Costin pushed the middle arm rest up and pulled Sally over until her head was in his lap. He covered her with the blanket the attendant had given them and brushed the hair from her face.
“You are so crazy,” she said softly.
He loved how her lips turned up into a tiny smile when she was pleased with something he’d done. Tease him she may, but she had fun playing charades. Everyone had. Costin had pulled the stunt in an effort to keep her from sitting and thinking. The game had gotten heated several times, but the alcohol kept most of the other passengers in a state of happy buzz. He’d purposely been skimping on how much alcohol he was putting in their drinks. He wanted everyone to enjoy themselves, not get smashed. It was lucky he had. Some of the passengers were good guessers and had a stack of empty plastic cups resting on their tray backs. A couple could be heard throughout the cabin snoring loudly.
“You had fun,” he replied. “It’s okay if you want to admit it.”
He felt her head move up and down in a nod. “I did have fun. Thank you.”
“I would do anything for you,” he said, switching to the more intimate way of communicating through their bond.
“Even spend hundreds of dollars on alcohol to play charades with first-class passengers just to keep me from being swallowed up by my own mind?”
“Yes, Sally mine, even that.”
She snuggled in closer to him, and the contented sigh that left her body made him want to cheer. She was relaxed, not completely, but more than she had been in days. She’d had fun, smiled, laughed, and teased. His wolf had been mesmerized by her and gotten ticked off any time Costin took his eyes off of her. She’s beautiful, his wolf said. Yes, she is.
“I love you, beloved mate,” he whispered in her mind as he felt her drifting off to sleep.
“And I love you, dimple boy.”
He chuckled at the nickname Jen had given him. Sally still liked to use it. He didn’t mind because, knowing Jen, it could have been much worse.
He leaned his head back against the seat and ran his fingers through his mate’s hair. His eyes closed, but he didn’t stop petting, caressing, or touching her. Even in his sleep his hands found their way to her skin. Touch was so incredibly vital to his kind and even more so between mates. As long as Sally would keep letting him touch her, he could help her with the darkness that was attacking her mind. And she would help him without even knowing it. They’d made so much progress in a very short amount of time. He wanted to keep their momentum moving forward as she worked through the happenings of the past four months. He hoped going home to see her parents was the right move. The other females agreed that it was, and he was to the point that he would take her anywhere she wanted to go if it was going to help her heal.
“Can you say it?” Her voice in his mind startled him. He’d thought she was asleep. When he didn’t answer right away, she asked again, “Can you say it?”
“I want you. I adore you. I love you. You’re mine, and I am yours,” he crooned through their bond just as he had earlier that day, and a week earlier, the night she’d been brought home.
“Again,” she whispered.
“You’re beautiful. I need you. I want you. You’re mine.”
Chapter Five
“Hi, Mom and Dad. This is my hot, Romanian, werewolf, bartender, mate slash husband,” said no girl ever … except me. ~Sally
“If one more woman asks for your autograph and to take a picture with you I’m going to call Jen so she can make fun of you.” Sally laughed as Costin turned away the fifth or six—she’d lost count at this point—woman who’d asked if he was a model on some paranormal romance cover and blah, blah, blah. They’d landed at Houston International Airport, which really just looked like a big freaking mall with a runway, and from the moment they’d stepped off the plane, eyes, mostly belonging to females, were fixed upon her mate.
“Hi, I’m sorry to bother you, but weren’t you that model on the book My Mate the Vampire?” a woman with a fake Southern accent gone wrong asked Costin.
Costin simply smiled and shook his head while saying something in Romanian, pretending he didn’t speak English. Sally growled under her breath, emitting a chuckle from Costin as the woman walked away.
“A vampire?” he asked as he placed his hand at the small of her back to guide her through the crowd.
“You should have told her no, you were the model on the front of the cover of the book My Mate the Werewolf.” Sally barked, pointing to herself.
Costin smacked her on the rear, and she had to laugh because of the envious looks she got from women who just couldn’t take their eyes off of him. They were envious because he spanked her?
“Seriously, I think you could spit in my hair right now, and they would be envious of me.” She scoffed as she pulled her phone from her back pocket.
“No, they’d be envious of your hair because it had the privilege of having my spit on it, which was previously on my tongue. It’s all about the tongue, Sally mine. That’s what they’re envious of.”
She bit her lip trying really hard not to laugh. “I just need you to know that I recorded what you just said, and I will be sending it to Jen and Jacque.”
As they stepped up to the baggage claim, Costin winked at her. “To see that smile on you and hear that laugh, I’ll go say it over the intercom for you.”
Sally grabbed his arm when he turned and acted as though he was going to make good on his offer. “No, no, it’s fine. I’m smiling. See?” She pointed to her face.
Costin took her face in his hands and leaned in close so their foreheads were nearly touching. “I do see,” he whispered. “I see the most amazing woman I’ve ever met, and I get to call her mine.” He pressed his lips to hers, and Sally felt the airport and all the envious stares fade away. All she could feel was him. One of his hands slid into her hair while the other slid down her side and around her back, pressing her against his body. She felt his fingers dance on her spine as he traced the tattoo-like markings that matched his own, markings only he had the privilege of seeing. Sally ran her hands up his chest and around his neck as she rose up on her tiptoes to get closer to him. Someone clearing their throat and standing very close to them finally broke her from the Costin bubble she’d been sucked into.
Sally pulled back and turned in the direction of the noise, and her eyes widened. “Hi, Mom and Dad. Jen said we were meeting you in Coldspring.”
“Costin bubble? Sounds kinky,” her mate said through their bond just as he turned and held out his hand to her father. “Mr. Morgan, I’m Costin Miklos, Sally’s husband.” He turned to her mother and stepped forward, gently placing a kiss on her cheek. “Mrs. Morgan, it’s so nice to finally meet you.”