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My angel rebelled at the sight of her tears, predictably, and nearly knocked me on my ass. I could feel his demand to fix thislike a slap to the face.
“I’m so sick of it.” The admittance was probably killing her, but she choked it out against my shirt anyway. “I just want to skip to the good stuff, you know? Like buying a house, anniversary dinners, and getting kids, somehow.”
The mention of children threatened to short-circuit my brain, but I managed to get it together enough to chuckle into her hair.
“We’ll get there, pup. Slowly but surely. Think of it as character building.”
That earned me another, less watery laugh, and she kissed my collarbone.
Character building? I could feel my angel’s disbelief that I’d compared war and death and running for our lives to “character building,” but his indignation was nothing compared to my own embarrassment.
It wasn’t my fault this whole mate thing was scrambling my brain. It felt like every day we grew a little closer, and I would lose a few more brain cells in the pursuit of making her happy.
Aria settled against me, breathing me in until the sniffling subsided. I couldn't really call itcrying, but only because she was fighting the urge too strongly.
It was the worst time to notice that the smell of cranberries was almost overwhelming now that the candles had been burning for a while. My nose itched, but I didn’t have the heart to move her and blow them out. Next time I tried something like this, I would be mindful that scented candles were definitely a no-go. Reese’s apology made a little more sense now.
“What do you think things will be like when we’re done?”
I shuddered at the feel of her lips against my skin when she spoke after a long moment of silence, sounding more put-together than she had a few moments ago.
Honestly, this thought hadn’t crossed my mind in a while. I’d been more focused on the here and now, the mess that was our lives. Things had gone terribly when we were in the Free Kingdom because I’d been so fixated on keeping her safe that I hadn’t taken anything else into consideration. Stepping back a bit and letting my mate take control of the situation… It was challenging but rewarding. Aria had grown so much, and getting to see that growth firsthand was a big enough distraction.
Daydreaming about our future? Not so much.
“I think, first, we should burn down Azazel's house.” I felt her smirk. “Then we go the way of Grandma Credence and find a nice, quiet place to hide for a few years, maybe even get a dog—”
“Not a hellhound?”
“Definitely not. I think a German Shepherd would suit us.”
Aria leaned back to grin at me, pushing herself up off the bed a bit. Her eyes were red-rimmed but brighter, a welcome change. “How about a Doberman?”
“I feel like we can put a pin in the negotiation of what kind of dog we’ll get. Now, c’mere, I wasn’t done.”
She flopped down beside me this time, propping her head up on my shoulder as we laid there. Her breath was warm against my neck; I tried to focus on our conversation when heat speared through me.
“Anyway.” Aria snorted at my tone, and I kissed her forehead, rubbing her arm. “We’ll get something cozy, with a lot of land to roam around on. I’ll paint for fun, for once, and you’ll find some freelancing gig. Hell, if Ambrose Media House is still standing at the end of all this, you can have it.”
“You can’t just give me AMH, Sariel.”
She sounded so serious I had to look down at her to make sure she was just kidding, but her brows were furrowed.
I frowned back at her, amused that she was taking the discussion so seriously but a bit miffed that she wouldn't want to take over the company after she’d made such a fuss about how it was her dream job and I’d gotten her fired. “I doubt Michaelson will want it,” I reasoned.
“Yeah, but it’s stillAmbroseMedia House.”
“What? You don’t plan on becoming an Ambrose? I’m a little offended.”
Her cheeks turned an interesting shade of pink when I chuckled, rolling onto my side so that we were eye to eye.
Aria really was beautiful. Soaking up her flustered expression was almost enough to make me forget that this was all just a daydream.
“I would love towork formy dream company,” she finally managed, glaring at me playfully. “I don’t know aboutowningit. Maybe we can make Auren handle the day-to-day management instead.”
I tried not to let the mention of my brother throw me off. “He’ll probably try to copy Grandma Credence, too, honestly.”
She laughed, shoving me a bit and shaking her head.
