Iron Master – Jennifer Ashley Page 0,11

her and absorb her strength at the same time.

Several cannonballs bashed into his legs, more arms coming around him, the cubs joining in. Donny had shifted to bear, and he circled the hugging ball, nuzzling Reid whenever he could get his nose in.

Peigi lifted her head, wiping her cheeks. “They were scared you weren’t coming back.”

Stuart gazed into eyes of rich blue, framed with lashes of deepest black. He brushed back a lock of her sable hair. “You know I’ll always come back.”

In all this time, this was the closest Stuart had come to a declaration. He and Peigi never spoke about what was between them, as though they feared its shimmering bubble would break into unresolvable shards.

Her mouth was so close, her breath touching his lips. Stuart could easily lean to her, brush a kiss to her mouth, taste her. Her chest lifted with her breath, longing flickering in her eyes. She wanted it too, a kiss that would seal whatever it was they had and maybe lead to something more.

Stuart had learned to embrace his exile because of this woman. Peigi had beauty like no other, and she too was exiled, alone, making a family from those no one else wanted.

This morning he’d been called by someone beyond the divide who needed his help, who told him of peril. Stuart knew he was a selfish bastard, because at this moment, with Peigi before him, their breaths mingling, he could think of nothing but staying with her, forever.

Two small fists smashed the back of his legs. “I’m hungry!” Kevin, who rarely spoke, declared in a loud voice. “We had to wait so long for you and Peigi to get home. Can we have pancakes now?”

“Are you going to tell me about it?”

After the cubs had been fed their second breakfast—Shane had given them the eggs from the first—Peigi sat in the sunshine on the back porch on an Adirondack chair, soaking up warmth. As typical in Las Vegas, the bone-chillingly cold morning had given way to a pleasant seventy-five degrees, a nice change from the brutal heat of summer. In this climate, winter was greeted with relief.

Stuart, in spite of his ordeal, had helped make the pancakes and supervised the cleanup afterward. The cubs had then attacked their daily chores with minimum fuss and then headed out to play, meeting cubs in the middle of backyards for whatever game they had going. Shifter adults lounged on porches, keeping an eye on the little ones.

“I’m not sure what to tell.” Stuart reposed on the low porch’s one step, long legs in jeans stretched out to the gravel beyond. “It was a weird experience. I’m not even certain what happened.”

“You told me you couldn’t teleport out of there,” Peigi said. He’d related at least that much. “Which was why I had to go into that terrifying hole in the ground and pull you out.”

“Which I am truly thankful for.” Stuart sent Peigi a glance that warmed her blood. “I’ll have to give you something to show you how grateful I am. That jeweler Diego and I helped last month with his theft problem has some beautiful things in his store. Want to go pick something out?”

“What would I do with a diamond necklace?” Peigi asked, eyes wide. “Wear it to the prom?”

Stuart’s grin grew broader. “Wherever the hell you wanted. Doesn’t matter. I’ll get you something. Maybe new patio furniture.”

Peigi settled more deeply into the wooden chair. “More practical, but the cubs will tear it up. Solid and old is better.”

“You are hard to please, woman.”

Peigi shrugged, pretending his voice, smile, and very presence didn’t make her rejoice. “I’m just glad you’re all right. The cubs are a handful.”

“They’re good kids.” His gaze went to their six running around and screaming with the other cubs in Shiftertown.

Noelle, a grizzly cub, would likely be an alpha if given the chance. She could rally the younger cubs of Shiftertown to her side and hold her own against the older ones. Donny seemed to be fairly carefree, not as easily frightened as he used to be. Maybe he wouldn’t be an alpha but certainly not too far down in the hierarchy. Peigi was a bit more concerned about Hannah and Kevin, the youngest two, who were uncertain about their place.

“They want me to come back,” Stuart said.

Peigi snapped her gaze to him. “They? Who’s they?”

“The dokk alfar.” Before she could ask what he meant, he gave her the full story of his encounter in