“Yeah. I made sure that chick was real first. He took your car.”
“Seriously?” I repeat, a little louder this time. “He could have taken the old Caddy instead!”
“He said your car is better for the environment, which is important to Druid Fey .” Ethan shrugs again. “He has a point. I should probably trade my Jeep in for a Tesla at some point soon. A Model S to be exact. And yes, I’ve thought about this.”
“He doesn’t have a license. What if he gets pulled over?”
“I’m sure he’ll be fine. He knows how to drive after all.”
I make a face. “It’s been like what, twenty years since he’s been in our realm? Have traffic laws changed much?”
“Not really, and I’ve been driving since I was twelve,” Ethan adds.
“Why in the world did you start driving when you were only twelve?” My brows go up.
“You never know when you’ll have to drive someone to the hospital. Better safe than sorry.”
“God, our childhoods were so different.” I shake my head.
“You can say that again.” Ethan playfully grabs my butt. “We have time before Nik comes home. I haven’t fucked you against the banister in a while.”
I bite my lip and tip my head up, suddenly desperate. “Meet me up there.” Pulling out of his arms, I hurry up the back stairs, making Ethan chase me. He catches me in the hall, and we walk tangled together toward our bedroom. We don’t make it very far and end up stripping each other’s clothes off in the doorway.
Desperation takes over once again, not just to have Ethan inside me, but to have him make me feel good over and over and over again.
All night long.
“Not yet,” I tell Ethan when he lays me on the bed and moves on top of me, positioning himself between my legs. I push him down, not intending to let him up until I’ve come at least twice—and I do. Wiping his mouth, Ethan moves back up and kisses me before flipping me over, moving me onto all fours and entering me from behind. He reaches around, rubbing my clit as he fucks me, and we come nearly at the same time.
Feeling depleted of energy, I collapse onto the bed and snuggle up next to Ethan, who covers us with the comforter.
“Babe?” he asks softly sometime later. “You awake?”
“Yeah.” I slit my eyes open only to close them again.
“Why don’t you go to bed?” He kisses the top of my head. “It’s not that late, but a good night’s sleep sounds nice.”
“Yeah,” I repeat, voice thick with sleep. “I need to check on the horses. The barn isn’t locked up for the night.”
“I’ll help.” He gets out of bed and it takes me another few minutes to get up. A lot has happened in the last half of the day, but it wasn’t enough to make me feel so worn out like this. Which probably means I’m coming down with something. Ugh. At least I don’t have to worry about calling off work when I’m sick.
I hurry to the bathroom and then get redressed in what I had on before. Hunter is stretched out on the living room couch and has no intention of going out in the cold with me, even though as a spirit, he’s not bothered by the elements. I get my boots and coat on before Ethan and step into the chilly night air, stopping short as soon as I look at the barn.
“You okay?” Ethan asks, closing the door behind him.
“Yeah,” I say, blinking a few times. “I thought I saw something on the roof.”
Ethan rushes forward, automatically on high alert. “Where?”
“I’m just tired,” I tell him. Unless I’m hallucinating again, there’s no way what I saw is real. Because it looked like a small gargoyle just took flight.
I grab another tissue and blow my nose. Dramatically sighing, I toss it in the garbage and rub my fingers over my collarbone, feeling like a cold is coming on. I make a terrible patient and have long believed I can treat any illness with zinc and extra orange juice. I press on ignoring symptoms until I’m sick in bed for days, coughing with a fever and feeling miserable.
And at twenty-five, I still haven’t learned.
Though this time, there is a peppermint wellness tea in my book of shadows that I plan to make. Once I get peppermint root, that is. There’s an organic tea shop in Paradise Valley that I plan on stopping at after I meet Rene and Keith for lunch in Thorne Hill.
“Keep an eye on things,” I tell Hunter, looking out the window in the library at the barn. There is no mention of gargoyles in any of my books, and the dream I had last night was definitely a run-of-the-mill weird-ass dream. Because in my dream, the same gargoyle looked a lot like Ethan and I was very attracted to him.
But like I said: it’s a weird-ass dream.
The horses and donkeys are enjoying the sunshine today, shuffling around the limp, dead grass in hopes of finding something new. Not yet, guys, not yet. Though I might be overzealous myself, having put on my favorite green dress and new ankle boots with only a light jacket over top.
“Love you,” I tell Hunter, giving him a hug and a kiss before I grab my keys and head outside. Nik asked Ethan if he could come with him to the gym today, and Ethan eagerly agreed, saying it would help Nik further acclimate to human life. If you told me a year ago that I’d be madly in love and living with a rough-and-tough demon hunter, I wouldn’t believe you. And if you told me a month ago, said rough-and-tough demon hunter would befriend a faery, I would have been less likely to believe you. Still, I can’t imagine our life going any other way.
Locking the door behind me, I stop on the porch, extend my hands, and send a pulse of energy into the circles of protection I have cast around the house. Satisfied, I walk down the cobblestone sidewalk to my car which Nik haphazardly parked in the middle of the driveway last night. He’s not much taller than me but the seat is scooted way back, my mirrors have all been adjusted and somehow he changed all my programmed settings. I’m annoyed enough already to say he needs his own car.
It doesn’t take long to get into Thorne Hill and I park across from the Novel Grounds bookstore on purpose. I’m definitely going in before I leave. I should have asked Ruby if the blonde-haired girl who works there is a witch because there’s something about her that’s definitely familiar.
“Hey, girl!” Rene calls, waving at me from across the street. I go down to the corner and cross, meeting her in front of the restaurant. “You look cute.” She gives me a hug.
“Thanks, you do too. As always, of course.” I eye Keith. “Same to you. I’m making a mental note to dress up anytime we’re together since I’m usually in jeans and paddock boots.”
“It’s part of your charm,” Rene says with a laugh. “As long as you don’t have hay in your hair, we’re good.”
“Hah. That will happen, I promise you.” Closing my eyes, I turn my head up toward the sun. “This feels so good.”
“I almost forgot what it feels like,” Rene says.
“You two are so dramatic,” Keith huffs but pauses before going into Maria’s, standing in a patch of sunlight. “Though, I will say soak it all up because it’s going to snow this weekend.”
“Don’t say that.” Rene looks at him with wide eyes. “I am ready for sidewalk sales at our store and open windows at home. Plus, I’m dying to ride with Anora.”