“But you believed it before?” I lean back, eyes narrowing. “You said that.”
“Well,” Ethan starts. “Yeah. It’s what I grew up being told. Anora, I never thought you were evil. And my family doesn’t think that either .”
“What would happen if the Order finds out you’re dating a witch?”
He shrugs. “Nothing, because I wouldn’t fucking care what they said about us.” He takes my hand and the moment his skin brushes against mine, a wave of desire goes through me, making my heart swell in my chest. I love him so fucking much and finding this out is making me feel like I’m stuck in a whirlpool, rapidly spinning around and around, at risk of being pulled under dark, icy water. The Order can make life hell for Ethan and his family if they want to. Finding out about us will give them a big reason to want to.
“Anora,” he breathes and brings me to him. “I love you and nothing is going to change that. Nothing will keep us apart and I sure as hell am not going to listen to the fucking Order when it comes to this.”
I lock my arms around his shoulders and look into his eyes. “I love you too.” Inhaling, my chest rises and falls, brushing against him. “Why didn’t you tell me from the start that you didn’t trust witches? It would have saved me the effort of trying to get Sam to like me when her mind was already made up.”
“She likes you more than she’ll admit,” he tries. “And we’d just met so telling you that I, uh, grew up thinking all witches were the villains from fairytales didn’t seem like a good thing to say. Plus, you had a lot going on with finding out about demons and having them kill your friend.”
Nodding, I let out another breath. “True. And it’s not like we’re going to change the Order’s mind.”
“Right. They’re stubborn sons of bitches stuck in the past. It doesn’t fucking matter, babe. They can chastise us all they want and it won’t change a damn thing.”
“Right,” I echo and feel better. Because it doesn’t matter. “Where’s Nik?” I ask, realizing he’s not home.
“He ended up going out on a date.”
“Seriously?”
“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.”