Miranda’s lips pursed as she shook her head like she didn’t get it either.
“So...” Vivien turned to me. “What now?”
“Give him time,” Grim said with restrained impatience. “He just learned that he’s mortal.”
Vivien pouted.
“No need to put her off, Grim. I do, in fact, have plans.”
“You do?” Miranda said, looking up at me.
I swung an arm over her shoulders with a grin. “I have a dinner date.”
This wasthe worst bet I had ever won.
I did get Miranda to invite me over for that dinner, and she did in fact cook. But I also did not realize she lacked any culinary talent. The chicken was dry and the spinach was overcooked, and it took a lot of soda to wash it all down.
And yet, I was the most fantastically happy man on the fucking planet.
Not god. Man.
I was Miranda’s man, and she was my woman.
“What’s for dessert?” I asked.
Miranda raised an eyebrow as she set her napkin on the table and got up. “What makes you think I made dessert for you?”
I encircled her waist as she walked by, drawing her onto my lap. “Because you always treat me to a little something sweet.”
“You,” she poked me in the chest, “are ridiculous.”
“And you,” I said, punctuating kisses on her full luscious mouth, “love it.”
I kissed her deeply, angling her head back to get deeper. She moaned and came away breathless. “You couldn’t have worn a nice shirt?” She flicked one of the buttons on my Hawaiian shirt.
“This is the nicest shirt I own,” I said. “My girlfriend got it for me.”
Girlfriend.
If you had told me a couple months ago I would end up mortal with the most badass woman with a built-in family, I would have laughed myself to death that night.
“You sure Jamal isn’t going to ask to come home?” I moved to kiss down her neck, enjoying the silky delicate skin there. When I found the right spot, her fingers dug into my arm.
“He’s good to stay at his friend’s for the night.” Jamal and Heinz both went to one of his friends’ houses for a sleepover, and Mama Jean was back at her own.
Thankfully, Mama Jean only thought they’d been attacked by house looters and had no idea there was a supernatural elementto it. As it started to really shake her and affect her sleep, I went and asked Fallon if he could do something to ease her mind. He was gruff and appeared reluctant, but he did so.
Which meant everyone was safe and sound, and we were alone for the night.
“I lied and I cheated,” Miranda said from where she writhed on my lap. “Dessert is in the fridge. I got Mama Jean to make a chocolate cake.”
“Later. I need something sweeter first.” With that, I hauled her up and carried her to the bedroom, laying her down on her lavender quilt.
Our clothes were soon discarded, forgotten in the growing heat between us. Miranda’s skin was soft and warm under my touch, her breath coming quick as she pulled me closer. There was a hunger in her eyes that mirrored my own, a need that had been building between us for far too long. We hadn’t been alone together since she defeated Aten.
“I love you, Miranda. And if you let me, I’m going to grow old and die with you.”
Half her mouth quirked up. “Kind of romantic, kind of dark.”
