A Grey Wolves Howliday (The Grey Wolves #14) by Quinn Loftis

“You love your parents, baby. I know because I can feel it when you think of them. But you haven’t had the best relationship with them. Maybe you’ve needed time to get past old pain. And they love you, too. They’ll come around, and if they don’t, then we’ll just show up at their house with their granddaughter. After they meet Thia, nothing else will matter to them.”

The tension that had been a constant companion since Jen had had the phone conversation with her parents started to ease. Part of it was because she’d made things right with Decebel and no longer concealed a secret from him, and the other part was because he was right. Once her parents met their grandchild, they’d be putty in her hands. But they’d have to work on Thia’s vocabulary, or at least bribe her not to use her new favorite words while with her grandparents.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. I promise one of these days I’ll get this whole healthy relationship thing down,” Jen said and then groaned as the masseuse rubbed a spot on her back where some serious stress knots had formed.

“We both get it wrong a lot, but we’re still learning. Now, back to this Franco guy who has a death wish.” His voice suddenly hardened.

“Slow your roll, B.” Jen laughed. “Like I’m dumb enough to let a dude put his hands on me.” She sent him a mental image of the room around her and all the female masseuses.

“Why are you all wearing nothing but sheets?”

Jen rolled her eyes. “We’re getting massages, Decebel. We can’t very well get them with our clothes on. Not to mention, I just showed you that it’s chicks, not dudes, rubbing our stressed-out bodies.”

“I could have taken care of your stressed-out body,” he muttered.

“Yes,” she agreed. “But then you wouldn’t have let me leave our bedroom for girl time.”

“You’ve had a lot of girl time over the past couple of weeks. What happened to mate time?”

“You do realize that you sound like a child who hasn’t gotten to play with his favorite toy in a month, right?”

Decebel was quiet for a moment, but she could practically feel the wheels in his mind turning, though he wasn’t letting her hear what was going on in there. Then she felt a wicked glee come through the bond. That didn’t bode well for her.

“You know, baby, I think you females have the right idea. It’s been a little stressful getting everything ready for the celebration. I bet all the males would like massages, too. There’s a lot of tension in the shoulders and back from all the tree lifting, lighting hanging, and sleigh building work. I’m sure we could get Adam to take us somewhere.”

Jen thought about a woman’s hands on her mate’s delectable body. She tried not to grind her teeth. “You have the ankle biters, B. You won’t leave them behind.”

“We could go in shifts. A few stay behind and watch the kids while the others go and get their… What did you call it? Oh, right, zen. They can get their zen.”

Jen counted to ten in her mind and then reminded herself that she was a mature adult who was fully capable of having a productive argument with her mate without resorting to physical pain. “Do I need to remind you that it’s a female rubbing my back?”

“Do I need to remind you that your body is mine, just as mine is yours? The only hands that should be rubbing either of us is each other.”

Why was that sexy and irritating at the same time? Probably because it meant she was about to have to give up her massage. “You owe me.”

“And you know I’m always happy to pay up,” he said with a satisfied purr. She could feel his satisfaction at having won this little skirmish.

“I want a massage that works out all my knots and makes me boneless and sleepy with no hanky panky.”

“Wait, what?” His voice rose and the satisfaction fled.

Jen laughed out loud. “Sorry, babe. Got to go. We’re getting dressed and then heading to the hotel restaurant to get our grub on.”

Jen heard rustling around her and opened her eyes. She lifted her head and saw the masseuses were leaving, and all of her friends were wrapping sheets around their bodies as they climbed off their tables. She pursed her lips. “Let me guess, y’all’s mates weren’t thrilled with the evening’s activity either?”

“Stupid furbutts,” Jacque huffed.

“It’s kind of sexy.” Zara’s eyebrows bounced up and down. “My man wants to be the only one who puts his hands on me.”

Jen stood up and looked at the newly bonded female. “You’ve just been demoted from new favorite to HBB.”

“Do I want to know what HBB stands for?” Zara asked.

Jacque and Sally shook their heads as they answered in unison. “Definitely not.”

“Is it disturbing that I’ve known her long enough that I’m starting to understand the acronyms?” Crina asked.

Jacque nodded. “That’s a sign that you need to be reprogrammed. You’ve let the Jen virus infiltrate your brain. Don’t feel bad. It happens to the best of us.”

“Well, if they’re not going to let us get our massages, let’s go eat expensive food until we can’t move,” Peri suggested.

“I can’t believe you let Lucian put his foot down,” Elle said as they retrieved their clothes.