Colton laid a hand on his shoulder. "Thank the Gods they still seem to be afraid of Ryuu's shikigami. Don't worry; we won't let anything happen to Meryn or Elizabeth."

"Thank you my friend."

"I'll be getting Graham and Sascha together if you need me."

Gavriel watched as Colton walked towards the front door. He had only just found his mate, he couldn't lose her, not when he had just found her.

*****

"What the fuck!"

Gavriel recognized Meryn's voice and went running. He nearly collided with Aiden in the hall as both men ran for the front door. When they got there they came to a grinding halt. Both women were huddled together and were being shielded by Ryuu, all three were covered in blue flames. Shopping bags lay at their feet. In a perfect circle on the porch, scorch marks showed where the fire spell had gone off around them. Aiden immediately went to the wall by the door and removed the hanging brass ornament. He carefully moved it to the second peg located on the outside of the drawn spell circle disarming the alarm.

He turned to his mate. "Oh my Gods! Meryn! Baby, are you okay? I thought we had disarmed the front door. It shouldn't have been active while you were still out." Aiden rushed forward only to be brought up short by a growling Ryuu. Gavriel had never seen the normally calm squire ever look so angry. Ryuu stepped forward and bumped chests with Aiden.

"Do you know what could have happened if I had not been with her!" he shouted.

"Back off squire. You don't know what's happened here today," Aiden said, getting in Ryuu's face.

Gavriel pulled a shaken Elizabeth into his arms. Meryn was trying to wedge herself between her mate and her squire.

"Calm down both of you! Aiden, why in the hell is our house booby-trapped? What happened?" Meryn was rubbing her hand up and down Aiden's arm.

Glaring at Ryuu he pulled Meryn against him and rubbed his chin on her head.

Elizabeth turned to him. "Gavriel, what is it? What's happened?"

He and Aiden exchanged looks. Gavriel sighed, there was no point in keeping them in the dark.

"We had a feral come on to the property today. He got extremely close to the house." Gavriel watched as Ryuu folded his arms over his chest.

Meryn turned to Aiden. "Is that why you booby-trapped the door?"

"It isn't booby-trapped. Initially I had the men help set alarms through the house for you. So you'd feel safer in our home, but after today I have Keelan, Quinn and Kade looking into creating a perimeter spell. I don't even want them close enough to set off an alarm."

Gavriel watched Meryn's face soften. "You're the best husband any woman could ask for."

Aiden looked down at his mate. "Do you really mean that? We can have a real wedding if you want one."

Meryn shook her head. "I was being petty this morning and I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings. I was scared about something else and took it out on you."

"Come on Meryn, I need to inspect every inch of you to make sure you're okay." He scooped her up and turned to Ryuu.

"Thank you for saving her. Have Colton show you where the alarms are set."

Ryuu nodded. "I'll also work with Keelan, there may be some things I can do to help with a spell." He bowed to Meryn and walked away.

Aiden turned to Gavriel and grinned before he sprinted up the stairs with his giggling mate.

"Never a dull moment around here is there?" his mate asked him. When he looked down her eyes were twinkling.

"No." He looked around. Everyone else was busy. He held out his arm. "Could I interest you in a mid-afternoon respite?"

Her eyes widened and she blushed. She laid her hand on his arm. "That sounds lovely."

Gavriel waited until they reached the top of the stairs before he began to grab his mate's rounded ass. The thrill of the chase had his blood boiling. He shut the door and began to strip out of his clothes. Laughing, she jumped on the bed. Unfortunately, momentum carried her off the bed and into the wall. He watched in horror as she slid down out of sight.

"Beth?" He ran over to the bed. There was only a few inches gap between the wall and the bed. He looked up frustrated. The headboard was built into the wall.

"Beth, answer me." He was about to rip the bed away from the wall when he felt something on his foot. When he looked down, a tiny snow white bunny was nuzzling his leg.

Carefully, he picked her up. "You constantly amaze me. My little bunny." His mate licked his face then wiggled in his hands. He set her down on the bed and watched in wonder as she shifted back to human. She shook out her long blonde hair and smiled up at him impishly.

"I've had to shift to my rabbit form on more than one occasion to get out of a sticky situation. Of course shifting back without clothes was always tricky."

He finished unbuttoning his shirt and let it drop to the floor. Smiling, she turned over until she was on all fours and began to crawl towards the head of the bed. Gavriel felt his fangs burst through his gums as her ass swayed back and forth, tempting him. He kicked off his shoes and dropped his pants before pulling off his socks. The fabric of his boxer briefs against his cock was almost painful. He shucked out of them and climbed onto the bed. He reached out and pulled on her ankle until she was flat on her stomach. He began to tickle the arch of her foot. Laughing she thrashed around on the bed.

Gavriel watched her unguarded expression and couldn't help the joy in his heart. Over the centuries he had been with many women, but he had never experienced these types of simple moments.