The next series short from Wicked Pride is HERE! Sam and Luna are running into a few growing pains…
Growing Pains
Wicked Pride
Sam and Luna
Samuel Delaney might have the soul of a lion, but he was a typical man when it came to some things.
For one, he wasn’t terribly communicative, which drove Luna crazy at times. On the other hand, when he listened, he really listened.
Like two days ago when she’d been complaining about how she hadn’t had time to get a pedicure in months and she absolutely hated how ugly her feet were right now.
What had the big guy gone and done? He’d booked her an appointment for after work and now he was driving her and her best friend to get their toes done.
Uggh. Why did the big jerk have to be so perfect?
She’d been all ready to light into him about how his clothes never seemed to make it to the hamper when he’d pulled up, gruffly told her what he’d done, and gestured both her and Cami into his truck so they wouldn’t be late.
Jerky, perfect, lovely lion.
“Are you mad at me?” he asked quietly as he navigated to a nearby strip mall.
Yes. No. Maybe.
“No,” she finally settled on. “This is great. Thanks.”
Cami leaned over the back seat and stuck her head in between them. “She’s mad,” she told Sam.
“Shut up, Cam.”
“You shut up. You should never go to bed angry. Right, Sammy?”
Sam hunched down in his seat and refused to look at Cami. Yeah, he was still suffering residual guilt over some things he’d said about her a while back.
He really was way more sensitive than she usually gave him credit for.
“I’m not mad, Cam.”
“Yes, you are. Earlier you said—”
“Shut up, Camille,” she said through gritted teeth.
They pulled up to the salon and Cami shook her head. “Talk this out, will you? I’ll let them know we’re here.”
Then she was hopping out of the back of Sam’s extended cab truck and leaving Luna and her burly mate alone.
“What’d I do?”
Uggh. She was such a raging bitch. There was no reason for her to have gotten pissy about the clothes on the floor. If she told Sam to pick it up, he would.
She just…wasn’t used to living with someone.
More to the point, she was used to living with Cami who had her own space in her own room where she could be a slob all she wanted and Luna would never have to deal with it.
Actually sharing space with someone was harder than she expected.
Even when it was the lion who’d claimed her as his mate.
“It’s stupid,” she said, sounding like a bratty child to her own ears.
“Tell me anyway.”
Yeah. Okay. Sam was being the mature one here and she was letting her cat take out her mood on him.
“I’m not used to sharing a room with someone.”
Sam nodded, his attention totally focused on her. “Okay. Do you want me to move to Cami’s old room?”
Did she?
Not really. She might have problems sharing her space, but she really liked cuddling up to his massive form at night.
All right. Pause.
Just, take a breath and think this through.
It wasn’t fair to Sam that she expected him to know all her quirks and issues if she never told him what those quirks and issues were. He was smart and powerful, but he wasn’t a mind reader. Plus, he wasn’t used to living with anyone either. There were probably things she did that irritated him.
The bottom line was she really didn’t want to give up sleeping beside him every night. Her cat was pretty darn needy when it came to her mate.
Closing her eyes, Luna tried to organize her thoughts. “I don’t want you move into Cami’s room,” she said once she’d found her center. “But I do think we need to lay down a few rules.”
“Fair enough.”
“You need to clean up after yourself a little more. Make sure your clothes get in the hamper and your towel is hung up after you shower.”
Sam nodded, his expression shuttered.
“Cami and I used to split the housekeeping chores. I know you’ve been cleaning the kitchen, but maybe we could trade off between the kitchen, bathrooms, and vacuuming. Or, you know, if there’s something you absolutely hate doing, let me know and we can work together to figure something out.”
“Is there anything you hate doing?”
Luna made a face. “Mowing the lawn. I can’t stand how the grass kicks up on my ankles.”
“I like mowing the lawn.” Sam looked out the window and she saw the hint of a smile curve his mouth. “My cat loves rolling in the cut grass, too.”
Okay, that was a stupid cute visual she wanted to see at some point.
One of Sam’s big hands slid over and curled around hers. “You’ll tell me if I start to do things that make you mad?”
He asked it so carefully the last of Luna’s irritation vanished.
She had never been mad at Sam. Not really. She’d been mad at herself for being upset about the things she hadn’t told him about.
Which…Okay. No more.
From now on, she was going to share so much Sam was going to know everything.
Absolutely everything.
Leaning over, Luna pressed a kiss to his cheek.
At least that was her intention. Her tricky cat turned his head at the last second and her lips landed on his.
Entirely accidentally, she was sure.
But, as the saying goes, when the cat’s got your tongue, you might as well just give in and let him have it.
So she did.
The End
Want more Sam and Luna? Grab Dangerous Curves and watch the sparks fly!
Next week’s short features Carrie and Kane. That’s right: Same bat time, same bat channel.
Missed any of the other shorts? Check out the Series Shorts page and get caught up.
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