How Nina Got Her Fang Back: Accidental Quickie (Accidentally Paranormal Series Book 13) (13 page)

A bottle of wine sat chilling in a makeshift ice bucket someone had made from a KFC bucket, and one glass of what January guessed was blood sat next to it.

Nina winked, pulling out one of the patio chairs for her. “A little birdie told us you and Romeo haven’t had any time alone together in months. We figured you two needed some love-muffin time. Seeing as little miss here is ready for bed anyway…we thought you might wanna get your romance on.” She wiggled her fingers at January, indicating she should hand Calista over.

Both January and Galen responded simultaneously. “But—”

“But nothing,” Nina’s husband Greg said, pushing his way out of the sliding glass door as he draped an arm around his wife’s shoulders and tickled Calista under the chin. Tall and dark, his pale good looks and calm demeanor had set January instantly at ease from the moment she’d met him. She didn’t doubt his devotion to Nina and her mental health. Not even a little.

“You’re both worn out from these last months. All this hiding can’t have been easy for either of you. Take one night. Just one—on us; on all of us—and breathe. Well, I mean
you
breathe, January. For both of you,” he joked with a smile.

“Hah!” Nina crowed, tucking Calista to her shoulder as she snuggled closer to Greg. “My man—funny, right?”

“Sit, sit, sit,” Wanda ordered with a smile, pushing in January’s chair and squeezing her shoulder. “Relax. Enjoy some adult time. We’ll take care of the baby and anything else that needs taking care of.”

As January settled in across from Galen, her body melted into the chair. For the first time in months, they were safe. No one knew where they were. Artem wouldn’t bother checking up on her until Monday before the summit, as busy as he was psyching up his compadres for the big event. This was a freedom they hadn’t been afforded in months and months.

Marty tugged January’s braid with a gentle pull. “Now, we’re all going to go inside and go to bed in order to allow you some privacy to do whatever it is that two people who haven’t been alone together in months do. Ahem,” she said, straightening her peasant blouse over her flowing skirt and grinning a saucy grin. “The house is all yours. Go crazy.”

“But not too damn crazy now. Hear?” Nina reminded on a chuckle as she rocked Calista, who’d popped a chubby thumb into her mouth. “Like countertops and furniture are out. Got that, Doc? Normally I wouldn’t care. But now that I can eat, Arch makes a killer breakfast I don’t plan on missin’. Feel me?”

January barked a laugh as the warm breeze lifted the hair on the back of her neck. “No countertops or furniture. Got it, Boss.”

“And no talk of that prick Artem tonight, either,” Keegan, Marty’s equally handsome husband, reminded. “I know it’s not easy, but you have to at least try. For both your sakes.”

“Damn right,” Heath chimed in, pulling Wanda to his chest and smiling over the top of her head. “Forget everything but being together. Let all the other crap go.”

“Indeed, Dr. Malone,” Archibald assured on a smile and a quick bow. “And should you need me, the fine Farley and I shall be in the last bedroom on the right, where a rousing game of checkers and an episode of
The Barefoot Contessa
await us.”

Farley nodded his pleasure with a grin. Never were two men more suited to becoming friends than her familiar and Archibald. Farley was probably one of the biggest BC fans around.

He dropped a kiss on the top of her head and murmured in her ear, “Take heed the wise manservant’s words, lass. I’m a mere snap of your fingers away, should ya find ya need me.”

As everyone began to file out, January reached a hand out to Nina and gave it a squeeze. “Thank you,” she whispered with a watery smile.

She winked and let Greg pull her inside while the others followed suit.

Carl poked his head out of the sliding door and waved, slipping outside to drop a plate of broccoli in front of January. Then he, too, patted her on the arm and went in, leaving just her, Galen, some Barry Manilow, the roar of the brook, and the nighttime sounds of July.

Sighing, she closed her eyes and inhaled before opening them as Galen reached for her hand and pulled her to his lap. “How did they know we haven’t had a chance to be alone?”

Galen smiled at her, the worry in his eyes fading. “I must have mentioned it while we were all getting to know each other, before you got here.”

January’s heart melted. “They really are good people, aren’t they?”

Galen nodded his head, running his fingers over her jaw. “They are. I was wrong to doubt them.”

“Do you think—”

Galen pressed his lips to hers to stop her from expressing her doubt. “No talk of what’s to come. How about you dance with me? I don’t think we’ve ever danced, have we?”

