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“As soon as I set eyes on Minerva, I knew why you’ve fallen madly in love with her. Isn’t she beautiful?”
Ethan’s eyes glowed as he stared back at her. “She is indeed.”
Min felt the color rising up her neck.
Not only was Ethan successful in business, he was also, clearly, a very good liar.
He had to give it to Min, she was handling his mom admirably.
She nodded and smiled in all the right places, politely listening to his Mom’s embarrassing stories of when he was a dragonling. He tried not to look at her, lest that sense he was being bewitched come over him again. It made no sense. She was quiet, pale, and studious. And her clothes were, by dragon standards, desperately dull.
But her presence made his whole body light up.
He also felt at ease in her presence. Like she didn’t judge him, or have expectations of him. Like she accepted him for who he was, which was crazy, since she hardly knew him.
Her touch on his chest. The warmth of her palm through his shirt. The electricity that surged through his body at just the slightest pressure of his lips against hers. Had there been a moment there, when she’d returned the pressure, just a fraction?
He must have zoned out for a second, reliving that kiss, and when he focused in on his mother’s words again, Ethan wished he hadn’t.
“The Blade Wing gala ball is less than a month away.” Cressida’s voice was rising in excitement. “We must go shopping for a dress for you.” She turned her gaze to Min, her lips turning down ever so slightly as she surveyed her. “And jewelry fit for the occasion.”
Ye gods, any second she’d be dragging Min off to her cave room and trying to bedeck her in bling.
Enough was enough.
Ethan stood abruptly. “I think it’s time to show you to our apartment, my… love,” he said, expecting the words to feel odd rolling off his tongue. But his mind seemed to relish the sound of them. “Mother, we will dine alone tonight, it being our first night and all.”
His gaze fleetingly met Min’s. Behind her glasses it was hard to tell if she was relieved to get away from his mother’s enthusiastic bombardment or alarmed at the idea of being alone with him.
He hoped it was the former.
Cressida flapped her wings. “Of course, darling boy. I didn’t for one moment expect we’d all eat together. I am going out with Lydia and the girls tonight. And Beau is out.”
Ethan rolled his eyes. “Not at the fae concert?”
“I’m afraid so. He’ll be late home and probably a little the worse for wear.”
“Gods save us,” Ethan muttered.
Min jumped up, quickly pushing a wave of hair behind one ear, a habit he already found endearing. Her long neck, the small shell of her ear, the glimpse of her collarbone. Not overtly seductive, but for some reason his cocks stirred.
Both of them.
This was deeply disconcerting… and potentially embarrassing.
He strode toward the door and heard the tap-tap of her heels behind him.
“Ethan, wait for Minerva,” his mom called after him. “So like his father, he always made me rush after him.”
Ethan heard Min laugh sweetly and bid his mom a quick good night, and then her feet were once again pattering after him.
As they headed toward the elevator on the other side of the grand hallway, he consciously slowed his step so she could catch up. Sometimes when he was nervous, he’d skim along using his wings rather than his legs. This was not the time.
“Sorry about my mom,” he muttered, giving her a rueful smile as they waited for the elevator. “She gets a bit overbearing when she’s excited, but she’ll simmer down. She wants to please; it comes from a good place.”
“On the contrary, I found her very kind and welcoming.”
“And you are very understanding,” he said as the elevator doors opened.
