Page 21 of Incurably Cupid (Moonhaven Cove #5)

Chapter 21

Indie

“Love is tender.”

Cupid Inc. New Recruit Training Manual

M ordecai sat down with us and grabbed some dinner before heading back to Steadfast. We said our goodbyes to everyone and headed toward our rooms with Lady, who seemed both tired and happy. Kazi had already said goodbye to her for the evening. They’d really seemed to enjoy playing with each other.

At least no one had gotten maimed. Sometimes you couldn’t ask for more than that in life.

As we reached our doors, I reached for my card, but Mesmer’s gentle hand stopped me.

“Indie, do you mind if I stay with you tonight?”

I could see the worry in his eyes. “You know they're coming for Mia, right?”

His broad shoulders slumped slightly. “I know. Draven has a ton of people covering her at all times, even when she goes to the bathroom, but I worry about you too. I’d feel better if you’d let me sleep on your couch tonight.”

I opened my door. “It’s adorable that you think your big, sexy self will fit on that itty bitty couch. You can stay, but you can take the bed.”

He frowned. “I can’t take your bed.”

Lady, tired of waiting for us, ran through the open doorway and jumped onto the bed.

I smirked. “Maybe Lady gets the bed.”

Mesmer laughed. “Lady, down.”

Lady buried her head under the covers, staying still—well, still for a dog, since her tail was wagging like crazy. Mesmer laughed again and pulled the covers off her head. “I still see you. Off the bed.”

Happy as can be, she licked his arm before jumping down, moving to explore the bathroom and the tiny closet. I pulled back the blankets and noticed that the large bed was actually two small ones pushed together. “Mes, we can just separate the beds a bit. Look, they come apart.”

He nodded and pushed the beds about three feet apart, frowned, then pushed them another foot.

“Afraid I’m going to ravish you in your sleep?” I teased.

“More like I’m afraid I’m going to ravish you,” he said, his expression warm. “You’re too tempting.”

I popped onto tiptoe and kissed him. “You are too,” I whispered.

We both got ready for bed and lay facing each other on our separate beds.

“I saw that you seemed to get along with Grace and Mia,” he said in his soft, rumbly voice. “Did you like them?”

I thought about it. “Yeah, I did. Grace is sweet. She and Sebastian have a strong relationship. So do Mia and Draven, although, from a cupid’s standpoint, Draven and Mia’s is a bit stronger because they’ve been together longer. Mia is fun and funny.” I made a face. “I’m not sure what she senses from me, though.”

Mesmer’s eyes lit up with humor. “I think for the last year, whatever emotions you were feeling, she was picking up on them. She would ask me later if I was okay. I never made the connection until just now.”

I groaned. “She might think you’re a nut job then, I’m sorry to say. I love being a cupid, but it’s been uncomfortable being around people who are deeply in love for as long as I can remember.”

“Your parents are deeply in love.”

I chuckled. “Yeah, and trust me, as an adult, I’m happy about that, but as a kid...”

“Less happy.”

“Way less happy. I would complain as a teenager, and they would just be over the top about it for a while, so I learned to stop saying anything.”

“Why did it bother you?”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure. I kind of always felt like love was a lie, or that it just never lasts. In my years as a cupid, I’ve matched so many people—not soulmates, but good matches—and many of the relationships died.”

Mesmer was quiet for a moment. “Are you worried about our relationship?” he finally asked.

I shook my head, pulling the covers up a bit higher on my neck because it was cold. “No. I believe in us. Even if others don’t make it, we will, and we’ll be happy.”

“Not all the time, though.”

I laughed. “No one’s happy all the time. It’s normal for relationships to have ups and downs. I plan on getting through the downs together as a team and enjoying the ups like crazy.”

He smiled, and it struck me how happy he looked. I’d known Mesmer for over a year now, and even though he’d often seemed content, I’d rarely seen him this happy. It made me emotional that I was contributing to his happiness somehow. This amazing, kind, giving, protective gargoyle. I felt very blessed. And a bit like I’d somehow cheated on a test I hadn’t even known I was taking.

Maybe I’d struggle with feeling like I wasn’t the best choice for him for a while, but it didn’t matter because I’d chosen him, and he’d chosen me. I just had to stretch my wings and grow a little as a person.

Hopefully, in many ways, we’d grow together. But I wanted to be someone more worthy of him as well.

I’d been lost in thought. When I looked up, Mesmer’s face was filled with heartbreak. “I wish you could feel what I feel. Maybe it would help you understand what I mean when I say that you’re perfect for me and that I only want you. I love who you are, Indie. You. No one else. I’m still reeling in amazement that you’ll be mine for the rest of our lives.”