Curling her fingers into his dark hair, she smiled as he nuzzled her neck, sending sharp tingles of awareness along her flesh. “You can dance? Big girly sigh. What can’t you do, Galen Marcus?”

“Wait to get my hands on you naked?” he offered as a response, lifting her up and setting her on her feet to wrap his arms around her waist.

She giggled, leaning into him, resting her head on his wide chest and sighing her contentment as he led them across the wide deck. “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”

“It’s been forever,” he muttered against her mouth, slipping his tongue between her lips.

The silky slide of it, the rasp against her own, made her sigh again, this time in anticipation. Reaching up, she wrapped her arms around his neck and molded her body to his—every last plane and rigid line.

“You’re pretty good at this.”

“I’m pretty good at a lot of things.”

“A lot of good things is what gave us Calista,” she whispered on a chuckle.

“Like I said. I’m pretty good at a lot of things, but she’s the best thing. The best thing I’ve ever been a part of in a couple of centuries.”

January’s heart tightened and contracted. “You wanna go see if we can practice for the time when we might want to give her a brother or a sister?”

“Do you think it’s possible to give her a sibling?” he asked, nipping at her neck.

“I don’t know. But it can’t hurt to hope, can it?”

They’d both been blindsided by January’s pregnancy. In fact, for weeks, she’d wondered what was going on with her cycle. She’d chalked up her lack of menstruation to the stress of sneaking around after Artem banned them from seeing one another.

Until Farley suggested a pregnancy test. She’d never forget seeing that little line indicating she was pregnant—or the fear that when she told Galen, he’d reject the very idea. They’d never talked children or family because it never entered a conversation with a vampire. She’d fretted he’d think she’d cooked up some spell, but it had all been worry for nothing.

When Galen found out, when he’d absorbed the information, he’d smiled wider than she’d ever seen him smile before. Then he’d swung her around and asked her to marry him on the spot. That was when she knew they had unconditional trust between them. He never once questioned how it had happened after she’d explained she didn’t have a clue.

Galen had declared it a miracle—meant to be.

He’d ignored her protests about their forbidden relationship. He’d ignored everything but the idea that he was going to be a father, and there was no way Artem or anyone else was going to stop him from fulfilling that role as her husband.

They’d married under white witch law in a small ceremony consisting of Farley, a fellow white witch and a blue fairy—and it had been magic.

And it would all be the most perfect thing ever if not for Artem.

Fucking Artem.

“
Y
ou’re not doing as instructed, Dr. Malone,” Galen teased.

Returning her attention to him, she fought to keep her mind free of their predicament.

And when he cupped her breast, she was totally able to pony up. “Bedroom?” she whispered against his lips.

“Yes. That,” he said on a chuckle, tearing his lips from hers and pulling her toward the sliding glass doors.

They snuck into the kitchen like two children, giggling and trying not to trip on the shoes lined up by the pantry door.

They raced down the hallway to their bedroom, where Galen closed the door on everything but them. Shutting out their worlds so determined to pull them apart, and then he pulled her to him and kissed her, whispering his words of eternal love and devotion.

When they lay together long after their lovemaking, January clung to this moment. Clung to Galen’s strong grip, buried her face in his wide chest, reveled in this cocoon they’d created.

And as she tried to keep her eyes open to savor every moment, January silently prayed they’d have the opportunity for more moments just like this.

* * * *

“I can’t even believe he asks the waitresses to wear these, Ingrid! I mean, how can anyone carry a tray of whatever we’re serving these asshats with heels the height of Redwood trees?” Teddy groaned as she slipped into one of the sapphire-blue stilettos Ingrid handed her.

“According to our boss for the night, this Artem’s very particular about how the waitstaff should dress, and this, my friend,” Ingrid held up the skimpy cocktail waitress dress with the bustier, “is what he prefers.”

“He’s a sexist dick,” Teddy spat, holding out a very long leg to eyeball the high-heel on her foot. “I feel like King Kong.”

“You’re prolly as tall as King Kong, too,” Nina said on a chuckle, pushing the sleeves on her hoodie over her elbows before she dug into a raspberry-filled donut. “If you aim right, you could maybe squash a whole damn village with heifers the size of yours.”

