’d keep them ‘alive’ while she did it.”