Page 31 of Little Bite of Bliss

My cheeks turned red.

“Just because you don’t have horns and a tail doesn’t mean you’re not an incubus or a demon. And certainly, Eleni, of all creatures, could not be mated to a regular human.”

I raised a brow. “Please don’t tell me the two of you have history.”

He waved his hand. “Doesn’t matter.”

It actually mattered so much. Oh gods. “You didn’t sleep⁠—”

“No,” he hissed. “Absolutely not. We just fought over . . . You know what? No. Ask her about this.”

I wasn’t sure if I actually wanted to ask, but I was at least relieved for the moment. “Fucking old monsters. Does fate not care about age gaps?”

“Apparently not,” he said seriously. “I think your father and I have a thousand-year gap or something like that. Who knows.”

“Ancient.”

“Well, you can’t throw that at me now that you’re with Eleni, she would probably shred you to pieces.”

“She would.” I bit my tongue before I told him I’d like her to. He definitely did not need to know that.

The corner of his mouth tugged and then I smiled, and then we both started laughing. Tears blurred my vision and I wiped them away, sighing as I felt a weight lift off my shoulders.

He leaned over and pulled me into a hug. “I love you. I am going to leave so that you can continue doing whatever I interrupted, but you should visit soon, and bring her too.”

“I’d like that,” I said. “And we can . . . talk more about everything.”

“Yes,” he said as he got to his feet, his tail dusting sand off his clothing. “Anytime you want to.”

“Okay,” I said, smiling up at him. “I love you. Thank you for checking on me. Please go now.”

He was already walking down the beach. “I will have her portal me away, given she’s my daughter-in-law now.”

“She might kill you.”

His laugh carried with the breeze and I sighed as he left. Despite everything, I did feel better.

Something nudged my back and I turned, gasping as the black cat I’d seen the other day rubbed up against me. “Hi,” I whispered. “Look at you. You’re so cute. Oh my gods.”

For the first time in a long time, a wave of peace settled over me. The sun started to set over the water and I sat like that for about thirty minutes, before a shadow danced above me and Leni landed next to me.

“Your father has improved much since being mated,” she said. “He’s tolerable company. He apologized to me, for interrupting and several other things, and I don’t despise him now.”

I shook my head. “Do I even want to know why?”

“We fought over a submissive once,” she said with a shrug. “Once or twice.”

“And he won?”

“No.” She smirked, her fang showing. “Really, you think I’d ever lose to a man?”

I laughed as her wing swept behind me and she pulled me into her lap. I straddled her thighs and lifted my arms around her neck.

“So,” she whispered. “Are you okay?”

“I am,” I said. “I feel good, actually. We talked and I feel better. I think . . . I think I needed that. I wish he wouldn’t have interrupted us though. That was awkward.”

“Yes, well, I assure you, he has seen worse.”