BK 3 - Chapter 16 - Morning Kiss
Saxon woke up with Melanie wrapped around him like Ivy. Her head was on his chest with one arm and a leg thrown over him. Chika purred loudly as Saxon rubbed his hand up and down Melanie's back.
He didn't like staying behind while their families put themselves at risk, but there was no place he'd rather be than with Lanie, the cubs, and Cat. Saxon agreed with Trey that they should never be left alone, despite how independent they were.
He heard little feet running down the hallway two seconds before the bedroom door burst open. Lisa and Alex ran straight to the bed and hopped on. Saxon laughed when Melanie pulled him closer, keeping her eyes shut.
"Good morning. Did you two like your bunk beds?" He asked as they curled up on the bed next to him.
"It was awesome. Where is California? Emily and Elicia said that's where we'll be living." Lisa asked. Saxon pulled out his phone, opened google earth, and zoomed in on Rio.
"This is where we are now, and when we leave, we'll need to get on an airplane and fly all the way over to California. Maybe while we're here today, we can start looking for houses. Do you want to help?" Melanie was awake now but didn't want to interrupt Saxon and the cubs. Her heart felt whole having this private moment with just the four of them.
"You can find houses using your phone?" Alex asked in astonishment.
"Yes, there are many ways to find a house. We'll use a computer so we can make the pictures bigger and we can all see. Your Grandma Cat and Grandpa Trey live in an area called Roseville. I think we'll start looking there so we can be close to them." Saxon looked down at Melanie when she started rubbing her hand over his abdomen. He kissed her forehead, causing Chika to start purring loudly again.
"What if you have a baby later? Will you want to get rid of us?" Lisa asked worriedly. Melanie sat up and pulled the two cubs over to lie between her and Saxon.
"We will never get rid of you. You're our children now. If we have a baby, you'll be their big sister, and Alex will be their big brother." She noticed the cubs had grown even more. Their pajamas were almost tight on them. Now that they were getting proper food and had their animals, they would be the size they should be in no time.
"When will we go to California?" Alex asked excitedly, snuggling into Melanie.
"If our family is successful today, we'll be leaving soon. Hopefully, within the next couple of days." Saxon answered, looking toward Melanie. Lisa was getting ready to say something but stopped and sniffed the air.
"What's that smell?" She asked, and Melanie grinned.
"That would be your Grandma Cat and Aunt Kitty making French toast. Are you hungry?" Melanie barely had the words out of her mouth before both cubs jumped off the bed and ran out of the room.
"Well, I guess they're hungry," Saxon said with a chuckle. Melanie didn't want to get out of bed, but she knew they had to. She wanted to see the others before they headed to town.
"So you're ready to start looking at houses, are you?" She asked, scooting back over to lie against Saxon.
"Yeah, is that okay? We can wait until we get back, but I thought we could start looking so we can set up some appointments for when we return. You still want to do this, right?" Melanie knew he constantly asked her because she had pushed him away for so long. She was all in now, and that wasn't going to change.
"I'm not changing my mind, Sax. I want you, the cubs, and the home we're going to provide for them. I want it all. I know it may take a while for you to trust that I won't go back to how I acted before, and that's okay. There's nothing that can take me away from you." She leaned over and kissed him softly.
"I trust you, Lanie. I just don't want you moving faster than you're ready for because you feel like you have to. We'll go at your pace." Saxon had never seen a more beautiful sight than Melanie smiling at him. She could light up a room with just her smile alone.
"Thank you. I'm really lucky to have a mate like you. After we see everyone off, I agree we should start looking for a house. I don't want to live with my parents anymore, and I know you don't either, so we may need to rent a place until we find one to buy. Let's get downstairs. I want some of that French toast before it's gone." She moved to get out of bed, but Saxon stopped her.
"Before we go down there, I want to give you a proper good morning kiss like I plan to do for the rest of my life." He pulled her mouth down to his and kissed her deeply. When Saxon ran his tongue along her lips, she opened her mouth so their tongues could stroke each other. As badly as she needed air, Melanie didn't want to pull away. Saxon's kisses were an addiction. She knew if he did that every morning they woke up together, she'd become a morning person real fast.
"I agree that's a proper good morning. If I knew you kissed like that, I would have given in a lot sooner." She teased, making him chuckle.
"Well damn, I knew I should have grabbed you and kissed you a long time ago." Melanie giggled as she got out of bed and went to the closet. She pulled on a pair of white shorts and a bright pink T-shirt. After freshening up in the bathroom, she came out to see Saxon dressed in black jeans and a white t-shirt. She wondered how he made minimal effort but always looked sexy. They walked downstairs hand in hand in time to hear Lisa updating the family on their plans for the day.
"Mommy and Daddy said we can look for a house in California close to Grandma Cat and Grandpa Trey. Daddy said we can look on the computer, and Alex and I can help." Every pair of eyes turned toward the couple standing in the doorway.
"So, it seems you will be busy today," Janel teased her son and his mate. She couldn't be happier that they were finally a couple. Saxon had been waiting for Melanie for a long time. She'd told him to be patient because she had faith it would all work out in the end. Now it looked like it had.
"We have two cubs now. We don't want to impose on anyone else, so we thought having our own house would be better." Melanie answered, pulling Saxon to the table and sitting down. Cat brought them each a plate of French toast, sausage, and orange juice.
"I think that's a wonderful idea," Cat said brightly, kissing each of them on the cheek.
After breakfast, those that were going to the auction house were preparing to leave. Melanie texted Brandon to let him know that she believed him and that they were preparing a rescue today. She asked that he and Ava keep Karlee and Vincent away if possible. He said they would try.
Cat, Melanie, and Saxon hugged each person goodbye. Lisa took it up on herself to give a pep talk.
"When you go in there today, the people in cages will be scared. If you tell them you're there to help, they'll listen to you. All we wanted was someone to help us. Be careful." She and Alex were holding hands as they looked up at everyone. Each person gave them a hug and kiss before heading outside.
"We won't be long. If anything happens here, mindlink me immediately." Trey said to Cat as he held her one last time.
"I will, and you do the same. I love you." Cat said before kissing him.
"I love you too." They stood on the porch watching everyone leave. Melanie felt sick. No one would be putting themselves in danger if she hadn't run across the world to put some distance between her and Saxon. However, they also wouldn't have Lisa and Alex or be rescuing more shifters if she hadn't.
"Alright, I'm going to clean up the kitchen, and you all have some house-hunting to do," Cat said as she led everyone back inside. Something told her they shouldn't be in the open where anyone could see them. Even though the house they were staying in was well hidden.
Cat went to the kitchen while Saxon got the laptop he'd seen in one of the rooms. He, Melanie, and the cubs sat on a couch, huddled together while he pulled up some real estate sites for them to look at.
Cat looked at them with a smile. She was happy for them. She had no doubts that Saxon and Melanie would be excellent parents to Lisa, Alex, and any other little cubs or vampires they had. As she cleaned up the breakfast dishes, she couldn't help the nagging feeling that everything wasn't going to go as smoothly as they hoped today. Just to be safe, she wanted to be ready to leave at a moment's notice. No one was going to hurt her family.
