“I…I, erm…this is kind of sudden,” I blurt out, a bit panicked.
“Liv, don’t get your panties in a bunch. I’m not saying I want it now. Just if you did in the future, it’s something to think about.”
“Can we change the subject? Please?” I beg and he smiles sadly at me.
“Sure. I suppose I had better have my way with you all of today as I won’t have you to myself tonight, or tomorrow or Monday at this rate.”
“Why not?”
“Because of Lincoln, needing to be with you. I don’t fancy my chances against a moody, aggressive Wolf.”
I chuckle at him. “Why do you think I am pushing our trip forward? We are going to England tonight so that we are at the estate there tomorrow night. If he takes the room next door to mine, err, ours…” I amend at his look, “Then he will be all right.”
“Oh, yeah, good idea,” he says with a twisted smile. “Wait, estate? You have an estate there?”
“Yes, of course. In Buckinghamshire.”
“Buckinghamshire? Where is that in relation to where I need to be?”
“About an hour away. Don’t panic, Grayson is going to be there to get you door to door. Aren’t you sick of hotels anyway? I know I am and CK doesn’t even bother anymore, he just goes back to Ponte every night.”
“He does? How does that work with the time difference?” he asks.
“Doesn’t really matter. He only sleeps about an hour a night, if that, anyway.”
“I hate that you know that,” he grumbles.
“He has for centuries. It’s nothing new.”
“Humph, well at least I know that you need lots and lots of sleep. Cuts into his time.”
“Cole!” I say, trying not to laugh.
“What? I am allowed comments like that. It is my right as your husband.”
“Well, I won’t argue with that. Now, husband, I have been sitting here waiting for you to take me and all you keep doing is yammering on.”
“Oh, my apologies, Your Majesty, please do come here so I can kiss you and take you,” he says, and his good nature has returned.
The flight to London is uneventful, well, by our standards, anyway. Lincoln gets on everyone’s nerves by pacing fretfully and then the both of us are shoved unceremoniously into the bedroom for me to comfort him. He lies with his head on my lap as I stroke him, and he eventually falls asleep. I, however, do not. I tug on the wings of my cuddly, black dragon that Sebastian bought me in Vegas, which goes everywhere with me now. I have formed a strange attachment to it and even though Cole doesn’t ask, I know he finds it odd.
Jess comes to chat with me to alleviate the boredom and we find out that we have even more in common than we thought. Despite my initial hatred and misgivings about her, she is shaping up into quite the girl. I like her and I suppose, reluctantly, I am glad that if it was anyone Devon was forced to sire, it was her. But she too succumbs to sleep after a few hours, as did everyone else. Fan-bloody-tastic.
After a quick refuel in New York, we land in London six hours later and I am the first off the jet as usual. More so than usual as I’m now feeling like a caged Dragon.
Chapter 15
We pull up to my estate, an eight-bedroom manor house in Buckinghamshire with four acres of garden and woods at the back. Perfect for our needs over the next couple of days.
We pile in and I sigh. “It’s nice to feel like being at home again,” I say as Cole wraps his arms around me.
“This place is great. Very country mansion,” he says, taking in the dark wood panels and floor and the red carpeted stairs. “I think I prefer it to our home in L.A,” he adds. I also think he prefers it to staying in the middle of the city, where he supposedly thinks it will look like the eleventh century.
I smile at his “our home” and tell him to go and get settled. I pull CK to the side and ask him if he is going to stay.
“You want me to?” he asks.
“Yes, I miss you.”