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She frowned, but her son left before she could reply. His words made her wonder what the two had discussed when alone.
River patted the seat next to his. "Come sit down. My neck's getting tired from looking up at you."
She sniffed. "That at least gives you a taste of what it's like for me usually, what with you being so tall."
The corner of his mouth ticked up. "If I were at my full strength, I'd suggest wrapping my hands around your waist and picking you up to eye level whenever you wanted. But I'm far from that point, so sorry but not sorry?"
She rolled her eyes and moved toward him. As if he could lift her. Nora was far from fashionably slim.
River patted the cushion again. "Come on, I won't bite, I promise."
She debated taking the chair across from him. It would be safer.
However, if she was to ever go through with the claiming, she needed to get used to being near him. So after a deep breath, she sat on the settee, but as far away from him as possible. "You speak strangely at times. Fae witches don't bite."
Amusement danced in his eyes. "Oh, we do sometimes."
At the flash of heat in his eyes, her heart skipped a beat. She had the feeling he was hinting at something she had no experience with.
But she wasn't here to learn about fae witches and their biting habits. So she smoothed her skirt and decided to change the topic. "I thought we could chat a bit and get to know each other."
He shrugged, settled back, and extended his arm along the back of the sofa. Even though his hand stopped a few inches shy of where she sat, Nora was overly aware of his nearness.
It would be so simple to nip his finger and see what his blood tasted like.
No.Nora could restrain herself. She really could.
River raised his brows. "What brought this on? First you avoided me, and now you want to talk?"
She sat a little taller. "It was a bit of a shock to find my fated lord. I needed time to adjust to the idea."
"Yeah, I imagine that was a fucking big surprise. Although it would've been nice to just flat out tell me you needed some time alone instead of sneaking around."
"Well, none of that matters now. I'm not completely thrilled with the idea, but I know I have to go through with it or I'll eventually lose my mind."
He drawled, "Such a ringing endorsement. Glad I could be the lucky guy."
Since Nora had two brothers and a son, she knew a bruised male ego when she saw one. But just because he was her fated lord didn't mean it was her job to dance around the truth to make him feel better.
Maybe if she were his bride in truth, but she wasn't.
Needing a distraction, Nora changed the subject again. "Does it feel real to be in this time yet?"
He frowned. "Yes and no. The constant stream of formal speech is fucking killing me the most, I think. And the suits. I hate wearing goddamn suits. But at least I haven't had to go outside yet." He waved toward the large window on the far side. "Because that, out there—with the carriages, and fancy clothes, and gaslights—isn't me at all."
She could hear the frustration in his voice. Even if Nora had gone through this before, with Yesenia, the female fae witch had been more excited about her magic than caring about things she missed from the future. River had known about his magic beforehand and didn't have the same distraction.
Maybe talking about his home would help. Before she could argue herself out of it—she didn't want to get too close to him, after all—she blurted, "What do you miss the most from the twenty-first century?"
He let out a slow breath. "That's a tough one, for sure. I miss my motorcycle, of course, and the everyday things we use that are powered by electricity. But honestly? I know I'm going to miss all the advanced medical equipment that won't be invented for decades or more."
She tilted her head and gestured toward him. "But you still have your magic. That must be the bulk of what you do as fae witch doctor, correct?"
He shrugged. "That's part of it, but there's so much more to being a fae witch doctor. Healing magic is pretty advanced and effective, more so than many human practices. But there are limits to what I can do on my own. Especially when it comes to the various scans you can do with human machines, to better pinpoint an illness or injured spot, back in my time. It sometimes means the difference between life and death. And not having it here? It's going to fucking kill me to know I couldn't do everything I could to help someone."
At the brief flash of sadness in his eyes, she had a feeling he was remembering patients he'd lost.
For all his rough language and mannerisms, Dr. River Vale had a huge heart, one that keenly felt loss.
