Bitten (Book 1 - Book 4) novel Chapter 22

“Where are we?”

“In the garage.”

“Bonnie just pulled into the garage and left us?”

“She knew we were busy,” he said.

“Do I have to get dressed to go through the house?”

“Probably. Mag will be checking on us. Unless you want to moon her.”

Natalia sat up.

“We’re in no hurry to go in,” he said.

“I have to pee.”

“Time to go in.”

He sat up and handed over her dress.

“That is a nice dress. You do have good taste.”

“Thanks.”

She pulled it over her head.

“Do the zipper for me, please,”

She laughed.

“What?” he said.

“You’re always putting my panties in your pocket.”

“You want to carry them?”

“No, that’s fine. I’m just imagining the cleaners going through your pockets and always finding my panties.”

He chuckled.

“I remove everything from my pockets when I undress,” he said. “Although I’ll toss these since I cut them off you.”

Natalia scooted out of the limo with Uri behind her. They carried their shoes and walked to the door of the house.

“I’m hungry, too,” she said when they headed up the stairs.

“There’ll be cookies.”

In the bedroom, she had Uri unzip her. She hung the dress up with care. It was a nice dress.

Uri came up behind her, putting his arm around her and running a hand over her belly.

“I love my girls,” he said.

Natalia smiled.

“This girl wants a quick shower and cookies.”

Uri gently took her hand and led her to the shower.

When they came down the stairs, just wearing robes, there was sanguine tea and cookies on the coffee table. Mag was nowhere in sight. They settled on the sofa.

“Are you going to visit Lisa tomorrow?” he said while they chowed through cookies.

“Yes, if you don’t mind, but I won’t be staying long. Tia said the online courses start on Monday, but I see I can start reading the books before that. I want to get a head start. What are you going to do?”

“Probably check on Mr. Sturt. I have a feeling Ravi will be doing the same.”

Natalia sighed.

“I’m full now.”

He nodded.

“Bed time.”

However, he continued to sit on the sofa a few more moments before he took her hand, pulling her up.

Natalia slept hard, hardly waking when Uri rolled out of bed. Still half asleep, she felt him get back into bed.

“You are so warm,” he said, cuddling up to her.

“Hum.”

A phone rang.

“That’s yours,” he said.

“Mine?”

He leaned over her to pick her phone up from the nightstand.

“Hello?” she said after Uri tapped to answer it.

“Good morning, Nattie. This is Sherri.”

“Morning, Sherri.”

“You sound like you’re still in bed?”

“Just lazing a little.”

“I have a tea party I want you to attend. Can you fit it into your schedule?”

“Yes, I was just going to visit Lisa for a bit and then do some reading for school.”

“You’ll have time for that this morning. The party isn’t until two p.m. I sent over a few dresses. Mag or Zena should have them. Give them a try and see what you like.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll text you the address. Arrive a few minutes late. Don’t be early.”

“Okay. I can do that. Who else will be there?”

“Ravi’s wives. All of them will be there. Mag will have some garden information for you, too.”

“Who is putting on the party?”

“The A’ppollo Ladies Garden Society. Very hard to get into. We actually have no one who is a member. We hadn’t given them much thought until now. Now that you mentioned gardening and getting along with Nancy.”

“I see.”

“It’s by invitation only, so you will be crashing the party. However, with Nancy as a friend and the fact that you are upper crust, I think they will let that slide and, we hope, start the process of making you a member.”

“I think I can make this happen,” Natalia said.

“And please, don’t wear any knives. Not even the necklace.”

Natalia wondered how she knew about the necklace.

“I won’t,’ she said.

“I’ll see you later this morning,” Sherri said and she ended the call.

Uri smiled.

“My important little wife.”

He kissed her cheek.

“How did Sherri know about the necklace? And the knife in it?”

“Viperian jeweler. Custom order. My order. Everything I do is watched. It was reported to Sherri.”

“Doesn’t that bother you?”

“No,” he said with a shake of his head. “For what I give up in privacy, I gain in other ways.”

“Such as?”

“I got you.”

“That’s it?”

He grinned.

“I have two houses. A good paying job. Access to the upper crust in two societies. But the best thing I have, is you.”

“You’re getting sweet.”

“Because of you.”

He whipped the covers off of her.

“You have to things to do,” he said.

They both dressed in jeans and trotted down to the dining room.

On one end of the table were a pile of dresses. Beside the dresses was a manila envelope. Natalia opened the envelope just when Mag entered with tea.

“Those are for you,” Mag said.

“Yes, I know. Mag?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Who’s the best person to ask about our gardens. What we grow and such?”

“You can ask me.”

“What’s growing in our gardens?”

“Carrots, tomatoes, chives, green onions, red and white onion, peas, but their long over with. All the onions are pulled up too. The tomatoes will keep going until we have a frost. Still plenty of carrots.”

“Whoa. I need a pen, so I can write some of this down.”

“Let me bring in breakfast and I’ll get you a pen,” Mag said.

Natalia looked through the papers in the envelope.

“What’s in there?” Uri said.

“Diagrams of Nancy’s gardens and what’s planted in them. I feel like I’m always studying. Makes me wish I had paid more attention to the gardens at my parents.”

“You don’t have to be an expert,” he said.

Mag brought in breakfast.

“Ooh, eggs and bacon,” Natalia said.

“Love bacon,” he said, snarfing down a piece.

They were almost done with breakfast when Mag stepped in.

“Here’s a list of what we grow,” she said.

Natalia scanned the list.

“Wow. I didn’t know we had all these fruit trees. I need to walk around more.”

“I would prefer you didn’t,” Mag said.

“What? Why?”

“Easier to keep you protected in the house than outside,” Uri said.

“It’s dangerous out in the yard?”

“This is a high-class neighborhood. That means money. A’ppollo is one of the worst cities for kidnapping.”

Natalia sat back, staring at him.

“That’s why cars are kept in the garage at all times to prevent them from being sabotaged. A sabotaged car can breakdown and this gives the kidnappers an opportunity.”

“I can’t image anyone stupid enough to sabotage a car full of Viperians,” she said.

Uri laughed. Even Mag snickered.

“That is true, especially in our case, but the people out there doing the kidnapping don’t know that.”

“There are three Viperian households in this area,” Mag said. “We have a neighborhood watch that keeps the thugs at bay. We know they are out there.”

“We always have tinted windows, making it hard for someone to knows who is in the car. Harder to tell if there is only one person or if it’s a woman.”

“So, if I ever start driving myself, if I ever learn how to drive, I need to be careful,” she said.

“Exactly,” he said.

“That won’t happen for a while until you can hear better,” Mag said. “If you’re done with breakfast, we can go try on the dresses and see which fits better for your party.”

“Yeah, I better get that out of the way and go visit Lisa.”

Mag grabbed the dresses and a large bag that was under them. Natalia led the way upstairs.