But Teddy wasn’t insulted by Nina’s jab. Not at all. Instead, she laughed and chucked her friend under the chin. “I smell jelly, ex-vampire. Stop projecting your disappointment we’re not jamming
your
skinny butt into one of these, because you know you want one just like it. It’s unbecoming of a human.”

Then Nina laughed with her. Their dynamic was that of every relationship Nina shared with another soul. Playful, full of banter, sometimes insulting banter, but always with the undercurrent of total and utter devotion.

January didn’t know many who had the kind of fierce loyalty Nina possessed. For that matter, she didn’t know many who’d put up with the kind of verbal foreplay Nina found so amusing.

Certainly, it tried her friends’ patience. Without a doubt, it taxed them now that she was weathering a crisis. But when they were all together, they moved as one unit. They meshed. They worked…they fit…and somehow, her abrasive remarks only added to her less-than-sunshiney personality.

Ingrid tightened the corset laces on the top of Teddy’s uniform. “Damn. Look at your rack. Now
I’m
the one with some jelly.”

Ingrid had managed to locate the catering service Artem used for these parties via some computer hacking and a little magic from January. They’d found the names and addresses of the staff without much trouble earlier this past week.

Then January set about giving two of the waitresses the flu via a spell that would wear off within the day, but left them ill enough that they couldn’t work. She’d then snapped her fingers and put Teddy and Ingrid’s names at the top of the list of acceptable replacements for a party at Artem’s. Apparently, he had a very short list of approved employees—likely due to the fact that he kept close tabs on who was allowed in and out of his home.

And voila, now they were here. Tonight was the night. If only all of the things they had to do this evening were as easy as the flu and some finagling of names.

Now, via strict instructions from the caterer, Teddy and Ingrid were trying on their uniforms. Uniforms the caterer said were mandatory, also per Artem’s orders. Artem wasn’t just a total buttwipe, he was a womanizer, too, if he thought it was even remotely comfortable for these poor women to wear heels that high and skirts that short while they ran themselves ragged.

January forced herself to try to focus on helping the women change into their skimpy costumes, determined to keep it together—for Calista, for Galen, for her sanity.

Nina had abandoned her donut and was currently doting on Calista as she rocked in a chair between bouts of teasing Ingrid and Teddy about their clothing.

“Who’s the prettiest girl ever-ever?” she cooed at Calista, who’d taken to Nina like a duck to water the moment she’d seen her this morning after a solid night’s sleep, snuggling right up against her side and resting her dark curls on the ex-vampire’s shoulder.

As Nina held Calista up in the air and demanded she give her smooshies while she nibbled on the baby’s toes and the infant giggled, January’s heart tightened with love.

Once more, she was reminded how good it was to see her baby—to have her little family in the same room. It hadn’t happened nearly as often as it should have since her birth, and she refused to consider what she’d do if they were parted.

But she also noted something else while Nina cooed, cuddled, squeezed squeaky toys as Calista’s chubby hands grabbed for them, and lavished praise on her. Nina was amazing with everyone but her peers. And even then, some would say they didn’t much care that she didn’t relate well to people because her mouthy attitude was well worth the return in friendship—in loyalty.

And January was coming to find that was true. She didn’t care how abrasive Nina was either. She liked her despite her cursing. She liked her a lot. She liked all of them a lot—even if their time together thus far had been short.

“So, Doc, you feelin’ any better about this plan—or you still got the jitters?” Nina asked as she played peek-a-boo with Calista and the hood on the baby’s sweatshirt.

“I have
all
the jitters,” January replied, intertwining her fingers together to keep from digging her nails into her palms. As the time for the women to attend the party grew closer, her anxiety swelled. “If someone ends up hurt, I’ll never forgive myself.”

Teddy put a hand on Marty’s shoulder to balance herself as she slipped into the other shoe. “You know who’s going to end up hurt, don’t you? Me. When I crash-land on my ass in these heels,” she said on a chuckle, but then she looked at January and smiled in sympathy. “Stop worrying, January. I’m pretty tough, I promise you, and even though Ingrid’s human, she’s no slouch. I just want you to try to relax. Spend time with Calista and Galen and let us do the heavy lifting. The ladies and Darnell have their earpieces in. They’ll hear every word we say and know if we’re in any danger. Darnell drives the absolute best getaway car ever if trouble ensues. I think we’ve thought of everything. It’s going to be okay. I feel it.”