does he know that you’re part Shifter, or only that you’re not his?”
“He doubtless knows now if he is holding my mother hostage.”
“Not necessarily. Your mother is a redoubtable woman. She threw him out before, remember?”
“That must have been hard for her,” Rhianne said with sudden compassion. “I know she loved him once.”
“She’d have to have been madly in love with him to be blind to his true nature,” Ben said. “Love does make us stupid.”
Rhianne met his gaze. “I agree.”
Ben flushed. “It makes me a complete idiot who will do completely idiotic things. Goddess help us.”
Rhianne curled her fingers at her sides. She’d heard him begin to say Love you, and then stop himself abruptly. Why? Would he ever say it again?
“What do we do now?” Rhianne asked softly.
“You and me? I don’t know. I liked what we were doing on the sofa. Maybe some more of that while we work through all these emotions?”
Rhianne had to smile. “I meant about going to Faerie and rescuing my mother. She is my mother, and you can’t stop me going home and kicking my stepdad’s ass.”
“If we share the mate bond, that means I’m your mate, and in Shifter terms, yes I can.” Ben’s grin was victorious as he closed on her. “Females in the past were sequestered so they’d be safe to have cubs away from other males with designs on them.”
“Sequestered.” Rhianne’s brows went up, and the Tuil Erdannan side of her reemerged. “You would try that?”
“Nope.” Ben chuckled. “Shifters don’t do it anymore either, but the males still believe they can order their mates to do what they want.”
Rhianne thought of Jaycee and her scorn whenever Dimitri tried to exert his dominance. “Do the Shifter females obey?”
“Nope.” More laughter. “You’re catching on.”
Rhianne also recalled how Dimitri hadn’t really expected Jaycee to obey him, betraying his pleasure when she defied him. They knew each other well.
The padlock clicked, and a moment later, Connor swung open the door. He had his eyes closed. Tiger-girl stood behind him, but she stared at them in avid curiosity.
“Are you decent?” Connor asked.
“We’re dressed,” Ben answered. “We wrecked the couch a little, though.”
Connor’s eyes popped open, but he didn’t appear to be at all embarrassed. “No worries. Uncle Liam and Aunt Kim wreck it plenty. Liam sent me to fetch you. There’s a woman here, and she has a couple of weird-looking guys with her. Says her name is Millie.”
Chapter Twenty
Ben was out the door, past a startled Tiger-girl, and sprinting to the house as soon as Connor finished the sentence. He heard Rhianne right behind him and realized he could sense her too. The bond tugged at him.
How Millie had found him here, and what she would do, Ben couldn’t say, but alarm pulsed through him. Goblins weren’t the cute, harmless things they pretended to be.
“Where is she?” Ben charged through the house, following the sound of voices to the front porch. He banged out of the screen door just as Millie, white-haired and plump-cheeked, leaned over Carly, who had Seth in her arms.
“No!” he yelled.
Carly blinked up at him. Seth, who was learning to talk with amazing rapidity, said, “What wrong, Ben?”
“She’s dangerous.” Ben paused to catch his breath. “Dangerous like me.”
Millie beamed a smile, peering at Ben through her thick lenses. “Nonsense. I am here to make sure all is well with you.” She gazed down at Seth. “This one. He’s—”
She broke off and swung around as Tiger materialized behind her. For something so big, Tiger could move with amazing stealth.
“He’s my son.” Menace and pride blended in the growl.
“Oh, my.” Millie took a step back. “And you are the strangest being I’ve ever seen.”
“He’s fine the way he is,” Carly said at once. She always sprang to Tiger’s defense.
“I mean strange in a good way.” Millie adjusted her spectacles, taking in Tiger’s tall form, his intense eyes, his orange-and-black striped hair. “Are you Ben’s friend? Or foe?”
“Friend,” Tiger said without hesitation.
“Whew.” Ben wiped his brow. “I am glad to hear that, big guy. I do not want you for an enemy. This is Millie. She’s a goblin. Last time I saw her, the earth opened up and tried to eat me.”
“Like I said, that wasn’t my doing.” Millie faced him in indignation, both hands closing on her handbag. “I saw what happened. Saw you.” She jerked her chin at Rhianne. “You rescued him. Then Shifter Bureau took you away. I called my sons, and they tracked you to Shifter Bureau.