Page 16 of All My Hexes (Pine Gulch Ever After)

Dain

It takes us twenty minutes by subway to get to Shadow’s place on the top floor of an old, gothic building. She giggles as we walk up the stairs and her neighbors poke their heads out to look at us.

I move right up behind her on the top landing, bringing my mouth to her ear. “I guess folks in the city are just about as nosy as us country folk. Sound about right?”

She nods, slipping her key into her lock.

“Maybe worse. The New York Yapper is basically an entire newspaper devoted to Rainbow gossip. Given that something like a million plus monsters live in this haven, that’s really saying something.

” She halts in the doorway, lifting both arms to block my entry.

“Listen, as thrilled as I am to see you, I’ll be hearing no judgment on how messy my place is.

I was not expecting you to see it for the first time today. ”

Laughing, I glance over her shoulder. Behind her, all I can see are giant leaves and what might be a doorway or a window. “I’m not gonna judge you, little witch. But I do want a tour of your place. I want to know what you surround yourself with, when you can pick it all.”

She smiles and disappears into a small, darkly lit hallway with floral wallpaper.

“Well come on in, big guy.” Tossing her keys into a flower shaped bowl, she drops her bag next to it, spinning around.

Opening her arms wide, she flashes me a beautiful smile.

“So, this is my place. It’s pretty small.

Kitchen’s right behind me, open to the living room.

Bedroom’s down this hall.” She points to the right.

I drop my bag next to her door. “If you show me the bedroom first, woman, we won’t make it through the rest of the tour and I want to see your home.”

She pulls her sweater off, tossing it on the entryway table. “Maybe that’s fine with me, Dain. I’ve missed you so much, after all.”

I pull my shirt off my chest, ripping the buttons so I can undo it from around my wings. Tossing it on top of her sweater, I flare my wings as much as I can in the small hallway.

“You don’t fit,” she says with a goofy laugh. “Of course. I didn’t get a wing accessible apartment.” The smile falls. “I…gods, you don’t fit in my damn apartment. I’ve got to do something about that, I?—”

“That isn’t a problem for today,” I say softly, walking toward her.

When she’s close enough, I wrap both wings protectively around her, cocooning her in darkness.

Reaching down, I pull her up into my arms and rest my forehead against hers.

“We don’t have to figure out anything like that today.

But we do need to figure out some thing, Shadow, because I can’t be without you. ”

“I know,” she says, nuzzling my nose with hers. Her lips brush over mine, the touch soft. They’re so plump and her lipstick smells of raspberry just like she does.

“I give up,” I admit. “Tour later.”

She laughs as I stalk up the hallway and hook a left toward the bedroom. Right now it’s clear that we need to have a serious conversation about the thing that’s dancing between us, so clearly unsaid.

I nudge the bedroom door open with my foot, unsurprised to find the far back wall lined with plants of all types.

The ceiling’s arched and covered in skylights, so the fading sun casts rays down on us.

Dropping onto the room’s only bed, I roll onto my back and pull her into my lap, scooting against the headboard.

“Let’s talk.” I grab her dark hair and lay it over her shoulder, stroking it down her back as she stares at me, wide eyed as her heartbeat picks up pace.

Bringing the backs of my fingers to her chest, I admire the steady drumbeat.

“I can’t wait for mine to start beating,” I say quietly. “It’ll be strong and beautiful, like yours.”

“Maybe it’ll feel weird,” she counters with a little laugh.

Flipping my hand over to rest my palm against her chest, I look deeply into those shocking green eyes. “Shadow, I believe you’re my mate. You are the reason it will beat the first time. I’m sure of it.”

Her mouth drops open, heart rate skyrocketing, but she rests a hand over mine. “I wondered if you thought that.” Her voice is barely audible. “Somehow even on that first date, I suspected. It was just so?—”

“Easy?” I finish. “Natural. Like breathing?”

She laughs, sliding both hands up my chest and curling her fingers into my chest hair.

“All of those things. And I’ve been so impossibly miserable without you.

Even a shopping spree with Lemon barely cheered me up.

Except for the lingerie part. And that was just because I was going to use it on you. ”

Nostrils flaring, I reach over and lightly pinch her nipple, pulling until it’s a stiff peak. “I want to see it, Shadow. Whenever you want to show me.”

“Should we finish this conversation?”

The question’s tentative, but it’s a good one. I don’t live here, and as she’s already noted, even her apartment doesn’t suit my size all that well. But I bet she loves it. From what little I’ve seen of it, I can already tell she’s infused every bit of who she is into this place.

“It’s a huge realization,” I offer. “Knowing what you are to me. And also knowing that we both have lives in very different places. But here’s the thing…” I hug her closer to me. “I truly believe you’re mine, which means my home is where you are.”

She snuggles against me. “Do you or would you relocate? Would you want that?”

I look around, considering it. I’ve thought about this a lot in the ten days since I last saw her.

“As long as I can get away to the wide open spaces from time to time, I’d relocate in a heartbeat.

But I don’t think I’d get rid of my apartment in the Gulch.

I’ve owned it for the last five years and it’s a good investment. ”

“Maybe I should come there?” She glances skyward like she’s thinking about it. “I don’t know what I’d do, though.”

I laugh. “Sipan had a lot going on that I think a green witch could probably revive. If you wanted that. We don’t have a keeper, but I can set up a convo with our sheriff if you’d even be interested in Sipan’s work.”

“Yes,” she says on a deep breath. “Let’s at least explore it. But, maybe for now, we don’t make any big changes until we’re super sure what the best path forward is?”

I wrap my hand around her hair and tug her head carefully to one side, burying my nose against her skin. “Agreed. We should go back and forth a little bit, when we can. Figure out where we prefer to be. Have all the conversations. When we’re ready to make moves, we can do that.”

I suckle my way down to her shoulder and then back up beneath her ear. “I want to bite you, to claim you, but I don’t want to rush that, either.”

“I want it too.” She arches back, exposing the length of her neck to me. Her skin is pale and creamy, light freckles appearing every now and again. I could memorize each one. I need hours to admire every inch of her.

“Let’s take it slowly until we know what we’re doing.” It kills me to say that. “If I claim you and then I can’t see you for days at a time it’ll kill me and be unpleasant for you. The bond will ache. And I don’t want that for you.”

She lifts her head and nips at her lower lip. “Part of me loathes the idea of waiting. I want to feel you in here.” She rubs at her chest.

“Me too.” I surge forward and capture her mouth, slicking my tongue between her lips to taste her. I grip her throat and hold her captive as I devour every inch of her, desperate to sink my fangs into her throat and cement the bond that’ll allow us to feel one another’s emotions.

But I can’t, so I content myself with kissing her until my head spins and my body’s tight and aching.

Shadow pushes back, eyes flashing as she levels me with a sexy stare. “Will you call me mate, Dain? I want to hear it, even if I can’t have all of you right now.”

Gods, this female is going to be the death of me.

And it will be so very, very delightful.