Marius, with great flourish opened the box and presented her with a brand-new laptop.
"Hello baby, I'm going to take such good care of you. Come here mama's boy." Meryn crooned at the small laptop and raced back over to her chair. In seconds it had booted up and was running her through the final set up. She installed a parallel Linux operating system and began installing her own programs from her flash drive. After a few minutes she had established the wireless connection and was back on the internet.
"You treat that thing more gently than most people treat their pets." Aiden's voice pulled her out of her gleeful exploration of her new machine.
"You're back!"
"I'll help Marius organize dinner." Adelaide kissed him on the cheek and headed towards the kitchen.
"Yup, I've been watching you fondle your new laptop. Should I be jealous?" He kidded.
"Absolutely." Meryn nodded and hugged her laptop close. She had opted for the 13inch Mac Book Pro. It was lighter than her old laptop and had more power. She had already gone online and located a new Doctor Who skin. She made a mental note to ask Marius about what address to use for shipping.
"What man can compete with a new laptop huh? We ordered pizza to give Marius the night off since he went shopping for us. After their showers the rest of the guys will be here. Hope you like green peppers." He stretched his arms over his head and rotated his neck. She admired the way his muscles shifted under his tight cotton tee. She sighed and he raised an eyebrow.
"Maybe I can compete after all?" He closed the door behind him and stalked over to her. Meryn felt her heart begin to race. He plucked her laptop from her hands and placed it on the table beside her. With a move made possible by his shifter speed and strength he pulled her from her chair and dipped her backward scorching her with a passionate kiss. As the kiss deepened they stood up straight. Meryn stepped into his body and felt the hard line of his erection against her stomach. She reached between their bodies and squeezed his bulge causing him to moan deep in his throat.
"You can't do this to me Meryn. You're still on your cycle and my mother would kick my ass if I took you in her drawing room." His breathing became more ragged as she kept caressing him. Meryn let her hand fall away and Aiden's forehead dropped to her shoulder. She grinned evilly as she turned her lips to his ear.
"My cycle ended today." His breathing stopped. He jerked back and his eyes were completely black. Just as his hands tightened on her arms to pull her closer, his mother opened the door.
"Pizza is here. Come get it while it's hot." She walked away, leaving the door open.
"Yay! Pizza!" Meryn grabbed her laptop and turned back to Aiden with an innocent expression.
"Not hungry?" His growl had her giggling as she sprinted from the room. His answering laughter and pinching fingers chased her all the way to the dining room.
When they got there he kissed her quickly and then his attention was on the stacks of pizza laid out on the large dining room table. Watching him grab a whole box her heart felt light. She had to admit, even if it was just to herself, that she had missed him terribly today. Unlike Adelaide, she refused to be left behind while he lived at the barracks. With a new item on her 'To Do' list Meryn grabbed a plate and sat next to Aiden as the rest of the unit members joined them for dinner.
CHAPTER TEN
"What did the council decide?" Aiden asked as everyone got settled.
"Meryn, never, ever, feel bad for calling René a douche bag. That man almost exceeded the limits of my patience today. He had the gall to imply that these couples deserved whatever happened to them since they chose to live outside Lycaonia." Byron growled under his breath.
"Will they stop the birth announcements?" Adelaide asked.
"We will be sending out a general public announcement tomorrow. We have to keep it vague to avoid mass panic, but I'm afraid most will ignore it. It's a part of our culture to celebrate our children and I know new parents-to-be will want to let the world know." Byron bit into a slice of pizza.
"Oh, that reminds me," Meryn turned to Aiden, "before I lost my mind with your laptop this morning, I came across a report filed by the county sheriff. They located a female body approximately five miles outside of Madison today. They won't be releasing that information anytime soon though." Meryn folded her slice in half and took a bite. Everyone stared at her.
"And how did you 'come across' it?" Aiden asked.
"You own a laptop still running Windows 95, I will not waste a perfectly good explanation on you, but rest assured it was completely illegal."
"Meryn!"