she asked, because it was a simple question she’d be wondering about for a while now.
“I don’t know. Fifty rooms? Maybe more?”
Lifting her head, she blinked. “Wow. That makes the Early house seem like a cabin.”
“Your parents?”
As she nodded, she found herself frowning. “What do I do about them? Do I keep in touch? Can I?” She thought of Bill and Lydia. “And what about my friends out in the human world, not that I have many?”
“You can see them as much or as a little as you want. We’ll manage it. No one is going to isolate you.”
“Good. I don’t how much I’m going to want to… my parents are complicated. And I still don’t know who my birth mother is.”
“I’ll be there to help you look for her. Whatever you need, it’s yours.”
“So… about this bonded male thing.”
Syn stretched like a panther and then kissed her. “Nailed it.”
“You sure did.” Jo couldn’t keep the smile off her face. “And I would like to live with you here. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be. But there has to be something I can do for work, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“Are you just going to say yes to me about everything?”
“Yes.” Syn winked. “I am.”
Jo kissed him and got serious. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“For what? I’ve not really done anything.”
Reaching up, she traced the features she loved so much with her fingertips. “For giving me a home. A proper home.”
“Well, this mansion isn’t mine—”
“I’m not talking about the building we’re in.” She thought of her lonely childhood, her sense of being lost in the world even as she lived around other people. “More than the answers to who I am, I’ve been searching for a home. You are my home. You, and only you, are my shelter and my comfort.”
“I don’t deserve that.” His expression darkened. “Jo, there are still things you have to know about me. About things I’ve done. I mean, I’m not that person anymore, but—”
“I will listen to everything and anything you have to say. But you need to know that the male you are now, and the male you’ve always been with me, is the one I will love forever.”
“You make me want to be a hero, not a sinner.”
“Well, from my point of view, you’re very good at the former. And after everything that’s happened, I believe I am in the best position to judge that, don’t you think.”
They started kissing again, and that led to… all kinds of things. And as he climaxed inside of her once again, Jo held her male tightly. He was right. There were things to learn about him, and things he had to learn about her, stories to share and feelings to express—not all of them happy-go-lucky. But they had plenty of time for those sorts of things.
When you had a happily-ever-after, you had time.
When you had true love, you had everything you needed.
As Syn collapsed on top of her, breathing hard and sated once more, she stroked his back and smiled up at the ceiling. Except then he pulled back sharply.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I know the first thing we need to do together as a couple.”
Jo breathed in as part of replying to him, and that was when she caught the scent of bacon. As her stomach let out a howl, she held up her forefinger.
“Eat breakfast.”
Syn laughed. “Well, yes. And we call it First Meal in this house.”
“Tomato, tomahto, as long as there’s bacon involved and some eggs, and chocolate somehow, I’m good to go.”
“You can have everything you want—but if you’re moving in with me?” He kissed her as if he couldn’t resist doing so. “We’re going to go out and buy some furniture for my room.”
“You don’t like this antique look?”
“This isn’t where I normally sleep—I have nothing in my room.” Syn kissed her some more, his sex stirring yet again. In a low purr, he murmured, “And you and I are going to fill it up, together.”
Jo chuckled as they began moving as one again, so happy—and kind of honored—that she was the only female his body had ever released into.
“Filling up is something you’re quite good at.”
“But I better keep practicing,” he said against her mouth.
* * *
It was another hour before Syn could quit it with the sex. And even then, when they got in the shower, he couldn’t resist pressing his female up against the warm marble wall and finding his way inside of her again.
But finally they were heading out of the