Page 28 of My Boyfriend Marks Trees

His lips curved. “I think it will only get better.”

He was right. Their second round, which involved a lot more body exploration, proved just as intense.

Afterwards, they cuddled. She didn’t want to leave the warmth of his embrace, even as she fully meant to go to bed so Greta wouldn’t wake alone.

Instead, she opened her eyes the next morning to see Greta beside Ares’ bed, grinning ear to ear. “Is Ares now my daddy?”

Chapter 9

While Ares wanted to shout,“Hell yeah I’ll be your dad,”he knew it wasn’t his place to say such a thing.

Poor Charly looked as if she’d expire of embarrassment. Her face turned beet red as she stammered, “Uh, that is, um, no, Ares is not your dad.”

“But you’re in the same bed just like a mommy and daddy,” Greta explained.

“We had a sleepover,” Charlotte replied in a strangled voice.

Barely slept,huffed his wolf.

“Can I sleep over with you both tonight?” asked the innocent little princess. “We can make a bed fort.”

Ares wanted to laugh at Charly’s expression. Time to save his lover. “You don’t want to sleep in my room. I snore like a bear, remember? And so does your mom. We’re just sharing a bed so you could get a good night’s sleep for the big day we’ve got planned.”

“Oh.” But Greta, being a kid with no filter, added, “Where did your pajamas go?”

“It was too hot,” Charly squeaked.

“Tell you what, princess. Why don’t you get your coat on and I’ll be down in a second so we can go fetch some fresh eggs for breakfast?”

“Chickens. Yay!” She scampered off, and Charly pulled the covers over her head, muttering, “That was awkward.”

“And we handled it. Although we might want to think about putting a bell on her to give us warning.”

Charly peeked at him and scowled. “Not funny.”

“It worked with the cat we used to have. Saved many birds that way.”

“I didn’t mean to fall asleep with you,” she grumbled.

“But it happened, and I, for one, enjoyed it.”

A mate belongs with her male.

Ares totally agreed.

Charly paused in the process of finding her clothes to toss him a soft smile over her shoulder. “I enjoyed it too. Although, if we’re going to be sharing a bed, we should probably start making sure we put on pajamas.”

“Deal!” He’d have agreed to anything to have her by his side.

“Speaking of dressing, you’d better get moving, or she will be back.”

“On it.” He hopped out of bed and threw on some clothes. He found Greta by the front door, pulling on her boots. Together, they entered the heated coop with the clucking hens, who cooperated with the raiding of the nests.

“Ares, look at this big one!” Greta held up a super-sized egg.

“Nice! I’ll bet it makes good eggnog.”

“Make?” Greta squished her nose. “You buy eggnog in the store.”