Brinah considered Sarah's tone during the little informative lecture as they got back in the elevator and wondered what she was missing. When they got out on the 13th floor the entire place was buzzing. Sarah explained to Brinah that the 13th floor was the main area of the den. She was telling Brinah about the different recreational rooms on the floor and was in the process of telling Brinah that Aislinn seemed to be spending a great deal of time in the library. Sarah felt like a tour guide. "I figure that Aislinn will be easier to find than Lord Arnauk. He's usually dealing with the latest conflict. Aislinn spends a lot of time reading." Brinah was smiling, eager to see her granddaughter.
When they walked into the library most of the crowd that had gathered for Aislinn and Cullen's scene had dispersed. There was one couple rutting in a back corner of the library. Keith was sitting in a large armchair near the door thumbing through a book with a devilish smile on his face. He had noted the time as Cullen and Aislinn had fallen asleep in the chair. But he wasn't about to be the one to interrupt. Not after the little argument that had preceded the show. When he saw Sarah and the elderly woman come in he jumped and ran to intercept.
Sarah looked at Keith with frustration as he tried to turn them both out of the library. Brinah stopped dead and turned on him. "Young man, I don't know who you are. But, you can stop what you're doing and explain yourself," she snapped.
Sarah glared at Keith. "What she said. But I would like to add, do you know where Aislinn or Cullen is?" She could tell from the look on his face that something was up.
"Uh, yeah," Keith fumbled. "Why don't you let me get them for you. Just wait in the great room. It'll only take a minute."
But Brinah caught sight of the back of Aislinn's head and refused to be ushered out of the room.
***
Cullen's head was lounged back against the chair and his eyes were closed. His hand was trailing gentle petting strokes up and down Aislinn's spine. He didn't think he had ever been this comfortable in the whole of his life. Aislinn was still straddling him. He was still inside her and he was entirely unwilling to let her move. She had tried twice but he growled and pulled her back to himself. He was taking the afternoon off.
Aislinn had finally given up and had fallen asleep on his chest as he petted her. She was curled against him with her head snuggled securely against his shoulder and her arms folded against him at his waist so that she was almost hugging him. He held her tightly and listened to her breathing. He could barely make out what sounded almost like a purr each time she breathed. It had started when he began stroking her bare back. He was trying different patterns of stroking, trying to find one to make the sound louder. He didn't really understand why the little sound pleased him so much. But then again everything about her seemed to please him. He was listening intently to her and ignoring all else.
He had completely forgotten that they were expecting Aislinn's grandmother. At that moment he didn't care what Jenna or Rafe was up to. And he believed that he would be happy for the rest of his life if he could just stay there holding her and trying to make her purr.
The gruff throat clearing that caught his attention had him wanting to kill the owner of the voice. He ignored it, assuming that it was Keith. When someone tapped the hand he was stroking Aislinn's back with he got really mad. He opened his eyes to deliver one of his patented glares to the intruder only to find himself staring at an elderly looking woman with Aislinn's startling blue eyes.
Cullen took in a deep breath. This is probably not the best way to meet her family, he thought. When he started to move Aislinn rumbled her dislike of his change in position and he settled back down.
Brinah was obviously not happy. There were voices warring inside her head. One said that this was perfectly normal behavior for lycans. The next voice pointed out that Aislinn was not a lycan. Then there was the voice that said how much he appeared to adore her. That was countered with the fact that if he cared as much as he appeared to, by the look on his face and the way he held her, that he would not have put her in this kind of position. It had been a long time since Brinah had been exposed to this kind of behavior. She understood that this was the way lycan's behaved and if she had raised her daughter and granddaughter as druids then this type of thing would have been common place there as well. At the same time Aislinn had been raised human and this was not how humans behaved. She didn't know whether to admonish or accept. She settled on the one thing that would have been common to all three species. She softly asked Cullen a very simple question. She didn't want to wake Aislinn. Yet. "What exactly are your intentions toward my granddaughter young man?"
Keith thought he was going to die. The glares that Brinah was doling out were incredible. But the 'young man' thing was priceless. He was trying his best to muffle his laughter when Cullen started squirming. Brinah added. "You do that and you'll wake her up. Just answer my question."
Cullen felt trapped. He was pinned and being questioned by a girl's grandmother. How the hell did I get into this? He thought.
Aislinn lay perfectly still. She had no intention of facing her grandmother like this. There was no way she was opening her eyes until she figured a way out of this. Even if she had to play dead. She had never been this embarrassed in her entire life. She hoped that Cullen wouldn't take offense but she wouldn't be doing this again any time soon and that was all there was to it. She felt like she was going to be sick.