He almost made it sound like another family.
Dorian’s stare felt weighted in my direction in that moment. He sat up, and when he did, he outlined his lips.
“I want you with me,” he said, glancing over. “I want you with us, yes.”
At this point, all I could tell him was that I’d think about it. I still didn’t know how I felt. All his talk about community came across really strong.
Especially with that last bit.
I knew he wanted to be with me, but whenever he kept saying things like that, it scared me. Hard not to with our history.
Maybe he picked up on that because he mentioned nothing more about the topic as we drove. I asked him where we were going a few times, but he kept the information tight-lipped.
I got an indicator when we pulled up to his gated community.
I sat up. “We’re going to your house?” I asked him this as we passed through the gate. At this point, the area looked way different. For starters, there were no creepy reporters, and Bow mentioned they were starting to lay off. I faced him. “Am I meeting your family?”
My swallow was hard, but his chuckle was jovial.
“Well, it’s a good fucking thing you’re not with the way you’re looking at me,” he stated, taking my head and mashing ticklish kisses and bites into my neck. I swear he was such a dude the way he manhandled me. He bumped a laugh. “And no. We’re just hanging out. My parents are still out of town.”
“They coming home soon?” His neighborhood was gorgeous, nothing but old-timey castles, and actually kind of reminded me of Bow’s neighborhood. Most of those properties in her neighborhood were more modern, though.
Dorian didn’t say anything, and I swung my gaze in his direction.
He rubbed the steering wheel, the rubies on his ring flickering the sun. “Yeah, soon.” He studied me. “So no pressure today, yeah?”
I was gl
ad for that, nodding.
He took my hand again, pointing out some of the history of the homes. Some pretty famous people had settled down here in the past, and that surprised me. According to Dorian, his neighborhood had had a president or two come through it and loads of influential people.
This didn’t surprise me since Bow had mentioned stuff like this when I’d first come to the city. Dorian kept us moving, and surprise, surprise, he lived in probably the biggest castle in the neighborhood. It was old smoky brick, the spokes high. It had dark shutters too, which made it look like a spell had been placed on it, but kind of in a cool way.
The establishment appeared perfect for a dark prince, and Dorian waved his hand at a couple of women watering the hedges next door. The two were outside another old-timey property, their hands raised high.
“Old family friends,” he said, then later explained his dad grew up in the house Dorian lived in today. Anyway, the women next door happened to be the mothers of his dad’s best friend, Jax. Jax was both Dorian’s god dad and Wells’s real dad, which made the women next door Wells’s grandmothers.
I found it hard to keep up with all the family Dorian had and all the ways in which the Legacy boys and Bow were connected. It took a second to sink in that we were really at the dark prince’s house, but once we were in his garage, reality hit something good.
He was sharing himself with me again, a big something. He came around and opened the door for me, and after he helped me out, he pinched my chin.
“Try not to look completely scared shitless.” His eyebrow arched slow. “I told you my parents are out of town, and even if they weren’t, they aren’t those parents. They’re cool, and they wouldn’t grill you. They’re not like that.”
The way he spoke of them, with so much admiration and even adoration… I’d never thought that about them anyway. My reservations came from internal pressures I’d manifested.
If he was doing all this, what did he want? But one better…
Was I ready to give it?
“I’m not scared.” I nudged him away, but he caught up easy.
He threw that heavy arm on me again, and though I nearly fell to the floor every time, I’d be lying if I said I hated the possessive nature of it. He kept me close, and I didn’t know what that said about me since I was enjoying the possession.
“I find that hard to believe.” He opened the door. “I mean, my mom still remembers that pregnancy test.”
I’d forgotten about that. I swallowed. “Is she still upset about that?”