cautious sip of his own champagne. He paused for a moment—then, without a word, handed her his glass as well.
Darcy smothered a giggle. “No? Not even champagne?”
He shook his head, nose wrinkling. “I will stick to chocolate milk.”
“All the more for me, then.” Stretching her legs out on the bed, she took another appreciative sip. “Wow. Pretty sure this is the most expensive thing I’ve ever put in my mouth.”
“You said we needed to keep up appearances, just in case any of the smuggling circle investigated us in return.” His gaze travelled down her body. “And we are supposed to be on honeymoon.”
Heat lit in her. She put the champagne flutes down on the bedside table, and crooked a finger at him.
A hungry growl rumbled through Fenrir’s chest. He crawled up the bed, body covering hers. She wound her arms around him, kissing the scar of the mate-mark at the side of his neck.
“I wish we really were on honeymoon,” she murmured, lips pressed against his damp skin.
His mouth moved down her throat, making her toes curl. “Could be. If you wanted to.”
“Tempting, but no. My family would kill me if we eloped.” She let out a breath of laughter that turned into a gasp as Fenrir’s teeth closed gently over her shoulder. “Anyway, I thought you were enjoying all the wedding planning?”
He hummed, nibbling at her own mate mark. “Very much. But will enjoy being married to you even more.”
“Hey, we’re already mated. The human ceremony is just a formality.” She pulled him up so that they were face to face, brushing his hair back so she could look into his eyes. “But I want the pack to be there to celebrate with us. The whole pack.”
A shadow crossed his eyes. “Yes. Would like that too.”
She kissed the side of his mouth, gently. “So we’ll wait until Lupa can be there. We found her a shit-hot lawyer, and ‘influenced from childhood by a giant demonic snake’ is a hell of a defense. He’s confident he can get her released from custody, at least.”
Fenrir let out his breath. “If she agrees. She wants to be punished.”
“Your sister’s got a lot to work through. But eventually she’ll realize that if she truly wants to atone, she needs to roll up her sleeves and get to work undoing Uncegila’s damage, not sit around in a cell. Just give her time.” She kissed him again. “We have plenty of that now.”
“Yes.” The worry cleared from his face at last. He bent over her again, hands sliding down her body. “We have all the time in the world.”
Meanwhile, in Montana…
Blaise hesitated outside the hospital room, debating with herself. Then her jaw firmed. With only the briefest of knocks, she pushed the door open.
“Okay,” she announced, striding into the room and putting her hands on her hips. “That’s it. Enough is enough.”
Buck broke off from reading aloud, shooting her a glare. It would have been a lot more effective if he’d been able to focus on her properly.
With a jolt of dismay, Blaise saw new lines around Buck’s shadowed eyes. He’d grown even more gray and haggard just in the few weeks since she’d last seen him.
Blaise didn’t let her concern show on her face. Wystan and the others had already tried coaxing, pleading, and flat out begging the Superintendent to take a break from his constant vigil at his nephew’s bedside. It was time for a more direct approach.
“You,” she continued, matching his glare with one of her own, “are taking a shower, a nap, and a break. In that order.”
“You’re fired,” Buck informed her.
“No I’m not,” she replied, unruffled. “Because the whole squad would quit in protest. Good luck finding eight experienced firefighters to replace us when it’s just a few weeks to the start of the season. Especially when your desk is already ass-deep in the paperwork that you’ve been ignoring.”
Buck rubbed his face. “Rory and Edith said they were handling all that.”
“They are, but the crew still needs a Superintendent. Preferably one who doesn’t stink like something Fenrir dug out of a bear den.” She folded her arms. “Now are you going to walk out, or am I going to throw you over my shoulder and carry you? I can do that, you know. And lay hose and put out structural fires too. Haven’t forgotten all my urban firefighting training.”
“Motherloving shifters,” Buck muttered, though it didn’t sound like his heart was in it. He looked down at the unconscious Zephyr. “I