Page 60 of Live Love Lasso

“Would you miss the city?” Furyon’s question comes in a neutral tone, but I know what he’s asking. Would I feel like I was giving up my life if I chose to stay?

I think about it for a moment, casting about for whatever I’d miss.

Finally, I shake my head. “I have friends there, friends who can easily visit the Gulch now that the Grand Portal Station is built at headquarters. And we could go there to visit too, right? You wouldn’t mind being taken by your pretty little vampire mate on a platform in a sex club, would you?”

His nostrils flare, and his grip on my throat grows tighter. “You’d show me off, Lemon? In front of others?”

I wink. “Isn’t that the vampire way?”

His fingers close tighter as black stars dance across my vision.

It feels so good.

His lips hover over mine, his breath warm as it coasts over my skin. “I’d let you destroy me in one of those clubs, mate. Or, if you’d rather, I’ll break you into a million pieces and put you back together, Lemon. Or both.”

“Why not both?” I manage with a groan. “Both sounds good.”

He licks his lips and lets go of my throat. “We can do that anytime you want, city girl. Anytime at all.”

I stare in wonder at the dark elf who’s so thoroughly invaded my heart and mind in the span of weeks. It’s almost laughable when I think back to how we met. What a story I’ll have to tell the girls next time I see them.

Oh yeah, he was investigating me for murder.

As if I’d ever be capable of doing that.

Furyon smiles down at me. “I do believe you’re gettin’ thoroughly countrified, Lemon.”

I wave at the new turquoise boots on my feet. “I present Exhibit A. You’re right. The lovely woman at the Buxom Bodice assured me these are both beautiful and practical. Not to mention the Bodice herself shimmied quite a bit when I landed on this color, so it was practically a unanimous decision.” I thump his nose. “You told me it could only be one or the other when we met, I do believe.”

He snorts and grabs my hand, pulling me up the sidewalk. “Your sparkle boots ain’t that, Lemon.”

I shrug, clinging onto his hand as we walk around the corner to Main Street. “No, but you sure seem to enjoy them.”

At my saucy comment, all the siding on the closest buildings ripples. I take it for agreement, and beam up at Furyon.

I share my progress with Letitia as we walk all the way to the Welcome Inn, then dip into the alleyway on one side of it. Furyon ducks through an arched stone doorway in the building next to the Welcome Inn. A tiny light flickers in a sconce on the wall, illuminating a stone stairwell that descends into darkness.

“Furyon Aleksander Zayle, are you dragging me into a secret underground chamber for nefarious purposes?” I poke him in the side.

He chuckles. “Would you even have a problem with that?”

My laughter joins his as I follow him down the stairwell. At the bottom, it forms a ‘y’, and we hook a right. A tiny hallway opens into a cavernous underground space with an honest-to-gods river running through the middle. Dark blue water is faintly illuminated from lights somewhere below the surface. Half a dozen brightly painted rowboats are tied up along the edge of a short dock.

“Welcome to one of the Gulch’s best kept secrets,” Furyon says softly. “This underground river system runs beneath all of downtown PG. You can row for hours, and many of the businesses are accessible from down here.”

My mouth drops open as I look from him to the tied-up boats and back. “Are you serious? How have I never seen the boats the entire time I’ve been here?!”

He laughs, the dark, delicious sound curling my toes. “The Gulch isn’t boastful and ostentatious, Lemon. We’re all about hidden gems and fanciful surprises. That’s why it ain’t even on the welcome book list. Some things you really just need to learn like a local.” He jerks his head toward the boats. “C’mon, baby.”

I’m in awe as he steps carefully into the boat and offers me his hand. I hang on to the slatted side as I follow him in. He helps me down onto a bench seat, then settles across from me. Grabbing the oars, he slots them through two circular supports, then waves behind me. “Lemon, grab that rope and cast us off, would ya?”

Turning, I untie the boat from the dock and push us away. I tuck the rope at the head of the boat. The…prow? Bow? No idea. Then again, I didn’t even know the Gulch had boats. I chuckle to myself, shaking my head at how every day brings something new and magical about this place. Will that ever stop? I feel like I could spend a lifetime in Pine Gulch and learn something new every day.

Furyon rows us out to the middle of the crystal-blue river, and then the current picks up and carries us down a dark stone tunnel that arches high above us. “What’s the giggle for?”

I smile at him, admiring the strong lines of his jaw and the soft wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. “You look like a devil from the human underworld in all this low light. Absolutely delicious.”

His nostrils flare as he grins at me, tiny fangs protruding from his upper lip. “I could get down with that. Maybe drag a sweet little delicate vampiress down into the depths with me, only to find out that she’s a hunter.” He leans forward until our knees touch, hovering his mouth over mine. “And you could hunt me through the underworld. What do you think?”