Sapphire (Rare Gems Series) (17 page)

“Sweetening the deal with pies, are you?
Smart girl, you are. Could be that you’ll keep that son of mine happy.” Blair cleared
his throat, and his dad laughed. “I know you’re right there, but me and the new
alpha is talking. Go and find yourself something to do. Damned if I could get
you away from that desk of yours three months ago. Now you don’t go anywhere
near it.”

“Because this one is very special to me.
Not to mention I’ve found a whole new use for it.” His dad blustered, and Blair
laughed. “Will you move in here with us? There is more than enough room. And
with the new construction going on, you can find yourself even more trouble to
get into.”

“I think I might take you up on that
deal. Provided you understand that if I feel the need to leave, there won’t be
any hard feelings.” Blair looked at Sapphire, and she nodded at his dad’s stipulation.

“We’ll be fine with whatever arrangements
you want to make so long as if there’s a problem as to why you’re leaving you
let us know what it is first. Maybe we can fix it a better way than you leaving
us.” He agreed. “Now, when can you move in?”

“I’m packing my stuff up now.” Blair and
Sapphire both laughed. “You two gonna be breeding soon? Would be nice to know
when that happens, too. I just can’t wait for a couple of fine young ones to
bounce on my knee.”

Blair looked at Sapphire. They hadn’t
talked about children, and he wondered if she wanted any. The sudden image of
her swollen with his child made him sit up straighter in his chair. A child
with this woman would complete him.

His dad told him he’d call him later and
hung up. Blair watched Sapphire as she moved around the room picking up her
tattered clothing and pulling on what she could find that was still intact. She
tossed his shirt at him, and he pulled it on but didn’t bother buttoning it. He
needed a shower in the worst way.

“When do you leave?” She turned to him
when he asked. “For Texas, when do you leave? Tonight or tomorrow, and do you
plan to stay long?”

“Just one day if I can, and in the
morning. Thad is sending his plane to pick me up.” She sat down on his lap
again. “He’s thinking of moving his personal life up here. If he does, then we
might want to think harder on telling him what we are at least. He might stumble
upon something, and I’d rather he knew first so we didn’t get shot to hell.”

Thad liked to hunt and had asked them
several times about the woods behind their house. Sapphire had told him that it
was for their special use, and he’d taken it to mean that they romped through
it naked on a daily basis. They did, but not like he thought they did.

“I’ll see if I can figure out a way to
work it in a conversation. How about we have him to dinner, and when he
arrives, we’re all wolves. You think that he’ll try to have us stuffed and hung
over his mantel like that moose he has there?”

Sapphire shivered. “I don’t care to
visit him in his home. It’s like he’s taken a zoo and had it stuffed. I hope to
Christ he leaves that shit back in Texas. There is no way I’m ever going to
feel good about going to his house with all those dead animals hanging around
us.”

Blair had had the same feelings and
hoped the man would change once he moved here. His father had been a game
hunter, and since it had been his house, both Blair and Sapphire hoped that he
wasn’t going to be a problem. He supposed time would tell.

Now he wanted to talk to her about
children. He snuggled her into his arms and put his hand over her flat hard
belly. Smiling, he thought again of children nestled there. This required tact
as well as timing. He didn’t want to upset her by coming across too strongly. Smiling,
he had just the way to do it.

“So, how many pups would you like to
have? I’m thinking a dozen.” He grinned when she stiffened. “Maybe two, but no
more than three dozen. That’s my final offer.”

About the Author

Kathi
Barton, author of the bestselling series Force of Nature, lives in Nashport,
Ohio with her husband Paul. In addition to writing full time Kathi likes to
spend time with her eight grandkids, three children and three children-in-laws.
She writes to relax and have fun.

Her
muse, a cross between Jimmy Stewart and Hugh Jackman brings them to life for her
readers in a way that has them coming back time and again for more. Her
favorite genre is paranormal romance with a great deal of spice. You can visit
Kathi on line and drop her an email if you’d like. She loves hearing from her
fans.
[email protected]
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