“Wow. That was a whopper,” she said.
Wulfric bent and kissed Petra’s pouty, little lips. “She really can let them rip.” He picked the baby up and put her bottom on his crossed legs while he cradled her upper body with his arms. He smiled at her. “And I bet your little tummy feels better.”
As Wulfric continued to talk nonsense to Petra, Cyndey watched him. What she’d seen in his eyes earlier, she could have sworn it looked like something close to…love? She really didn’t have much experience when it came to that particular emotion. There was no question her mother had loved her, and had shown it often, as if she had tried to make up for her father’s lack of it. But feeling it for a man she dated, it hadn’t ever happened.
What she felt for Wulfric was different, though. She really liked him, and it wasn’t all to do with the great sex. Did she want something more meaningful than regarding him as her British boy toy? She didn’t know. But if he wanted things to be more serious, she’d have to watch herself. She had a return ticket to Toronto and she had every intention of using it.
Chapter Six
Later, after Wulfric had dropped her off at Maggie’s parents’ place, Cydney sat in their guest room on the bed with a sketchpad and colored pencils in front of her.
She’d already roughly sketched out the dimensions of Wulfric’s bedroom. With a color palette in mind—nothing in pink as she’d threatened—she’d drawn where she wanted the furniture to go, coloring in the walls and each piece.
First thing tomorrow, she’d get rid of that god awful dresser, and rip up the disgusting shag carpeting shortly after. As for the furniture, she’d have to get Wulfric to take her shopping. She had a vague idea of what she wanted, but not familiar with the stores around there, she wasn’t sure she’d find anything.
A tap at her door pulled her out of her design plans. “Come in,” she called.
Maggie opened it and step inside. “Hey. Wulfric dropped you off early.”
“Yeah. He has to work tonight.”
“I see.” Maggie came closer and sat on the edge of the bed next to Cydney.
“What are you working on?”
She smiled as she turned the sketchpad for her friend to see. “I have my first design job. Wulfric wants me to totally redo his bedroom.”
“Are you serious? It could just be a ploy to get you into bed.”
Cydney rolled her eyes. “No such ploy is needed. I’ve already been in his bedroom and his bed.”
Maggie giggled. “I guess that was dumb of me. Of course you would have already slept with Wulfric. You’ve always been a fast worker.”
“Especially when it’s something I want. But really, he is getting me to redesign his room. You should see it now. It has green shag carpet and a puke-green dresser that I swear has to have come from the 70s. And what is worse is the man doesn’t think it’s all that bad. His family has told him otherwise, numerous times.”
Maggie’s brow furrowed. “Wulfric still lives at home with his parents?”
“No. He has roommates he calls his extended family. They all live together like a family would.”
“Oh. He must live in a big place, especially since the room you’ve sketched looks pretty large.”
“It’s one of those manor homes.” She told Maggie the name of the street Wulfric lived on.
Her friend’s eyes widened. “Crap, he must be loaded, Cyd. Those manors are exceedingly expensive.”
“Apparently, Wulfric and his family are all loaded. There are nine of them living together, married couples and all.”
“So you met his family then?”
“Not all. I didn’t get to meet one of them. They were all nice, though.”
Before Wulfric and she had left the manor, he’d introduced her to the others who had returned. The only one she hadn’t gotten to see was Brand. Apparently he liked to spend his days and early evenings in and out, but lately he was mostly out.
“I guess if you have your design project you’re going to be kept busy,” Maggie said.
“I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not. Wulfric is your first real client. Besides, it’s better you start off doing a job for someone you’re fairly close to. That way if you mess things up it won’t be so bad.”
“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence. I’m not going to mess things up. Believe me when I say even if I did, Wulfric wouldn’t notice. His taste is that atrocious.”
“You’ll still have your work cut out for you, if you’re doing all of it yourself.”
Cydney gave her a pleading smile. “Or you could find it in the goodness of your heart to help out a bit.”
Maggie held up her hands. “Stop right there. Don’t even bother asking. You’re my best friend, but that does not mean I’ll be willing to pick up a paintbrush anytime soon.”
“What if I were to tell you Wulfric has a single friend, one he lives with, whom I think would be a perfect match for you. Dolf is built like Wulfric and just about as tall.
I’m sure Dolf could be convinced to help out alongside you. Would that get you to change your mind?”
Maggie put her finger to her chin as if she thought about it, then dropped her hand. “Tempting, but no. Decorating is your thing, not mine. But feel free to introduce me to Dolf any other time.”
“I don’t know if I should now.”
Her friend stood. “Whatever,” Maggie said with a laugh. “I’ll leave you to your work. Oh, will Wulfric be working tomorrow night?”
“I think so. Why?”
“Ali, Carol and I are going back to the nightclub again and I thought maybe you’d like to tag along.”
“I’ll see. Since someone,” Cyndey gave Maggie a pointed look, “won’t lend a hand, I might stay longer at the manor to work, if Wulfric allows it. The three wives will be there, so it wouldn’t be as if I were alone there.”
“Well, suit yourself. The offer still stands.”
“Thanks. I’ll let you know one way or the other sometime tomorrow.”
After Maggie left, Cydney focused back on her sketchpad. It really would be ideal if she could work on Wulfric’s bedroom while he was out at his job. She didn’t want to spend the majority of her holiday working on it. And the faster she got it done the longer she’d have to focus on Wulfric. That decided, she made a mental note to talk to him about it after he picked her up the next day.
Stephen, the newest pack leader of the werewolves sired by Fenris the wolf, watched two members of his pack manhandling the mortal woman between them. Her screams of fear were music to his ears. They escalated in volume once the two males shifted to their werewolf forms. He didn’t worry about anyone overhearing her. They were underground inside their den.
He looked around the central cavern they were in. Others of the pack stood on the sidelines watching the show. This was new to them, the same with his leadership.
He’d taken it over by killing the former pack leader, Nathan. His bringing Nathan’s severed head back to the den had been all the proof the others had needed to follow him.
One of the first things he’d changed within the pack was the lack of females. No longer were only males allowed in the den. Nathan’s rule about not changing any of the opposite sex into werewolves, Stephen kept in place, but he had nothing against his pack having some fun with them. Just so long as they did it here where no one could see them. All he needed was for the Anglo-Saxon god’s warriors to catch wind of it and the games would come to an end.
Not that Stephen really gave a fuck about the warriors. Nathan had been too obsessed with them for his own good. As far as Stephen was concerned, the less interaction the better. From his days of being a mortal criminal on the streets, he’d learned not to draw attention to himself so long as he wanted to continue doing what others thought was wrong.