"Oww! Dammit Hal, you know I hate it when you do that," she complained.
"Then don't say foolish things. If it came down to a choice between having granite countertops or you, I would choose you every time. Yes, I could have found a mate, but I didn't miss having children." He smiled down at her. "I had you."
She wrapped her arms around his waist. "I love you Hal."
He held her close. "I love you too baby girl. I don't regret raising you for a second."
Vivi used his shirt to wipe her eyes and nose. Hal looked down at her and raised an eyebrow. "Really? You know I hate it when you do that."
She giggled. "Then don't thump me." She ducked behind her mate and looked around the kitchen. "I take it we have running water?"
Hal nodded. "Thank the gods you mentioned something about having power. We probably would have realized it after all our volunteers left. I swear those witches were like little genies. I would no sooner ask if something could be done and I turned around and it was finished." He walked over to the stove. "Look Vivi, a gas range! I love cooking on gas." He beamed at Etain. "They said I have you to thank for it. Something about having to run a major gas line to the master suite for your fireplace."
Vivi looked up at her mate. "Master suite?"
Etain rubbed the back of his neck. "You were busy and I didn't wish to disturb you, so I kinda made an executive decision about which room would be ours."
She narrowed her eyes and he held up both hands defensively. "It's perfect, trust me. It looks like your mother kept her childhood bedroom after her parents were killed. When I walked to the end of the hallway, I found the master suite untouched since your grandparent's death. It's huge, which gave us plenty of space for our new master bathroom and closets."
"And your fireplace?"
"It fit perfectly. Once the gold was gone and we started putting up neutrals the grey stone floor began to pop. I have a collection of rugs and linens stacked up for you to go through."
"One question," she said holding up a finger.
"Of course," he nodded looking nervous.
"Self-cleaning floor and sheets?"
He grinned wickedly. "Absolutely."
"Thank the gods for those sheets. There are some things I don't need to see," Hal muttered putting away the stemware.
Vivi blushed furiously as Etain laughed. "Come on my love. I can show you our new room. If there's anything you need to change Micah said he would come back down and fix things for you." Etain steered her out of the kitchen toward the bedrooms.
He stopped her in front of a large set of wooden double doors. Vivi pointed. "I bit of an overkill isn't it?"
Etain pointed to the carvings in the door. "It has been spelled for protection, yet another reason I wanted to stay in this room." He placed a hand on the wood, and the lock clicked.
Vivi's mouth dropped. "It's biometric?"
Etain brought her hand up and placed it beside his and whispered a phrase softly. She felt the wood warm under her palm, then cool. "Not science, magic. It isn't detecting your fingerprints, but your aura." He pushed the door open then swept her up in his arms. He carried her across the threshold and kicked the door shut with his foot.
He set her down. "Welcome to our new bedroom."
Vivi loved everything. "Is that the original furniture?" she asked pointing to the massive bed.
"Yes, though we swapped out the mattress. Luckily, Declan had an extra one in storage, only his bed came close to being this huge. It turned out to be almost a perfect fit."
Vivi couldn't find anything that she would change. Etain kept the same ivory color that was predominant throughout the rest of their new living quarters, but here he had chosen to accent in navy blue. Vivi knew she would have never chosen the color herself, thinking it to be a dark, masculine color. However, the way he used it in small ways to contrast the cream was done in such a delicate manner it created a truly harmonious space.
"Well?" he asked nervously.
"I don't like it." She glared up at him. His eyes widened, and she laughed. "I love it! I never knew I loved blue until now." She walked around the room inspecting everything. Her favorite item was the navy cashmere throw at the foot of their bed.
She pointed to the bed and wagged her eyebrows. "Want to test those self-cleaning sheets?"
He groaned. "I wish we could." He held up his cell phone. It was already after six. "We're expected at dinner to discuss all the new changes and to get feedback regarding what is being said on different levels."