Free Wolfe's Mate by Caryn Moya Block Page A

all, Jared was a wonderful lover and was now hers. Another part wanted to run away and hide. Her wolf seemed content, and Esme wasn’t experiencing that driven feeling anymore. She signed in relief. Maybe things would be okay after all.
    Esme and Jared picked Granger out of the crowd and joined him at a table. “Breakfast is buffet style. Go help yourselves,” he suggested while biting into a sausage. “The Canadian bacon is great. They have lots of pastries to choose from, Esme, and plenty of fried eggs and meat for you, Jared.”
    Fried eggs? In Paris, Esme normally ate a light breakfast. She looked at the plates around her, and her stomach lurched. There was no way her stomach would handle a heavy breakfast. She hadn’t realized that Norris always made sure there was light fare in the house.
    Jared tugged her toward the buffet line and handed her a plate. While he started loading his plate with meat, she wandered down to the end of the buffet and found some small chocolate croissants and bread rolls with butter. She picked up two croissants and poured herself a glass of juice before heading back to the table.
    Jared sat beside her. He glanced at her plate and frowned. “Esme , that isn’t enough to feed a bird. Lycans need to eat more. We have a higher metabolism. You should have some meat or eggs, some kind of protein.”
    “I never eat a heavy breakfast, Jared. Wait . What are you doing?” Jared forked up one of his eggs and several sausages and put them on her plate.
    “You need to eat more . Now you can.” He took a bite of egg as if the discussion was over.
    Esme sighed. She noticed Granger watching the interaction. This was embarrassing. “Jared, you aren’t listening to me. I don’t want sausages or eggs.” She picked up a croissant and took a bite, chewing slowly. A waitress walked by, and Esme asked for a cup of tea. Café au lait would be too much to expect.
    Jared and Granger ate with gusto, both going back for seconds. Esme continued to sip her tea and nibble on the croissants. When she finished, she pushed her plate away, leaving the food Jared had given her untouched. He glanced over and opened his mouth, but Granger interrupted whatever Jared intended to say.
    “ I contacted the local car rental establishment, and they won’t have a car available until this afternoon. They suggested we take a train either to London or Aberdeen. However, the English Alpha can have a car here in two hours. If you still want to drive to Aberdeen, we can do that. Pierre escaped from Donny and Adam’s car when they stopped to get fuel. Pierre may be the person behind the theft of the car though I’m not sure why.”
    “Two hours?” Jared asked , glancing at Esme.
    Esme didn’t feel the urgency to find Norris that she’d experienced before. Could cementing the mating bond have something to do with that? She cleared her throat. “I guess the logical thing to do is wait for Grigori to send up a car. Returning to London to rent a car would probably take just as long. There are some interesting sights here in Luton. We could visit the Mossman Carriage collection, or the Luton museum, or a casino.” Why not do something fun while they waited?
    “A casino? That might be fun. I have a few dollars to lose in the slots.” Granger winked at Esme.
    “I’ve never been to a casino.” Esme shifted in her chair. It sounded exciting.
    “Would you like to go?” Jared asked her.
    “I’d love to see the inside of one. I’ve seen them only on television,” Esme admitted.
    “Well , let’s lose some money then.” Jared pushed back his chair.
    “I’ll make arrangements for the car, get Esme’s bag and check us out of our rooms,” Granger said, rising.
    “Are you ready to see your first casino? ” Jared asked, holding out his hand to her.
    “Of course . It sounds like fun.”
     
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    Clouds rolled in and the skies darkened as rain began falling. Esme flitted around Jared in the lobby, almost dancing in