Tears burned my eyes, and I reached a hand out across the gap of our beds. He reached out too, and our hands clasped.

“I love you, Mesmer.”

“I love you, Indie.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I caught a glimmer of something, but when I sat up in alarm, it was gone.

Mesmer sat up too, slower, and obviously in pain. “What?” His voice was hard as he scanned the darkened corners of the room.

I frowned. “Nothing, I guess. I thought I saw something.” Suddenly, from directly above us, what looked like glowing sparks of glitter rained down.

“Lyrica.”

Mesmer moved to stand by my bed, looking fully alert and lethal. I shook my head at him. “It’s okay. It’s just Lyrica.”

“Sweet dreams,” a disembodied voice said.

“That’s creepy,” I shouted after her, and I could hear her laughter in the hallway outside.

Mesmer sat down next to me, still looking wary. “I thought you could see another cupid present, even if they’re in the ether.”

I shrugged. “For most, I can, but not for the top-level cupids. Lyrica is one of the top levels. She’s very powerful.”

He held up a hand and watched as the glitter sank into his skin. “What did she do to us?”

I held up my hand and watched the glitter sinking into my skin as well. She’d sprinkled it all over us. I frowned. “I’m not sure. She does things a bit differently than us lower-level cupids. She has a different level of bonding magic than the rest of us, so really, it could be anything.”

Mesmer pulled me into a hug, and I sank into him, careful not to hurt him. I didn’t think I would ever tire of being close to him, and we weren’t even at the more physical side of our relationship yet. I knew I would love that closeness with him too.

Mesmer pulled away and frowned, as if trying to hear something just out of range. “What are you feeling right now?”

“Um, that I’m enjoying being close to you?”

Mesmer cocked his head, listening again. Then he suddenly kissed me, and though he surprised me, I melted into him. He pulled away with a huge, excited smile. “I think I can feel your emotions.”

I blinked at him. Say what now?

He laughed. “Yeah, just now you were surprised. And when we were kissing, you were...” He blushed, shaking his head. “Then when I held you, you felt comfort, peace, and happiness.”

I searched my feelings but couldn’t sense anything other than my own. “Why can’t I feel yours?”

He shrugged. “Maybe you will? Maybe it will just take a bit more time for you to connect with my emotions.”

I frowned. “I’m emotionally stunted, Mesmer. What if I won’t be able to feel yours at all?”

Mesmer picked me up and snuggled me on his lap. I scowled at him because he shouldn’t be doing that—he could open his wounds again. They were just barely healed over. Not to mention all of the internal stuff that was held together by stitches and thread.

He chuckled at my scowl and kissed my nose, then smiled when he listened to my emotions and did it again. I laughed and pushed him away. “Yes, I confess, I love it when you kiss my nose.” I made a face at him.

He started tickling me in retaliation, and I squirmed until he accidentally discovered that stroking my wings made me blissfully boneless.

He kissed my wings, first my left wing, then my right. “Your wings are sensitive, huh?”

If he could do this for about the next fifty years, I'd be ecstatic. "Yeah, yours aren't?"

He shook his head. “They’re a lot less so. For one, my wings are more bat-like in texture. Yours are feathery. And for two, my wings have to be able to lift my stone body into the air, so they’re nearly as thick as a dragon’s wings.”

We talked for another hour or so, cuddling in my bed. My eyes were getting heavier, and I could tell Mesmer’s were as well. “You’re not worried about ravishing me anymore?” I asked with a yawn.

He kissed my nose, felt the answering thrill in my feelings, and smiled sleepily. “No.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”

Tenderness filled his eyes. “I can feel your emotions now. They’re beautiful to me. But it’s also made me understand that you’re feeling emotionally fragile right now, for a few reasons—not just me—so my strongest desire at the moment is to shower you with comfort and love without expectations. To just let you adjust and feel stronger again.”

I hid my face in his chest and gripped his tee shirt with a death grip. I’d seriously cried more in the last twenty-four hours than I’d ever cried in my life, but this guy just continued to bust through all my walls. Like every single one.

“Thank you for choosing me,” I whispered.

I peeked at his face, not feeling very brave at the moment, only to find that Mesmer looked pained. He cuddled me closer to him, then whispered, “I don’t think you realize, Indie, what an unbelievable gift you are to me. Thank you for choosing me.”

I fell asleep to the warmth of his touch and the comforting sound of his heartbeat.